Rochester, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/27/2014 --A recent survey, conducted by the Center for the Biology of Chronic Diseases (CBCD), found that many respondents with a herpes virus infection wanted to know about the best treatment. The following information presents a review of the medical literature.

Herpes treatment methods are divided into oral and topical. Another division is drugs and dietary supplements.

About Drugs: WebMD notes that, "treatment with antiviral drugs can help people who are bothered by genital herpes outbreaks stay symptom-free longer. These drugs can also reduce the severity and duration of symptoms when they do flare up. Drug therapy is not a cure, but it can make living with the condition easier. There are three major (oral) drugs commonly used to treat genital herpes symptoms: acyclovir (Zovirax), famciclovir (Famvir), and valacyclovir (Valtrex). These are all taken in pill form. Severe cases may be treated with the intravenous (IV) drug acyclovir." (1)

However, "their effectiveness is limited. For instance, a meta-analysis of five placebo-controlled and two dose comparison studies evaluated the effect of aciclovir, famciclovir or valaciclovir on symptoms. The meta-analysis showed that oral antiviral therapy decreases the duration and the associated pain of an outbreak by merely one day." (2)

About topical remedies: Some topical antiviral remedies claim on their websites to reduce itching and inflammation associated with blisters and itchy skin eruptions. These websites also claim that these topical herpes remedies also relieve burning, stinging pain and swelling, and help heal cracking and bleeding. In contrast to these claims, WebMD notes that "formulas applied to the surface of the skin provide little benefit, and doctors don’t usually recommend them." (1) Therefore, the CBCD recommends looking for scientific support for the health related claims on these websites.

About oral remedies: Many doctors may prescribe a natural product that was shown to work in published clinical studies. As far as we know, there are only two remedies, Novirin and Gene-Eden-VIR, that fit this description. These clinical studies that tested these herpes remedies were conducted by Hanan Polansky and Edan Itzkovitz from the CBCD, and published in the peer reviewed medical journal Pharmacy & Pharmacology. (2) The formula of these two herpes remedies was designed to help the immune system target the latent herpes virus. However, the clinical studies showed that the the formula is effective in reducing the severity, duration, and frequency of herpes outbreaks. (2)

Interested individuals can view more information about the two published studies on natural antiviral products here, http://cbcd.net/Gene-Eden-VIR-Clinical-Study.php and http://cbcd.net/Gene-Eden-VIR-Decreases-Fatigue-Clinical-Study.php.

Click to read more information about herpes treatments on the Center’s website.

References

(1) WebMD - Treatment Options for Genital Herpes

(2) Polansky H, Itzkovitz E. Gene-Eden-VIR Is Antiviral: Results of a Post Marketing Clinical Study. Pharmacology & Pharmacy, 2013, 4, 1-8 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/pp.2013.46A001

About the CBCD
The Center for the Biology of Chronic Disease (CBCD, http://www.cbcd.net) is a non-for-profit research center. The mission of the CBCD is to advance the research on the biology of chronic diseases, and to accelerate the discovery of treatments for these diseases. The CBCD published the "Purple" book entitled "Microcompetition with Foreign DNA and the Origin of Chronic Disease" written by Dr. Hanan Polansky. The book presents Dr. Polansky's highly acclaimed scientific theory on the relationship between the DNA of latent (chronic) viruses and the onset of chronic diseases. Dr. Polansky's book is available as a free download from the CBCD website.