Dr. Lenna Standish, director of Bastyr University's AIDS Research Center, gave an in-depth presentation on the specific plan to evaluate the use of Chinese medicine in treating people with HIV/AIDS. Bastyr University was recently awarded an $840,000 three-year grant from the National Institute of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine to study the effectiveness of alternative medicine in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Research being developed will look at the possible effectiveness of a variety of alternative therapies, though she feels Chinese medicine is a key system to study, due to its long history of use and documentable protocols. Dr. Standish discussed the pitfalls of this study and many of the challenges it presents. Essentially, the purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a wide variety of alternative therapies in a relatively short period of time for HIV/AIDS, one of the key health crises of our times.

The Process

The methods and treatments rendered by treating clinicians are extremely varied, and documentation varies from clinic to clinic. Dr. Standish's task is to gather information from these many sources and organize it in a way that allows it to be reviewed accurately, and compared to an equally large control group of people with HIV/AIDS undergoing conventional therapies. While no small task, Dr. Standish has been in touch with Chinese medicine clinics and other alternative health centers across the nation setting up protocols for gathering useful information for analysis. In a workshop session also held at the conference, she solicited input and feedback from practitioners who treat people with AIDS on treatment methods such as record-keeping and study design. The roundtable discussion was useful in letting practitioners know in depth how the study is designed.