A dramatic change in the management of patients with HIV infection occurred in March 1996 when combination anti-retroviral pharmaceutical therapy, that included protease inhibitors, was introduced. Deaths due to AIDS have decreased dramatically in the last year with the introduction of what is, for some patients, highly effective anti-retroviral drug therapy. While conventional medical research has produced a breakthrough in drug therapy that lowers HIV replication as measured by reduction in HIV RNA viral load levels, little progress has been made in developing therapies that restore immune function to pre-HIV infection levels. While the International AIDS Conference was dominated in 1996 by the exciting news that combination therapy with protease inhibitors was producing significant clinical benefits, interest in alternative medicine was high. Considerable interest and political action was focused on looking carefully at less expensive, more accessible alternative treatments such as herbal medicines.
Naturopathic medicine takes a more comprehensive approach to the problem.
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