News / Cold Sore / Herpes / Lip Care

HERPES WARS: NEWS FROM THE FRONT LINES

By: Bruce Schennum M.A. - from Health Store News

There's exciting news -- and lots of it -- in the centuries-old war against the herpes virus. The FDA recently approved a vaccine for chicken pox (the herpes zoster virus), and another vaccine for herpes simplex 2 (HSV-2 - genital herpes) is in the final stages of FDA approval, and could be available to the public as soon as 1999.

The vaccine uses genetically engineered "gene replicas" of the herpes virus to stimulate the body's immune response.

Herpes vaccines represent a breakthrough in the anti-herpes battle which has raged for centuries. In the first century A.D., Tiberius, Emperor of Rome, actually banned kissing to combat a herpes epidemic.

WHAT IS HERPES?
Although many think of herpes as a skin infection, it is actually an inflammation of the sensory nerves. In between outbreaks, the herpes DNA survives in nerve centers at the base of the brain called ganglia. During outbreaks, the DNA replicates, forming a virus. The virus passes down the nerve to the skin, where it causes lesions.

THE LYSINE APPROACH
According to herpes researcher Christopher Kagan, M.D., herpes DNA uses the amino acid L-arginine to replicate itself and form a virus. "Early studies using laboratory cultures demonstrated that L-arginine was necessary for herpes growth," Kagan stated, "It soon became clear that another amino acid, L-lysine, blocked the bio-availability of arginine. By 1981, Dr. Griffith had demonstrated that lysine concentrations similar to those found in human blood could suppress herpes growth in lab cultures."

Several clinical studies have supported the efficacy of lysine supplementation for herpes therapy. In one survey, 88% of 1,543 herpes sufferers reported benefiting from lysine therapy. "More research on Lysine is still needed," says Kagan, "but lysine therapy has produced some positive results."

Herpes patients should avoid foods high in arginine -- chocolate, nuts, peanut butter, and jello -- and eat a diet rich in lysine, according to Cory Servaas, M.D.. Dairy products, fish, eggs, and turkey are among the foods with high lysine concentrations.

Also encouraging are results attained with topical application of lysine, through lysine-based creams and ointments. "Many herpes sufferers report that lysine cream helps dry up their sores fast," reports Eve McClure of Quantum, the manufacturer of several popular lysine ointments.

THE FUTURE OF HERPES TREATMENT
Herpes sufferers should keep the sores, "clean, dry and friction free," according to the National Herpes Hotline. That means wearing loose fitting clothes and abstaining from even protected sex. "A latex condom or female condom and spermicidal nonoxynol #9 is good protection against contracting the disease," said a Herpes Hotline source.

"Exercise, a healthy diet rich in nutrition, weight control and stress management are still the first line of defense against herpes," according to Herpes Resources .

So, while science continues to search for cures, lysine therapy, common sense, and prevention remain the most powerful weapons in the war against herpes.

View products now - Cold Sore & Herpes