The Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research (FIAR)
FIAR, a non-profit organization, sponsors and stimulates interest in clinical trials of herbal and nutritional treatments for people with HIV, AIDS and/or chronic viral hepatitis. The goal is to provide evidence as to whether or not these treatments can lessen symptoms, delay the progression of HIV disease or reduce side effects. FIAR has worked in developing nations where indigenous treatments are used and antiretroviral drugs (ARV) are still largely unavailable. FIAR also seeks to bring ARV, self-empowering information and prevention strategies to such under-served areas.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FIAR has been focusing on potential treatments for the disease and reviewing evidence as it develops. You may view the document here. We gratefully welcome input!
With huge numbers of refugees in the world, the UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) is SUPPOSED to be the place people go to receive safe housing and care. For LGBTQ+ refugees in Kenya, the situation is dire and UNHCR has FAILED HORRIBLY for years, destroying their institutional credibility and reputation. This situation has been one of severe violence and horror for years. In March, 2021, a fire bombing resulted in horrible injury and the death, after weeks of horrible suffering, of our friend "Trinidad Jerry." UNHCR demanded those who fled Kakuma camp return with promises of security--and they failed while issuing lies. It is a dire situation for LGBTQ+ in Kenya, especially those in Kakuma. Your help and attention is desperately needed and our LGBTQ+ friends in Kenya need to be resettled immediately.
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What We Do
FIAR is a project-driven organization. Our efforts to facilitate those who wish to make meaningful change in the lives of people living with HIV and hepatitis C continue, with a focus on underserved areas. In addition, FIAR's director is currently working on a book, From Little Things, which traces the evolution of the HIV pandemic from its early days. The science of the pathogenesis of HIV is heavily covered, with over 1000 citations so far. Each chapter covers an aspect of that science and is followed by an intersection with public, political and lived realities. Two books are envisioned, one of which will contain all the technical details, the other a more "reader-friendly" version that still covers the science, but with less technical detail. Please help us with this and our other programs and projects by clicking on the Contact button.
FIAR studies dietary supplements and other biologic agents. Dietary supplements are defined by the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA) and include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, thousands of different botanicals ("herbs"), protein powders, hormones, etc. Other modalities, such as massage, Reiki, spiritual practices may be addressed in the future as FIAR grows and develops.
People need better information to help guide treatment choices! Many studies show that a high percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS already use many of these interventions. How do they work? Can they help to manage side effects of drug therapy? Can they slow the rate of progression? FIAR, working with the HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis communities, clinics, hospitals, practitioners and organizations around the world to design and implement clinical studies to answer some of these questions and thus help people to make better-informed treatment decisions. Negative results mean people will save money and time. Positive results may encourage coverage under insurance (like ADAP) for greater access and reduced burden of cost on our healthcare systems.
Please click here to make a donation.
PUBLICATIONS AND NEWS:
An enormous amount of material dating from 1989 has been donated to NYU's Fales Library. Please CLICK HERE for a full list of the donated material.
Our meta-analysis, or review of multiple studies, showed that a simple multi-vitamin can slow HIV disease progression among adults NOT yet on ARV by nearly 50%! This is dramatic. Of course, getting people on ARV is vital, but this simple intervention may save lives. And there is preliminary evidence that a multi can help people who are on ARV (of any age, though care must be taken with infants).Micronturients in HIV: A Bayesian Meta-Analysis in PLoS One, April 2015. Please note an important CORRECTION to this paper.
And our findings from our meta-analysis on the use of smoked cannabis in managing peripheral neuropathy: Inhaled cannabis for chronic neuropathic pain: an individual patient data meta-analysis.
We also have a meta-analysis and systematic review on the use of probiotics in HIV disease.
To avoid conflicts of interest, FIAR does not solicit funds from pharmaceutical or nutriceutical companies.
In loving memory of Lynde Francis of the Centre in Harare, Evan Ruderman, Carlton Hogan, Keith Cylar, Jeffrey Palmer,
and far too many more to list.
FIAR'S COMMUNITY/SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD (C/SAB)
For more information or to help out, or make a donation, please see our contact page.
Thanks for your interest in FIAR!
What We Do
FIAR is a project-driven organization. Our efforts to facilitate those who wish to make meaningful change in the lives of people living with HIV and hepatitis C continue, with a focus on underserved areas. In addition, FIAR's director is currently working on a book, From Little Things, which traces the evolution of the HIV pandemic from its early days. The science of the pathogenesis of HIV is heavily covered, with over 1000 citations so far. Each chapter covers an aspect of that science and is followed by an intersection with public, political and lived realities. Two books are envisioned, one of which will contain all the technical details, the other a more "reader-friendly" version that still covers the science, but with less technical detail. Please help us with this and our other programs and projects by clicking on the Contact button.
FIAR studies dietary supplements and other biologic agents. Dietary supplements are defined by the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA) and include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, thousands of different botanicals ("herbs"), protein powders, hormones, etc. Other modalities, such as massage, Reiki, spiritual practices may be addressed in the future as FIAR grows and develops.
People need better information to help guide treatment choices! Many studies show that a high percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS already use many of these interventions. How do they work? Can they help to manage side effects of drug therapy? Can they slow the rate of progression? FIAR, working with the HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis communities, clinics, hospitals, practitioners and organizations around the world to design and implement clinical studies to answer some of these questions and thus help people to make better-informed treatment decisions. Negative results mean people will save money and time. Positive results may encourage coverage under insurance (like ADAP) for greater access and reduced burden of cost on our healthcare systems.
Please click here to make a donation.
PUBLICATIONS AND NEWS:
An enormous amount of material dating from 1989 has been donated to NYU's Fales Library. Please CLICK HERE for a full list of the donated material.
Our meta-analysis, or review of multiple studies, showed that a simple multi-vitamin can slow HIV disease progression among adults NOT yet on ARV by nearly 50%! This is dramatic. Of course, getting people on ARV is vital, but this simple intervention may save lives. And there is preliminary evidence that a multi can help people who are on ARV (of any age, though care must be taken with infants).Micronturients in HIV: A Bayesian Meta-Analysis in PLoS One, April 2015. Please note an important CORRECTION to this paper.
And our findings from our meta-analysis on the use of smoked cannabis in managing peripheral neuropathy: Inhaled cannabis for chronic neuropathic pain: an individual patient data meta-analysis.
We also have a meta-analysis and systematic review on the use of probiotics in HIV disease.
To avoid conflicts of interest, FIAR does not solicit funds from pharmaceutical or nutriceutical companies.
In loving memory of Lynde Francis of the Centre in Harare, Evan Ruderman, Carlton Hogan, Keith Cylar, Jeffrey Palmer,
and far too many more to list.
FIAR'S COMMUNITY/SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD (C/SAB)
For more information or to help out, or make a donation, please see our contact page.
Thanks for your interest in FIAR!
AN OVERVIEW OF FIAR
Evidence-Based Research
The treatment of HIV/AIDS has advanced considerably over the 21 years of the pandemic. However, there is no cure for HIV disease. Access to antiretroviral therapy (ARV) is severely restricted and for many, remains completely unavailable. For those who have access to ARV, there are numerous problems, most notably with the development of resistance (where the drugs are no longer effective in controlling viral load) and the development of serious, debilitating and sometimes fatal side effects. Therefore, to the extent possible, other interventions with potential value in managing HIV disease, ARV side effects and other sequelae and symptoms must be investigated where there is a reasonable basis for doing so.
The Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research (FIAR) addresses those needs. Normally, one thinks of universities, companies and government agencies of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) coordinating and conducting clinical studies. Still, many important questions that affect the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C remain unanswered. As the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR) and other organizations have filled the gap left by the NIH in the investigation of many pharmaceutical drugs along with providing information on those interventions, FIAR will endeavor to fill some of the gaps on interventions that have received less attention, even though they are in widespread use.
Specifically, these interventions are defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as dietary supplements. These include ingested substances that are not considered foods or drugs. The types of substances include vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, single or mixed amino acids, protein supplements (powders and drinks) and herbs used other than for culinary purposes.
Of course, treatment is not limited to consumed items. Other interventions include body work, acupuncture, exercise, energy work, intercession at a distance and other approaches. Where such a modality is commonly used and represents an important clinical question that must be addressed, FIAR will endeavor to raise funds and coordinate a methodologically sound clinical study.
Selecting Studies:
FIAR's selection of clinical questions to be addressed is drawn first from the infected and affected community. Such a grassroots based approach generates the questions that will help to enhance a sense of cooperation and comradeship between people living with disease and caretakers, practitioners and specialists. This aspect helps to encourage mutual respect rather than authoritarianism. On an economic level, less expensive interventions that show benefit may help to alleviate cost burdens to national healthcare systems while providing tools for arguing for the expansion of state Medicaid formularies to assure access for those who could not otherwise afford such interventions. By contrast, studies that show little benefit will also provide important information to help guide treatment choices and what are very often out-of-pocket expenses.
Assuring Identity, Potency and Purity:
Funding is also sought to test products selected for clinical evaluation. In order to make study results practically useful, it will be important to canvass commonly available products to assess their potency and purity.
For example, the amino acid N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is in widespread use by people living with HIV. The market has available many different brands. Independent clinical laboratories will be provided samples to evaluate products to establish their purity: whether it contains any common contaminants (mold, yeast, bacteria, heavy metals). Based on funding availability, a sample from two or three batches from selected companies would be evaluated. Organizaions such as ConsumerLab are also consulted.
Then the substance would be evaluated for its potency. In the case of NAC, it is a relatively simple matter to evaluate whether the one constituent is indeed the reduced form of the amino acid. Unscrupulous vendors may sell products which contain very little of the advertised substance. However, even reliable vendors may have product that has deteriorated in quality (for example, NAC tends to oxidize). An acceptable range for some oxidation will be determined.
In the case of herbs, the procedure is similar, but the difficulty in evaluating potency is somewhat enhanced. Many herbs have a "signature" of a certain compounds, identifiable by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and other assays. Others are standardized to a specific chemical (e.g., silymarin compounds in milk thistle, Silybum marianum).
Disseminating Information:
FIAR provides background information on proposed study interventions. Once clinical studies have been completed, FIAR will arrange for the statistical analysis of study results and seek to have those data published in peer-reviewed journals. Information will also be disseminated through established AIDS newsletters and as well as on the FIAR web site.
FIAR, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, does not accept pharmaceutical or nutriceutical industry funding and relies upon your generosity to continue its efforts.
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“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do” or “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.”