Major New Book: Living With AIDS: Reaching Out

San Francisco AIDS activist Tom O'Connor has had ARC for seven years and was seriously ill in 1982 and 1983. Then he began a systematic study and practice of many forms of AIDS/ARC treatments and healthy ways of living, centered around nutrition. Recently he has done extensive organizing work with groups such as the Gay Macrobiotic Network, the AIDS Healing Alliance, and the Healing Alternatives Buyers Club. And with Ahmed Gonzalez-Nunez he has put together an excellent survey book on all kinds of nutritional, holistic, and conventional medical treatments for AIDS and ARC.

The authors designed the book for "people who want to do something about their disease but don't know where to start; who see a need to take responsibility over their lives, no matter where they are; and who are willing to participate
actively in their healing". The book presents the authors' excellent and wide-ranging research in a style remarkable
coherent and easy to read. The book is scientifically literate, and maintains a solid, common-sense perspective from
the point of view of the person with AIDS or ARC.

Some of the major topics include background on the immune system and on health and nutrition, choosing and dealing with physicians and other health practitioners, background and specifics on nutrition and diet, and problems such as food allergies, alcohol and recreational drugs, and likely cofactors in the development of AIDS such as herpes viruses and intestinal parasites. The book also discusses dozens of specific treatments, such as AL 721, DNCB, naltrexone, vitamin C, other vitamins, garlic, herbs, acupuncture, homeopathy and others. Included are many conventional medical treatments such as chemotherapy, antibiotics such as Bactrim and fungal treatments, and others. The authors see conventional medicine as an essential and major part of a treatment program, although they criticize certain excesses, and certain blind spots such as nutrition.

Extensive appendices include a comprehensive psychosocial and nutritional treatment approach by Keith Barton, M.D., a very extensive list of conventional and experimental drugs, information on vitamin C, food additives, food allergies and elimination diets, the use of herbs in AIDS and ARC, and macrobiotics. A resource directory includes addresses and phone numbers of dozens of information sources, from acupuncture to people with AIDS organizations to physicians sympathetic to complementary therapies (conventional Western medicine plus holistic approaches such as diet, herbs, orthomolecular treatment, and healthy living).

Living With AIDS: Reaching Out was published privately and is not available in most bookstores at this time. You can
order copies from Corwin Publishers, P.O. Box 2806, San Francisco, CA 94126. The retail price is $18.95 plus $1.50
shipping and handling; California residents add $1.23 tax.

For more information you can call Tom O'Connor at (415) 621-4346, or at (415) 626-0469 (message number).