For some time now, I have been studying retroviruses and their link to chronic illnesses, including mast cell activation syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Retroviruses are one of the leading causes of inflammation, autoimmunity, and mast cell activation in my client base.

A recent analysis in 2022 of my last 40 clients showed that over 60% had retroviruses causing inflammation. In over 20%, retroviruses were the underlying cause of autoimmunity, while in 15%, retroviruses were the root cause of mast cell activation (or blocked regulation).

That is, retroviruses are both a primary driver of ill health and a high-order item, which requires treatment before treatment for other issues,

What are retroviruses?

As humans, we all have retroviruses.

Retroviruses are estimated to make up to 8 -15% of our DNA, having been passed down to us by our ancestors, so more than our protein (genetic) DNA.

Most people live in harmony with retroviruses. Dr. Judy Mikovits, a world-leading expert on retroviruses, estimates that only 5% of the population is at risk of chronic illness from a compromised immune system.

The more familiar viruses, Epstein Barr and the herpes family, are not retroviruses. These are DNA viruses. They reside in our DNA until they are reactivated. They do not change our DNA.  They are already part of our DNA.

In contrast, retroviruses work their way back from the RNA to DNA. From there, they work forward again to the RNA, where they create viral proteins. They change our DNA to make us a good host, and once in our DNA can be passed on to future generations. For example, retroviruses can change our methylation, acetylation, and pyrroles (or any other) genetic status.

A famous retrovirus is HIV.  However, there is a multitude of others. Some may be beneficial. Others may be harmful and involved in cancer, auto-immune disease, chronic fatigue, and chronic illnesses.

The actual retroviruses do not matter in restoring health.

 

Sources of Retroviruses

New retroviruses can be acquired by:

Human transmission (via bodily fluids and notably in hospitals) such as the flu

Insect bites and flea dirt

Vaccines (which are inadvertently contaminated with retroviruses).

It is not the viral load that is an issue in itself, and there does not need to be a change in viral load for chronic illness to occur. The vital issue is the change in our detoxification (methylation, acetylation, or pyrroles) capability or the immune system preventing us from silencing the retroviruses.

In practice, Dr. Klinghardt reports that synergy of environmental exposures can reactivate retroviruses, including:

Wi-fi

Glyphosphate (and likely other chemicals)

Aluminum and mercury

Co-infections (parasites, Lyme, and Co-infections, yeast, and mold)

Cavitations (from teeth extractions), and

Perceived stress.

This means that once retroviruses are treated, there is a risk of reactivation if the environment does not remain clean.

Laboratory Testing

No direct testing of individual retroviruses is commercially available. Furthermore, there are 100s of them so testing individually is impractical.

Instead, a test looking for overall viral loads can be used as follows:

Elevated Nagalase (below 0.6) – typically used alone or in combination with other markers.

Elevated RANTES  – a marker of the retrovirus in dental infections and invitations but also pandemic-related retroviruses.

My preferred way of testing is autonomic response testing and verifying that if needed with a nagalase test.

 

Treatment Protocols

Plant approaches are highly effective. Studies have even found that herbal approaches are effective where medicine has failed.

Here are some of the plants in research which are effective against retroviruses.

1. Cistus Incantas Tea

A study in Scientific Reports from 2016 shows Cistus Incantas Tea is effective against the worst of retroviruses and is effective in the most drug-resistant cases. It also has been shown to protect the DNA from retroviruses.

Cistus Incantas Tea (or drops) are the backbone of Dr. Mikovits’ and Dr. Klinghardt’s treatment protocol. Dr. Klinghardt recommends reusing the tea to extract all the plant’s compounds.

 

2. Broccoli Sprouts

Sulforaphane has been shown to have anti-viral activity and protects the cell from DNA damage. Broccoli sprouts in their natural form are ideal, although they can be taken as a supplement.

They need to be chewed to convert the broccoli sprouts to sulforaphane if taken in their natural form. It’s only 1 heaped tablespoon twice a day that is needed.

 

3. Other Herbs

Other herbs that have been shown to have antiviral properties include:

Baicalin (Skullcap Root) – Liftmode

St John’s Wort

Green Tea

Reishi Mushroom – ReishiMax GLP

Stinging Nettle

Olive Leaf

Bitter Melon

Pantethine (B5) – as it slows replication

Selenium – as is dramatically depleted by retroviruses.

Luteolin – NeuroProtek®

Dr. Judy Mikovits focuses on single products, including Liftmode, which is the one that I have used successfully in retroviral protocols.

 

Other Considerations

The protocols outline above are anti-retroviral protocols.

Retroviruses can cause dysregulation of many of the body’s systems. This is why most functional health practitioners evaluate and support the whole body.

In addition to actually deactivating the virus, Dr. Mikovits has done a considerable amount of work around restoring homeostasis, including the endocannabinoid, microbiome (through the whole body, not just the gastrointestinal tract), and immune system. I find the inclusion of CBD into protocols often essential to reducing inflammation to introduce other protocol aspects.

 

Conclusion

Retroviruses are not an issue for the majority of people.

Mikovits estimates a less than 5% lifetime chance of retroviruses causing chronic health issues. Klinghardt also highly correlates retroviruses to mast cell activation and the cell danger response in his practice.

However, retroviruses may be the missing link if you have a chronic illness or cannot seem to clear other pathogens.

The area of retroviruses is an emerging area of health, and both Klinghardt’s and Mitkovics’ protocols have made a profound difference to many of my clients.

 

Further Reading

Lima, Marco A., et al. “Subacute progression of human T-lymphotropic virus type I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis.” Journal of Neurovirology 13.5 (2007): 468-473.

McCormick, A. L., et al. “Quantification of reverse transcriptase in ALS and elimination of a novel retroviral candidate.” Neurology 70.4 (2008): 278-283.

Löwer, Roswitha, Johannes Löwer, and Reinherd Kurth. “The viruses in all of us: characteristics and biological significance of human endogenous retrovirus sequences.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93.11 (1996): 5177-5184.

Nelson, Paul N., et al. “Demystified… Human endogenous retroviruses.” Molecular Pathology 56.1 (2003): 11.

Van Der Kuyl, Antoinette Cornelia, Marion Cornelissen, and Ben Berkhout. “Of mice and men: on the origin of XMRV.” Frontiers in Microbiology 1 (2011): 147.

Fragopoulou, Adamantia F., et al. “Brain proteome response following whole body exposure of mice to mobile phone or wireless DECT base radiation.” Electromagnetic biology and medicine 31.4 (2012): 250-274.

Mechoulam, Raphael, et al. “Cannabidiol–recent advances.” Chemistry & Biodiversity 4.8 (2007): 1678-1692.

Castillo, Pablo E., et al. “Endocannabinoid signaling and synaptic function.” Neuron 76.1 (2012): 70-81.

Singh, Kanwaljit, and Andrew W Zimmerman. “Sulforaphane treatment of young men with autism spectrum disorder.” CNS & Neurological Disorders-Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets-CNS & Neurological Disorders) 15.5 (2016): 597-601.

Singh, Kanwaljit, et al. “Sulforaphane treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111.43 (2014): 15550-15555.

Tester, Jodie, and Tessa Finney-Brown. “Sulforaphane treatment of autism spectrum disorder.” Australian Journal of Herbal Medicine 27.1 (2015): 41.

Armah, Charlotte N., et al. “A diet rich in high-glucoraphanin broccoli interacts with genotype to reduce discordance in plasma metabolite profiles by modulating mitochondrial function–.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 98.3 (2013): 712-722.

Yang, Li, Dushani L. Palliyaguru, and Thomas W. Kensler. “Frugal chemoprevention: targeting Nrf2 with foods rich in sulforaphane.” Seminars in oncology. Vol. 43. No. 1. WB Saunders, 2016.

Heiss, Elke, et al. “Nuclear factor-?B is a molecular target for sulforaphane-mediated anti-inflammatory mechanisms.” Journal of Biological Chemistry (2001).

Gan, Nanqin, et al. “Sulforaphane activates heat shock response and enhances proteasome activity through up-regulation of Hsp27.” Journal of Biological Chemistry 285.46 (2010): 35528-35536.

Rebensburg, Stephanie, et al. “Potent in vitro antiviral activity of Cistus incanus extract against HIV and Filoviruses targets viral envelope proteins.” Scientific reports 6 (2016): 20394.

Attaguile, G., et al. “Antioxidant activity and protective effect on DNA cleavage of extracts from Cistus incanus L. and Cistus monspeliensis L.” Cell biology and toxicology 16.2 (2000): 83-90.

Ehrhardt, Christina, et al. “A polyphenol-rich plant extract, CYSTUS052, exerts anti-influenza virus activity in cell culture without toxic side effects or the tendency to induce viral resistance.” Antiviral research 76.1 (2007): 38-47.

Li, B. Q., et al. “Inhibition of HIV infection by baicalin–a flavonoid compound purified from Chinese herbal medicine.” Cellular & molecular biology research 39.2 (1993): 119-124.

Zhao, Qing, et al. “A specialized flavone biosynthetic pathway has evolved in the medicinal plant, Scutellaria baicalensis.” Science advances 2.4 (2016): e1501780.

Meruelo, Daniel, Gad Lavie, and David Lavie. “Therapeutic agents with dramatic antiretroviral activity and little toxicity at effective doses: aromatic polycyclic diones hypericin and pseudohypericin.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 85.14 (1988): 5230-5234.

Nakane, Hideo, Yukihiko Hara, and Katsuhiko Ono. “Tea polyphenols as a novel class of inhibitors for human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase.” ACS symposium series (USA). 1994.

Min, Byung-Sun, et al. “Triterpenes from the spores of Ganoderma lucidum and their inhibitory activity against HIV-1 protease.” Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 46.10 (1998): 1607-1612.

Gao, Yihuai, and Shufeng Zhou. “Cancer prevention and treatment by Ganoderma, a mushroom with medicinal properties.” Food Reviews International 19.3 (2003): 275-325.

Sliva, Daniel, et al. “Biologic activity of spores and dried powder from Ganoderma lucidum for the inhibition of highly invasive human breast and prostate cancer cells.” The Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine 9.4 (2003): 491-497.

Balzarini, Jan, et al. “The mannose-specific plant lectins from Cymbidium hybrid and Epipactis helleborine and the (N-acetylglucosamine) n-specific plant lectin from Urtica dioica are potent and selective inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus and cytomegalovirus replication in vitro.” Antiviral research 18.2 (1992): 191-207.

Lee-Huang, Sylvia, et al. “Anti-HIV activity of olive leaf extract (OLE) and modulation of host cell gene expression by HIV-1 infection and OLE treatment.” Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 307.4 (2003): 1029-1037.