Studies challenge garlic, beetroot treatments against HIV

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During the same week that our September/October 2007 cover article on AIDS denialism vs. science was published came the news from scientists reaffirming what the article said about AIDS denialism and obstructionism in key parts of South Africa's government.

The Academy of Sciences of South Africa said its studies had found no scientific basis for the use of nutritional supplements as a first-line defense against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. It was an implicit rebuke to South Africa's health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who has been much criticized for questioning the safety of anti-HIV drugs and promoting homespun treatments such as garlic, beetroot, and lemon as effective agents against the disease (New York Times, August 23, p. 2).

The academy's report noted that a good diet was important in maintaining the body's defenses against AIDS and so didn't rule out the usefulness of good nutrition in countries such as South Africa. But it stated that a healthy diet plays a secondary role to drugs like anti-retrovirals in the body's fight against AIDS. To make matters worse, Nicoli Nattrass, author of the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER cover article, now tells us that South African President Thabo Mbeki continues to support the health minister, despite recent revelations about her alcoholism (the cause of her recent liver transplant) and the fact that she was convicted of theft in Botswana (while being treated for kleptomania).

I found Barry through a short article in Scientific American some twenty years ago. Shortly after we met, we, along with his brother Dale, founded the British Columbia Skeptics. Since then, I have become close friends with Barry, his wife Suzi, his brother Dale, his daughter Lindsay, and his son Loren.

Barry Beyerstein was the quintessential skeptic: polite, learned, resolute, honest and frank. He never asked more of claimants than what they claimed. As for myself, Barry enriched my life. I learned a lot from him and got to meet many fascinating people through him.

Barry was a humanist. His hope was to leave this world a little better than when he entered it, and I know he did. His achievements in science are noteworthy. To name just one accomplishment, he and his brother all but eliminated graphology from the B.C. landscape. Other targets are too numerous to mention, but all were worthwhile.

Barry's sudden death was a shock.

I think our only grip on immortality is what others think of us, that is--the judgment of history. I, for one, will do my best to see that Barry's legacy lives on.

Lee Moller, a software developer, helped to co-found the B.C. Skeptics with Barry and his brother Dale in 1987 and serves as editor of its newsletter, The Rational Enquirer.

COPYRIGHT 2007 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning