In the fall of 2002, Michael Bell had never felt worse

In the fall of 2002, Michael Bell had never felt worse. He’d contracted the Norwalk virus three times, had dropped 60 pounds and could barely get down more than a glass of water and a few soda crackers a day. Diagnosed with HIV in 1993, Bell, 47, had hardly ever been sick. Before contracting Norwalk, he had long been doing well on his HIV meds, was a busy volunteer at a Toronto AIDS organization and was working at his maintenance job. Never quite having recovered from Norwalk, the following February Bell developed pneumonia and a fever of 109. When he pulled through — just barely — he had less than 50 CD4 cells and a viral load of over one million. “There was nothing the doctors could do for me anymore,” Bell recalls. So he started seeing a naturopathic doctor (ND). Naturopathic care has become increasingly popular among people with HIV/AIDS (PHAs). And, more often, PHAs go with the support and even the encouragement of their regular doctors, using naturopathic medicine in combination with their medications. There’s been a new recognition of the power of naturopathic medicine to help PHAs deal with drug side effects, immunity and some HIV-related conditions, which has led to more HIV clinics offering free naturopathic care. For instance, the British Columbia Persons With AIDS Society (BCPWA) runs a free clinic in Vancouver and Blood Ties Four Directions Centre offers free naturopathic services in Whitehorse. Bell was lucky enough to live near the largest naturopathic HIV/AIDS specialty clinic in Canada. At the Sherbourne Health Centre Community PHA Naturopathic Clinic in downtown Toronto, interns — under the supervision of licensed NDs — from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) started treating him, first with acupuncture, a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine that uses tiny needles to help the body’s natural energy flow better. When Bell stood up for the first time after having some needles in his pelvis, he felt a tiny shift. “Boy, was I hungry,” he says. “I hadn’t been hungry in months.”