Tagemet To Treat Herpes And Shingles
Herpes simplex and herpes zoster are viral diseases that can be kept in remission by a healthy immune system. Direct evidence for this can be seen in cancer patients who undergo immune-suppressing chemotherapy and experience severe herpes outbreaks as a result.1 Similar herpes flare-ups occur in other immune-comprising situations such as normal aging, where a latent herpes zoster virus can reemerge to cause painful shingles.
While pharmaceutical companies promote expensive and only partially effective anti-viral drugs, there is evidence dating back more than 20 years that the drug cimetidine (sold over-the-counter as Tagamet) is highly effective in shortening the duration or preventing the outbreaks of herpes and shingles. The problem is that virtually no physicians are prescribing cimetidine to their herpes (or shingles) patients, despite persuasive findings in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
When it comes to treating herpes infections, conventional doctors seem to only pay attention to drug company propaganda, while failing to recommend lower cost drugs (like cimetidine) that have been shown to work especially well in herpes patients.
In 1988, The Life Extension Foundation recommended that certain cancer patients take the drug cimetidine (Tagamet) for the purpose of enhancing immune function. Cimetidine favorably modulates immune function via several mechanisms, but its best documented property is its inhibitory effect on T-suppressor cell function. The immune system is weakened when T-suppressor cells prematurely shut down immune function. Since cimetidine inhibits T-suppressor cell function, it can significantly enhance immune surveillance in some people.
by William Faloon and Kate Kitchen
Herpes simplex outbreaks...
