By Wang Shaorong,¹  Liang Chunyu ² Shang Xiukui ²    ( ¹Tianjin College of TCM;   ²China Academy of TCM)

The full name of AIDS is acquired immune deficiency syndrome, until recently, AIDS has been considered to be universally fatal.

The main symptoms include fever, diarrhea, fatigue, night sweats, weight loss , and enlargement of the lymph nodes, eventually succumbing to life-threatening  infections, such as a severe pneumonia caused by the normally harmless protozoan  pneumocystis carinii, or cancers, particularly Kaposi’s sarcoma.  The virus, HIV human immune deficiency virus has been isolated from semen, cervical secretions, plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, tears, saliva, urine, and breast milk.

It is considered in TCM that the kidney stores the essence, and is in charge of reproduction and development, as well as water.  No matter the broad meaning of the essence ( essence, blood, body fluid) and the narrow meaning (the reproductive essence),  both closely related to the kidney.  Kidney energy deficiency resulted from sexual intemperance is one of the main cause of the disease.  AIDS is essentially a sexually transmitted disease and most prevalent among homosexuals, haemophiliacs who have received transfusions, and drug users who share the needles. The virus are transmitted  from semen, saliva and sap.  The virus lurk in the blood collaterals, and  ying- stage, it will attack the body causing the disease onset when the  body energy is deficient.

The etiology and pathogenesis

1. The deficient kidney  fails to store the energy caused by excessive sexual activity.  The most patients who suffer from AIDS between 20-50 years old, and especially between 20-39.  The sexual intemperance of the innocence youngster injures the kidney energy causing the kidney fails to store the essence, and manifested as the deficient symptoms.

2. The spleen function being injured by predilection for alcohol.  Most of the AIDS patients have the history as alcoholic. The injured spleen and stomach fails to produce energy and blood.  The pathologic factor attacks the body when the energy low.

3. Congenital energy deficiency, the virus may be transmitted from an infected mother to the child.

The key points for diagnosis

During the developing course, the disease manifests as a long standing fever, it could belong to the epidemic febrile disease in TCM, characterized by deficiency in origin and excess in superficiality.  The deficiency in origin indicates  both energy and blood deficiency, and exhausted essence;  the excess in superficiality indicates the superactivity of the febrile pathological factor exhausting  the ying and blood.

1. Deficiency of the kidney essence

Symptoms:  Fatigue, soreness and soft in the waist and the knees, cough with shot breath, sore throat, skinniness of the body, poor appetite, diarrhea, pale tongue with white coating, or red tongue with less coating, thready and rapid pulse.

2. The febrile pathological factor attacking the Ying and blood stage

Symptoms: Long standing fever, the temperature is usually over 38°C, associated  with sore throat, terrible fatigue, short breath, spontaneous sweating, skinniness.  The serious case manifests as delirium, purpura, nasal hemorrhage, hematochezia, deep red tongue, thready and rapid pulse.

Traditional acupuncture treatment

1. Kidney essence depletion

Prescription:  Select points of Foot-Shaoyin, Foot-Taiyang, Ren and Du meridians as the main points: Taixi(KI 3), Sanyinjiao(SP 6), Shenshu, Pishu(BL 20), Zusanli( ST 36), Guanyuan(CV 4).

Insert 0.5-1 cun into Taixi perpendicularly; insert Sanyinjiao point perpendicularly 1-1.5 cun, the two of points should be acupunctured  with twirl supplementation; insert Shenshu point obliquely to the direction of s pinal vertebral porcess 1-1.5 cun with twirl supplementation; insert Zusanli point perpendicularly 1-1.5 cun with twirl supplementation  and  lifting and trusting supplementation supplementation or moxibustion after acupuncture.

2 Heat entering construction-blood

Prescription: Select points of Huatuojiaji and Foot-Taiyang, Foot-Taiyin, Foot-Yangming meridians as the main points:

Huatuojiaji points, Xuehai(SP10), Geshu(BL17), Neiguan(PC 6), Shuigou(GV 26), Zhubin(KI 9), and Zusanli(ST36). Insert Huatuojiaji points perpendicularly 0.5-1 cun with  twisting nourishing manipulation, manipulate needle 1 min for each point; insert 1-1.5 cun into Xuehai(SP10) perpendicularly;  insert 1 cun  into Geshu(BL17) to the direction of spinal process obliquely with twisting combined lifting  and thrusting reducing manipulation;  insert 1-1.5 cun into Neigu an  perpendicularly with twisting combined lifting and thrusting reducing manipulation; insert 0.2-0.3 cun into Shuigou(GV26) obliquely with pecking sparrow manipulation;  insert 1-1.5 cun into Zhubin(KI 9)  perpendicularly with twisting combined lifting and thrusting reducing manipulation;  insert 1-1.5 cun into Zusanli(ST36) perpendicularly with twist nourishing manipulation;  insert 1-1.5 cun into Sanyinjiao(SP6) with twisting  reducing manipulation.

Auricular acupuncture

Selected ear point: Adrenal, Endocrine, Spleen, Kidney, Ear-Shenmen

Manipulation:  Take 0.5 cun needle to puncture, insert about 0.1 cun into points, retain the needles for 30 min, or put vaccaria seeds on the points and change the seeds every 3-5 days prognosis and nursing

1. It is at the researching stage the treating ADIS with acupuncture and moxibustion according to the related material report, acumoxatherapy has the effect on  improving symptoms and prolong life-span.

2. In the treatment of ADIS with acumoxatherapy, the single used needles should  be applied in the clinic.  The strict routine sterilization should applied and  the doctor should wear rubber sterilized gloves.

3. Prevent ADIS being propagated by sexual activity. The average infection percentage extends to 700,000,000 or person who makes sexual activity with person  carrying ADIS germ, however, more frequent sexual activity, more high the infection percentage.  It is the important measure to get rid of abnormal sexual activity in order to prevent AIDS propagating.

4. In order to prevent AIDS being infected by blood transfusion and blood products, the suspected person must be forbidden to offer blood and prohibit importing blood products.

5. Prevent mother infecting ADIS germ to body directly.  Contraception should be carried out, either father or mother carries ADIS germ, once she is pregnant, it should be ended.

6. In the aspect of professional prevention, pay much attention to medical care and safeguard to person who works in laboratory.  For example, avoid damaging skin with polluted apparatus, avoid skin wound contacting patient, put on gloves when contacting blood specimen, polluted apparatus, body fluid, drainage and secretion before leaving the ward. Take off lab-coats and gloves and wash hand s seriously, put all of polluted articles by blood into sealed bag and burn them .