Armenicum is a drug invented in Armenia in 1998 whose developers claim it is an effective treatment for HIV infection and a number of associated diseases; its main ingredient is iodine, a general antiseptic, combined with dextrin, polyvinyl alcohol, sodium, potassium, lithium, and chloride, formulated as a blue-violet liquid supplied in 20 milliliter orange glass bottles. No rigorously monitored clinical trials of Armenicum have been published, and most HIV experts outside Armenia do not endorse its use. A 1999 BBC investigation raised serious doubts about its efficacy, with one expert saying he would not recommend taking the drug at all and a patient reporting being in a worse state after using it than before.
Facts
Origin YearThe article says the drug was invented in Armenia in 1998 and notes that its efficacy claims are made by its developers and are not endorsed by most HIV experts outside Armenia. FAQs
Was Armenicum ever shown to work against HIV?
No rigorously monitored trials have been published, and a 1999 BBC investigation doubted it.
No. Its developers claim it is an effective treatment for HIV infection, but no rigorously monitored clinical trials of it have been published, and most HIV experts outside Armenia do not endorse its use. In 1999 a BBC investigation, which interviewed scientists who administered the drug, patients and its creator Alexander Ilyin, raised serious doubts about its efficacy and concluded that it might do more harm than good. Dr. Manfred Dietrich of the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg told the BBC that he would not recommend taking such a drug at all. This is a record of the dispute, not medical advice.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
2. Armenicum (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Armenicum, lead section
Armenicum is a drug invented in Armenia in 1998 that its developers claim is an effective treatment for HIV infection and a number of associated diseases.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenicum, lead section
Armenicum is a drug invented in Armenia in 1998 that its developers claim is an effective treatment for HIV infection and a number of associated diseases.
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