BACKGROUND: With some diseases, viruses and toxins circulate throughout the blood stream, keeping patients ill and continuing to spread the disease in the body. But imagine being able to clean those toxins out! The Hemopurifier mimics the body's natural immune response of clearing viruses and toxins from the blood before cells and organs can be infected. It is designed for the treatment of viral conditions that are not responsive to drug and vaccine therapies, either because they are resistant or have developed resistance overtime. Manufacturers say the treatment goal is to reduce viral load burden without the toxicity of drugs so the patient's natural immunity can recover to wage an effective battle against viral infection. Because the Hemopurifier is mechanical in nature, it can be used in conjunction with other drugs and vaccines. This gives health care providers an added defense element with which to fight infections. Manufacturers say it could be a first line of defense to fight bio-weapons from terrorists.

DISEASES: Jim Joyce, chairman and CEO of Aethlon Medical, manufacturers of the Hemopurifier, say the device could be especially beneficial in the treatment of the following diseases:

• Ebolavirus- Potentially fatal, Ebola's symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain or malaise, and sometimes internal and external bleeding. Mortality rates are extremely high, with the human case-fatality rate ranging from 50 percent to 89 percent. Filtering the virus out of the blood is hoped to be beneficial to victims.

   

• Smallpox- Causing one of the most well-known outbreak epidemics in world history, the smallpox virus was responsible for an estimated 300 million to 500 million deaths in the 20^th century before it was eradicated in 1979. The highly contagious disease has been considered a potential bio-weapon, although all known strains of the virus are controlled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga.

   

• Marburg hemorrhagic fever- Related to the Ebola virus, Marburg is a rare disease believed to be a potential bio-weapon threat. Its symptoms are similar to other infectious diseases like malaria and typhoid fever. There is no known treatment for this potentially fatal disease.

   

• HIV- The initial virus that leads to AIDS, HIV infects T-cells, causing the immune system to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic diseases. While the Hemopurifier cannot cure HIV or AIDS, manufacturers say it can suppress a patient's viral load and remove mutant strains of the disease, making existing treatment more effective and possibly prolonging the HIV stage of the disease.

   

• Dengue hemorrhagic fever- A severe, potentially deadly infection spread by certain mosquitoes. Occurrences of the disease in the come primarily from travelers who are exposed to the disease while abroad. Vaccines do not exist for this condition and manufacturers are hopeful the Hemopurifier can provide help for this frightening disease.

   

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:                             Aethlon Medical

                                                                                                                        (858) 459-7800

                                                                                                                        http://www.aethlonmedical.com