This past week, the person filling in for the staff member on leave for a year announced that I would be getting a call from a prospective employer for a reference check. We talked about it for a while. Great opportunity - $20,000 per year more than we at our NGO [Non Government Organization] can offer. Young, bright, ambitious, wanting to get married and have some kids. How can I object to that? How can I ruin the opportunity by not supporting them? That is just a lose-lose. No promotion and me working with an angry employee who deserves recognition and an opportunity to better fulfill life dreams! Here we go again!!
The reference check arrived right as scheduled and the formal offer for the job was made the next day! Good for them. Kind of sad for me as the working relationship was just beginning to gel more positively than before.
During the 1st week in November, I will be going to Oklahoma - a spiritual community for me; a church and seminary that I attended in the 1990s. I will lead the Sunday service there, my first ever, other than my seminary completion requirement; although I have done lots of public speaking. The Pulpit has not been my cup of tea. Two hour hell fire and brimstone diatribes during my upbringing and too much orthodoxy come to mind as possible reasons – but my experiences in Africa inspired me to offer to lead the service the only Sunday I will be there and the church leader accepted my offer. My topic is entitled: The Commandments Revisited. I will also do a session on my Africa trip as a work travelogue and description using the Internet based Picasa web album for my slide show. Then the next day, I will do a workshop-seminar on addiction entitled: Addiction: Unveiling the Tortured Soul of Humanity.
I have done a workshop in this community each year for the past 4 years and this year is a busy one with the three offerings during the week that I am there. My best friend there and one of the important the reasons I go to visit, is moving to North Carolina in part to be nearer to her daughter and grand daughter. Oh, we will see what the future brings.
Had another lovely hike last week – a great bright, sunny, cool, fall day – probably one of the last as the west coast monsoon seems poised to start on Tuesday with the predictable forecast beyond that date offering rain every day. Such is the season in Vancouver.
I am planning to go to Oaxaca Mexico for Christmas to join my Seattle brother and his wife (Remember from a long time ago I have seven brothers who live all over Canada and the US) who are studying Spanish there as of November 6 in preparation for working as English as a 2nd language teachers there soon. My NY- NJ brother will join us there. I will fly from Seattle and take Linden, my dependent niece with me. I booked the flights and paid for them on Wednesday so the die is cast! Haley, my older niece, will join from her work in Northern California as will my brother from Jersey City. That will be our third Christmas together in Mexico. Baja was first, followed by Buscerias, just north of Puerto Vallarta the second year.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
I am back - after a few months of hiking...
It has been a long time since I have updated my blog! There are lots of reasons for that, of course.
The main one is that it was summer and my priority was on the out of doors, taking advantage of the beautiful place that I live and the mountainous splendour that is at my fingertips. The pictures of this entry are from a 4 day backpacking trip in early September, 2009, that I took with 5 friends about 90 minutes from home in Garibaldi Provincial Park. We hiked in for 4 hours with our tents and our food on our backs going steadily up for an altitude gain of about 3000 feet and and a distance of9 kilometres and than made camp on the edge of glacier fed Garibaldi Lake. We got much exercise, lots of clear sunny days, gained great appetities, met interest
ing and not-so-interesting people and enjoyed the flora and fauna!In the following days we did more great hikes each going up another 2500 – 3000 feet and 10 -15 kilometres to Black Tusk and Panorama Ridge where you can see snow covered peaks at the end of summer in a 360 degree spectacle.
On the way up to Garibaldi, we encountered a medical emergency where someone had suffered a stroke on the steep climb to the lake and the campground. A helicopter ambulance was roaring above the 200 - 300 foot tall trees. There we lots of people there 'helping' and so we skirted the scene as there was nothing we could do except get in the way. Later we heard that the individual had died on the trail.
I initially thought, “How awful, going out for a hike and you never complete it! You leave on a stretcher.” But later, after some serious reflection, I changed my mind. It is a wonderful way to go to the next level. Doing what one loves, in a spectacularly glorious setting on a fresh and
bright day. We all will make a transition at some time. This one was fabulous and to be celebrated. Hiking and obviously in general good health. There was no pain and no lingering on a hospital bed for several years with cancer or COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), no declining into oblivion with the dementia that steals one’s consciousness through the travesty of Alzheimer’s disease. Just a single step into the great divide, in chosen conditions and with chosen friends. Perfect!
In August, I went to a family reunion in Michigan and also spent restful time with my NY/NJ brother, visiting friends together in Toronto and lounging around the pool in Burlington, playing with Sammy, the golden lab on 30C days, looking after our youngest brother's home while he and his family are visiting family in Italy.
Work has been interesting, to say the least. Just when I think I have many things working the way I think they ought to be, as they say - "shit happens" - and I am back at the drawing board.
I have six staff members that report to me and after 2+ years at the helm, things seemed to have stabilized for me. But let’s not get too comfortable!!!
One of the long term staff announces that he is taking a year’s leave of absence for an extra $10,000 per year and a new experience. With long term staff that is to be expected and even encouraged in order for staff to stay fresh and motivated. And in a non profit Non Government Organization [NGO], the money is always low, so people building a career, deserve every opportunity to get ahead and get some reward. In the NGO setting those opportunities and increases in ear
ning are rare, so go for it –we’ll manage. (More about the $$$ later.) 
Scrambling to make alternate arrangement ensues, is successful, and all is well......Well, maybe.
Then another staff member, working in a totally different area, has to go on long term sick leave. Totally unexpected and unavoidable. This is some one who has taken no time off for illness in a dozen years – not a malingerer or goldbricker – for sure. Scramble some more. I hire some casuals to fill in and get some fast training done before the sick leave begins. All is well again. I am giving more supervision and given more opportunities for more hands on involvement (read more hours-on, on-the-job training, guiding and just doing it!) It is fun, although busy, I enjoy it and I learn a lot at the ground level where the front line action all is!
Stay tuned! The production is laying out the next episode as I type and that will be in the next blog entry.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
500 New Friends
I got 500 new friends today!! I invited them all home with me and they are here to stay. They are the Red Wriggler Gang. I got into balcony composting sponsored by the City of Vancouver today. They support this as it means less people picking up garbage, less trucks running around looking for places to dump it all and free fertilizer, to boot. A real win-win.
I got 500 red wriggler worms - the best composters. I just feed them once a week with fruit and veggie waste; keep them from freezing and they will leave me with a bunch of red wriggler crap - er,.. the proper term is: compost. ...and they also leave me with compost tea. Both of these products are great for plants and gardens. So good, in fact, that you have to dilute the tea or it will be too strong for the plants. I hope to reduce the total of the garbage of my household to a 3" x 5" baggie per week. The red wrigglers even digest newspapers, although they will probably regurgitate any FOX News Network publications! Pretty helpful guys! eh (that's canadian for "whadya think?)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Addiction and Detox
The bottle had been opened and the genie slowly came out. The stopper had been removed from my expression of self. Emotions that had been suppressed for decades, now clamoured to be expressed and heard by more than me. And the deeper the feeling had been pushed, the louder it came out.
The triumphant freedom seeker was my anger. Anger at feeling unseen, controlled and made to feel wrong, always feeling wrong for who I am, for feeling inadequate and not good enough because of who I am. This was initially directed at my father for obvious reasons and I did some careful forgiveness work to deal with that ,… or so I thought.
The anger was still there, however, and would not be denied. It had found a voice and it spoke. I was angry at just about everyone who got in my way. People who walked on the “wrong” side of the sidewalk annoyed me. People who smoked in non designated areas, people who broke simple conventions and courtesies, people who whispered during public events – all incurred my unspoken wrath and muttering. It gave me a buzz and feeling of superiority since I did not commit those infractions – at least not where they could be seen by others!
But the greatest explosion was for those who accepted responsibility and then, in my opinion, did not live up to it. Governments ignoring the obvious problems of the poor, doing nothing about it; claiming a lack of funds when there were billions spent in propping up business and the establishment. But it came closer to home and more personal for the people I worked with. If one did not live up to their commitments, I gave them an earful, expressing my ravings almost irrationally. I became almost addicted to the high I got from it and the feelings of self righteousness that I relied on.
Then after I returned from Africa, I caught a glimpse of myself and the emoting I was doing. I started to look more closely and did not like what I saw. I worked at it and then realized that I had more unresolved 'stuff' to clear – and I did. I now know that I need to watch myself at all times that the work is never completely done. I detoxed.
I watched my self change once again. I became calmer. I see people’s efforts and limits more compassionately as I need to see my own. I became more tolerant and forgiving – all in line with doing that for myself first. Other changes happened. I have been clearing out old stuff – my desktops and computers at home and at work, accumulated papers and files, old clothing. I feel less driven. Where I am is OK and I do not need to move off to “save the world” in another venue right now. If I am to work elsewhere that will happen. In the meantime, I am much more content than I have been for a long time. I am enjoying my season.
The triumphant freedom seeker was my anger. Anger at feeling unseen, controlled and made to feel wrong, always feeling wrong for who I am, for feeling inadequate and not good enough because of who I am. This was initially directed at my father for obvious reasons and I did some careful forgiveness work to deal with that ,… or so I thought.
The anger was still there, however, and would not be denied. It had found a voice and it spoke. I was angry at just about everyone who got in my way. People who walked on the “wrong” side of the sidewalk annoyed me. People who smoked in non designated areas, people who broke simple conventions and courtesies, people who whispered during public events – all incurred my unspoken wrath and muttering. It gave me a buzz and feeling of superiority since I did not commit those infractions – at least not where they could be seen by others!
But the greatest explosion was for those who accepted responsibility and then, in my opinion, did not live up to it. Governments ignoring the obvious problems of the poor, doing nothing about it; claiming a lack of funds when there were billions spent in propping up business and the establishment. But it came closer to home and more personal for the people I worked with. If one did not live up to their commitments, I gave them an earful, expressing my ravings almost irrationally. I became almost addicted to the high I got from it and the feelings of self righteousness that I relied on.
Then after I returned from Africa, I caught a glimpse of myself and the emoting I was doing. I started to look more closely and did not like what I saw. I worked at it and then realized that I had more unresolved 'stuff' to clear – and I did. I now know that I need to watch myself at all times that the work is never completely done. I detoxed.
I watched my self change once again. I became calmer. I see people’s efforts and limits more compassionately as I need to see my own. I became more tolerant and forgiving – all in line with doing that for myself first. Other changes happened. I have been clearing out old stuff – my desktops and computers at home and at work, accumulated papers and files, old clothing. I feel less driven. Where I am is OK and I do not need to move off to “save the world” in another venue right now. If I am to work elsewhere that will happen. In the meantime, I am much more content than I have been for a long time. I am enjoying my season.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Long and Winding Road
A few years ago, I started working with a therapist due to a deep depression triggered by a serious loss in my life. After some time the depression came under control and lifted. I, however, wanted to work to relieve the underlying issues and stresses that had formed the basis for the depressive trigger exploding into a life-darkening mushroom cloud. I knew the issues were there because I had been impaired by depression at an earlier time. I found out through the effects of my therapy that I had a basic and chronic low grade depression that was with me at all times throughout my life. I did not recognize it until I was dealing with it, because I had no comparative memory of another way of being that would allow me to know that I was depressed. In other words, I did not know what living without chronic depression was. Being depressed was “my normal”.
I will not take you through the “scary” details of the work that I did with my first ever therapist in the year that followed. Suffice it to say that it was frightening at times; that I resisted it at some times, that it was exciting at most times and that it was life changing in the end.
It was life changing, because depression for me was based solidly on my perception of myself as not being OK – i.e. I had/have low self esteem. My inner work helped me to allow me to change those perceptions/beliefs about my self and will continue to be a focus for a long time to come.
I began this work years before this therapy and had invigorated my self esteem to the point that I was able to speak comfortably in front of groups. I became a reasonably effective adults educator, even enjoyed working for 15 month as a professional seminar leader. I experienced it as a great freeing up of part of my self – a liberating and jubilant experience of self discovery. And now some people claim that they cannot shut me up!
This liberation was limited, however, to areas that were reasonably impersonal and "safe", i.e. I did not expose much of the inner me – my emotions and core beliefs. My sexuality was/is the core of self disregard and needed/needs to be reconciled with my deepest beliefs about myself, some what like a realignment to run more smoothly on life’s road. This has been the work that I am now more seriously engaged in and have made great steps forward as a result.
This work, like most of life, is layered, and is accomplished by working through one level at a time. And it is not always what it seems, either internally or how it manifests in actions and reactions!
One of the big issues that came up after I started to integrate my rational knowledge of myself with my emotional and spiritual knowledge and acceptance, was the anger contained in me that has been suppressed and repressed for my whole life. I went through considerable self analysis to understand the causes of the rage I have and actively worked a conscious forgiveness process to clear it away. I did reasonably well because I was consciously very eager and ready to do the work, no matter how tough it felt or was. I felt that I finished much of this about 14 months ago and was ready to move to other things – and I did.
About three months ago, shortly after my return from Africa – trying to reintegrate myself back into my life routines in Vancouver; I reflected and, in hindsight, saw that I had let the genie out of the bottle a year earlier!
I will not take you through the “scary” details of the work that I did with my first ever therapist in the year that followed. Suffice it to say that it was frightening at times; that I resisted it at some times, that it was exciting at most times and that it was life changing in the end.
It was life changing, because depression for me was based solidly on my perception of myself as not being OK – i.e. I had/have low self esteem. My inner work helped me to allow me to change those perceptions/beliefs about my self and will continue to be a focus for a long time to come.
I began this work years before this therapy and had invigorated my self esteem to the point that I was able to speak comfortably in front of groups. I became a reasonably effective adults educator, even enjoyed working for 15 month as a professional seminar leader. I experienced it as a great freeing up of part of my self – a liberating and jubilant experience of self discovery. And now some people claim that they cannot shut me up!
This liberation was limited, however, to areas that were reasonably impersonal and "safe", i.e. I did not expose much of the inner me – my emotions and core beliefs. My sexuality was/is the core of self disregard and needed/needs to be reconciled with my deepest beliefs about myself, some what like a realignment to run more smoothly on life’s road. This has been the work that I am now more seriously engaged in and have made great steps forward as a result.
This work, like most of life, is layered, and is accomplished by working through one level at a time. And it is not always what it seems, either internally or how it manifests in actions and reactions!
One of the big issues that came up after I started to integrate my rational knowledge of myself with my emotional and spiritual knowledge and acceptance, was the anger contained in me that has been suppressed and repressed for my whole life. I went through considerable self analysis to understand the causes of the rage I have and actively worked a conscious forgiveness process to clear it away. I did reasonably well because I was consciously very eager and ready to do the work, no matter how tough it felt or was. I felt that I finished much of this about 14 months ago and was ready to move to other things – and I did.
About three months ago, shortly after my return from Africa – trying to reintegrate myself back into my life routines in Vancouver; I reflected and, in hindsight, saw that I had let the genie out of the bottle a year earlier!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Meditation is spiritual, not religious
Spiritual has to do with actual experience, not mere beliefs; with God as the Ground of Being, not a cosmic daddy figure; with awakening to one's true self, not preachy and churchy moralisms about drinking and smoking and sexing; with Spirit found in everyone's heart, not anything done in this or that church….
Meditation is spiritual; prayer is religious. That is, petitionary prayer, in which I ask God to give me a new car, help with my promotion, etc., is religious; it simply wishes to bolster the little ego in its wants and desires. Meditation, on the other hand, seeks to go beyond the ego altogether; it asks nothing from God, real or imagined, but rather offers itself up as a sacrifice toward a greater awareness.
Meditation, then, is not so much a part of this or that particular religion, but rather part of the universal spiritual culture of all of human kind – an effort to bring awareness to bear on all aspects of life. It is, in other words, part of what has been called the perennial philosophy.
Ken Wilber, Grace and Grit, 76.
Meditation is spiritual; prayer is religious. That is, petitionary prayer, in which I ask God to give me a new car, help with my promotion, etc., is religious; it simply wishes to bolster the little ego in its wants and desires. Meditation, on the other hand, seeks to go beyond the ego altogether; it asks nothing from God, real or imagined, but rather offers itself up as a sacrifice toward a greater awareness.
Meditation, then, is not so much a part of this or that particular religion, but rather part of the universal spiritual culture of all of human kind – an effort to bring awareness to bear on all aspects of life. It is, in other words, part of what has been called the perennial philosophy.
Ken Wilber, Grace and Grit, 76.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Adriaan-on-tour to expand directions
Until now, from the beginning of my blog, which started in February of 2009, I have been focused on the external aspects of my life, particularly my trip to Africa and my ongoing, abiding interests and concerns re: poverty, religion, marginalization and HIV/AIDS, to name several.
I have come to a point where I wish to add to the focus somewhat by adding some internal perspective to the previously predominant external perspectives. I am aware of changes happening to me/in me, as I continue to grow and absorb some of the (more subtle) influences in my life like the long term effects of my travels and the results of long term personal inner work and contemplation that I try to conduct on a daily basis.
I will write about some of those changes and influences that inspire me, such as the change in the expression of my great anger – which you have been exposed to on many topics in my blog – some of which I see as rightful anger and some of which is just lashing out on my part – toxic and addictive. The discussion will be expanded to include the (subtle) changes in my approach to life, by my interpretation, of course; and will include my ruminations about what I think is happening in the inner me. I will also share some dialogues that I am having with others, such as one with an American Ivy League academic about our disparate views on gun control; topics that I think are worthy or interesting enough to record and share with those of you who care to read about them.
As always, this
is my personal record – and I welcome your comments if you are inspired to make any.
So Adriaan-on-tour will continue, but the tour dimensions and journeys discussed will shift to include another realm, a realm that is different, but no less real that the one explored up to now.
Namaste.
I have come to a point where I wish to add to the focus somewhat by adding some internal perspective to the previously predominant external perspectives. I am aware of changes happening to me/in me, as I continue to grow and absorb some of the (more subtle) influences in my life like the long term effects of my travels and the results of long term personal inner work and contemplation that I try to conduct on a daily basis.
I will write about some of those changes and influences that inspire me, such as the change in the expression of my great anger – which you have been exposed to on many topics in my blog – some of which I see as rightful anger and some of which is just lashing out on my part – toxic and addictive. The discussion will be expanded to include the (subtle) changes in my approach to life, by my interpretation, of course; and will include my ruminations about what I think is happening in the inner me. I will also share some dialogues that I am having with others, such as one with an American Ivy League academic about our disparate views on gun control; topics that I think are worthy or interesting enough to record and share with those of you who care to read about them.
As always, this
is my personal record – and I welcome your comments if you are inspired to make any.So Adriaan-on-tour will continue, but the tour dimensions and journeys discussed will shift to include another realm, a realm that is different, but no less real that the one explored up to now.
Namaste.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Some hopeful possibilities in the far future
Adapted from http://www.thebody.com/
It feels like every few months, some research team or another announces the discovery of a new way to potentially eradicate HIV. So press releases such as the one below from Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI) Florida must always be taken with a grain of salt. However, this new development in the HIV treatment field appears worth getting at least a little perked up about.
The focus of this new research is a group of immune cells called "memory T cells." It's believed that these cells are harboring "latent" forms of HIV -- HIV that manages to lie dormant within the body, hidden away from HIV medications that flow through the bloodstream. If a person stops taking HIV meds, this reservoir of hidden HIV springs back into action and the virus spreads anew, the theory goes.
Enter a team of VGTI Florida and University of Montreal researchers. They believe they've actually been able to pinpoint the specific types of memory T cells in which HIV is hiding -- and, even better, they think they've figured out how those HIV-infected memory T cells stay alive. Armed with this information, they hope they can develop a new type of HIV treatment that attacks HIV-infected memory T cells at the same time that existing HIV meds attack other HIV-infected cells. "We believe that by attacking the disease in these distinct two ways at once for an extended period of time, we can eliminate the reservoirs of HIV that currently persist within the human body, leaving an individual disease-free," says Rafick-Pierre Sékaly, Ph.D., the scientific director of VGTI Florida and former researcher at the University of Montreal.
Pretty dramatic words, no? Whether this is truly something to get excited about remains to be seen: The researchers need to test their theory in animal studies before they can even begin to see whether this approach will work in humans. But it's another sign of slow progress in a field that has long felt stagnant, and hopefully each new tidbit we learn about how HIV works will indeed bring us closer to the day we can find a cure.
You can read the full press release from VGTI Florida here:
VGTI Florida, University of Montreal Researchers Uncover Approach for Possibly Eradicating HIV Infection
From VGTI Florida
St. Lucie, FL -- Researchers from the newly-established VGTI Florida and the University of Montreal have uncovered a possible method for eradicating HIV infection in the human body. The researchers have also revealed new information which demonstrates how HIV persists in the body -- even in patients receiving drug treatments -- and how the virus continues to replicate itself in individuals undergoing treatment.
Medical advancements in the past 20 years have significantly increased the survival rates of AIDS patients. In fact, approximately 90 percent of patients infected with AIDS can survive with the disease as long as they are treated with a complex series of antiretroviral drugs.
"Current medications allow us to control HIV and limit its progression in most cases. However, the medications do not eradicate the disease. Instead, the disease persists within the body -- much like water in a reservoir - and is never fully destroyed. We believe our latest research may help scientists and physicians overcome this hurdle."
The research team was able to identify a possible new way of attacking HIV by first identifying the specific cells where HIV infection persists in patients currently undergoing treatment.
They found that the disease is able to survive within two subsets of memory T-cells. Memory T-cells are a portion of the body's immune system and have the ability to learn, detect and attack certain types of infectious diseases. By infecting cells within the body's own immune system, HIV is able to avoid antiviral treatments that are effective in stopping HIV in other cell types in the body. In-effect, HIV uses the body's own defense system as a hideout.
The research team was also successful in identifying how these HIV-infected memory T-cells replenish themselves. When populating T-cells, HIV does not replicate itself as it does in other cell types on the body. Instead, HIV persists in memory T-cells through cell division -- a finding that holds significant implications for possibly stopping the disease.
"Based on this research, we believe one possible method for eliminating HIV in the body is to use a combined approach," said Dr. Sékaly. "We propose the use of medications that target viral replication of HIV throughout the body, in combination with drugs that prevent infected memory T-cells from dividing. We believe that we can eliminate the reservoirs of HIV that currently persist within the human body, leaving an individual disease-free. While this is a preliminary finding, we are hopeful that this research discovery will guide us in eradicating HIV infection in the body."
It feels like every few months, some research team or another announces the discovery of a new way to potentially eradicate HIV. So press releases such as the one below from Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI) Florida must always be taken with a grain of salt. However, this new development in the HIV treatment field appears worth getting at least a little perked up about.
The focus of this new research is a group of immune cells called "memory T cells." It's believed that these cells are harboring "latent" forms of HIV -- HIV that manages to lie dormant within the body, hidden away from HIV medications that flow through the bloodstream. If a person stops taking HIV meds, this reservoir of hidden HIV springs back into action and the virus spreads anew, the theory goes.
Enter a team of VGTI Florida and University of Montreal researchers. They believe they've actually been able to pinpoint the specific types of memory T cells in which HIV is hiding -- and, even better, they think they've figured out how those HIV-infected memory T cells stay alive. Armed with this information, they hope they can develop a new type of HIV treatment that attacks HIV-infected memory T cells at the same time that existing HIV meds attack other HIV-infected cells. "We believe that by attacking the disease in these distinct two ways at once for an extended period of time, we can eliminate the reservoirs of HIV that currently persist within the human body, leaving an individual disease-free," says Rafick-Pierre Sékaly, Ph.D., the scientific director of VGTI Florida and former researcher at the University of Montreal.
Pretty dramatic words, no? Whether this is truly something to get excited about remains to be seen: The researchers need to test their theory in animal studies before they can even begin to see whether this approach will work in humans. But it's another sign of slow progress in a field that has long felt stagnant, and hopefully each new tidbit we learn about how HIV works will indeed bring us closer to the day we can find a cure.
You can read the full press release from VGTI Florida here:
VGTI Florida, University of Montreal Researchers Uncover Approach for Possibly Eradicating HIV Infection
From VGTI Florida
St. Lucie, FL -- Researchers from the newly-established VGTI Florida and the University of Montreal have uncovered a possible method for eradicating HIV infection in the human body. The researchers have also revealed new information which demonstrates how HIV persists in the body -- even in patients receiving drug treatments -- and how the virus continues to replicate itself in individuals undergoing treatment.
Medical advancements in the past 20 years have significantly increased the survival rates of AIDS patients. In fact, approximately 90 percent of patients infected with AIDS can survive with the disease as long as they are treated with a complex series of antiretroviral drugs.
"Current medications allow us to control HIV and limit its progression in most cases. However, the medications do not eradicate the disease. Instead, the disease persists within the body -- much like water in a reservoir - and is never fully destroyed. We believe our latest research may help scientists and physicians overcome this hurdle."
The research team was able to identify a possible new way of attacking HIV by first identifying the specific cells where HIV infection persists in patients currently undergoing treatment.
They found that the disease is able to survive within two subsets of memory T-cells. Memory T-cells are a portion of the body's immune system and have the ability to learn, detect and attack certain types of infectious diseases. By infecting cells within the body's own immune system, HIV is able to avoid antiviral treatments that are effective in stopping HIV in other cell types in the body. In-effect, HIV uses the body's own defense system as a hideout.
The research team was also successful in identifying how these HIV-infected memory T-cells replenish themselves. When populating T-cells, HIV does not replicate itself as it does in other cell types on the body. Instead, HIV persists in memory T-cells through cell division -- a finding that holds significant implications for possibly stopping the disease.
"Based on this research, we believe one possible method for eliminating HIV in the body is to use a combined approach," said Dr. Sékaly. "We propose the use of medications that target viral replication of HIV throughout the body, in combination with drugs that prevent infected memory T-cells from dividing. We believe that we can eliminate the reservoirs of HIV that currently persist within the human body, leaving an individual disease-free. While this is a preliminary finding, we are hopeful that this research discovery will guide us in eradicating HIV infection in the body."
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
HIV and Aging - June 24, 2009
Over the past few years there has been more attention paid to the possibility of aging and being HIV+ at the same time. That was originally seen as a non-sequitor since the diagnosis of infection with HIV was equated with a considerably shortened life span. In the last ten years of Anti Retroviral Therapy [ART], that truism has changed and people with HIV keeping a “healthy” lifestyle and being on ART are advised that they can live pretty much a “normal” lifespan.
Of course, this is our first go round at this disease and as conditions change and people are living longer; new information is constantly being discovered, keeping the need for an open mind about this disease and its accepted truths as paramount.
Concepts and details about longevity are no exception.
Now we go to observe longevity at a cellular level, at the T-cell or immune cell level, to be exact.
Every cell contains a tiny cellular clock called a telomere, which shortens each time the cell splits in two. Located at the end of the cell’s chromosome, the telomere limits the number of times a cell can divide. Immune cells that fight HIV are under constant strain to divide in order to continue performing their protective functions. This massive amount of division shortens these cells’ telomeres prematurely, explains Dr. Rita Effros, Plott Chair in Gerontology, David Geffin School of Medicine at UCLA. So the telomeres of a 40-year-old person infected with HIV resemble those of a healthy 90-year-old person.
In common parlance, immune cells that battle HIV must constantly divide in order to continue performing their protective functions. The massive amount of division required to defend against the constant invasion of HIV cells prematurely shortens these cells' ends, or telomeres; ultimately exhausting the immune system. So the immune system of a person with HIV is rendered prematurely old, something that has been intuitively suspected but has never confirmed scientifically until now.
The good news is that this process of CD4 and CD8 [immune cells] senescence was originally found to be slowed down by invasive genetic work. But now, though the use of TAT2, a naturally occurring substance in the Chinese herb, astrulagus; the same positive result can be achieved. This work is still in early phases but offers hope for a natural therapy, different in impact from the many current HIV medicines and their often toxic side effects
Dr. Effros currently is examining the role of exercise, nutrition and caloric intake on the immune system's ability to function effectively. All are seen to impact this process a great deal, as does smoking cigarettes; emphasizing yet again the importance of considered daily health and lifestyle choices for us all.
Of course, this is our first go round at this disease and as conditions change and people are living longer; new information is constantly being discovered, keeping the need for an open mind about this disease and its accepted truths as paramount.
Concepts and details about longevity are no exception.
Now we go to observe longevity at a cellular level, at the T-cell or immune cell level, to be exact.
Every cell contains a tiny cellular clock called a telomere, which shortens each time the cell splits in two. Located at the end of the cell’s chromosome, the telomere limits the number of times a cell can divide. Immune cells that fight HIV are under constant strain to divide in order to continue performing their protective functions. This massive amount of division shortens these cells’ telomeres prematurely, explains Dr. Rita Effros, Plott Chair in Gerontology, David Geffin School of Medicine at UCLA. So the telomeres of a 40-year-old person infected with HIV resemble those of a healthy 90-year-old person.
In common parlance, immune cells that battle HIV must constantly divide in order to continue performing their protective functions. The massive amount of division required to defend against the constant invasion of HIV cells prematurely shortens these cells' ends, or telomeres; ultimately exhausting the immune system. So the immune system of a person with HIV is rendered prematurely old, something that has been intuitively suspected but has never confirmed scientifically until now.
The good news is that this process of CD4 and CD8 [immune cells] senescence was originally found to be slowed down by invasive genetic work. But now, though the use of TAT2, a naturally occurring substance in the Chinese herb, astrulagus; the same positive result can be achieved. This work is still in early phases but offers hope for a natural therapy, different in impact from the many current HIV medicines and their often toxic side effects
Dr. Effros currently is examining the role of exercise, nutrition and caloric intake on the immune system's ability to function effectively. All are seen to impact this process a great deal, as does smoking cigarettes; emphasizing yet again the importance of considered daily health and lifestyle choices for us all.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Canadian Public Health Association 2009 Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 6 – 10, 2009
I attended the Canadian Public Health Association 2009 Conference [ a fifteen minute walk from the Manitoba Legislature] motivated by my belief that HIV /AIDS information and issues, including the related Social Determinants of Health [ such as housing, poverty, addiction and mental illness, all of which feature greatly in other diseases such as Hepatitis C, tuberculosis, diabetes and N1H1 to mention a few] would benefit from a broader discussion. Another reason I had was to find out what the range of the discussion on HIV is in the broader community.
In brief, there is little awareness or discussion. There were 260 plenaries and presentations / discussions at this large conference. Of these, only two had “HIV” in the title. On a related note, which Hepatitis C also related to the ‘poverty’ determinants of health, garnered little more attention.
I raised questions and ethics issues in one plenary and in all the presentations that I attended. I was heard and hope that the ideas stick in the brains of a few listeners.
To be fair, it is a public health conference and issues affecting the public at large such as: child health and development, chronic disease , First Nations, health inequalities and inequities, infectious disease, mental health and illness; dominated especially H1N1 which was in the news the week of the conference due to a large outbreak on several First Nations reserves in Northern Manitoba. In addition issues like urban/rural service disparities and integration between municipal, provincial and federal health services and jurisdictions. However, in my opinion, several topic areas begged fro the inclusion of HIV such as chronic disease, First Nations, health inequalities and inequities, infectious disease, and mental health and illness. Even in the presentations that focused on First Nations, HIV was not significantly present.
HIV – the disease of the marginalized, the modern day lepers, is marginalized. What is not acknowledged or seen, must not exist
In brief, there is little awareness or discussion. There were 260 plenaries and presentations / discussions at this large conference. Of these, only two had “HIV” in the title. On a related note, which Hepatitis C also related to the ‘poverty’ determinants of health, garnered little more attention.
I raised questions and ethics issues in one plenary and in all the presentations that I attended. I was heard and hope that the ideas stick in the brains of a few listeners.
To be fair, it is a public health conference and issues affecting the public at large such as: child health and development, chronic disease , First Nations, health inequalities and inequities, infectious disease, mental health and illness; dominated especially H1N1 which was in the news the week of the conference due to a large outbreak on several First Nations reserves in Northern Manitoba. In addition issues like urban/rural service disparities and integration between municipal, provincial and federal health services and jurisdictions. However, in my opinion, several topic areas begged fro the inclusion of HIV such as chronic disease, First Nations, health inequalities and inequities, infectious disease, and mental health and illness. Even in the presentations that focused on First Nations, HIV was not significantly present.
HIV – the disease of the marginalized, the modern day lepers, is marginalized. What is not acknowledged or seen, must not exist
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Reiki and the Roman Catholic Church - my response
Whether or not you accept Reiki as a viable, beneficial practice, is not the point in what I say here. The point is that the position that the Roman Catholic Church [RCC] has taken is based on misinformation and put forward as dogma. As well, this action deprives many of comfort and possible healing at some level.
I think it is prudent to answer the RCC statement on Reiki as was done by The International Center for Reiki Training without challenge and aggression as in the reply appearing in the previous post. The RCC is a big organization and carries a lot of influence even though its credibility is being severely stretched by its egregious statements and behaviour.
I think it is time to point out a few things and to stop pussy footing around just because the RCC is what it is. If the the RCC bishops had done their homework and research on Reiki, its origins and proven scientific benefits, they might not have made such a statement. As I show below, the RCC goes directly against scientific proof and knowledge when it chooses to.
There is no logic in their thinking on Reiki or they would ban all medical procedures and therapeutic processes that were originated by a non RCC believer. Yet, such processes and procedures are used widely without thought as to the procedure’s origins. They are also inconsistent as they do not target Therapeutic Touch which is secular in origin but also based somewhat on energy transfer concepts
In the world of HIV prevention, the pope most recently made his second statement that I am aware of, about condom use on his March, 2009, second visit to Africa. He again stated categorically that condoms do not work and allow the HIV virus to pass though the latex. I recently read a published blog (http://www.thebody.com/) letter from an 18 year high school student in the USA who alleged that she was taught the same thing in her USA RCC highschool and asked advice on how to handle this when it was clearly in opposition to oft verified science.
The RCC would rather maintain ”purity” of doctrine on contraception which as far as I know is not commanded anywhere in the Bible, instead of listening to the direct injunctions to aid the poor and the suffering. By this attempt at “doctrinal purity” it condemns people to death. In my direct and forthright world, willfully stating that while knowing death and suffering is the result is considered evil, and with the pope s level of worldwide influence, it is even more so. This issue on Reiki is another instance illustrating that the RCC will do what it wishes.
I think it is prudent to answer the RCC statement on Reiki as was done by The International Center for Reiki Training without challenge and aggression as in the reply appearing in the previous post. The RCC is a big organization and carries a lot of influence even though its credibility is being severely stretched by its egregious statements and behaviour.
I think it is time to point out a few things and to stop pussy footing around just because the RCC is what it is. If the the RCC bishops had done their homework and research on Reiki, its origins and proven scientific benefits, they might not have made such a statement. As I show below, the RCC goes directly against scientific proof and knowledge when it chooses to.
There is no logic in their thinking on Reiki or they would ban all medical procedures and therapeutic processes that were originated by a non RCC believer. Yet, such processes and procedures are used widely without thought as to the procedure’s origins. They are also inconsistent as they do not target Therapeutic Touch which is secular in origin but also based somewhat on energy transfer concepts
In the world of HIV prevention, the pope most recently made his second statement that I am aware of, about condom use on his March, 2009, second visit to Africa. He again stated categorically that condoms do not work and allow the HIV virus to pass though the latex. I recently read a published blog (http://www.thebody.com/) letter from an 18 year high school student in the USA who alleged that she was taught the same thing in her USA RCC highschool and asked advice on how to handle this when it was clearly in opposition to oft verified science.
The RCC would rather maintain ”purity” of doctrine on contraception which as far as I know is not commanded anywhere in the Bible, instead of listening to the direct injunctions to aid the poor and the suffering. By this attempt at “doctrinal purity” it condemns people to death. In my direct and forthright world, willfully stating that while knowing death and suffering is the result is considered evil, and with the pope s level of worldwide influence, it is even more so. This issue on Reiki is another instance illustrating that the RCC will do what it wishes.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Reiki and the Roman Catholic Church
Reiki [ ray-kie] teachings claim that there is an inexhaustible, universal "life force" spiritual energy that can be used to induce a healing effect. Believers say that anyone can gain access to this energy by means of an attunement process carried out by a Reiki Master.
Reiki is described by adherents as a holistic therapy which brings about healing on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels. The belief is that the energy will flow through the practitioner's hands whenever the hands are placed on, or held near a potential recipient, who can be clothed. Some teachings stress the importance of the practitioner's intention or presence in this process, while others claim that the energy is drawn by the recipient's injury to activate or enhance the natural healing processes.
It is seen by the medical community as similar to therapeutic touch and conveying similar benefits. Like therapeutic touch, it is not accepted by everyone since both prractices transcend the physical in some way.
The following is adapted from the Blog of Rev. Carol E. Parrish, PhD. Dean, Sancta Sophia Seminary, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, USA (www.caroleparrish.com)
You may or may not be aware of the stir caused by the Catholic bishops by sending out a letter condemning the use of Reiki. Reiki is called “Buddhist,” etc. and inappropriate for Christians to either give or receive.
I think we should all become aware of the facts and as individuals seeking to serve others, we need to be aware that pettiness is not the property of anyone alone, but that when we get into religiosity, splitting hairs gains emphasis.
My brief response to the behaviour and actions of the Roman Catholic Church in this and other actions will be in the next post, as this one is already too long!
An official response from the International Center for Reiki Training follows.
A Response to the Bishops’ Statement on Reiki by William Lee Rand
On March 25, 2009, U.S. Catholic bishops issued a statement advising Catholic hospitals, health care facilities, and Catholic chaplains not to support the use of Reiki sessions. The statement was issued by The Committee on Doctrine, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and titled: “Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as Alternative Therapy.”
The statement was based on research the committee had done over a period of several months involving information found on the Internet and in Reiki books. Based on these sources, they concluded that Reiki came from Buddhist texts and has a religious basis; that Reiki healing energy is directed by human thought and will; that Reiki is not validated by scientific studies and has no scientific explanation, and that Reiki is not accepted by the medical community.
When considering the value of the bishops’ statement, it’s important to note the sources they accessed. Much of their research came from information published on Internet Web sites. Overall, the Internet isn’t a good source of factual information because there is no requirement that information published there be checked or approved for accuracy. Anyone can set up a Web site and publish anything they wish. What often happens is that authors of sites copy from each other, so if inaccurate information is published on one site, it can easily spread to many sites across the Internet. If one makes use of the Internet for research, one must use a developed set of selection criteria that limits one to only the most respected and reputable Web sites. Otherwise, one runs the risk of accepting rumor and misinformation as fact.
This is especially true for Reiki Web sites. Reiki information has been riddled with inaccurate ideas from the beginning of its practice in the West. Many Reiki practitioners, teachers and authors fail to check the accuracy of the information they base their teaching and writing on, and this has had a detrimental effect on the quality of information published both on the Internet and in Reiki books.
The best information on Reiki comes from those who have researched the history and practice of Reiki professionally by conducting research in Japan, reading original documents, and interviewing members of the founding Reiki organization in Japan. If the bishops who wrote the statement on Reiki had interviewed several of these experts, they would have realized that much of the published information on Reiki is inaccurate, and they would have had accurate, verifiable information on which to base their conclusions.
Origin of Reiki
One of the stories told by Mrs. Takata about the origin of Reiki indicates that the founder, Mikao Usui discovered the secret of Reiki in Buddhist texts.1 This story has been repeated over and over in Reiki classes, on Internet Web sites and in many Reiki books. Yet we know this isn’t true. For many years, Mrs. Takata was the only source of information about Reiki for those in the West, and most practitioners accepted her statements without question. Language, cultural, and organizational barriers in Japan made research difficult for those who wanted to learn more about the origins and practice of Reiki. It wasn’t until the end of the 90’s that a few researchers were able to make breakthroughs.
Researchers, including Toshitaka Mochizuki, Hiroshi Doi and Frank Arjava Petter, made contact with the original Reiki organization, discovered Mikao Usui’s grave, translated the story of Reiki inscribed on his memorial stone, and uncovered an original document written by Mikao Usui about the nature of Reiki. These sources indicate that Mikao Usui wasn’t seeking to discover a method of healing, but that the ability to heal came to him spontaneously during a spiritual experience on a sacred mountain. Furthermore, in his Reiki Ryoho Hikkei (Reiki Healing Art Handbook), Mikao Usui states: “My Usui Reiki Ryoho (healing art) is original, never before explored, and incomparable in the world.” These facts indicate that Reiki couldn’t have come from Buddhist texts, nor could it be connected to any religion or belief system. In addition, Japanese Reiki Masters who have knowledge of Buddhism have indicated that they can find nothing from Buddhism in the practice of Reiki and that Reiki is religiously neutral.2
The Nature
of Reiki Healing
One of the first things I noticed after I took my first Reiki class and began to practice Reiki is that Reiki healing energy directs itself. I was unable to direct it with my mind or will and realized this wasn’t necessary as Reiki had its own form of guidance that was superior to my own. This experience has been verified by other professional Reiki practitioners and forms the basis of one of the important keys to using Reiki: If you want Reiki to provide the best healing experience, it’s necessary for the practitioner to set their own desire, will and ego aside, and allow the Reiki energy to guide itself.
Scientific Explanation for Reiki
There is a scientific explanation for Reiki that is based on scientific studies and factual information. This explanation has been presented as a testable hypothesis by James Oschman, Ph.D.
Dr. Oschman is a scientist with a conventional background who became interested in the practice of energy medicine. Through research, he discovered a number of important scientific studies that point to a scientific basis for energy medicine based on the laws of physics and biology. These findings are discussed in an interview, “Science and the Human Energy Field,” published in the Winter 2002 issue of Reiki News Magazine.The electrical currents that run through every part of the human body provide the basis for Dr. Oschman’s hypothesis. These currents are present in the nervous system, organs, and cells of the body. For instance, the electrical signals that trigger the heartbeat travel throughout all the tissues of the body and can be detected anywhere on the body.
Ampere’s law indicates that when an electrical current flows through a conductor, an electromagnetic field is produced that reflects the nature of the current that created it. Tests with scientific instruments indicate that electromagnetic fields exist around the body and around each of the organs of the body, including the brain, heart, kidneys, liver, stomach, etc. The heart has the strongest field, which has been measured at a distance of 15 feet from the body.
The fields around each of the organs pulse at different frequencies and stay within a specific frequency range when they are healthy, but move out of this range when they are unhealthy. The hands of healers produce pulsing electromagnetic fields when they are in the process of healing, whereas the hands of non-healer do not produce these fields. When a healer places his or her hands on or near a person in need of healing, the electromagnetic field of the healer’s hands sweeps through a range of frequencies based on the needs of the part of the body being treated. Faraday’s law indicates that one electromagnetic field can induce currents into a nearby conductor and through this process, induce a similar field around it. In this way, a healer induces a healthy electromagnetic field around an unhealthy organ, thus inducing a healthy state in the organ. A detailed explanation of this hypothesis, including descriptions of the scientific studies, diagrams, and references is presented in the interview mentioned above.
Acceptance by the Medical Community
Although Reiki is not universally accepted within the medical community, many medical professionals, hospitals, and healthcare facilities recognize its benefits and accept it as an adjunct therapy. In Holistic Nursing, A Handbook for Practice, Chapter 2 “Scope and Standards of Practice,” the American Holistic Nursing Association (AHNA) lists Reiki as an accepted form of treatment.3 In addition, according to the American Hospital Association, in 2007 Reiki was offered as a standard part of patient care in 15% or over 800 hospitals across the US.4 Doctors have recommended Reiki to their patients for amelioration of various health-related conditions. Surgeons make use of Reiki practitioners prior to, during, and following surgery. As an example, Dr. Mehmet Oz, one of the most respected cardiovascular surgeons in the US, uses Reiki during open-heart surgeries and heart transplants. According to Dr. Oz, “Reiki has become a sought-after healing art among patients and mainstream medical professionals.”5
Ethical Implications
To refuse Reiki treatment to patients that request it creates an ethical issue. According to the AHNA statement in response to the bishops’ statement, the practice of holistic nursing is not subject to regulation by the Catholic church and it would be an ethical violation for a member of the AHNA to withhold Reiki treatment from a patient who requests it; this includes those working in Catholic hospitals.
Scientific Studies
There are a number of reputable scientific studies that provide evidence that Reiki is therapeutic. These studies can be found by using one of the professional medical databases such as PubMed or Cochrane Collection.6 Studies meeting medical and scientific standards are usually published in peer-reviewed journals. There are over 20 such studies on the therapeutic value of Reiki. A review of some of these studies, “An Integrative Review of Reiki Touch Therapy Research” by Anne Vitale, Ph. D., can be found at http://www.nursingcenter.com/pdf.asp?AID=732068. While the Reiki studies conducted to date are preliminary in nature, they do provide support for additional studies.
One well-designed Reiki study is “Autonomic Nervous-System-Changes During Reiki Treatment: A Preliminary Study.”7 Forty-five subjects were assigned randomly to three groups. One group received no treatment, another received Reiki treatment by experienced Reiki practitioners, and the third group received sham treatment by a person with no Reiki training who used the same hand positions as those receiving real Reiki.
Measurements were made of heart rate, cardiac vagal tone, blood pressure, cardiac sensitivity to baroreflex, and breathing. Heart rate and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly for those receiving Reiki, but not for those receiving sham Reiki, or no treatment. This study indicates that the body does respond to Reiki energy and that this response isn’t purely psychological. It also indicates a potential therapeutic effect for Reiki.
“Reiki Improves Heart Rate Homeostasis in Laboratory Rats”8 is another valuable study. The value of using animals in this type of study is that they are not affected by belief or skepticism regarding Reiki. In addition, highly accurate telemetric implants were used to transmit the biometric data. White noise was used to increase the heart rate of three implanted laboratory rats. The rats were treated by a Reiki practitioner and by a sham Reiki practitioner prior to being exposed to white noise and after exposure. The procedure involved the practitioner directing their hands toward the caged rat at a distance of four feet. The rats that received Reiki experienced a significant reduction in heart rate, both before having their heart rates elevated by white noise and after, whereas those treated with sham Reiki did not. This is one of the most rigorous Reiki studies to date and demonstrates that Reiki reduces the heart rate in both stressed and unstressed animals and promotes homeostasis, both of which promote healthy heart function.
Reiki is practiced by followers of many religious traditions. Although some practitioners integrate Reiki into their existing religious beliefs, Reiki is not a religion, doctrine, or dogma. Reiki is grounded in the principle of compassionate action, which is common to all religious traditions. While each religion has the right to create its own rules, it’s within the nature of human dignity and free will for each person to decide which path to follow and what activities are appropriate for them.
1 Paul David Mitchell, The Blue Book, revised edition for The Reiki Alliance (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho: 1985), page 13.
2 Personal communication with Japanese Reiki practitioners Hiroshi Doi and Hyakuten Inamoto.
3 page 56.
4 http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-14-alternative-therapies_N.htm and http://www.reikiinhospitals.org/
5 http://healthcare-research.suite101.com/article.cfm/reiki_in_hospitals
6 http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/ PubMed is the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. http://www.lib.umb.edu/node/1353 The Cochrane Collection provides access to a collection of databases, which focus on the effects of health care and evidence based medical practice.
7 Nicole Makay, M.Sc., Stig Hansen, Ph.D., and Oona McFarlane, M.A., The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Volume 10, Number 6, 2004, pp. 1077–1081. This study is also discussed in “The Science of Reiki” by Nicole Mackay, Reiki News Magazine (Summer 2005).
8 Ann Linda Baldwin, Ph.D, Christina Wagers, and Gary E. Schwartz, Ph.D., The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Volume 14, Number 4, 2008, pp. 417–422.William Lee Rand is president of the International Center for Reiki Training and executive editor of the Reiki News Magazine. He has studied with five Reiki teachers, including two from Japan, and has made three trips to Japan to research the history and nature of Reiki. Rand has practiced Reiki since 1981 and has taught full time for 20 years.
Reiki is described by adherents as a holistic therapy which brings about healing on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels. The belief is that the energy will flow through the practitioner's hands whenever the hands are placed on, or held near a potential recipient, who can be clothed. Some teachings stress the importance of the practitioner's intention or presence in this process, while others claim that the energy is drawn by the recipient's injury to activate or enhance the natural healing processes.
It is seen by the medical community as similar to therapeutic touch and conveying similar benefits. Like therapeutic touch, it is not accepted by everyone since both prractices transcend the physical in some way.
The following is adapted from the Blog of Rev. Carol E. Parrish, PhD. Dean, Sancta Sophia Seminary, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, USA (www.caroleparrish.com)
You may or may not be aware of the stir caused by the Catholic bishops by sending out a letter condemning the use of Reiki. Reiki is called “Buddhist,” etc. and inappropriate for Christians to either give or receive.
I think we should all become aware of the facts and as individuals seeking to serve others, we need to be aware that pettiness is not the property of anyone alone, but that when we get into religiosity, splitting hairs gains emphasis.
My brief response to the behaviour and actions of the Roman Catholic Church in this and other actions will be in the next post, as this one is already too long!
An official response from the International Center for Reiki Training follows.
A Response to the Bishops’ Statement on Reiki by William Lee Rand
On March 25, 2009, U.S. Catholic bishops issued a statement advising Catholic hospitals, health care facilities, and Catholic chaplains not to support the use of Reiki sessions. The statement was issued by The Committee on Doctrine, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and titled: “Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as Alternative Therapy.”
The statement was based on research the committee had done over a period of several months involving information found on the Internet and in Reiki books. Based on these sources, they concluded that Reiki came from Buddhist texts and has a religious basis; that Reiki healing energy is directed by human thought and will; that Reiki is not validated by scientific studies and has no scientific explanation, and that Reiki is not accepted by the medical community.
When considering the value of the bishops’ statement, it’s important to note the sources they accessed. Much of their research came from information published on Internet Web sites. Overall, the Internet isn’t a good source of factual information because there is no requirement that information published there be checked or approved for accuracy. Anyone can set up a Web site and publish anything they wish. What often happens is that authors of sites copy from each other, so if inaccurate information is published on one site, it can easily spread to many sites across the Internet. If one makes use of the Internet for research, one must use a developed set of selection criteria that limits one to only the most respected and reputable Web sites. Otherwise, one runs the risk of accepting rumor and misinformation as fact.
This is especially true for Reiki Web sites. Reiki information has been riddled with inaccurate ideas from the beginning of its practice in the West. Many Reiki practitioners, teachers and authors fail to check the accuracy of the information they base their teaching and writing on, and this has had a detrimental effect on the quality of information published both on the Internet and in Reiki books.
The best information on Reiki comes from those who have researched the history and practice of Reiki professionally by conducting research in Japan, reading original documents, and interviewing members of the founding Reiki organization in Japan. If the bishops who wrote the statement on Reiki had interviewed several of these experts, they would have realized that much of the published information on Reiki is inaccurate, and they would have had accurate, verifiable information on which to base their conclusions.
Origin of Reiki
One of the stories told by Mrs. Takata about the origin of Reiki indicates that the founder, Mikao Usui discovered the secret of Reiki in Buddhist texts.1 This story has been repeated over and over in Reiki classes, on Internet Web sites and in many Reiki books. Yet we know this isn’t true. For many years, Mrs. Takata was the only source of information about Reiki for those in the West, and most practitioners accepted her statements without question. Language, cultural, and organizational barriers in Japan made research difficult for those who wanted to learn more about the origins and practice of Reiki. It wasn’t until the end of the 90’s that a few researchers were able to make breakthroughs.
Researchers, including Toshitaka Mochizuki, Hiroshi Doi and Frank Arjava Petter, made contact with the original Reiki organization, discovered Mikao Usui’s grave, translated the story of Reiki inscribed on his memorial stone, and uncovered an original document written by Mikao Usui about the nature of Reiki. These sources indicate that Mikao Usui wasn’t seeking to discover a method of healing, but that the ability to heal came to him spontaneously during a spiritual experience on a sacred mountain. Furthermore, in his Reiki Ryoho Hikkei (Reiki Healing Art Handbook), Mikao Usui states: “My Usui Reiki Ryoho (healing art) is original, never before explored, and incomparable in the world.” These facts indicate that Reiki couldn’t have come from Buddhist texts, nor could it be connected to any religion or belief system. In addition, Japanese Reiki Masters who have knowledge of Buddhism have indicated that they can find nothing from Buddhism in the practice of Reiki and that Reiki is religiously neutral.2
The Nature
of Reiki HealingOne of the first things I noticed after I took my first Reiki class and began to practice Reiki is that Reiki healing energy directs itself. I was unable to direct it with my mind or will and realized this wasn’t necessary as Reiki had its own form of guidance that was superior to my own. This experience has been verified by other professional Reiki practitioners and forms the basis of one of the important keys to using Reiki: If you want Reiki to provide the best healing experience, it’s necessary for the practitioner to set their own desire, will and ego aside, and allow the Reiki energy to guide itself.
Scientific Explanation for Reiki
There is a scientific explanation for Reiki that is based on scientific studies and factual information. This explanation has been presented as a testable hypothesis by James Oschman, Ph.D.
Dr. Oschman is a scientist with a conventional background who became interested in the practice of energy medicine. Through research, he discovered a number of important scientific studies that point to a scientific basis for energy medicine based on the laws of physics and biology. These findings are discussed in an interview, “Science and the Human Energy Field,” published in the Winter 2002 issue of Reiki News Magazine.The electrical currents that run through every part of the human body provide the basis for Dr. Oschman’s hypothesis. These currents are present in the nervous system, organs, and cells of the body. For instance, the electrical signals that trigger the heartbeat travel throughout all the tissues of the body and can be detected anywhere on the body.
Ampere’s law indicates that when an electrical current flows through a conductor, an electromagnetic field is produced that reflects the nature of the current that created it. Tests with scientific instruments indicate that electromagnetic fields exist around the body and around each of the organs of the body, including the brain, heart, kidneys, liver, stomach, etc. The heart has the strongest field, which has been measured at a distance of 15 feet from the body.
The fields around each of the organs pulse at different frequencies and stay within a specific frequency range when they are healthy, but move out of this range when they are unhealthy. The hands of healers produce pulsing electromagnetic fields when they are in the process of healing, whereas the hands of non-healer do not produce these fields. When a healer places his or her hands on or near a person in need of healing, the electromagnetic field of the healer’s hands sweeps through a range of frequencies based on the needs of the part of the body being treated. Faraday’s law indicates that one electromagnetic field can induce currents into a nearby conductor and through this process, induce a similar field around it. In this way, a healer induces a healthy electromagnetic field around an unhealthy organ, thus inducing a healthy state in the organ. A detailed explanation of this hypothesis, including descriptions of the scientific studies, diagrams, and references is presented in the interview mentioned above.
Acceptance by the Medical Community
Although Reiki is not universally accepted within the medical community, many medical professionals, hospitals, and healthcare facilities recognize its benefits and accept it as an adjunct therapy. In Holistic Nursing, A Handbook for Practice, Chapter 2 “Scope and Standards of Practice,” the American Holistic Nursing Association (AHNA) lists Reiki as an accepted form of treatment.3 In addition, according to the American Hospital Association, in 2007 Reiki was offered as a standard part of patient care in 15% or over 800 hospitals across the US.4 Doctors have recommended Reiki to their patients for amelioration of various health-related conditions. Surgeons make use of Reiki practitioners prior to, during, and following surgery. As an example, Dr. Mehmet Oz, one of the most respected cardiovascular surgeons in the US, uses Reiki during open-heart surgeries and heart transplants. According to Dr. Oz, “Reiki has become a sought-after healing art among patients and mainstream medical professionals.”5
Ethical Implications
To refuse Reiki treatment to patients that request it creates an ethical issue. According to the AHNA statement in response to the bishops’ statement, the practice of holistic nursing is not subject to regulation by the Catholic church and it would be an ethical violation for a member of the AHNA to withhold Reiki treatment from a patient who requests it; this includes those working in Catholic hospitals.
Scientific Studies
There are a number of reputable scientific studies that provide evidence that Reiki is therapeutic. These studies can be found by using one of the professional medical databases such as PubMed or Cochrane Collection.6 Studies meeting medical and scientific standards are usually published in peer-reviewed journals. There are over 20 such studies on the therapeutic value of Reiki. A review of some of these studies, “An Integrative Review of Reiki Touch Therapy Research” by Anne Vitale, Ph. D., can be found at http://www.nursingcenter.com/pdf.asp?AID=732068. While the Reiki studies conducted to date are preliminary in nature, they do provide support for additional studies.
One well-designed Reiki study is “Autonomic Nervous-System-Changes During Reiki Treatment: A Preliminary Study.”7 Forty-five subjects were assigned randomly to three groups. One group received no treatment, another received Reiki treatment by experienced Reiki practitioners, and the third group received sham treatment by a person with no Reiki training who used the same hand positions as those receiving real Reiki.
Measurements were made of heart rate, cardiac vagal tone, blood pressure, cardiac sensitivity to baroreflex, and breathing. Heart rate and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly for those receiving Reiki, but not for those receiving sham Reiki, or no treatment. This study indicates that the body does respond to Reiki energy and that this response isn’t purely psychological. It also indicates a potential therapeutic effect for Reiki.
“Reiki Improves Heart Rate Homeostasis in Laboratory Rats”8 is another valuable study. The value of using animals in this type of study is that they are not affected by belief or skepticism regarding Reiki. In addition, highly accurate telemetric implants were used to transmit the biometric data. White noise was used to increase the heart rate of three implanted laboratory rats. The rats were treated by a Reiki practitioner and by a sham Reiki practitioner prior to being exposed to white noise and after exposure. The procedure involved the practitioner directing their hands toward the caged rat at a distance of four feet. The rats that received Reiki experienced a significant reduction in heart rate, both before having their heart rates elevated by white noise and after, whereas those treated with sham Reiki did not. This is one of the most rigorous Reiki studies to date and demonstrates that Reiki reduces the heart rate in both stressed and unstressed animals and promotes homeostasis, both of which promote healthy heart function.
Reiki is practiced by followers of many religious traditions. Although some practitioners integrate Reiki into their existing religious beliefs, Reiki is not a religion, doctrine, or dogma. Reiki is grounded in the principle of compassionate action, which is common to all religious traditions. While each religion has the right to create its own rules, it’s within the nature of human dignity and free will for each person to decide which path to follow and what activities are appropriate for them.
1 Paul David Mitchell, The Blue Book, revised edition for The Reiki Alliance (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho: 1985), page 13.
2 Personal communication with Japanese Reiki practitioners Hiroshi Doi and Hyakuten Inamoto.
3 page 56.
4 http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-14-alternative-therapies_N.htm and http://www.reikiinhospitals.org/
5 http://healthcare-research.suite101.com/article.cfm/reiki_in_hospitals
6 http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/ PubMed is the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. http://www.lib.umb.edu/node/1353 The Cochrane Collection provides access to a collection of databases, which focus on the effects of health care and evidence based medical practice.
7 Nicole Makay, M.Sc., Stig Hansen, Ph.D., and Oona McFarlane, M.A., The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Volume 10, Number 6, 2004, pp. 1077–1081. This study is also discussed in “The Science of Reiki” by Nicole Mackay, Reiki News Magazine (Summer 2005).
8 Ann Linda Baldwin, Ph.D, Christina Wagers, and Gary E. Schwartz, Ph.D., The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Volume 14, Number 4, 2008, pp. 417–422.William Lee Rand is president of the International Center for Reiki Training and executive editor of the Reiki News Magazine. He has studied with five Reiki teachers, including two from Japan, and has made three trips to Japan to research the history and nature of Reiki. Rand has practiced Reiki since 1981 and has taught full time for 20 years.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Celebration
The pictures in this post are from my favourite local walk every May and early June. 
On approaching the area, I can smell the heady aroma of the flowers and soil from half a kilometre away and then as I draw near, the riot of colours feeds in visual delight: the azaleas, rhododendrons, hanky tree, bluebells, lilacs, buttercups, lily of the valley, hosta of many kinds, tulip tree, Chilean rhubarb and others that I do not know.
I am posting them today when my Mother would have turned 97. She made her transition November 30, 2007. She loved walking and never stopped being awed by the beauty all around her. She would take it all in and say, full of wonder; ”It’s so beautifu
l.” Here’s to you, Mom.
On approaching the area, I can smell the heady aroma of the flowers and soil from half a kilometre away and then as I draw near, the riot of colours feeds in visual delight: the azaleas, rhododendrons, hanky tree, bluebells, lilacs, buttercups, lily of the valley, hosta of many kinds, tulip tree, Chilean rhubarb and others that I do not know.
I am posting them today when my Mother would have turned 97. She made her transition November 30, 2007. She loved walking and never stopped being awed by the beauty all around her. She would take it all in and say, full of wonder; ”It’s so beautifu
l.” Here’s to you, Mom. 
Medicins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders
Yesterday, I was fortunate to be at a pre-conference session of the Quality of End of Life Care Coalition that featured a former president of Medicins Sans Frontieres é Doctors without Borders; Dr. James Orbinski. He was President of the International Council of Médecins Sans Frontières at the time the organization received the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. James Orbinski also is the co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of Dignitas International, a medical humanitarian organization working with communities to dramatically increase access to life-saving treatment and prevention in areas overwhelmed by HIV/AIDS. He is an Associ
ate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto.
He had many interesting stories from his work over the years in Africa, specifically Rwanda during the genocide of 1994 and Malawi over many years working in the area of HIV.
He talked about a world of 6.8 billion people where 3.8 billion people live on $US2 per day or less. And it is now being upset even more as we experience crises of finance, fuel, food, and climate. He talked about the hallmark of equality being that people in similar situations are being treated similarly and how much we need to do to achieve that
He talked about Malawi, a country where the life expectancy is 36 compared with ours approaching 80 – more than two times as high. As we experience in Canada, HIV is moving to being a chronic but treatable disease but Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) is required to achieve that. But drugs are not made available to 95% 0f those who need them in the world – mostly very poor and in the developing world. Pharmaceutical companies and governments blatantly pursue patent rights over lives! In 2000, ART for a year for one person in Africa cost $US15,000. Remember people are living on about $US2 per day or $US730 per year.
Doctors Without Borders set out to manufacture generics because in their evidence based policy analysis, it was the only thing they could do. They were warned by the best that it could not be done, but with help form the world's best scientists and technicians they did it and brought down the price of ART in some of Africa to $US100 per year – still a big chunk out of $US730, but not 21 times more than $US 730. In 1999, 20,000 people in Africa were on ART and now there are 5,000,000 on i t.
Malawi, with a population of about 12,000,000, has 100 doctors or one doctor for 120,000 people – quite typical for much of Africa. Ontario, on the other hand has 12,945,000 people and according to the website of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, it has 23,266 doctors or one for every 557 people. Young people have to be sent to Europe and the West to be trained in medicine and 80% stay in the country where they studied. As Orbinski wryly noted, "You cannot take Ibo or Mpho to Paris to live and expect them to return to the poor farm in a scorched part of Africa." Now Doctors Without Borders is setting up teaching partnerships with western institutions like the University of Toronto and the BC Centre of Excellence in HIV with local Africans schools to do medical training there and hopefully keep more of the new doctors where they originally intended to be!
When I left Botswana, the organization where I worked had to cut almost a third of its staff due to the world financial crisis creating a big reduction in financial aid. A friend of mine had worked on building a school in Mali in 2008 and it now sits half completed for the past year for the same reasons. Equality is still a long way away – but some are working on it!
ate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto.He had many interesting stories from his work over the years in Africa, specifically Rwanda during the genocide of 1994 and Malawi over many years working in the area of HIV.
He talked about a world of 6.8 billion people where 3.8 billion people live on $US2 per day or less. And it is now being upset even more as we experience crises of finance, fuel, food, and climate. He talked about the hallmark of equality being that people in similar situations are being treated similarly and how much we need to do to achieve that
He talked about Malawi, a country where the life expectancy is 36 compared with ours approaching 80 – more than two times as high. As we experience in Canada, HIV is moving to being a chronic but treatable disease but Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) is required to achieve that. But drugs are not made available to 95% 0f those who need them in the world – mostly very poor and in the developing world. Pharmaceutical companies and governments blatantly pursue patent rights over lives! In 2000, ART for a year for one person in Africa cost $US15,000. Remember people are living on about $US2 per day or $US730 per year.
Doctors Without Borders set out to manufacture generics because in their evidence based policy analysis, it was the only thing they could do. They were warned by the best that it could not be done, but with help form the world's best scientists and technicians they did it and brought down the price of ART in some of Africa to $US100 per year – still a big chunk out of $US730, but not 21 times more than $US 730. In 1999, 20,000 people in Africa were on ART and now there are 5,000,000 on i t.
Malawi, with a population of about 12,000,000, has 100 doctors or one doctor for 120,000 people – quite typical for much of Africa. Ontario, on the other hand has 12,945,000 people and according to the website of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, it has 23,266 doctors or one for every 557 people. Young people have to be sent to Europe and the West to be trained in medicine and 80% stay in the country where they studied. As Orbinski wryly noted, "You cannot take Ibo or Mpho to Paris to live and expect them to return to the poor farm in a scorched part of Africa." Now Doctors Without Borders is setting up teaching partnerships with western institutions like the University of Toronto and the BC Centre of Excellence in HIV with local Africans schools to do medical training there and hopefully keep more of the new doctors where they originally intended to be!
When I left Botswana, the organization where I worked had to cut almost a third of its staff due to the world financial crisis creating a big reduction in financial aid. A friend of mine had worked on building a school in Mali in 2008 and it now sits half completed for the past year for the same reasons. Equality is still a long way away – but some are working on it!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
HIV and Education
In the past decade or more, the level and quality of HIV education in the public school system in Canada has declined considerably. A study that tracked high school students’ knowledge of HIV and compared it to knowledge levels ten years earlier, came out 2 years ago. It found a very significant decline in those HIV knowledge levels. Recently students in 7th, 9th and 11th grades believed either that there is a cure for HIV or that HIVis a chronic manageable disease not to be too concerned about. Little was know about transmission, risk factors and what it actually is.
On the other hand, as noted in an earlier post, authorities in Kenya, wanting to break the cycle of ignorance about HIV and its taboo status in that country, decided that getting the relevant information to the young people was a top priority. They embarked on an ambitious progra
ms over 7 - 9 years of training certified HIV instructors in every one of the more than 18,000 primary and secondary schools in the country. They achieved that and did so trying to allow for as much local delivery and decision making around the process as possible. A commendable and difficult goal that was achieved with the help of Dr Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Social Justice and Sexual Health, at the University of Windsor and other NGO assistance. Dr. Maticka-Tyndale reported on this effort.
A recent evaluation of the project reported in a current HIV journal. It noted some problems in achieving the intended outcomes, and of course they largely have to do with peoples’ preconceived notions and fears.
The first big issue is the reluctance and inhibition of many of the teachers to discuss sexuality with the students even when the students indicate that they want to do so. This is based on the perception and fear of being seen to condone teen sex, pre-marital sex etc. The second issue is not that different and throws religion and morality into the mix. This is based on perceived pressure from parents expressing disapproval about talking about having sex outside the bounds of marriage and the “sinfulness” of all sexual expression that entails. The morality states that sex should not be a part of unmarried students lives and any sexual expression outside of marriage is sin!
And so open, informed and honest talk about HIV, HIV education and prevention gets compromised, if it happens at all
The situation in Canada and Kenya and many places in between, occurs in spite of the fact that on May 7, 2009. UNICEF warned that too many young people are unaware of the risks of HIV.
On the other hand, as noted in an earlier post, authorities in Kenya, wanting to break the cycle of ignorance about HIV and its taboo status in that country, decided that getting the relevant information to the young people was a top priority. They embarked on an ambitious progra
ms over 7 - 9 years of training certified HIV instructors in every one of the more than 18,000 primary and secondary schools in the country. They achieved that and did so trying to allow for as much local delivery and decision making around the process as possible. A commendable and difficult goal that was achieved with the help of Dr Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Social Justice and Sexual Health, at the University of Windsor and other NGO assistance. Dr. Maticka-Tyndale reported on this effort.A recent evaluation of the project reported in a current HIV journal. It noted some problems in achieving the intended outcomes, and of course they largely have to do with peoples’ preconceived notions and fears.
The first big issue is the reluctance and inhibition of many of the teachers to discuss sexuality with the students even when the students indicate that they want to do so. This is based on the perception and fear of being seen to condone teen sex, pre-marital sex etc. The second issue is not that different and throws religion and morality into the mix. This is based on perceived pressure from parents expressing disapproval about talking about having sex outside the bounds of marriage and the “sinfulness” of all sexual expression that entails. The morality states that sex should not be a part of unmarried students lives and any sexual expression outside of marriage is sin!
And so open, informed and honest talk about HIV, HIV education and prevention gets compromised, if it happens at all
The situation in Canada and Kenya and many places in between, occurs in spite of the fact that on May 7, 2009. UNICEF warned that too many young people are unaware of the risks of HIV.
What do the Social Sciences tell us?
A few interesting bits.
Looking at factors that reach beyond the individual reveals very telling information about how humanity and, we in the west, are dealing with the pandemic. Some interesting factors come out when we look at income as a Determinants of Health relating to HIV. Determinants of health are the leading factors that contribute in aggregate to health status in an individual or populations. Determinants include: income, education level, living environment, personal behavior, health care access, genetics and social/cultural issues.
Dr. Katherine Hankins Chief Scientific Advisor at the United Nations AIDS directorate in Geneva, points out that the correlation between HIV and poverty [ which we are already aware of] is the greatest where the divide between the have’s and the have not’s is relatively greater. That is saying that the greater the difference in income between the rich and the poor, the greater the incidence of HIV and the poorer the quality of life with HIV. At the poverty end of the spectrum, there are competing demands for very limited funds such as food, shelter and schooling for children. As a result adherence to any possible medical regimen, good diet relaxation and rest all suffer, and with that the individual.
Harm Reduction refers to a set of interventions designed to diminish the individual and societal harms associated with any potentially harmful activity such as with 'recreational' drug use, including the risk of HIV. In Canada and elsewhere those interventions that we know will help to reduce the transmission of HIV, i.e. work positively to prevent HIV infection, are heavily and unduly influenced by preconceived notions of morality. That is to say, that the methods of harm reductions are in activities that are judged by some to be immoral and harm reduction is seen as some sort of approval of those behaviours and must be avoided, obviously at the cost of people getting infected with HIV and often, because they are at the poverty end of the economic spectrum, AIDS and an earlier death.
An example of this is the resistance to needle exchange programs in Canadian prisons when all international and national studies show a positive impact with regard to HIV and no negatives such as an increase in drug use, use of needles as weapons, etc. Another is the refusal to support safe tattooing even after a government website said that all evaluations of their own study on safe tattooing were positive in outcome. No reason was given for refusing to continue the safe tattooing project. A final example is the continuing determination of the federal government to shut down Insite – the controversial medically supervised safe injection site for drug injectors in Vancouver. This model has been used to great and positive effect all over Europe and our Government would rather see people die than offer a safer way to manage their addictions.
I will not editorialize this time…. You know my stand on life versus drug use!.
Looking at factors that reach beyond the individual reveals very telling information about how humanity and, we in the west, are dealing with the pandemic. Some interesting factors come out when we look at income as a Determinants of Health relating to HIV. Determinants of health are the leading factors that contribute in aggregate to health status in an individual or populations. Determinants include: income, education level, living environment, personal behavior, health care access, genetics and social/cultural issues.
Dr. Katherine Hankins Chief Scientific Advisor at the United Nations AIDS directorate in Geneva, points out that the correlation between HIV and poverty [ which we are already aware of] is the greatest where the divide between the have’s and the have not’s is relatively greater. That is saying that the greater the difference in income between the rich and the poor, the greater the incidence of HIV and the poorer the quality of life with HIV. At the poverty end of the spectrum, there are competing demands for very limited funds such as food, shelter and schooling for children. As a result adherence to any possible medical regimen, good diet relaxation and rest all suffer, and with that the individual.
Harm Reduction refers to a set of interventions designed to diminish the individual and societal harms associated with any potentially harmful activity such as with 'recreational' drug use, including the risk of HIV. In Canada and elsewhere those interventions that we know will help to reduce the transmission of HIV, i.e. work positively to prevent HIV infection, are heavily and unduly influenced by preconceived notions of morality. That is to say, that the methods of harm reductions are in activities that are judged by some to be immoral and harm reduction is seen as some sort of approval of those behaviours and must be avoided, obviously at the cost of people getting infected with HIV and often, because they are at the poverty end of the economic spectrum, AIDS and an earlier death.
An example of this is the resistance to needle exchange programs in Canadian prisons when all international and national studies show a positive impact with regard to HIV and no negatives such as an increase in drug use, use of needles as weapons, etc. Another is the refusal to support safe tattooing even after a government website said that all evaluations of their own study on safe tattooing were positive in outcome. No reason was given for refusing to continue the safe tattooing project. A final example is the continuing determination of the federal government to shut down Insite – the controversial medically supervised safe injection site for drug injectors in Vancouver. This model has been used to great and positive effect all over Europe and our Government would rather see people die than offer a safer way to manage their addictions.
I will not editorialize this time…. You know my stand on life versus drug use!.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
HIV Information:Treatment as Prevention
The second plenary speaker was our own Dr. Julio Montaner, Director of the reputable British Columbia [BC] Centre of Excellence in HIV / AIDS at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver [shown below]; the current President of the International AIDS Society; Professor, Chair in AIDS Research and Head of the Division of AIDS, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia and originator of many leading edge ideas, one of which is treatment of HIV/ AIDS as a way to prevent the further spread of HIV / AIDS. This idea is currently gaining some currency in other countries, notably Switzerland and was given, at least, lip support by the BC Premier as a campaign announcement [with no funding mentioned] in the first da
ys of the re-election campaign that ended today with his third victory. [I have become somewhat cynical about the promises of politicians over the course of my adult life and, at no time more, than during my work in the HIV / AIDS arena.]
In the 28 years since the official start to the HIV /AIDS pandemic, further infections by the virus have been fought on a number of different fronts, but they have been unsuccessful in halting the spread of the disease. We have used education to make people aware of what is involved and to get them to change their behaviour. This has been mixed up by the conflicting messages. The safety message has been, ”Always use condoms”. But this has been consistently countered by those who do not want to talk about sex and sexual practices, usually compounded by their inaction and their refusal to let the young learn safer sex because that “is tantamount to giving permission for sexual expression.” !! The other conflicting messages have been those of a religious nature in concert with the above and saying “sex outside marriage is sin, contraception is sin, and anyway condoms don’t work - to the point of the RC statement that condoms have tiny holes in them that allow the virus though”, as I have noted previously ad nauseum. However, people, and particularly young people, still seem to be having sex with higher infection rates than those who were taught to play safe.
We have tried harm reduction, such as clean needle distribution for Intravenous Drug Users [IDU], sanctioned tattooing in prisons with sterile equipment and safe injection sites like the one [Insite] currently under the political gun here in Vancouver. We make only feeble attempts at the harm reduction that comes from providing the homeless with housing and food. Here is another effort that is fraught with mixed messages and lack of support because they are judged to sanction the “undesirable” behaviour of drug use as opposed to the goal of saving lives. The etiology of drug use is little understood or there might be a bit more empathic action by taking collective/societal responsibility for some of the conditions that lead to addiction instead of blaming only the addicts for their “weakness”.
The final prevention efforts have been exploration and development of technologies like the production of vaccines or microbicides. That effort came crashing to a halt in the past year when the one big hope for a vaccine ended in total failure and the scientific community agreed that it had to go back to the drawing board. We know that means at least ten more years before the next possible vaccine can be generated.
So how does treatment work as prevention?
First, we know that the two measures that indicate a PHA’s [Person with HIV/AIDS] relative health are 1] the T or CD4 cell count – the number of certain healthy immune fighter cells in the blood, and 2] the viral load - the amount of HIV virus that is in the blood. These factors generally work in an inverse ratio, i.e. when the viral load goes down the CD4 count goes up. These blood work counts are the measure of how well HAART [Highly Active Anti Retro Viral Therapy] is working in an individual with HIV.
The lower the amount of virus in the blood, the lower the infectivity of that person. HAART can reduce the amount of virus in the blood to undetectable levels, although we know that it does not eradicate it completely, and discontinuing HAART means the virus levels will shoot up again.
We also know that the lower the CD4 levels drop, the longer it takes to recover them and general immune strength. From below certain levels, it never completely recovers to former levels again. Science is also finding out that allowing levels to drop and then recover has very long term effects such as greater susceptibility to non-AIDS defining illnesses such as cardiac, liver and kidney problems and
it, it seems, a plethora of other conditions. The conclusion is that it is best to try to keep the CD4 levels as high as possible. To that end, the International AIDS Society - US Guideline Committee recently recommended that HAART be started at a 350 CD4 count, up from the previously recommended 200 CD4 count. AND, it is now leaving it up to the individual doctors to determine if HAART should be started earlier if there appear to be pre-existing conditions. Many are recommending that, since without HAART, CD4 cell counts drop at a rate of about 100 per year. As the normal range of CD4 cells is from 500 to about 1300 and the long terms benefits of HAART are becoming more pronounced, why wait with HAART? Treatment now prevents serious long term illness in the future and their attendant high treatment costs. This is the way HAART works
The prevention part of the argument is based on the relative infectivity of the person. With HAART, the viral load drops on the first day that it is administered, stopping viral replication quickly. Undetectable viral load means very low infectivity to a non HIV + person, although not 100% as the virus does still reside in the body at some minimal and undetectable levels. We know that HAART works as prevention. It has been used for years to prevent transmission of the virus from an HIV+ mother to her baby during birth by putting her on HAART no later than the second trimester of pregnancy. These mothers do not breast feed their babies. Mother to child transmission in British Columbia is zero. Sero-discordant couples [one partner is HIV+ and one is HIV-] stay sero-discordant, when the infected partner is on HAART. And recently, we have a study in BC that shows a reduction in the spread of HIV when systems were set up for HIV+ addicts to get their HAART along with their methadone.
In the western world, it is estimated that about one quarter of HIV+ people have not been tested for HIV and do not know that they are positive. Given the information shared in the last post, doing more comprehensive testing in the higher risk populations and then treating the HIV+ people with HAART will reduce the transmission as well as offer better health possibilities to the people. In BC, by giving HAART to 2500 more PHA’s at a cost of up to $20 million annually, will result in 150 to 200 fewer infections per year. Each infection costs the medical system $250,000 to $750,000 over a lifetime – thus that prevention investment becomes a saving of lives, a great improvement in the quality of life of those treated and an economic saving of $37,500,000 to $150,000,000 for those 150 to 200 individuals not infected as a result of treatment.
What is the rationale and argument against treatment as prevention? Perhaps it is the short term gratification levels in the political system and that there is no political will to intervene on behalf of the marginalized!
ys of the re-election campaign that ended today with his third victory. [I have become somewhat cynical about the promises of politicians over the course of my adult life and, at no time more, than during my work in the HIV / AIDS arena.]In the 28 years since the official start to the HIV /AIDS pandemic, further infections by the virus have been fought on a number of different fronts, but they have been unsuccessful in halting the spread of the disease. We have used education to make people aware of what is involved and to get them to change their behaviour. This has been mixed up by the conflicting messages. The safety message has been, ”Always use condoms”. But this has been consistently countered by those who do not want to talk about sex and sexual practices, usually compounded by their inaction and their refusal to let the young learn safer sex because that “is tantamount to giving permission for sexual expression.” !! The other conflicting messages have been those of a religious nature in concert with the above and saying “sex outside marriage is sin, contraception is sin, and anyway condoms don’t work - to the point of the RC statement that condoms have tiny holes in them that allow the virus though”, as I have noted previously ad nauseum. However, people, and particularly young people, still seem to be having sex with higher infection rates than those who were taught to play safe.
We have tried harm reduction, such as clean needle distribution for Intravenous Drug Users [IDU], sanctioned tattooing in prisons with sterile equipment and safe injection sites like the one [Insite] currently under the political gun here in Vancouver. We make only feeble attempts at the harm reduction that comes from providing the homeless with housing and food. Here is another effort that is fraught with mixed messages and lack of support because they are judged to sanction the “undesirable” behaviour of drug use as opposed to the goal of saving lives. The etiology of drug use is little understood or there might be a bit more empathic action by taking collective/societal responsibility for some of the conditions that lead to addiction instead of blaming only the addicts for their “weakness”.
The final prevention efforts have been exploration and development of technologies like the production of vaccines or microbicides. That effort came crashing to a halt in the past year when the one big hope for a vaccine ended in total failure and the scientific community agreed that it had to go back to the drawing board. We know that means at least ten more years before the next possible vaccine can be generated.
So how does treatment work as prevention?
First, we know that the two measures that indicate a PHA’s [Person with HIV/AIDS] relative health are 1] the T or CD4 cell count – the number of certain healthy immune fighter cells in the blood, and 2] the viral load - the amount of HIV virus that is in the blood. These factors generally work in an inverse ratio, i.e. when the viral load goes down the CD4 count goes up. These blood work counts are the measure of how well HAART [Highly Active Anti Retro Viral Therapy] is working in an individual with HIV.
The lower the amount of virus in the blood, the lower the infectivity of that person. HAART can reduce the amount of virus in the blood to undetectable levels, although we know that it does not eradicate it completely, and discontinuing HAART means the virus levels will shoot up again.
We also know that the lower the CD4 levels drop, the longer it takes to recover them and general immune strength. From below certain levels, it never completely recovers to former levels again. Science is also finding out that allowing levels to drop and then recover has very long term effects such as greater susceptibility to non-AIDS defining illnesses such as cardiac, liver and kidney problems and
it, it seems, a plethora of other conditions. The conclusion is that it is best to try to keep the CD4 levels as high as possible. To that end, the International AIDS Society - US Guideline Committee recently recommended that HAART be started at a 350 CD4 count, up from the previously recommended 200 CD4 count. AND, it is now leaving it up to the individual doctors to determine if HAART should be started earlier if there appear to be pre-existing conditions. Many are recommending that, since without HAART, CD4 cell counts drop at a rate of about 100 per year. As the normal range of CD4 cells is from 500 to about 1300 and the long terms benefits of HAART are becoming more pronounced, why wait with HAART? Treatment now prevents serious long term illness in the future and their attendant high treatment costs. This is the way HAART worksThe prevention part of the argument is based on the relative infectivity of the person. With HAART, the viral load drops on the first day that it is administered, stopping viral replication quickly. Undetectable viral load means very low infectivity to a non HIV + person, although not 100% as the virus does still reside in the body at some minimal and undetectable levels. We know that HAART works as prevention. It has been used for years to prevent transmission of the virus from an HIV+ mother to her baby during birth by putting her on HAART no later than the second trimester of pregnancy. These mothers do not breast feed their babies. Mother to child transmission in British Columbia is zero. Sero-discordant couples [one partner is HIV+ and one is HIV-] stay sero-discordant, when the infected partner is on HAART. And recently, we have a study in BC that shows a reduction in the spread of HIV when systems were set up for HIV+ addicts to get their HAART along with their methadone.
In the western world, it is estimated that about one quarter of HIV+ people have not been tested for HIV and do not know that they are positive. Given the information shared in the last post, doing more comprehensive testing in the higher risk populations and then treating the HIV+ people with HAART will reduce the transmission as well as offer better health possibilities to the people. In BC, by giving HAART to 2500 more PHA’s at a cost of up to $20 million annually, will result in 150 to 200 fewer infections per year. Each infection costs the medical system $250,000 to $750,000 over a lifetime – thus that prevention investment becomes a saving of lives, a great improvement in the quality of life of those treated and an economic saving of $37,500,000 to $150,000,000 for those 150 to 200 individuals not infected as a result of treatment.
What is the rationale and argument against treatment as prevention? Perhaps it is the short term gratification levels in the political system and that there is no political will to intervene on behalf of the marginalized!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
HIV information gains and Politics
Three weeks ago I was fortunate to attend the annual conference of the Canadian Association of HIV / AIDS Research held in Vancouver B.C. It was an interesting blend of significant plenaries by international and Canadian speakers and presentations on the latest Canadian research on various aspects of HIV/AIDS in Basic and Clinical Sciences, Epidemiology and the Social Sciences. There was significant learning on my part that, when added to the material of the previous post, has also stimulated my thinking about best next steps and action for me in this field.
The first plenary, that I attended, was given by Dr. Elizabeth Pisani, former journalist and
epidemiologist, author of the well known book on the global action on HIV / AIDS titled: The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS, 2008. [Sample quote: “The health statistics in your newspapers are boiled up out of cauldrons of uncertainty, of best guesses, of spilled samples, of errors corrected on the fly.”] As a former journalist, Pisani brings a skeptical approach to the business of epidemiology and is quite educational in the process.
She opened my eyes to facts that I know, but had not taken the time to put together logically because the conclusion is too unpalatable. In the western world, HIV is transmitted almost solely among the denizens of highly marginalized groups, the majority of whom just happen also to be poor. They are men who have sex with men [MSM], including gay men. [This is a category created to include those many men who do have sex with men but do not identify as gay such as married men, those playing on the down low and those who do not take part in or identify with the “gay subculture”.] The marginalized groups are MSM, intravenous drugs users, aboriginal people, sex trade workers, prisoners and recent HIV+ immigrants.
These groups are seen as being on the wrong side of acceptable and there is no political payoff for our elected officials to approve funding their needs; in this situation, research for a vaccine and appropriate treatment for HIV disease. So there is very little funding. What there is, is shrinking with inflation over theyears. In Canada, there has been no increase in funding in the past 10 years. New funding that was fought for under the Liberal government, was then ignored when the current government came to power just as the funding was about to be implemented. I imagine the story is the same in many other western countries that have elected more right wing governments over the past 15 years.
The attitude towards immigrants seems to be transferred to their home countries, many of which just happen to be identified as "third world" and thus influences our international lack of generosity.
Pisani asks, how can epidemiologic data more effectively influence public health policy? The implications of epidemiological data are often politically or socially unpopular as noted in the previous paragraph, and the data are often not used in a timely or complete fashion. She urges better work; that epidemiological surveillance needs to measure variables relevant to programs and to combine data from surveillance and programs for integrated analysis and interpretation. We don’t need a ZERO risk approach, we need to reduce risk. “Stop torturing the data” to say what we think funders want to hear and even what they say they want to hear. Use the data honestly and say what the data indicates is actually happening.
The first plenary, that I attended, was given by Dr. Elizabeth Pisani, former journalist and
epidemiologist, author of the well known book on the global action on HIV / AIDS titled: The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS, 2008. [Sample quote: “The health statistics in your newspapers are boiled up out of cauldrons of uncertainty, of best guesses, of spilled samples, of errors corrected on the fly.”] As a former journalist, Pisani brings a skeptical approach to the business of epidemiology and is quite educational in the process.She opened my eyes to facts that I know, but had not taken the time to put together logically because the conclusion is too unpalatable. In the western world, HIV is transmitted almost solely among the denizens of highly marginalized groups, the majority of whom just happen also to be poor. They are men who have sex with men [MSM], including gay men. [This is a category created to include those many men who do have sex with men but do not identify as gay such as married men, those playing on the down low and those who do not take part in or identify with the “gay subculture”.] The marginalized groups are MSM, intravenous drugs users, aboriginal people, sex trade workers, prisoners and recent HIV+ immigrants.
These groups are seen as being on the wrong side of acceptable and there is no political payoff for our elected officials to approve funding their needs; in this situation, research for a vaccine and appropriate treatment for HIV disease. So there is very little funding. What there is, is shrinking with inflation over theyears. In Canada, there has been no increase in funding in the past 10 years. New funding that was fought for under the Liberal government, was then ignored when the current government came to power just as the funding was about to be implemented. I imagine the story is the same in many other western countries that have elected more right wing governments over the past 15 years.The attitude towards immigrants seems to be transferred to their home countries, many of which just happen to be identified as "third world" and thus influences our international lack of generosity.
Pisani asks, how can epidemiologic data more effectively influence public health policy? The implications of epidemiological data are often politically or socially unpopular as noted in the previous paragraph, and the data are often not used in a timely or complete fashion. She urges better work; that epidemiological surveillance needs to measure variables relevant to programs and to combine data from surveillance and programs for integrated analysis and interpretation. We don’t need a ZERO risk approach, we need to reduce risk. “Stop torturing the data” to say what we think funders want to hear and even what they say they want to hear. Use the data honestly and say what the data indicates is actually happening.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Botswana and my thinking
I have been back from
1.
2. HIV is rampant at about 24% and estimated to be up to 35% in some population groups. This compares with 18% in
3. HIV is highly stigmatized – no one talks about it. I worked with several people in their twenties who had lost their parents. They would not say how they died - the stigma is too much. This is in a country where up to 1 in 4 or 5 are HIV+.
4. As a result of 27 + years of HIV and the death associated with AIDS, my generation is missing. There are noticeably few people around in their 40s, 50s and 60s – at least that is my unscientific observation. The staff I worked with were largely in their 20s and early 30s, reasonably well educated, but with little experience and maturity. The lack of management experience was very noticeable and confirmed by several professional people I talked to. The need for management skill and depth is huge.
5. The country is working hard to move from a agrarian culture and society to a modern technology 21st century culture in one generation and the learning curve is steep. Old values do not change over night and influence all parts of life.
6. It is a country that is about 80% Christian and that impacts a lot. It is an accepting faith where things are not questioned and-or thought out. Most things are accepted as truth and not put into context or culture. This has an impact, I believe, on how people deal with HIV and sexuality.
7. Traditionally this is a country with multiple relationships (at least one relationship at the town home, one at the farm home and one at the cattle station) as are many African cultures. This impacts the spread of HIV and needs to be addressed.
8. The culture still has a Bride price to be paid. Two young women where I worked were engaged and when I asked them when they were to be married they matter-of-factly told me when their fiancé was able to get the cows or the cash equivalent. Interestingly, one of them kept after me to find her a husband in
9. The
10. I was at an HIV conference last week and sat through a presentation on how another country in Africa,
This is compounded even more by the "proper and common" religious perspective that these are sinful things – indulgent and licentious. Combined with the fundamentalist positions (especially RC) that all sex is for procreation it becomes a very strong restraining force – not understandable in a poor continent that cannot feed the people it already has. I always wonder why it is OK to condemn people to death (literally to kill them) by denying them theknowledge of, access to and approval for condoms and that those as yet not conceived, never mind having been born, take precedence over the living. Of course, the Pope yet again made another egregious, outrageous, unscientific statement about condoms not working while I was there. Does no one advise this man, who seems to have his head stuck in another universe? His guilt, in terms of lives lost as I see it, is unspeakable ( I know, I know : Judge not that you be not judged – Matthew)
11. The result is that condom use is not talked about as HIV prevention, or STI prevention and not even advertised – a major policy issue.
12. Another thing that I got some hint of and confirmed with several black Africans, is that there is still the distinct odour of colonialism and patriarchy on the part of some whites. I got it a fair sense of this in the airports and places that were schedule controlled in comments such as: "This is the African way", "Welcome to African time.". Several quite direct things that I observed, were actions by an older white woman and another by a young white man – essentially talking down to black citizens in derogatory tones for NO reason.
So what has that done to my thinking?
There are very limited resources made available in the so called first world. There is less available in the so called 3rd world to deal with this pandemic that we could/should have controlled by now; but there was and is no will. Remember Ronald Reagan? – well, his spirit is alive and well and living globally in 2009.
There are no resources, so I am thinking more and more about advocacy, collective that is, education and policy making. I have many skills – where can I best use them? May be not where I am right now. I hope it becomes clearer for me – and that I will find where I can do my best – and maybe, that is where I am right now.
Confused ? – so am I :) ! That is the whole point of this post - to articulate my quandry.
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