Of course, therapy interruptions should ONLY be tried under controlled circumstances, i.e. doctor supervised. There is hope that adding something to jump-starts the body's ability to fight HIV, long asleep after HIV becomes chronic, might enable longer drug free interruptions. Bruce Walker and Eric Rosenberg at the Massachusetts General Hospital are undertaking one such effort. They are giving people an AIDS vaccine made by Agouron, called Remune, and seeing if this might strengthen the body's effort to fight HIV, making it possible for people to get off drugs for longer periods of time. In other studies data suggests, people on Remune have a slower rebound of virus when they stop treatment than those who do not take Remune.
Similar efforts using other vaccines are in the planning stage.
Beth Israel Hospital in Boston will test the new Merck DNA vaccine this spring. Complementary Therapies to help with minimizing the side effects of the antivirals and helping the immune system work better All drugs have side effects. Some new ideas on how to manage them involve unproven methods, like the use of different herbs, dietary supplements, and vitamins and so forth to either reduce toxicities or help the body fight the bad effects of the virus. For example, L-Carnitine is thought to help reduce the poisoning of a critical part of cells called the mitochondria. It is known that an important detoxification system in cells is based on glutathione and glutathione levels can be low in people with HIV and that a food supplement like Immunocal increases it.