Herpes is a common viral infection that causes recurrent outbreaks of painful, burning and/or itchy lesions on the skin and mucous membranes. Antiviral drugs can reduce the number of recurrences by 60 to 90 percent, but they are expensive and sometimes cause serious complications such as kidney failure, liver problems and severe allergic reactions. As a result, many people are turning to alternative herpes remedies.
Lysine
Before the current antiviral drugs were introduced, there was great interest in an amino acid called lysine as a treatment for herpes. Lysine antagonizes another amino acid, arginine, that is a critical component of proteins produced by the herpes virus. According to a 2006 report in the journal Alternative Medicine Review, clinical trials have shown mixed results. Lysine occurs naturally in food and is also marketed as a dietary supplement (lysine hydrochloride). The optimal therapeutic dose of lysine is between 500 and 3,000 mg per day. Doses up to 6 g per day are believed to be safe, although long-term use has not been evaluated.
Adenosine Monophosphate
Adenosine monophosphate (AMP) is a nucleic acid-containing molecule that functions as an intermediate in cellular metabolism and DNA synthesis. Interest in AMP is based on the finding that people infected with herpes exhibit abnormally low blood levels of AMP. According to the 2006 Alternative Medicine Review article, people who received every-other-day intramuscular injections of AMP reported a significant decrease in the number and severity of recurrent herpes outbreaks. The most common side effect of AMP is abnormal heart rhythms with intravenous injection. AMP is not FDA-approved for the treatment of herpes; however, specialty and research pharmacies will prepare AMP suitable for intramuscular injection with a physician's order.
Vitamin C
The use of vitamin C as a treatment for herpes was first described in a 1936 article in the Annals of Dermatology and Syphilis. A 1978 report in the journal Oral Medicine, Oral Surgery, and Oral Pathology describes a reduction in the duration of symptoms--4.2 versus 9.7 days--in patients supplemented with 200 mg per day of vitamin C as ascorbic acid compared to placebo. According to the National Academy of Science's Food and Nutrition Board, the tolerable upper limit of vitamin C is about 2 g per day. Higher doses are associated with stomach upset, diarrhea and rebound vitamin C deficiency when the supplement is discontinued.
References
- Alternative Medicine Review; Natural Remedies for Herpes Simplex; A.R. Gaby; 2006
- Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology; The Use of Water-Soluble Biofiavonoid-Ascorbic Acid Complex in the Treatment of Recurrent Herpes Labialis; 1978
- National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. Food and Nutrition Board: Dietary References Intakes-Vitamin C
