HIV AIDS

Does HIV Cause AIDS ?

I am flabbergasted with the medical establishment- again. After years of assuming that my taxes were funding valid unbiased medical research, I find out that we have all been fed much misinformation. First of all, Luc Montagnier, from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, the discoverer of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), is now calling HIV a "peaceful virus," stating that it cannot cause AIDS by itself. Other researchers, such as Peter Duesberg, Ph.D., a world renown virologist from UC- Berkeley, claims that the HIV is totally harmless. Dr. Duesberg has lost his Outstanding Investigator Grant from the National Cancer Institute because he dared to challenge the establishment. For years, Duesberg has said that AIDS is caused by drugs, multiple transfusions, and malnourishment.

The facts to support Duesberg's position are impressive. First of all, the definition of the Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome requires the presence of HIV antibodies. Since the mid-1980's, cases have been described in the medical literature of people having one or more of the 30 unrelated microbial, neoplstic, or noninfectious AIDS diseases without any trace of HIV antibodies. Duesberg has collected over 4000 such cases. Further, there is no evidence that HIV actually destroys human T-cells (a type of immune cell). The virus is found in less than 1 of every 1000 T-cells of AIDS patients, almost always inactive and not reproducing. The hallmark of all retroviruses, including HIV, is that they make DNA from their RNA, and incorporate this DNA into the host cell's nucleus so they can act as parasites. This process depends on the survival of the host cell, not its destruction.

A cardinal rule in microbiology is that if a microbe causes a disease, it must fulfill Koch's three postulates. (These postulates have withstood the test of time, having been enunciated by the great German microbiologist Robert Koch well over a hundred years ago.) They are:

(1) The microbe causing the disease, such as HIV, must be present in large amounts in the ill person, especially in the affected organs.

(2) One should be able to culture out (isolate) the microbe and grow it ill the laboratory (by taking various tissue or biological fluid samples).

(3) One should then be able to reproduce the disease by injecting the isolated microbe into a healthy experimental animal (animal model).

HIV fails all three postulates. The virus is very difficult to find and isolate in any HIV+ person, with or without AIDS. After a person is infected with RIV, the virus reproduces rapidly within days. Then within weeks, the immune system has already destroyed nearly every virus, while the person has few or no symptoms. (The person now has antibodies against the virus and is said to be HIV+). As for Koch's third postulate, the National Institutes of Health (NIB) has successfully infected over 150 chimpanzees with HIV at a cost of $40,000- 50,000 apiece. The NIB considers chimpanzees to be the best animal model for understanding HIV in humans. These monkeys have been infected for up to ten years now, and all remain healthy. The HIV infects these animals, multiplies, elicits the formation of antibodies, and then virtually disappears, just like in humans.

If AIDS was a sexually trasmitted disease (STD), one would expect equal distribution between the sexes. In fact, there are two epidemics, one in America and Europe, where about 90% of the patients are males over the age of 20, and a second epidemic in Africa with equal sex distribution.

Most American (62%) and European (75%) AIDS patients have opportunistic infections resulting from previously acquired immunodeficiency. But the rest (38% & 25%) do not have diseases resulting from immunodeficiency and subsequent microbes. (These diseases include Kaposi's sarcoma, lymphoma, cervical cancer, wasting disease and dementia.) In fact, the specific American/European diseases fall into sub epidemics which correlate closely with specific groups and specific risk factors. In America, these groups comprise male homosexuals (62% of cases), intravenous drug abusers (32%), recipients of transfusions (2%), and hemophiliacs (1%), plus an indeterminate number of people taking cytotoxic drugs, especially zidovudine (AZT), but also the newer cytotoxic drugs such as dideoxycytidine (ddC) and dideoxyinosine (ddI).

American homosexual males have Kaposi's sarcoma 20 times more often than all other American AIDS patients. Surveys show that these men were abusers of inhaled and oral aphrodisiac drugs, primarily nitrites ("poppers") for years before developing Kaposi's sarcoma. In fact, with the dramatic decrease of the use of these nitrite drugs in this group, the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma has also declined markedly.

Intravenous drug abusers have a proclivity for tuberculosis. Abusers of crack (cocaine) smoking develop pneumonia and tuberculosis. Less than 1% of hemophiliacs with AIDS develop Kaposi's sarcoma, but generally develop fungal and viral pneumonias. Recipient of transfusions almost all get pneumonia.

According to data from the CDC, 1,328 American babies have gotten AIDS over an 11 year period ending Dec. 31, 1991. 95% of the mothers have been identified in high risk groups, primarily drug abusers. A European study of HIV-positive infants with AIDS found that "nearly all children were born to intravenous-drug-abusing mothers."

AIDS in Africa is a totally different syndrome. There, it consists of fever, diarrhea, tuberculosis, and "slim" disease. In Africa, where there is little drug abuse, the main public health issues are chronic malnutrition and poor hygienic practices. There are less AIDS cases in Africa than in the U.S., despite the fact that it is estimated that about seven times more people are infected with the HIV. If HIV caused AIDS, Africa should actually have seven times more AIDS cases than the U.S.!

HIV is assumed to be a new virus. The means for detecting antibodies against HIV, "the AIDS test," was developped in 1985. Antibodies are specific immune proteins that the body targets to destroy microbes in any infection, including HIV. Since 1995, the number of antibody-positive Americans has been fixed at a constant population of 1 million, or 0.4% of the population. U.S. Army data show that from 1985 to 1990, an unchanging 0.03% of male and female applicants have been HIV positive. This is the predicted distribution of a long established virus. This non-spread of the virus over the last 9 years is a clear indication that the NIV is an old virus. Despite its mythic origin in Africa and entry into the U.S. in the late 1970's, 3 cases who were HIV-positive have been confirmed in the U.S. from 1968, 1971, and 1972. This non- spread of the HIV, despite the lack of a vaccination or effective drug against it, argues that HIV is "old" in America and not responsible for AIDS.

Data from the U.S. Army and the U.S. Jobs Corps indicate that between 0.03% and 0.3% of the 17- to 19-year -old applicants are HIV-infected but healthy. Since there are 90 million Americans under the age of 20, there are between 27,000 and 270,000 HIV carriers in those under 20 years old. In Africa, where HIV is more prevalent, 1-2% of healthy children are HIV-positive. Almost all of these children and teenagers acquired the virus by perinatal transmission, that is, from their mothers in utero. All animal and human retroviruses depend on this mode of transmission, which is fairly efficient. It is estimated that for HIV, using the "AIDS test," for tracking, between 13-50% of HIV-positive mothers transmit the virus to their offspring. It would be absurd to think that most of these children and teenagers acquired HIV from sex, which is a highly inefficient means of transmission. In one study of 25 HIV-positive men, one man was found to have one HIV in one million sperm cells, while in the other 24 men, no HIV was found at all in their sperm. Since sexual transmission of HIV depends on an average of 1000 sexual contacts with an infected individual, and since only 1 in every 250 Americans is infected, the average teen-ager would have to achieve an absurd 250,000 sexual contacts with random Americans to get infected!

Thus, it is likely that nearly all healthy American adolescents who are HIV- positive acquired the virus by perinatal transmission. It was alleged but never proven that 22-year old Kimberly Bergalis got HIV from her dentist. This woman developed candidiasis and pneumonia 17 and 24 months, respectively, after the extraction of two molars. After her dentist publicly disclosed that he had AIDS, she was tested for HIV, despite being a virgin and in no AIDS risk group. Once found to be HIV-positive, she was diagnosed with AIDS, and treated with the toxic drug AZT until her death in December, 1991. At the time of her death, Bergalis had weight loss (33 pounds), hair loss, uncontrollable candidiasis, anemia, and muscle atrophy, all symptoms of AZT toxicity. It is not clear if her pneumonia began before or after the initial use of the AZT. Then all patients of this Florida dentist were tested. 7 of 1100 of his patients (including Bergalis) tested HIV-positive. Four or 5 of these, including Bergalis, did not belong to a risk group. Two or 3 did. Thus, 4 or 5 patients out of 1100, or 0.4% reflects exactly the incidence of HIV among all Americans (1 out of 250). Since no plausible mechanism of transmission between dentist and patients was ever identified, it is more likely that these 4 or 5 patients, including Bergalis, received HIV perinatally. Subsequent testing of many thousands of patients of other dentists showed that 0.4% of them were HIV positive.

Recent studies show that AZT does not lengthen the lives of those with AIDS, and may actually shorten them. The practice of giving non-AIDS patients AZT because they are HIV-positive is thus brought into question. According to data from the drug's manufacturer, Burroughs-Wellcome, 200,000 people worldwide take AZT at an annual cost per person of $2,300. AZT-specific diseases have been reported in AIDS patients, AIDS-free persons, and animals tested with AZT.

These diseases include anemia, neutropenia, and leukopenia in 20-80% with about 30-57% requiring transfusions within several weeks; severe nausea in about 45%; muscle atrophy and polymyositis (generalized muscle inflamation) in 6-8%; lymphomas within 1 year on AZT in 9%; acute (nonviral) hepatitis; neurological diseases including insomnia, headaches, dementia, mania, Wernicke's encephalopathy, ataxia, and seizures; and impotence. In addition, AZT is carcinogenic in mice. Thus, AZT appears to be the most toxic drug ever approved for continual use in the U.S.

Ryan White, an 18-year old hemophiliac, was said to have died from AIDS in April, 1990. However, the National Hemophilia Poundation revealed that White died from unstoppable internal bleeding. He had also been treated for a long time with the toxic drug AZT. Either hemophilia or AZT alone could be a sufficient cause for his death. There is no evidnce that HIV caused his death. In fact, hemophiliacs and other receivers of multiple blood transfusions have always been at greater risk of opportunistic infections, since the many blood transfusions present a host of antigens foreign to the body, and tend to depress the immune system over time. Despite the fact that 75% of American hemophiliacs are HIV-positive, they are living longer than ever before, due to advances in treatment. It takes the average hemophiliac 25 years to develop AIDS.

In fact, the claim that 50% of HIV-positive people will develop AIDS within 10 years is untrue. Since only 30,000 to 40,000, or 3-4% of 1 million HIV-infected Americans develop AIDS each year, those 50% would actually have to wait 12-15 years, and 100% of HIV-infected Americans would have to wait as long as 24-33 years to develop AIDS. The statistics for Europeans are similar. In Africa, where only 0.3% of HIV-infected people develop AIDS annually, 50% of these Africans would have to wait about 150 years and 100% would have to wait up to 300 years to develop AIDS!

Thus, in people with AIDS, HIV is a marker of (1) a large number of sexual contacts with many people, or (2) repeated sharing of intravenous needles, or (3) multiple transfusions. Repeated rectal sex is a much more efficient way of transmitting the virus than vaginal intercourse (by a factor of 2-10 times).

The use of nitrite inhalants and other oral aphrodisiac drugs facilitates anal intercourse, in part by relaxing the anal sphincter. The passive sexual partner in anal intercourse has a 2.75 to 4.4 times higher AIDS risk than the insertive partner. If HIV were the cause of AIDS, both partners should have equal AIDS risks. Active and passive partners do have equal incidences of other sexually transmitted diseases. Yet the passive partners take from 2 to 8 times more drugs than the active partners, in order to facilitate anal intercourse. Thus, this abuse of nitrite drugs correlates well with the development of AIDS.

AIDS is not spreading into the general population as has been predicted for years. One way that AIDS was supposed to spread was through prostitutes. Among American prostitutes, only those who are actually chronic drug abusers have developed AIDS. Studies reveal that non drug abusing "streetwalkers" who generally do not use condoms, are almost all HIV-negative and AIDS free. At the same time, these same prostitutes had very high rates of infection with classical sexually transmitted diseases. 25% to 50% of these prostitutes were seropositive for syphilis and the same percentage for hepatitis B virus (with 5% actively infected). 95% to 100% of these prostitutes had tested positive for antibodies against chlamydia, herpes simplex I, herpes simplex II, and gonorrhea.

In summary, HIV is an old virus, transmitted mostly perinatally. HIV is not necessary for the development of the myriad and diverse and unrelated AIDS diseases. Most AIDS patients have a barely detectable level of viruses, if any. HIV does not destroy human lymphocytes, as alleged. In fact, the "AIDS test" depends on a viral culture, that is, HIV surviving in human lymphocytes, none of which has ever been damaged by the alleged cytotoxic (cell destroying) HIV! On the other hand, AZT is cytotoxic, and destroys immune and many other human -cells. There is even evidence that AZT shortens the lives of people with AIDS. The main risk factors for AIDS in the U.S. and Europe are protracted drug abuse, receiving multiple blood transfusions or taking AZT (or other cytotoxic drugs like ddC and ddI). In Africa, chronic malnutrition and poor hygienic practices are the main risk factors.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

For those wishing to get more technical and scientific information, refer to Dr. Peter Duesberg's articles, especially his 76-page article in Pharmac. Ther. vol. 55, pp. 201-277, 1992, which has several hundred references. This is available through medical libraries.

This article was originally written eight years ago, but unfortunately progress with AIDS has been very slow. A group of researchers, doctors, and interested others has formed a Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis. To support this group and for further information, go to www.virusmyth.com

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Written by George Milowe M.D.