Common vitamins plus selenium slowed illness in HIV patients in the early stage of their disease, according to a study suggesting the supplements may provide an effective, low-cost approach for delaying AIDS.
Patients taking a daily combination of vitamins B, C and E along with selenium for two years were able to delay their need for antiretroviral therapies by about half compared with those given a placebo, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study followed 878 HIV-infected adults from Botswana, a nation with one of the highest rates of infection of the AIDS virus.
