America's disastrous health care system is heaving the country head-first into near-certain economic collapse. Just about everybody's either financially strained or going broke due to spiraling health care costs: the people, the employers, state governments and even the federal government. Multinational corporations are fleeing the United States due to health care costs, taking jobs and economic productivity with them. Meanwhile, 50 percent of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to medical expenses.
But not everybody's doing badly. The drug companies, surgeons, medical specialists, health insurance companies and private hospitals are making out like bandits, raking in multi-million dollar CEO salaries and -- I'm not making this up -- greater than 500,000% markups on prescription drugs. And while the American people get sicker, the drug companies, insurance companies and many health "care" providers (it's really more like "sick care providers") are rolling in cash. Drug companies are now among the richest corporations in the world, and they got there by inventing fictitious diseases, then selling drugs to people who mostly don't need them. See my CounterThink cartoon, Disease Mongers, Inc. to learn more about this topic.
Meanwhile, the American people are the most diseased people in the world among advanced nations. We spend more on health care than anyone, we pay the highest prices for medications, and we're constantly told that we have the best medical technology in the world. But if our health care system is really so good, why do 50 million Americans have no health insurance? Why are hospitals literally dumping uninsured patients on the street, abandoning the sick to protect profits while our politicians actually negotiate on behalf of Big Pharma to make sure Americans keep paying the highest prices in the world for medications? (Click here to see our CounterThink cartoon on President Bush's price negotiations with drug companies.)
What's wrong with America's health care system?
SiCKO is a must-see documentary
SiCKO creator Michael Moore answers that all-important question in his best documentary yet. Forget whatever criticism you may have heard about SiCKO -- this is a Michael Moore masterpiece: A courageous, impactful and outrageous documentary that exposes the arrogance of modern medicine and the utter failure of America's corporate-controlled sick care system to provide decent health care to the people. Watching this movie will leave you either steaming mad or shedding tears (or both). It reveals the deep-rooted corruption in America's health care system and explains why the whole system was actually designed to deny health care to the American people.
I've been ranting about America's health care failures for years, and as I've consistently stated to the amazement of some, the health care corporations actually have a plan to keep people sick. There's no money in preventing disease, especially in the cancer industry. Click here to read my recent report on the American Cancer Society's refusal to help prevent 77% of all cancers using affordable, scientifically-proven vitamin D supplements.
In SiCKO, what Moore does very effectively is tells this story to a mass audience, weaving together the emotionally-charged stories of American citizens who lost husbands, daughters and other family members to preventable disease, all thanks to intentional, well-planned payment denials by health insurance companies. In one segment in the film, he features archival footage of former President Nixon, who strongly approves of a new 1970's health care concept called the "HMO" where the more patients are denied health care services, the more money the hospitals and health insurance companies rake in!
In contrast to all this, Moore shows us the universal health care systems in countries like Canada, the UK, France and even Cuba... all countries where health care is free to everyone. It's called universal health care (or "socialized medicine"), and it's a system followed by nearly every modern nation in the world... and even some not-so-modern nations. Only America practices medicine in the Dark Ages, tied to a hopelessly corrupt system of financial exploitation and monopoly price controls, where Big Pharma gets richer, the FDA gets more powerful, and the American people get the shaft.
See my CounterThink cartoon, The Disease Economy, for a visual representation of this mess we're in, or read my book Natural Health Solutions and the Conspiracy to Keep You From Knowing About Them to see just how evil and corrupt our modern health care system really is.
Why Moore is being so vicious attacked
Moore, as usual, is being targeted by all sorts of critics who would like nothing better than to see this guy disappear and stop rocking the Good 'ol Boys boat that seems to be floating just fine in America (as long as you're part of the wealthy elite, anyway). For starters, U.S. government officials are investigating Moore for violating travel restrictions to Cuba. And why? Because Moore gathered a dozen Americans who were denied health care in the U.S. and brought them to Cuba where they received free, quality health care in a modern Cuban hospital.
The message is hard to miss: Cuba takes better care of its citizens than America does. In fact, Cuba is willing to take care of a few American citizens that America abandoned! That kind of "in-yo-face" embarrassment to U.S. officials isn't appreciated much in police-state America these days, where practically anyone who dares question the wisdom of the government is branded a terrorist. Moore is clearly being targeted not merely because he took some 9/11 heroes to Cuba and got them health care, but because he dared to make it all public. Humiliating the King is a quick way to find your head on a chopping block. Just ask all the scientists who publicly disagree with the Bush Administration's hopelessly politicized view on climate change...
Other critics of Moore are either the greedy, corrupt corporations impacted by his film (drug companies, health insurance providers, hospitals and so on) or juvenile stay-at-home back-seat Internet critics who don't like Moore for the simple fact that he dares to stand up and say "The Emperor Has No Clothes!" Nearly all the criticism leveled against Moore is without substance. People attack Moore personally, but they won't dare debate what he's presenting in the movie. Why? Because Michael Moore is right. America's health care system is an embarrassment to the nation, and to the world. It's so bad that most informed world citizens wouldn't be caught dead in this country, unless of course they actually visit America and have an accident that lands them in the U.S. health care system.
Personally, I opted out of the American health care system long ago. I'm a holistic nutritionist, and I exercise, eat right, get lots of sunshine and gorge on superfoods and raw berries. I have no need for a doctor, or a pharmaceutical, or a health insurance policy. I don't get annual physical exams, and I have zero risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes or other common health conditions. (I posted my health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org if you want to see my blood workup.)
At the same time, I realize that not everybody is in such a fortunate health position. Most people simply don't take care of their own health, and while I could argue for days about the need for more patient responsibility alongside corporate responsibility, the fact is that relentless advertising from drug companies and food manufacturers has bred a mindset of disease, junk food consumption, pharmaceutical dependence and patient victimization. We have a health crisis in this country, and it's going to take genuinely radical reforms to turn this around and save America from a financial wipeout exacerbated by runaway health care spending.
What's missing from SiCKO
The material that's in SiCKO is hard-hitting, and it accomplishes what it sets out to do. But there's something missing from the film: A serious discussion about how a nation can prevent disease using nutrition, medicinal herbs, sunshine, clean water, avoidance of toxic chemicals, smart dietary choices, banning the advertising of junk foods and pharmaceuticals, and so on. Of course, that's not really what SiCKO set out to do, and this topic would require another film all by itself, but personally I wouldn't have minded a stronger nod towards solving our nation's health care problems through genuine prevention (rather than the current policy which is basically centered around waiting for everybody to get sick and then treating their symptoms while ignoring the true causes of their disease).
Of course, it might be tricky for Moore to argue for disease prevention given that he is obviously not the poster boy for ideal physical health. But he never claims to be. So the critics who attack Moore's own personal health are missing the whole point of the film. Moore is simply pointing out what's wrong with America's health care system, and he does so brilliantly and convincingly, regardless of his own personal health status. And besides, if you want to argue about the health of "experts," just walk into any hospital and take a look at the health of all the people who work there. Many aren't any healthier than Moore, and they work in the industry! The average lifespan of a U.S. doctor is less than a Cuban peasant. That's not a joke.
Regardless of Moore's present physical fitness challenges, he's obviously operating with a great degree of healthy skepticism about the way the U.S. operates today. Moore is an independent thinker who simply refuses to follow the crowd, and with this film, he's doing the job that the American people should have been doing all along -- questioning the sanity of our health care system. But sadly, the truth is that most Americans are sheeple who just follow the herd and do what they're told. A recent poll revealed that nearly 45% of Americans still trust the FDA! That's astounding, given that I've solidly established the Food and Drug Administration is far more dangerous to the health and safety of the American people than all the terrorists in the world. To learn more, read my article The lawlessness of the FDA, Big Pharma immunity, and crimes against humanity.
How will SiCKO play?
I think SiCKO's timing is perfect, and I think the movie will be a significant factor in the upcoming 2008 elections. Those politicians who run on a platform of radical health care reforms are likely to pick up a lot more support than those unwise enough to try to defend the current system.
This is a tough call for Republicans, since most Republicans support Big Pharma and the corporate control of modern medicine, usually at the expense of the people. Democrats, though, are also on Big Pharma's payroll, as was obvious with the recent voting record on the FDA Revitilization Act co-sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy. The truth is, Big Pharma owns virtually all the politicians in Washington (except Rep. Ron Paul, of course).
The movie will definitely get America talking about serious health care reforms. But as I've pointed out in a previous article, Where's the Health In Health Care Reform?, almost nobody is considering proposals that would genuinely solve the health care problem in America today. You can't "treat" your way out of a nation that has become so over-drugged, over-fed and over-diseased that even the little children are now being put on speed (also called "Ritalin"). Nearly 50 percent of American adults are now taking pharmaceuticals, most of which are utterly unnecessary from a medical point of view. Drug advertising has taken over the media, the FDA has suppressed natural alternatives, and the American Medical Association continues to peddle such health nonsense that it's amazing the AMA hasn't yet been invited to join the Smithsonian's Museum of Outdated American History.
The American Cancer Society, in my opinion, is a supremely corrupt, big-business front group that actually takes steps to ensure more cases of future cancer by "preventing prevention," the American Diabetes Association takes money from candy and soda manufacturers, and the American Psychiatric Association is so steeped in Big Pharma money that they've practically become inseparable. (Click here to see my CounterThink cartoon on this topic.)
The future of America looks dim
Clearly, something has to change in this country if we're going to survive as a nation. Under the current system of massive debt spending, widespread political corruption, war mongering and health care failures, the United States of America will simply not survive another generation. No nation that abandons the health of its people can expect to have a future. As Moore points out, however, there is a chance to save America, but only if we make significant changes starting now.
Truly radical changes must be put into place. I've offered many suggestions in a popular article, The health care reform legislation that Congress should pass, but won't. Lawmakers, you see, have no interest in actually saving America from financial demise. They're only concerned about the next election, and raising campaign reelection funds means kow-towing to the interests of the powerful corporations that really run Washington.
Personally, I don't see that meaningful reform is possible under the current system of politics in America. The Big Business sick care industry has a stranglehold on the American political system, and the whole ugly thing will mostly likely have to collapse and be rebooted before we'll see significant change.
And make no mistake: that's what's coming. I predict America will not survive its health care crisis. It won't be the first empire to crumble from arrogance and corruption. In fact, it will join a long (and growing) list of civilizations that have risen and fallen, securing its place in the pages of history as yet another imperialist nation that thought it could rule the world while abandoning the needs of its own people.
The bottom line on SiCKO
It's a must-see documentary. It's surprisingly even-handed and well grounded, never resorting to unsubstantiated claims merely to shock the audience. In fact, as a person who has been writing about America's health care problems for four years, I didn't detect a single false statement in the film. It's all true, and it's pretty damn scary. Go see it. It opens on June 29th.
And if, like one person featured in the film, I ever have to choose between reconnective surgery for my middle finger at $60,000 vs. my ring finger at $12,000, I'll choose to have my middle finger sewn on first just so I can visually demonstrate to U.S. Senators precisely how I feel about America's health care system today.
###
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and technology pioneer with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of energy efficient LED lights that greatly reduce CO2 emissions. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a successful software entrepreneur, having founded a well known email marketing software company whose technology currently powers the NewsTarget email newsletters. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and pursues hobbies such as Pilates, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Water
Recently, subject and sales of "water" H2O is getting popular in
Japan. There are parlors and bars that offer to drink only WATER.
Nowadays, water business is good in most countries. There are big
malls where they offer free cold water to shoppers.
Most people say that they drink water when they feel that their
throat is thirsty. However, our research group says that simply
drinking when you are thirsty is insufficient in maintaining the
body's moisture (fluid). On the other hand, too much drinking can
cause "water intoxication" a.k.a. hyperhydration or water poisoning.
To get healthy, let us drink water at the right time and at the right
quantity. But when and how?
Do you know that our body has a certain cell that keeps water in it?
If we do not have such cell in the body, even teardrops won't come
out from our eyes. What is that? Is it a new discovery? It was just
found in 2003 by an American scientist.
The kidneys clean (filters) the blood with water, but don't you know
that the quantity of water that passes the kidneys is about 150
liters in a day!? The average person has approximately 4 – 5 liters
of water in the blood, and the kidney filters almost 99 % of it
repeatedly. Excessive moisture or water is discharged as urine.
We tried to analyze the quantity of sweat and urine after exercise
and quantity of water taken after being thirsty. The result – an
average person lost 520 ml of sweat and urine while they drank only
150 – 200 ml of water. Yet, why many were satisfied with just less
than a half of water intake compare to the 500 ml loss of water from
the body?
It is probably psychological or some mechanical effects of the mouth
that make us feel thirsty. It means that if you do something to your
mouth, although you are losing moisture from the body due to sweat
and urine, you may not feel thirsty at all. Bingo! We discovered that
if you stimulate the mouth, a certain wave or signal will go to the
brain, and you will not feel any thirst at all. Try it by yourself.
The thirst mechanism can be altered by "hallucination" . That's what
it means and it is really true.
WATER INTOXICATION
The water you drink remains first in the stomach, and it slowly moves
to the intestine and from the intestine to the blood. This process
takes a little time to fill enough quantity of water in the blood,
and your brain may still trigger thirst. During this process, you
might drink too much water and may reach to a dangerous state
called "water intoxication" that can lead people to death.
Actually, in order to avoid such dangerous stage, a sensor in the
mouth and throat will tell your brain that water is present in the
mouth, and will no longer trigger thirst. This is the thirst
mechanism of the throat, which prevents you from drinking too much.
Therefore, by means of a certain kind of stimulation in the mouth,
throat wave or signal can cheat the feeling of thirst. Yes, it is
true and it is what we call "hallucination" .
Let's chew a candy or gum, or pinch your lips several times, your
thirst will disappear. It is just like hallucination in the brain,
but only momentarily. Soon, you will feel thirsty until real water
reaches your blood.
When the moisture of internal body becomes insufficient, viscosity of
the blood becomes strong (sticky). And of course, there will be a
danger of myocardial infarction and other blood-related death as well
as brain damages or heatstroke.
We lose approximately 2.5 liters of water a day regardless of
climate. Of course, during a very hot summer, you may lose more than
3 liters due to sweat.
Our meals in a day contain approximately 1 – 1.3 liters of water.
Thus, it is necessary to drink some additional 1.5 liters of water to
keep our body's moisture to a normal level.
It is recommended to drink about one glass of water every one hour
during daytime and some cups of coffee, tea, or fruit juice during
morning and evening. It is not recommended to drink too much water in
a short period as the water you drink may just escape as urine. It is
also recommended to carry a water bottle with you during daytime. In
this way, your health condition will be improved dramatically.
We do not recommend drinking carbonated beverages because it contains
sugar and it might make you fat. Coffee and tea contains caffeine,
which increases number of urination and lose more water in the body.
This is just the same to beer and wine. If you drink alcoholic
beverages, you will lose more water in the body. Too much alcohol
might lead to death, too.
Proper drinking of water makes you healthy and young.
INTERESTING WATER TRIVIA
Here's some miscellaneous trivia that you may not have known. Test
your knowledge and share what you learn!
* Koala (well known as an icon of Australia) is an Aboriginal word
meaning "no drink". It is because there's no one who saw Koalas
drinking water. Such an idea is factually mistaken as Koalas do drink
water, but only rarely, due to their diet consisting of eucalyptus
leaves, which contain sufficient water.
* Another one is about Kangaroo. A common legend about the kangaroo's
English name is that it came from the Aboriginal words for "I don't
understand you." According to the books, Captain James Cook and his
companion Sir Joseph Banks were exploring Australia when they
happened upon the animal. They asked the natives what the creatures
were called. The local responded "Kangaroo", meaning, "I don't
understand you", which Cook took to be the name of the creature.
* The desert rat is another animal that get their liquid from the
food they eat. Although they don't actually drink, they still need
water from their food.
* Human blood is 83% water. Human bones are 25% water.
* Poor quality drinking water kills the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets
filled with children every day.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
About the Author:
Junji Takano is a Japanese health researcher and has been studying
the causes of viruses since 1960. In 1968, he invented the Pyro-
Energen, the first electrotherapy device that eradicates viral
diseases effectively and without any side effects.
Free newsletter: http://www.pyroener gen.com/newslett er.htm
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
Japan. There are parlors and bars that offer to drink only WATER.
Nowadays, water business is good in most countries. There are big
malls where they offer free cold water to shoppers.
Most people say that they drink water when they feel that their
throat is thirsty. However, our research group says that simply
drinking when you are thirsty is insufficient in maintaining the
body's moisture (fluid). On the other hand, too much drinking can
cause "water intoxication" a.k.a. hyperhydration or water poisoning.
To get healthy, let us drink water at the right time and at the right
quantity. But when and how?
Do you know that our body has a certain cell that keeps water in it?
If we do not have such cell in the body, even teardrops won't come
out from our eyes. What is that? Is it a new discovery? It was just
found in 2003 by an American scientist.
The kidneys clean (filters) the blood with water, but don't you know
that the quantity of water that passes the kidneys is about 150
liters in a day!? The average person has approximately 4 – 5 liters
of water in the blood, and the kidney filters almost 99 % of it
repeatedly. Excessive moisture or water is discharged as urine.
We tried to analyze the quantity of sweat and urine after exercise
and quantity of water taken after being thirsty. The result – an
average person lost 520 ml of sweat and urine while they drank only
150 – 200 ml of water. Yet, why many were satisfied with just less
than a half of water intake compare to the 500 ml loss of water from
the body?
It is probably psychological or some mechanical effects of the mouth
that make us feel thirsty. It means that if you do something to your
mouth, although you are losing moisture from the body due to sweat
and urine, you may not feel thirsty at all. Bingo! We discovered that
if you stimulate the mouth, a certain wave or signal will go to the
brain, and you will not feel any thirst at all. Try it by yourself.
The thirst mechanism can be altered by "hallucination" . That's what
it means and it is really true.
WATER INTOXICATION
The water you drink remains first in the stomach, and it slowly moves
to the intestine and from the intestine to the blood. This process
takes a little time to fill enough quantity of water in the blood,
and your brain may still trigger thirst. During this process, you
might drink too much water and may reach to a dangerous state
called "water intoxication" that can lead people to death.
Actually, in order to avoid such dangerous stage, a sensor in the
mouth and throat will tell your brain that water is present in the
mouth, and will no longer trigger thirst. This is the thirst
mechanism of the throat, which prevents you from drinking too much.
Therefore, by means of a certain kind of stimulation in the mouth,
throat wave or signal can cheat the feeling of thirst. Yes, it is
true and it is what we call "hallucination" .
Let's chew a candy or gum, or pinch your lips several times, your
thirst will disappear. It is just like hallucination in the brain,
but only momentarily. Soon, you will feel thirsty until real water
reaches your blood.
When the moisture of internal body becomes insufficient, viscosity of
the blood becomes strong (sticky). And of course, there will be a
danger of myocardial infarction and other blood-related death as well
as brain damages or heatstroke.
We lose approximately 2.5 liters of water a day regardless of
climate. Of course, during a very hot summer, you may lose more than
3 liters due to sweat.
Our meals in a day contain approximately 1 – 1.3 liters of water.
Thus, it is necessary to drink some additional 1.5 liters of water to
keep our body's moisture to a normal level.
It is recommended to drink about one glass of water every one hour
during daytime and some cups of coffee, tea, or fruit juice during
morning and evening. It is not recommended to drink too much water in
a short period as the water you drink may just escape as urine. It is
also recommended to carry a water bottle with you during daytime. In
this way, your health condition will be improved dramatically.
We do not recommend drinking carbonated beverages because it contains
sugar and it might make you fat. Coffee and tea contains caffeine,
which increases number of urination and lose more water in the body.
This is just the same to beer and wine. If you drink alcoholic
beverages, you will lose more water in the body. Too much alcohol
might lead to death, too.
Proper drinking of water makes you healthy and young.
INTERESTING WATER TRIVIA
Here's some miscellaneous trivia that you may not have known. Test
your knowledge and share what you learn!
* Koala (well known as an icon of Australia) is an Aboriginal word
meaning "no drink". It is because there's no one who saw Koalas
drinking water. Such an idea is factually mistaken as Koalas do drink
water, but only rarely, due to their diet consisting of eucalyptus
leaves, which contain sufficient water.
* Another one is about Kangaroo. A common legend about the kangaroo's
English name is that it came from the Aboriginal words for "I don't
understand you." According to the books, Captain James Cook and his
companion Sir Joseph Banks were exploring Australia when they
happened upon the animal. They asked the natives what the creatures
were called. The local responded "Kangaroo", meaning, "I don't
understand you", which Cook took to be the name of the creature.
* The desert rat is another animal that get their liquid from the
food they eat. Although they don't actually drink, they still need
water from their food.
* Human blood is 83% water. Human bones are 25% water.
* Poor quality drinking water kills the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets
filled with children every day.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
About the Author:
Junji Takano is a Japanese health researcher and has been studying
the causes of viruses since 1960. In 1968, he invented the Pyro-
Energen, the first electrotherapy device that eradicates viral
diseases effectively and without any side effects.
Free newsletter: http://www.pyroener gen.com/newslett er.htm
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Aids
Biocompatible Electric Current Attenuates HIV Infectivity
This is an extremely important report for anyone who is concerned about treating AIDS or HIV infection. Photos of the five pages of this 1996 report which appeared in Surgical Overview, Surgical Technology International V, were sent to me by a very sharp scientist and humanitarian named Webster Kehr on November 18, 2006. Webster deserves real credit for finding this published report as much effort has been expended to suppress this Kaali and Lyman 1990 discovery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. For example, Dr. Bob Beck found that the text of the March 1991 Washington DC AIDS conference where Kalii and Lyman first presented their findings publicly, were razor cut out of library copies of the published journal. Bob was able to find only three brief news items immediately following the March AIDS conference in The Houston Post (Mar 20, 1991), Science News (Mar. 30, 1991 ) and Longevity magazine: and then nothing.
The Discovery of the Century to address the greatest bio-engineered 'disease' in modern history, AIDS, was on the receiving end of one of biggest media blackouts ever to be perpetrated on the American public. How many people, to this day, still believe that AIDS is 'incurable'? About 99.999% of the public I would guess.
To make the report readable, I had to enlarge Webster's photos using Photoshop so I could read it and then typed out the text of the report. I've inserted the graphs from the photos of the report into the typed version seen below. This report is a more refined presentation than that provided by Dr. Steven Kaali in his 1992 U.S. patent application (#5,139,684 Kaali & Schwolsky 8-18-92) which I posted to www.educate-yourself.org in January of 2000 (http://educate-yourself.org/be/bekaaliexperiment.shtml).
This discovery by Kaali and Lyman in the Fall of 1990 was the centerpiece of Dr. Bob Beck's lectures on blood electrification. Kaali and Lyman re-discovered something that Dr. Robert O. Becker had also came upon in the 1970's and 80's in that direct current applied at very low voltage, delivered in the 50-100 microampere range effected amazing cellular response and achieved the de-activation of pathogenic organisms.
Kaali and Lyman patented an invasive procedure to insert the DC micro currents. They opened up an artery and sewed in a tiny battery driven circuit with two tiny electrodes within the artery itself. After the battery ran out, they would remove it and insert a fresh unit in another artery location. After 5 or 6 months, the patient showed greatly lowered HIV viral loads and steadily recovered. Bob Beck, on the other hand, invented a non-invasive method of inducing the micro currents electro-magnetically by applying external electrodes to the wrists and used a bi-phasic square wave of 3.92Hz to achieve the same thing as Kaali and Lyman with their internal arrangement. Bob called it "blood electrification" and his unit is called a "blood electrifier" (you can make your own from instructions passed out freely by Bob Beck or get a factory made unit. Contact me for more information).
An important consideration when applying DC (direct current) voltage to the body involves the physics of electrolysis. Dr. Robert O. Becker found that DC voltages higher than 1.1 volt caused sufficient electrolysis action that the body became overwhelmed and produced electrolysis 'waste' products in the region where the DC voltage was applied. Bob Beck got around the electrolysis problem by using an AC (alternating current) voltage in the form of a bi-phasic (two phase, positive and negative) square wave. However, Dr. Hulda Clark is adamantly opposed to using any application of negative voltage, whether as pure negative DC voltage or the negative half of an AC waveform (including the negative half cycle of a bi-phasic square wave). Hulda found that the slightest amount of negative voltage will encourage the growth of pathogenic organisms; something we're trying to avoid.
For those who wish to experiment, you could insert a solid state diode rectifier in series on the "hot" side of the electrode wiring (the other electrode is at "ground" or zero potential) of the Beck electrifier and have the anode of the diode connect to the electrode itself. The diode rectifier will cut off the negative excursion of the Beck bi-phasic electrifier and leave you with only positive pulsing DC square waves. The square wave pulses are only "on" for 50% of each cycle and "off" for the remaining 50%. The 50% "off time" may prevent the electrolysis problem, but that's just a theoretical conjecture on my part. I haven't done any experiments to confirm this one way or the other. Another possible approach is to reduce the pulsing square wave down to a very narrow duty cycle pulse of say 20% . A third possibility is to switch over to a very sharp rise pulse. A possible downside in using a narrow pulse is that it might not deliver the requisite 50-100 microampere current desired, however, it might do it -if only momentarily. There's much food for thought here and an open invitation to anyone who can still think outside the Establishment box, to get busy and see what marvelous results you can obtain by following in the footsteps of both Dr. Robert C. Beck and Dr. Robert O. Becker.
A few notes on nomenclature used in this report:
1. "sup.2" refers to 'supra' (above) or raised to the power of 2 (or squared); so 10cm sup.2 = 10centimeters squared. Another example, "10 sup.5" equals 10 raised to the 5th power (100,000). 2. "sub.2" refers to the number 2 appearing below the letter in front of it as seen with H2O 3. "In vitro" means that the test was made in a test tube or petri dish outside of the body. 4. "In vivo" refers to conditions inside the body. 5. "uL" = micro liters 6. "uA" = micro amperes. 7. "p" = "parts" and "<" = "greater than"
In a few places, I couldn't determine the correct number due to glare in the photo or a bad viewing angle so I had to place a question mark in parentheses (?). If you want to see the reference noted, click on the small number linked in parentheses and you'll go directly to the reference note.
Sincerely, .Ken Adachi
© Copyright 2006 Educate-Yourself.org All Rights Reserved.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By William D. Lyman, Ph.D and Steven G. Kaali, M.D, Albert Einstein College of Medicine http://educate-yourself.org/cn/LymanKaalibiocompatibleHIV1996report18nov06.shtml Posted November 18, 2006
Subject: Kaali and Lyman Paper From: Webster Kehr Date: Sat, November 18, 2006 7:39 am To: Editor of www.educate-yourself.org
Gentlemen:
In 1990, the greatest discovery in the history of medicine took place, the discovery of the cure for AIDS/HIV and very other microbe caused disease on earth. They should have won the Nobel Prize, but their discovery was crushed. However, the two medical doctors involved, Kaali and Lyman, found ways to make their discovery public. They filed several patents, as did several others. While their original paper is lost to the world, in 1996 they quietly got it republished in a very obscure journal. Their discovery was the basis for the Bob Beck Protocol. I have obtained a copy of the article and am sending it to you in 5 different emails, one email for each page. Please keep these 5 files in a permanent location and let me know you got all 5 of them.
Regards, Webster
**** Biocompatible Electric Current Attenuates HIV Infectivity
William D. Lyman, Ph.D., Professor Depart of Pathology Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York
Irwin R. Merkatz, M.D., Professor and Chairman Steven G. Kaali, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., Clinical Asociate Professor Department of Ovstetrics and Gynecology Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York
Introduction
The number of individuals infected by the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV) continues to increase on a world wide basis. (1) A significant percentage, if not all, of these individuals will eventually develop the acquired immunodeficiency syndromes (AIDS).(2) While horizontal transmission in the homosexual population may be contained or decreasing,(3) heterosexual transmission and infection through contaminated blood supplies continues to increase. (4) Additionally, vertical transmission from infected females to their fetuses is also on the rise with a resultant increase in the number of children with AIDS.(5) New strategies, therefore, must be devised in order to limit more effectively the spread of this virus.
In this regard, three principal approaches are currently being investigated. In order to decrease susceptibility to the consequences of infection, vaccines are being sought which will induce the production of protective antibodies. (6) As treatment modalities, the use of soluble antagonists t block the receptor for HIV is being studied (7) as are pharmacologic agents such as nucleic acid analogues which can interfere with the transcription of viral genomic sequences. (8) Each of these systems has virtues and limitations, and to date none has proven completely effective.
Because heat or light in combination with drugs and dyes can inactivate viruses including HIV in vitro, (9) others have suggested the use of these forms of energy to treat AIDs patients. The results of studies using heat have not been peer reviewed and are therefore impossible to evaluate. The use of light with drugs ("photopheresis") (10) appears to be efficacious, although this treatment may be limited by drug toxicity and the potential long-term effects of ultraviolet radiation on blood cell nucleic acids. Also, by its nature, this last system may not be suitable for the treatment of tissue associated virus. As a result of our interest in the use of electric current to alter biological systems, we focused our investigations on the ability of direct electrical current at biocompatible levels to alter the infectivity of HIV for susceptible CD4 positive cells in vitro.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Electrical Treatment of HIV
The RF strain of HIV (AIDS Reagent Program) was cryopreserved prior to treatment at -70 degrees C. For treatment, a sample of virus was thawed and maintained on ice at 4 degrees C. Ten microliters (uL) of HIV at a concentration of 10 sup.5 infectious particles per mL were placed into a chamber which included a pair of platinum electrodes 1mm apart permanently mounted into a well 1.56 mm in length and 8.32 mm in depth equal to 12.9uL volume capacity. The chamber was connected to a power supply capable of creating constant direct current. The viral aliquots were exposed to direct currents ranging form 0 micro amperes (uA) for up to 12 minutes to 100UA for up to 6 minutes. Intermediate currents of 25, 50, and 75 uA were used to expose similar viral aliquots. Under these conditions, for example, 0, 50, and 100 uA represent 0, 3.85, and 7.7 uA/mm sup.2 current densities respectively. The current was monitored throughout the experiment.
A matrix of current and time employed is shown in Table 1.
After the exposure of virus to electric current, the contents of the chamber were removed and placed into sterile micro tubes. Five uL of each sample were removed and diluted with 95 uL tissue culture medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) for subsequent assays.
Syncytium-Formation Assay
This assay was performed as previously described by Nara et al. (11) Briefly, 10 sup.5 CEM-SS cells were dispensed into poly-L-lysine coated microtiter wells. Thereafter, tenfold dilutions of H9 cells incubated with the treated HIV samples were co-cultured in triplicate for up to 4 days with the CEM-SS cells. Identical wells were prepared with control uninfected and infected cells. The wells were examined for syncytium formation at 2 and 3 days and quantified using an inverted microscope.
Reverse Transcriptase Assay
Uninfected H9 cells were pelleted at 1,000 rpm for 5 minutes at room temperature, the supernatant was decanted, and the cells were re-suspended in 100 uL treated viral sample. The cells were incubated for up to 6 hours with the viral samples. At the end of the incubation time,. the viral/cell suspensions were centrifuged at 1,000 rpm for 5 minutes and the supernatant decanted. The cell pellet was then re-suspended in 5mL of RPMI, 10% FCS and placed into a T25 tissue culture flask and maintained at 37 degrees C, 5% COsub.2 in a humidified chamber. At 2 day intervals (beginning at day 2), 1 mL of the cell suspensions was removed from each sample and centrifuged at 1,000 rpm for 5 minutes in order to pellet the cells. The supernatant was subsequently centrifuged at 14,000 rpm for 15 minutes. the pellet was resuspended in suspension buffer and assayed using standard methodology employing Mg++ as the divalent cation, poly (rA) oligo d(T) 12-18 as template primer, and tritiated thymidine (sup.3H-TdR) which comprise the reaction mixture. Known HIV positive and negative control samples were included in each assay for reference. Thirty uL of the reaction mixture were added to each 10 uL viral sample and incubated at 37 degrees C for 60 min. Samples were then incubated with 1uL of cold quench solution on ice for 15 minutes and filtered through a Millipore manifold. Chimneys were rinsed first with wash solution and followed by cold 95% ethanol. The filters were dried by vacuum and counted in scintillation fluid. Reverse transcriptase activity is expressed as counts per minute (cpm) and is considered positive only if cpm are at least five times greater than cpm obtained with HIV-negative control samples.
Biocompatibility of Electric Currents/Time
To determine if the electric currents used were in a biocompatible range of energy, uninfected H9 cells were exposed to distinct currents for different amounts of time. The H9 cells were washed two times in Hanks Balance Salt Solution (HBSS). Thereafter, the cells were re-suspended in RPMI, 10% FCS at a concentration of 10sup.(?) cells per mL. Ten uL of the cell samples were placed into the reaction chamber. The cell samples were then exposed to 0, 50, or 100 uA for 0, 3, or 6 minutes. At the end of each test, the cell sample was removed from the chamber and approximately 10 uL of the sample was mixed with 90 uL of tyrpan blue. The number of viable cells was determined by trypan blue exclusion using a hemocytometer and light microscope. Results are expressed as percentage of viable cells from the total of all cells. At least 200 cells per field were counted.
Statistical Analysis
Results of the syncytium-formation and reverse transcriptase assays were tested for statistical significance by the Student's t test and analyses of variance.
RESULTS
Syncytium-Formation Assay
Using this index of HIV infectivity, it was determined that exposing virus to direct electric current suppressed its capacity to induce the formation of syncytia. Figure 1 shows a representative experiment and Table 2 shows the group data for three separate experiments. As can be noted in Figure 1, a statistically significant (p<0.001) reduction in syncytium number was observed, and this reduction was dependent upon the current applied to the viral isolate. At three different viral dilutions, there were analogous results in that a total charge of 200 uA x min (25uA for 8 minutes) reduced the number of syncytia from 50% to 65% while a charge of 300 uA x min (50uA for 6 minutes, 75 uA for 4 minutes, or 100uA for 3 minutes) resulted in 90% reduction.
Reverse Transcriptase Assays
The direct electric currents to which HIV was exposed also reduced reverse transcriptase activity. Five separate experiments were conducted; a representative experiment is shown in Figure 2 and the group data are included in Table 3. As can be seen in Figure 2, there was a significant decrease in the amount of reverse transcriptase activity after exposure of the virus to either 50 uA for 3 or 6 minutes . An equivalent reduction in reverse transcriptase activity was also noted with exposure to 100 uA for 3 minutes. and near ablation of reverse transcriptase activity was seen with exposure of the viral isolate to 100uA for 6 minutes resulted in a 94% reduction. An analysis of variance indicates that the decrease in reverse transcriptase activity was statistically significant (p<0.001).
Biocompatibility of Electric Currents/Time
The ------(?) of a viability analysis using trypan blue exclusion criteria applied to uninfected cells exposed to the different currents and times used for these studies are shown in Table 4. The viability of H9 cells, after exposure to 100uA for either 3 or 6 minutes, did not show a significant decrease when compared to the 0 current control. After maximum treatment at 100 uA for 6 minutes, cell viability was 93% . Interestingly, in other preliminary experiments in which HIV-infected H9 cells were used, the results show that at 100 uA there may have been a significant decrease in the number of viable cells. That is, while an instantaneous pulse of 100 uA did not affect the viability of infected cells, a decrease in viability was noted at 3 and 6 minutes of exposure to 100 uA. This decrease was time-dependent in that exposure to 100 uA for 3 minutes resulted in a viability of 83% while 100 uA for 6 minutes resulted in a viability of 80%. Although theses data are provocative, they only represent a preliminary experiment and require further investigation.
With respect to the possibility that the electric current was transduced into heat, the calculated rise in temperature within the chamber was determined to be less than 1 degree C. In order to verify this, a temperature microprobe was introduced into the chamber containing tissue culture medium alone.
Results of these studies are shown in Table 5. Similar results were obtained when H9 cell-containing medium was placed in the reaction chamber. The data indicate that for the currents and times used for these experiments, there was no alternation in the temperature of the chamber.
DISCUSSION
The results reported here demonstrate that HIV treated with direct electric currents from 50 to 100 uA has a significantly reduced infectivity for susceptible cells in vitro. This reduction of infectivity correlates with the total electric charge passing through the chamber. Although extrapolation of these data predicts that ablation of HIV infectivity may be possible, and additional preliminary data support this prediction, the expectation that some virions may still escape the electrical effect cannot be discounted. Nevertheless, the therapeutic potential of electric current may reside in its ability to lower the viral titer to sub clinical significance or in its incorporation into a strategy analogous to that of other therapies in which repeated cycles of treatment eventually achieve remission or cure.
The data presented in this report are based on both quantitative and quantal determinations of viral infectivity. Although the syncytium-formation assay can be used to quantify the number of infectious viral particles, this use with respect to HIV may be abridged because of the ability of free fusigenic peptide (gp41) to induce syncytia by itself. Therefore, while syncytia were observed at some dilutions of electrically treated virus, this may simply represent the presence of soluble gp41 in the tissue culture medium. We believe that the correlation between total charge and reduction in syncytium number more adequately reflects the ability of direct electric current to reduce HIV infectivity.
This belief is also supported by the results of the reverse transcriptase assays. Although a decrease in HIV reverse transcriptase does not assure reduced infectiousness of this virus for susceptible cells, we feel that, taken together with the syncytium-formation data, the results indicate that significant attenuation of HIV infectivity is achieved by treatment with direct electric currents.
With respect to the biocompatibility of the electric currents and total charges reported here, two separate sets of evidence are applicable. The first has to do with the results showing that, by trypan blue exclusion, no significant cytotoxicity was induced in H9 cells by any total charge tested. The other evidence is obtained from reports which clearly indicate that the amount of electricity used for these experimetns is significantly below presently used therapeutic electric currents which are in the milliamp ere range. (12-16)
Rather than negative effects, exposure of cells to electric current may actually have positive consequences for resistance to infection in that important cellular electrochemical changes correlate with enhancement of specific enzymatic activities. In particular, a facilitation of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and ATPase activity has been observed. (12, 15) Both of these enzymes are associated with the oxidative capacity of the cell. Specifically, it has been suggested that an electrochemical reaction occurs between mitochondrial membrane-bound H+ ATPase and ADP leading to the formation of ATP. Therefore, exposure of cells to direct electric current may directly or indirectly increase energy resources within a cell and facilitate cell metabolism. This, in turn, may actually render a cell less susceptible to the effects of viral infection.
In summary, the data presented here indicate that biocompatible direct electric current significantly reduces the infectivity of HIV. Continuing investigations are exploring the mechanisms through which this effect is mediated. The initial focus of these experiments is centered on the potential role which ionic and molecular species generated by electrolysis may have on the virus. However, the complete mechanism by which direct electric current attenuates HIV infectivity is undoubtedly far more complex than simple electrolysis. Nonetheless, and independent of a complete understanding of all of the mechanisms involved in the attenuation of HIV infectivity, the present observations may serve as an initial step for the development of new strategies to treat infection or prevent transmission of HIV through the treatment of the blood supply.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to thank Mrs. Barbara Shea for her excellent secretarial assistance and Dr. Gabor Kemeny for important technical help. (STI)
REFERENCES
1. Sato PA, Chin J, Mann JM. Review of AIDS and HIV infection: global epidemiology and statistics. AIDS 1989; 3 Suppl; 1:S301-7.
2. Centers for Disease Control. Revision of the CDC surveillance case definition for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. MMWR 1987'1 Supp 36:S1-15.
3. Thacker SB, Berkleman RI, Public health surveillance in the United States. Epidemiol Rev. 1988"10:164-90.
4. Klein RS, Friedland GH. Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) by exposure to blood: defining the risk. Ann Int Med 1990; 113:729-30.
5. Oxtoby MJ. Epidemiology of pediatric AIDS in the UNited States. In: Kozlowski PB, Snider DA, Vietze PM, et al, ads. Brain in pediatric AIDS; 1990. p 1-8
6. Broder S, Mitsuya H, Yarchoan R, et al. Antiretroviral therapy in AIDS. Ann Int Med 1990; 113:604-18.
7. Perno CF, Baseler MW, Broder S, et al. Infection of monocytes by human immunodeficiency virus I blocked by inhibitors of CD4-gp 120 binding, even in the presence of enhancing antibiodies. J Exp Med 1990; 171:1043-56.
8. Mitsuya, H, Weinhold KJ, Furman FA, et al. 3'- Azido-3'-deoxythymidine (BW A509U): an ativiral agent that inhibits the infectivity and cytopathic effect of human T-lymphotropic virus type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1985; 82:7096-100.
9. Quinnan GV, Wells MA, Wittek AE, et al. INactivation of human T-cell virus, type III by heat, chemicals and irradiation. TRansfusion 1986;26:481-3.
10. Bisaccia E, Berger C, Kainer AS. Extracorporeal photopheresis in the treatment of AIDS-related complex: a pilot sutdy. Ann Int Med 1990;113:270-75.
11. Nara PL, Hatch WC, Dunlop NM, et al. Simple, rapid quantitative, syncytiumforming microassay for the detection of human immunodeficiency virus neutralizing antibody. AIDS Res Hum Retrovirus 1987;3:283-302.
12. Cheng N, VanHoof H, Bockx E, et al. The effects of electric currents on ATP generation, protein synthesis, and membrane transport in rat skin. Clin Ortho Rel Res 1983;175:263-72.
13. Frank C, Schachar N, Dittrich D, et al. Electromagnetic stimulation of ligament healing in rabbits. Clin Ortho Rel Res 1983;175:263-72.
14. Eriksson E, Hagg,arl T. comparisom opf isometric muscle training and electrical stimulation supplementing isometric muscle training in the recovery after major knee ligament surgery. Amer J Sports Med 1979;7:169-71.
15. Stanish WD, Valiant GA, Bonen A, et al. The effects of immobilization and of electrical stimulation on muscle glycogen and myofibrillar ATPase. Can J Appl Sport Sc 1982;7:267-71
16. Pilla AA. Electrochemical information transfer at living cell membranes. Ann NY Acad Sci 1974;205:148-70.
This is an extremely important report for anyone who is concerned about treating AIDS or HIV infection. Photos of the five pages of this 1996 report which appeared in Surgical Overview, Surgical Technology International V, were sent to me by a very sharp scientist and humanitarian named Webster Kehr
The Discovery of the Century to address the greatest bio-engineered 'disease' in modern history, AIDS, was on the receiving end of one of biggest media blackouts ever to be perpetrated on the American public. How many people, to this day, still believe that AIDS is 'incurable'? About 99.999% of the public I would guess.
To make the report readable, I had to enlarge Webster's photos using Photoshop so I could read it and then typed out the text of the report. I've inserted the graphs from the photos of the report into the typed version seen below. This report is a more refined presentation than that provided by Dr. Steven Kaali in his 1992 U.S. patent application (#5,139,684 Kaali & Schwolsky 8-18-92) which I posted to www.educate-yourself.org in January of 2000 (http://educate-yourself.org/be/bekaaliexperiment.shtml).
This discovery by Kaali and Lyman in the Fall of 1990 was the centerpiece of Dr. Bob Beck's lectures on blood electrification. Kaali and Lyman re-discovered something that Dr. Robert O. Becker had also came upon in the 1970's and 80's in that direct current applied at very low voltage, delivered in the 50-100 microampere range effected amazing cellular response and achieved the de-activation of pathogenic organisms.
Kaali and Lyman patented an invasive procedure to insert the DC micro currents. They opened up an artery and sewed in a tiny battery driven circuit with two tiny electrodes within the artery itself. After the battery ran out, they would remove it and insert a fresh unit in another artery location. After 5 or 6 months, the patient showed greatly lowered HIV viral loads and steadily recovered. Bob Beck, on the other hand, invented a non-invasive method of inducing the micro currents electro-magnetically by applying external electrodes to the wrists and used a bi-phasic square wave of 3.92Hz to achieve the same thing as Kaali and Lyman with their internal arrangement. Bob called it "blood electrification" and his unit is called a "blood electrifier" (you can make your own from instructions passed out freely by Bob Beck or get a factory made unit. Contact me for more information).
An important consideration when applying DC (direct current) voltage to the body involves the physics of electrolysis. Dr. Robert O. Becker found that DC voltages higher than 1.1 volt caused sufficient electrolysis action that the body became overwhelmed and produced electrolysis 'waste' products in the region where the DC voltage was applied. Bob Beck got around the electrolysis problem by using an AC (alternating current) voltage in the form of a bi-phasic (two phase, positive and negative) square wave. However, Dr. Hulda Clark is adamantly opposed to using any application of negative voltage, whether as pure negative DC voltage or the negative half of an AC waveform (including the negative half cycle of a bi-phasic square wave). Hulda found that the slightest amount of negative voltage will encourage the growth of pathogenic organisms; something we're trying to avoid.
For those who wish to experiment, you could insert a solid state diode rectifier in series on the "hot" side of the electrode wiring (the other electrode is at "ground" or zero potential) of the Beck electrifier and have the anode of the diode connect to the electrode itself. The diode rectifier will cut off the negative excursion of the Beck bi-phasic electrifier and leave you with only positive pulsing DC square waves. The square wave pulses are only "on" for 50% of each cycle and "off" for the remaining 50%. The 50% "off time" may prevent the electrolysis problem, but that's just a theoretical conjecture on my part. I haven't done any experiments to confirm this one way or the other. Another possible approach is to reduce the pulsing square wave down to a very narrow duty cycle pulse of say 20% . A third possibility is to switch over to a very sharp rise pulse. A possible downside in using a narrow pulse is that it might not deliver the requisite 50-100 microampere current desired, however, it might do it -if only momentarily. There's much food for thought here and an open invitation to anyone who can still think outside the Establishment box, to get busy and see what marvelous results you can obtain by following in the footsteps of both Dr. Robert C. Beck and Dr. Robert O. Becker.
A few notes on nomenclature used in this report:
1. "sup.2" refers to 'supra' (above) or raised to the power of 2 (or squared); so 10cm sup.2 = 10centimeters squared. Another example, "10 sup.5" equals 10 raised to the 5th power (100,000). 2. "sub.2" refers to the number 2 appearing below the letter in front of it as seen with H2O 3. "In vitro" means that the test was made in a test tube or petri dish outside of the body. 4. "In vivo" refers to conditions inside the body. 5. "uL" = micro liters 6. "uA" = micro amperes. 7. "p" = "parts" and "<" = "greater than"
In a few places, I couldn't determine the correct number due to glare in the photo or a bad viewing angle so I had to place a question mark in parentheses (?). If you want to see the reference noted, click on the small number linked in parentheses and you'll go directly to the reference note.
Sincerely, .Ken Adachi
© Copyright 2006 Educate-Yourself.org All Rights Reserved.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By William D. Lyman, Ph.D and Steven G. Kaali, M.D, Albert Einstein College of Medicine http://educate-yourself.org/cn/LymanKaalibiocompatibleHIV1996report18nov06.shtml Posted November 18, 2006
Subject: Kaali and Lyman Paper From: Webster Kehr
Gentlemen:
In 1990, the greatest discovery in the history of medicine took place, the discovery of the cure for AIDS/HIV and very other microbe caused disease on earth. They should have won the Nobel Prize, but their discovery was crushed. However, the two medical doctors involved, Kaali and Lyman, found ways to make their discovery public. They filed several patents, as did several others. While their original paper is lost to the world, in 1996 they quietly got it republished in a very obscure journal. Their discovery was the basis for the Bob Beck Protocol. I have obtained a copy of the article and am sending it to you in 5 different emails, one email for each page. Please keep these 5 files in a permanent location and let me know you got all 5 of them.
Regards, Webster
**** Biocompatible Electric Current Attenuates HIV Infectivity
William D. Lyman, Ph.D., Professor Depart of Pathology Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York
Irwin R. Merkatz, M.D., Professor and Chairman Steven G. Kaali, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., Clinical Asociate Professor Department of Ovstetrics and Gynecology Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York
Introduction
The number of individuals infected by the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV) continues to increase on a world wide basis. (1) A significant percentage, if not all, of these individuals will eventually develop the acquired immunodeficiency syndromes (AIDS).(2) While horizontal transmission in the homosexual population may be contained or decreasing,(3) heterosexual transmission and infection through contaminated blood supplies continues to increase. (4) Additionally, vertical transmission from infected females to their fetuses is also on the rise with a resultant increase in the number of children with AIDS.(5) New strategies, therefore, must be devised in order to limit more effectively the spread of this virus.
In this regard, three principal approaches are currently being investigated. In order to decrease susceptibility to the consequences of infection, vaccines are being sought which will induce the production of protective antibodies. (6) As treatment modalities, the use of soluble antagonists t block the receptor for HIV is being studied (7) as are pharmacologic agents such as nucleic acid analogues which can interfere with the transcription of viral genomic sequences. (8) Each of these systems has virtues and limitations, and to date none has proven completely effective.
Because heat or light in combination with drugs and dyes can inactivate viruses including HIV in vitro, (9) others have suggested the use of these forms of energy to treat AIDs patients. The results of studies using heat have not been peer reviewed and are therefore impossible to evaluate. The use of light with drugs ("photopheresis") (10) appears to be efficacious, although this treatment may be limited by drug toxicity and the potential long-term effects of ultraviolet radiation on blood cell nucleic acids. Also, by its nature, this last system may not be suitable for the treatment of tissue associated virus. As a result of our interest in the use of electric current to alter biological systems, we focused our investigations on the ability of direct electrical current at biocompatible levels to alter the infectivity of HIV for susceptible CD4 positive cells in vitro.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Electrical Treatment of HIV
The RF strain of HIV (AIDS Reagent Program) was cryopreserved prior to treatment at -70 degrees C. For treatment, a sample of virus was thawed and maintained on ice at 4 degrees C. Ten microliters (uL) of HIV at a concentration of 10 sup.5 infectious particles per mL were placed into a chamber which included a pair of platinum electrodes 1mm apart permanently mounted into a well 1.56 mm in length and 8.32 mm in depth equal to 12.9uL volume capacity. The chamber was connected to a power supply capable of creating constant direct current. The viral aliquots were exposed to direct currents ranging form 0 micro amperes (uA) for up to 12 minutes to 100UA for up to 6 minutes. Intermediate currents of 25, 50, and 75 uA were used to expose similar viral aliquots. Under these conditions, for example, 0, 50, and 100 uA represent 0, 3.85, and 7.7 uA/mm sup.2 current densities respectively. The current was monitored throughout the experiment.
A matrix of current and time employed is shown in Table 1.
After the exposure of virus to electric current, the contents of the chamber were removed and placed into sterile micro tubes. Five uL of each sample were removed and diluted with 95 uL tissue culture medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) for subsequent assays.
Syncytium-Formation Assay
This assay was performed as previously described by Nara et al. (11) Briefly, 10 sup.5 CEM-SS cells were dispensed into poly-L-lysine coated microtiter wells. Thereafter, tenfold dilutions of H9 cells incubated with the treated HIV samples were co-cultured in triplicate for up to 4 days with the CEM-SS cells. Identical wells were prepared with control uninfected and infected cells. The wells were examined for syncytium formation at 2 and 3 days and quantified using an inverted microscope.
Reverse Transcriptase Assay
Uninfected H9 cells were pelleted at 1,000 rpm for 5 minutes at room temperature, the supernatant was decanted, and the cells were re-suspended in 100 uL treated viral sample. The cells were incubated for up to 6 hours with the viral samples. At the end of the incubation time,. the viral/cell suspensions were centrifuged at 1,000 rpm for 5 minutes and the supernatant decanted. The cell pellet was then re-suspended in 5mL of RPMI, 10% FCS and placed into a T25 tissue culture flask and maintained at 37 degrees C, 5% COsub.2 in a humidified chamber. At 2 day intervals (beginning at day 2), 1 mL of the cell suspensions was removed from each sample and centrifuged at 1,000 rpm for 5 minutes in order to pellet the cells. The supernatant was subsequently centrifuged at 14,000 rpm for 15 minutes. the pellet was resuspended in suspension buffer and assayed using standard methodology employing Mg++ as the divalent cation, poly (rA) oligo d(T) 12-18 as template primer, and tritiated thymidine (sup.3H-TdR) which comprise the reaction mixture. Known HIV positive and negative control samples were included in each assay for reference. Thirty uL of the reaction mixture were added to each 10 uL viral sample and incubated at 37 degrees C for 60 min. Samples were then incubated with 1uL of cold quench solution on ice for 15 minutes and filtered through a Millipore manifold. Chimneys were rinsed first with wash solution and followed by cold 95% ethanol. The filters were dried by vacuum and counted in scintillation fluid. Reverse transcriptase activity is expressed as counts per minute (cpm) and is considered positive only if cpm are at least five times greater than cpm obtained with HIV-negative control samples.
Biocompatibility of Electric Currents/Time
To determine if the electric currents used were in a biocompatible range of energy, uninfected H9 cells were exposed to distinct currents for different amounts of time. The H9 cells were washed two times in Hanks Balance Salt Solution (HBSS). Thereafter, the cells were re-suspended in RPMI, 10% FCS at a concentration of 10sup.(?) cells per mL. Ten uL of the cell samples were placed into the reaction chamber. The cell samples were then exposed to 0, 50, or 100 uA for 0, 3, or 6 minutes. At the end of each test, the cell sample was removed from the chamber and approximately 10 uL of the sample was mixed with 90 uL of tyrpan blue. The number of viable cells was determined by trypan blue exclusion using a hemocytometer and light microscope. Results are expressed as percentage of viable cells from the total of all cells. At least 200 cells per field were counted.
Statistical Analysis
Results of the syncytium-formation and reverse transcriptase assays were tested for statistical significance by the Student's t test and analyses of variance.
RESULTS
Syncytium-Formation Assay
Using this index of HIV infectivity, it was determined that exposing virus to direct electric current suppressed its capacity to induce the formation of syncytia. Figure 1 shows a representative experiment and Table 2 shows the group data for three separate experiments. As can be noted in Figure 1, a statistically significant (p<0.001) reduction in syncytium number was observed, and this reduction was dependent upon the current applied to the viral isolate. At three different viral dilutions, there were analogous results in that a total charge of 200 uA x min (25uA for 8 minutes) reduced the number of syncytia from 50% to 65% while a charge of 300 uA x min (50uA for 6 minutes, 75 uA for 4 minutes, or 100uA for 3 minutes) resulted in 90% reduction.
Reverse Transcriptase Assays
The direct electric currents to which HIV was exposed also reduced reverse transcriptase activity. Five separate experiments were conducted; a representative experiment is shown in Figure 2 and the group data are included in Table 3. As can be seen in Figure 2, there was a significant decrease in the amount of reverse transcriptase activity after exposure of the virus to either 50 uA for 3 or 6 minutes . An equivalent reduction in reverse transcriptase activity was also noted with exposure to 100 uA for 3 minutes. and near ablation of reverse transcriptase activity was seen with exposure of the viral isolate to 100uA for 6 minutes resulted in a 94% reduction. An analysis of variance indicates that the decrease in reverse transcriptase activity was statistically significant (p<0.001).
Biocompatibility of Electric Currents/Time
The ------(?) of a viability analysis using trypan blue exclusion criteria applied to uninfected cells exposed to the different currents and times used for these studies are shown in Table 4. The viability of H9 cells, after exposure to 100uA for either 3 or 6 minutes, did not show a significant decrease when compared to the 0 current control. After maximum treatment at 100 uA for 6 minutes, cell viability was 93% . Interestingly, in other preliminary experiments in which HIV-infected H9 cells were used, the results show that at 100 uA there may have been a significant decrease in the number of viable cells. That is, while an instantaneous pulse of 100 uA did not affect the viability of infected cells, a decrease in viability was noted at 3 and 6 minutes of exposure to 100 uA. This decrease was time-dependent in that exposure to 100 uA for 3 minutes resulted in a viability of 83% while 100 uA for 6 minutes resulted in a viability of 80%. Although theses data are provocative, they only represent a preliminary experiment and require further investigation.
With respect to the possibility that the electric current was transduced into heat, the calculated rise in temperature within the chamber was determined to be less than 1 degree C. In order to verify this, a temperature microprobe was introduced into the chamber containing tissue culture medium alone.
Results of these studies are shown in Table 5. Similar results were obtained when H9 cell-containing medium was placed in the reaction chamber. The data indicate that for the currents and times used for these experiments, there was no alternation in the temperature of the chamber.
DISCUSSION
The results reported here demonstrate that HIV treated with direct electric currents from 50 to 100 uA has a significantly reduced infectivity for susceptible cells in vitro. This reduction of infectivity correlates with the total electric charge passing through the chamber. Although extrapolation of these data predicts that ablation of HIV infectivity may be possible, and additional preliminary data support this prediction, the expectation that some virions may still escape the electrical effect cannot be discounted. Nevertheless, the therapeutic potential of electric current may reside in its ability to lower the viral titer to sub clinical significance or in its incorporation into a strategy analogous to that of other therapies in which repeated cycles of treatment eventually achieve remission or cure.
The data presented in this report are based on both quantitative and quantal determinations of viral infectivity. Although the syncytium-formation assay can be used to quantify the number of infectious viral particles, this use with respect to HIV may be abridged because of the ability of free fusigenic peptide (gp41) to induce syncytia by itself. Therefore, while syncytia were observed at some dilutions of electrically treated virus, this may simply represent the presence of soluble gp41 in the tissue culture medium. We believe that the correlation between total charge and reduction in syncytium number more adequately reflects the ability of direct electric current to reduce HIV infectivity.
This belief is also supported by the results of the reverse transcriptase assays. Although a decrease in HIV reverse transcriptase does not assure reduced infectiousness of this virus for susceptible cells, we feel that, taken together with the syncytium-formation data, the results indicate that significant attenuation of HIV infectivity is achieved by treatment with direct electric currents.
With respect to the biocompatibility of the electric currents and total charges reported here, two separate sets of evidence are applicable. The first has to do with the results showing that, by trypan blue exclusion, no significant cytotoxicity was induced in H9 cells by any total charge tested. The other evidence is obtained from reports which clearly indicate that the amount of electricity used for these experimetns is significantly below presently used therapeutic electric currents which are in the milliamp ere range. (12-16)
Rather than negative effects, exposure of cells to electric current may actually have positive consequences for resistance to infection in that important cellular electrochemical changes correlate with enhancement of specific enzymatic activities. In particular, a facilitation of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and ATPase activity has been observed. (12, 15) Both of these enzymes are associated with the oxidative capacity of the cell. Specifically, it has been suggested that an electrochemical reaction occurs between mitochondrial membrane-bound H+ ATPase and ADP leading to the formation of ATP. Therefore, exposure of cells to direct electric current may directly or indirectly increase energy resources within a cell and facilitate cell metabolism. This, in turn, may actually render a cell less susceptible to the effects of viral infection.
In summary, the data presented here indicate that biocompatible direct electric current significantly reduces the infectivity of HIV. Continuing investigations are exploring the mechanisms through which this effect is mediated. The initial focus of these experiments is centered on the potential role which ionic and molecular species generated by electrolysis may have on the virus. However, the complete mechanism by which direct electric current attenuates HIV infectivity is undoubtedly far more complex than simple electrolysis. Nonetheless, and independent of a complete understanding of all of the mechanisms involved in the attenuation of HIV infectivity, the present observations may serve as an initial step for the development of new strategies to treat infection or prevent transmission of HIV through the treatment of the blood supply.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to thank Mrs. Barbara Shea for her excellent secretarial assistance and Dr. Gabor Kemeny for important technical help. (STI)
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