by Sayer Ji
A promising new study finds that the medical application of this controversial but increasingly decriminalized plant may extend to helping HIV patients.
A new study published in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses indicates that the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may be an effective agent in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
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The study used male rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a retrovirus that crossed the species barrier into humans producing HIV-1 and HIV-2, respectively.
While this article will not address in-depth the origin of the SIV-to-HIV crossover event, it should be noted that the prevailing explanation known as the ‘bushmeat’ hypothesis – crossover presumably caused by human contact with the blood of chimps hunted in Africa – overlooks several important facts: 1) SIVs have been in close contact with humans for at least 32,000 years without the emergence of HIV.[i] 2) The HIV epidemic occurred suddenly in the mid-20th century coterminous with the introduction of vaccines with the original HIV-afflicted African populations. 3) The monkey tissue based vaccine production process has already produced similar cross-over events, with millions around the world being infected with SV-40 contaminated oral polio vaccines. Given these facts, HIV should not be classified as a zoonosis[ii] (an infectious disease transmitted between species), but a direct result of human activity, and likely biomedical intervention, specifically vaccines.[iii]
Regardless of its exact causes, HIV infection and its extreme expression in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), is generally treated with pharmaceuticals (patented chemicals) in the antiretroviral drug class, which can have life-threatening side effects, many of which can be confused with or falsely attributed to the disease process itself. The sad reality is that that the conventional standard of care, for the most part, is either unwilling or incapable of looking into natural interventions, and neglects to address the fundamental fact that preventing the progression of HIV to full blown AIDS requires a focus on protecting and supporting the patient’s immune system through optimizing their nutrition, supporting their endogenous detoxification mechanisms and minimizing chemical exposures.
At GreenMedInfo.com, our database contains information both on the adverse health effects of anti-HIV drugs[iv] and a number of studied natural adjunctive agents that have been shown to reduce HIV drug toxicity. We also have indexed a robust data set on over 140 natural substances which demonstrate anti-HIV potential,[v] including a recent article on a case study where black seed was able to put an HIV patient into remission, and an overview of 38 of these natural alternatives or HIV here. Finally, our HIV/AIDS research is further organized in a Health Guide: HIV and AIDS Research.
The new study, titled “Modulation of Gut-Specific Mechanisms by Chronic Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration in Male Rhesus Macaques Infected with Simian Immunodeficiency Virus: A Systems Biology Analysis,” found that the administration of THC to SIV-infected monkeys resulted in a generalized reduction in viral load and tissue inflammation. THC is the major psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana, among 85 different different cannabinoids isolated from the plant.[vi]
The study design and results were described succinctly by the website Medical Jane,