An even larger potential payoff for HIVA

-infected cats to emerge from HIV research lies in the area of herbal supplements with antiviral potential. I can’t help but be reminded of the old film Edison, the Man, which portrayed Thomas Edison’s ransacking of the mineral world to find something that would act as an effective filament for his would-be lightbulb without going “poof” as soon as the current was turned on. Even the human hair was auditioned! An astounding array of natural substances have been tested to see if they might in any way inhibit the growth of HIV. Although most of the testing has been done in cultured cell lines rather than in living beings, an impressive number of substances–some of them quite ordinary–show action against some stage of the viral replication process. Did you know that the common oregano you sprinkle on your pizza contains a substance, rosmarinic acid, that has the ability to interrupt HIV replication? (And so, of course, does the rosemary on your lamb!) Or that the aloe in your hand cream has an antiviral action that has been documented in FIV-infected cats?

If only a quarter or a third of these herbs were effective against the feline AIDS virus, the pool of available candidates would be impressively large. For owners of cats already suffering symptoms of FIV infection, having something to resort to in addition to antibiotics and palliatives that treat the symptoms of the disease, but leave the disease itself untouched, would be a blessing. And while it is true that unrefined herbs contain limited amounts of antiviral chemicals, Bud’s experience suggests that their potency shouldn’t be underestimated.