Heimlich Using Malaria to Treat AIDS Patients
The Cincinnati Post, November 7, 1994
Author: Associated PressThe Cincinnati doctor who gave the world the Heimlich Maneuver for clearing choking victims' throats is experimenting with a treatment he believes could control AIDS.
Dr. Henry Heimlich is trying the technique in China, using doses of malaria vaccine to induce an antibody reaction.
Heimlich previously touted the malaria treatment for combating cancer and Lyme Disease.
Some experts doubt that malaria can be beneficial in killing the HIV virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
"No evidence currently exists to indicate that malaria infection would beneficially affect the course of HIV infection," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Without evidence…the use of induced malaria infection in HIV infected individuals cannot be justified."
Heimlich contends that critics have not reviewed his research protocol, have misinterpreted evidence and overstated potential risks. The research is safe for patients and will test a theory that is worth exploring, he said.
"Billions of dollars have been spent looking for a vaccine or a drug to fight AIDS," Heimlich said. "Yet last year at the international AIDS conference in Japan, the report issued said, 'We have no progress to report.' I have no desire to dignify these criticisms with a response."
Malaria naturally stimulates a strong immune system response, Heimlich said. Published reports say nine patients have been treated in China since last year, but Heimlich would not confirm that.
Heimlich and his co-researchers have agreed not to discuss any details until the project is complete - in about two years - and results are submitted to a peer-reviewed medical journal.
"The only thing I will say is that if we were not encouraged by the results so far, we would not be continuing our work," Heimlich said.
Heimlich said the treatment involves repeatedly inducing malaria fever in up to 30 AIDS patients. Each patient would go through 10 or more fevers under close medical supervision.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has called the research "quite dangerous and scientifically unsound."
But Heimlich contends the research is safe because malaria, once a deadly disease, can be treated with modern medicines.
Last year, the Centers for Disease Control condemned malaria research. In May, an institutional review board of the Great Lakes Association of Clinical Medicine, a research evaluation organization, approved the research protocol.
Trustees of the privately funded Heimlich Institute Foundation in Cincinnati said they have heard about the controversy and disagree with critics.
Disputes about research have been a part of science since the Inquisition condemned astronomer Galileo for saying the Earth was not the center of the universe, said Joseph Dehner, a lawyer and foundation trustee.
"I have yet to encounter an issue where two doctors ever fully agree," Dehner said.
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