One day I got a strange call. Dr. Terry Pulse, a physician in Texas, was having what appeared to be unbelievable success treating HIV positive patients with whole leaf aloe vera juice. I called Dr. Pulse. He told me that he had been conducting a study of 30 HIV positive patients (one non-compliant patient dropped out of the study, reducing the number of 29).

Simplified considerably, the group of 29 broke down as follows: based on the modified Walter Reed Score (a method of determining from a set of factors the stage of AIDS development), fifteen had full blown AIDS. Twelve of the subjects met the criteria for AIDS Related Complex (ARC), and the remaining two were HIV seropositive but were asymptomatic. In other words, they were at three different stages of the infection.

The patients were put on a daily regimen of nutritional supplements and a minimum of 1200 milligrams of the active ingredients found in whole leaf aloe vera juice.

After six months, 27 of the 28 patients had improved on their Walter Reed scores. All had improved on the Karnofsky Quality of Life Assessment Scores. There were substantial improvements in other medical tests indicating such things as an increase in the T-4 cell count (which reflects a boosting of the immune system) and a drop in the P-24 core antigen activity.

I remember asking Dr. Pulse what he had concluded from his study. He stated, "Aloe is to an AIDS patient such as insulin is to a diabetic." He further told me that his study clearly showed that aloe vera played an active role in halting the progression of the AIDS virus.

I learned from Dr. Pulse that another study had been conducted by Dr. H. Reginald McDaniel, Chief of Pathology at Dallas-Fort Worth Medical Center. He had treated sixteen AIDS patients using 1,000 mg a day of orally administered aloe. His study reflected that, after six months, six patients with advanced cases of AIDS showed a 20% improvement in symptoms while less seriously ill patients improved by an average of 71%. Dr. Pulse further confirmed that, like his tests, Dr. McDaniel's also reflected a drop in HIV antibody positive cell culture. Also, symptoms such as fever, night sweats, diarrhea, and opportunistic infections were either eliminated or significantly reduced in all patients.

What I was hearing was astounding. At that time there were over 50,000 AIDS patients dying each year and the numbers were growing. The number has now more than doubled.

After Dr. Pulse shared his research information and the results of treating AIDS patients with aloe vera, I traveled to his clinic, interviewed the doctors, the staff, and AIDS patients and videotaped what was occurring. First Dr. Pulse reviewed his study as we recorded it on video. Then the patients arrived and one by one we taped their stories. These were patients who had previously been very sick with AIDS. They had been confined to their beds, unable to work. They had the characteristic symptoms, including night sweats, nausea, and vomiting. They had been told by doctors that they were nearing the end and that nothing really could be done for them. The stories they told were astounding. With T-4 helper cell counts starting below 200 (frequently substantially below) the counts had climbed to numbers like 400, 500, 800, and their symptoms had disappeared.

According to Dr. Pulse's published report in the Journal of Advancement in Medicine: "No adverse effects attributable to the essential fatty acid capsules were observed nor any side effects of the nutritional supplementation powder nor of the aloe vera juice. Most patients who were symptomatic reported that within three to five days their energy levels improved, fever disappeared, night sweats stopped, cough decreased or stopped altogether, shortness of breath decreased, lymph nodes decreased in size, diarrhea stopped, strength improved, and the only measurable side effect of this particular study was weight gain, which is a desirable effect. There were no biochemical abnormalities noted on SMAC in this particular study. AZT induced anemias improved on this particular regimen. Chest x-rays remained normal throughout the study. No changes in EKG from baseline were observed. There was great improvement in all patients to hypersensitivity skin testing at the end of 90 days. Not only did the patients improve clinically and functionally, but their Karnofsky scores improved in 93.1% of the patients at 90 days and in 100% at 180 days. One hundred percent of the modified Walter Reed scores improved at 90 days and 96.4% at 180 days. At 90 days, 51.7% of the patient's T4 helper lymphocytes increased and 32.2% at 180 days, with 25% reactive HIV P24 core antigen converted to negative at 90 days and 180 days."

In a letter to me, Dr. Pulse stated, "We have recently concluded that, 18 months after initiating the study, of those patients who completed it, one-half have now gone sero-negative. This is an increase from the one-third reported at the end of one year."

There is no better determinant of whether a patient is improved than his or her own feeling over an extended period of time. I talked to many of the patients. Those I spoke with were unanimous in their expressions of marked improvement. It would be interesting to see what the study would have reflected had the patients taken an even more concentrated daily amount of aloe vera. My opinion is that the results would have been even more astounding.

AZT is the principle drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of HIV positive patients. The studies that gave rise to its quick approval are very questionable and not totally accurate, in my opinion. The drug AZT may in fact kill the patient as it does damage to kidneys, the liver, and the neurological system, and develops anemia in patients. It is so toxic that over 50% of AIDS patients cannot tolerate the drug. Whether AZT prolongs or shortens life is most questionable. Aloe vera has no toxicity. It damages no organs. I have never heard of anyone not being able to tolerate taking aloe. The Pulse study unquestionably indicates that advanced stages, as reflected by the Walter Reed scores, were reversed by patients who took aloe vera. Which really prolongs life, AZT or aloe vera?

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