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From: kwmc@cbnewsj.att.com (Kenneth G Cochran)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: Re: Cure for AIDS
Summary: treatment was used during WWII for syphillis
Message-ID: <36002@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 5 Jun 90 14:09:51 GMT
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Note:	Copyright 1990 by Daniel R. Greening.  Permission granted for
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Archive-number: 2137

Hyperthermia, which I believe is the technical term for elevated body
temperatures was used during World War II before the advent of penicillin
as a treatment for syphillis.

The idea is that if the organism dies at temperature X and the patient dies
at temperature Z, then elevating the patients temperature to Y where
X < Y < Z can potentially eliminate the organism.

There is some evidence that HIV can hide in the brain out of contact with
the blood, so I would doubt if just heating the blood would effect a permanent
cure. Thus techniques for raising the whole body temperature are desired.

During WWII two techniques were used that I know of
1) dripping modified typhoid "bugs" into the patient in a saline drip inducing
   high fever, and carefully controlling the rate of infusion to maintain
temperature at Y.
2) imersing the patient in in a special 'bath'. (Kettering Hypertherm)
   this latter technique I believe was so uncomfortable that anethesia
   was required.

How do I know alll this ? ... My father was a doctor who used these techniques
during WWII and is researching possible refinements of the process for AIDS
treatment in Britain.  Of course I have probably missed a few salient points
and used amateur terminology, but the underlying principles should be clear.

Ken Cochran       att!mtdca!kwmc