Ok, I admit this does sound like it is from the Stone Ages.  What’s next, blood-letting?  But seriously, there are some impressive reports that this is working for many infections, both chronic and acute.  The therapy is quite old actually.  There are reports from the 1930’s that IV HCl worked well against syphillis and TB.  Now that we are in the supplement age, Betaine HCl is availabe for oral dosing.  A friend of mine, who has been ill for over 30 years with Lyme and/or co-infections, has made great progress using Dr. Marshall’s protocol ( http://www.healthline.cc/default.htm) using Betaine HCL tablets.  It is not clear whether the Betaine increases methylation, increased Cl- ion and improves digestion, increases stomach acidity and kills pathogenic bacteria and/or parasites in the gut, or a combination of these.  At any rate, some have postulated that since the causative agent of Lyme (Bb) is a spirochete similar to that which causes syphillis, one might make the jump that it could work for both. 

Townsend Letter Journal had a good summary IV HCl therapy at: http://www.townsendletter.com/Dec2006/ThreeYearsofHClTherapy.pdf 

And finally another link for some background information here:http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_1800.shtml

I’ve also included an excerpt from a recent update from an individual I personally know well who took oral Betaine HCl (not IV HCl) for 3 weeks before he shared some of his thoughts which are below in italics:

It is believed this protocol is effective in at least three main areas:

1) Increased stomach acidity is required to properly digest your food
and assimilate the vitamins and minerals. This is probably one of the
reason so many on the salt/c protocol notice better digestion as the
ionic chlorine from the salt is needed by your body to produce HCL. 2) The HCL increases leukocytic activity. This increased immune
response is what was talked about in the Townsend letter article. There
is actually a pdf file available from the Townsend site that is about 50
pages and goes over studies and case histories for the 1930’s where HCL
therapy was more commonly used to treat a gamut of diseases with
success.3) Betaine HCL is actually trimethyl glycine with the HCL molecule
attached. I had originally thought betaine just meant it was derived
from beets which is true but only part of the story. Trimethyl glycine
is a strong methylator and methyl groups are critical for your body.
Much of the work that Dr. Garry Gordon and Dr. Amy Yasko deal with has
to do with the methylation cycle and how it is affected by genetics,
heavy metals etc. I do not remember all that the methylation cycle
does, but I do remember that it is critical for deactivating viruses.
Much of our DNA is actually viral DNA and our body flags the viral
portions of the DNA with a methyl group to say ignore it.

My main observations on the HCL protocol are the following with other
minor changes:

1) Tremendous increase in energy. Initially I had done well on the
salt/c protocol but have been having quite a bit of fatigue and pain the
last 10 months. (I have been one of those that have been experiencing an
almost continuous herx and have had to cut my dose back to about 4 grams
and still have a lot of problems) I had not been walking much or doing
much physical activity. I am now back walking between 45 minutes and
1.5 hours per day without any post exercise fatigue and have been able
to keep up with the yard work and other activities now with no problems
in addition to the exercise. Maybe next week I will take up
running…just kidding.

2) Much less pain. I deal with chronic muscle and some joint pain,
which is much improved. My chronic low back pain is almost gone now,
and I have much better flexibility. I have also have a knee that gives
me problems from a prior injury and it is now much better and does not
act up on my long walks, so things are definitely improving.

3) Chronic headache improving. I have had a chronic headache for the
last 17 years. At one point early on with salt/c it almost went away,
but the headache turned to more of a pressure feeling on the right side
of my head from front to back. This is now improving with the HCL
protocol.

4) Mental fog is reducing although still present.

5) Numbness is improving on my right side.

6) Much improved sleep. I used to stay up late until I was very tired,
otherwise I would toss and turn in bed and have problems getting to
sleep. I believe a large portion of the improvement is due to the
reduced level of pain and am able to go to sleep at a much earlier hour
and get more of that good sleep…closer to 8 hours…that is so crucial
for our bodies to heal and to produce cortisol that has been talked
about recently.

7) Shortly after starting the HCL protocol I developed 3 red patches on
my left thigh about the size of a quarter. They were completely flat
and did not hurt at all. Within about 4 days they went away. After
this I developed these patches again on my thighs, but they were not as
numerous and not quite as large.

8) Unfortunately, I have had just as much flatuence and the bad part is
it is a bit smelly. I think that some of those methyl groups may have
added a hydrogen from the HCL and formed the stinky…methane. When I
spoke to a representative at the supplement company he stated that it is
part of your body detoxing. Who knows just call me stinky for now.

9) I better add another point so I end on a positive note. Overall, I
look much better. My complexion is much improved and is much less a
pasty yellow jaundice look. My dark circles under my eyes are mostly
gone too. Also, my skin feels much softer. This is probably due to
better digestion or improved thyroid function while on the protocol.