Last week, a curious
article appeared from the
Associated Press entitled "Hunger Seen as Big Enemy in War on AIDS",
from which I excerpt the following gem:
"Starvation
and malnutrition are fast becoming the twin perils of the AIDS fight, and
doctors and health experts say millions of infected people in the developing
world are rapidly approaching a tipping point where food will replace drugs as
the biggest need."
To AIDS
rethinkers, this will certainly not come as revelation. Malnutrition - or
more precisely, under-nutrition - has long been
recognized as the major cause of immune deficiency in the
world. This fact is known, yet minimized or ignored, by the most
prominent proponents of the HIV hypothesis. For example, Harrison's
Principles of Internal Medicine, edited by Dr. Anthony Fauci,
head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, states:
"...Protein
energy malnutrition (PEM) occurs primarily under two circumstances: in
developing nations it may be present in endemic form, and under famine
conditions the prevalence may approach 25 percent... the magnitude of the malnutrition
problem worldwide is immense. In 1983 the World Health Organization
estimated that 300 million children had growth retardation secondary to
malnutrition. Gastrointestinal infections frequently precipate clinical
PEM because of the associated diarrhea, associated anorexia, vomiting,
increased metabolic needs, and decreased intestinal absorption. Parasitic
infections play a major role in many parts of the world. Cell-mediated
immunity is impaired as indicated by all standard tests." [italics mine]
However,
the following excerpt from the Merck Manual indicates that
nutritional deficiency may well be a more significant causative agent for cellular
immune deficiency than the AIDS apologists would like us to think:
"Total
lymphocyte count, which often decreases as undernutrition progresses, may be
determined. Undernutrition produces a marked decline in CD4+ T lymphocytes, so
this count is more useful in patients who do not have AIDS."
When
looking through the distorted lens of HIV and AIDS, however, doctors and
scientists seldom consider malnutrition an independent cause of immune
suppression. Rather, malnutrition is swept under the rug of the
“mysterious” mechanisms of HIV. The
following , which appeared recently on ScienceBlogs, is typical of
orthodox reductionism:
"Clean
water and adequate nutrition may not help much in stopping the spread of HIV,
but they certainly would help fend off the secondary infections that result in
clinical AIDS. While I strongly disagree with the idea put forth by Bethell et
al. that the root cause of AIDS in Africa is really malnutrition, I don't think
anyone disagrees that having good nutrition keeps one generally healthier and
increases their ability to fend off a variety of diseases... Improved health
care structures would also help immensely."
Essentially,
the mainstream considers malnutrition a "co-factor" for "HIV
disease". But is there any real evidence for that HIV is involved at all? The mechanisms by which protein malnutrition cause immune
suppression are intuitive and well-understood, whereas understanding the pathogenesis of HIV
"remains elusive" despite 25 years and a biilion research dollars. Furthermore, the lack of adequate sanitation and water are clearly a major cause of many of the continent's medical emergencies.
It's way past time for the world, that's us, as well as the politicians and chronically misled talk-show hosts, to wake up to reality - the notion of a sexually-transmitted retrovirus causing an epidemic of immune deficiency in Africa is a racist construct. It has no basis in reality, and is causing a medical disaster in the call for the mass administration of "antiretrovirals" to the Third World -- a form of iatrogenic genocide masquerading as philanthropy.
Rebecca V. Culshaw worked on mathematical models of HIV infection for almost ten years. She
received her Ph.D. in mathematics (with a specialization in mathematical
biology) from Dalhousie University in Canada in 2002 and is currently an
assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Texas at Tyler. She is a
celebrated internet author as a result of her writings on Lew Rockwell, and "Science
Sold Out: Does HIV Really Cause AIDS?", a book based on those essays is due next month. [The miniature at the top left is Hypatia
of Alexandria (370-415), famous as the first woman known to have made a
substantial contribution to the development of mathematics.]
Since Dr. Culshaw has chosen to remind everyone of one of Dr. Fauci's more intelligent forays into publishing (although one doubts he actually read any of the articles he pretends to have edited), I would also like to call attention to an extremely interesting observation that Tony thought worth mentioning in an early article on the "evolving epidemic" he penned for Science back in 1986.
The experimental paper he cites shows that risk-activity participant US homosexuals and heterosexual men from Zaire were both infected with hepatitis B, CMV and EBV at 90-100% frequencies. He of course failed to draw any proper inference from this observation.
Mediocre minds rise very high in political bureaucracies.
Posted by: Harvey Bialy | November 17, 2006 at 10:41 AM
It's way past time for the world, that's us, as well as the politicians and chronically misled talk-show hosts, to wake up to reality - the notion of a sexually-transmitted retrovirus causing an epidemic of immune deficiency in Africa is a racist construct.
Thank you, Dr. Culshaw.
The very idea that Africans are able to spread "HIV" across this huge continent in the incredible numbers we're told just stretches believability beyond its limits. This not-so-subtle racism unfortunately is evident here in the U.S., as black men get blamed for an "epidemic" on talk shows. Thank you for pointing out what should be obvious.
Posted by: Dan | November 17, 2006 at 12:01 PM
It has no basis in reality, and is causing a medical disaster in the call for the mass administration of "antiretrovirals" to the Third World -- a form of iatrogenic genocide masquerading as philanthropy.
Well said.
After suffering years of iatrogenic poisoning in the form of irresponsible antibiotic use, I understand how grave the future will be for these victims, and that insight is most disturbing for me. Giving these drugs to the impoverished peoples of Africa, without first substantially improving their access to basic resources is a high-crime, regardless of how one feels about HIV=AIDS.
Though it certainly is a medical disaster, as Dr. Culshaw notes, it is an even greater human tragedy for the use of these toxins is indeed more genocide than microbicide. The white man's burden should have never survived the the last century, since history has shown that it is never of altruistic origins. Furthermore, it has become quite clear that this country is a highly dysfunctional empire and one that is well past its zenith. Understanding this truth makes it a little easier to imagine the coming HIV debacle.
Alas, all empires eventually meet an inglorious demise, and this one can't meet its death too soon for the poor and the uneducated in this world.
Kevin
Otis: Kevin, Although I personally agree with your sentiments regarding the end of the American empire (sic), and the untold woes that have been heaped upon the Motherland since the first whitemen set their cheesy toes on Her shores in the names of their Empires: (1) I have a small bone to pick with your use of the adjective "dysfunctional" since it implies that other empires not only functioned 'better', but somehow that is to their credit -- something that I am quite certain you do not intend. (2) I have been informed that there are some reading YBYL who are in full agreement with is basic editorial positions, who nonetheless remain persuaded that America is not an evil empire, and who would like nothing better than to turn this thread into commentary directed at international politics instead of AIDS politics. This is something nobody wishes to happen, so I must ask you in the future to self-edit your otherwise very incitefull and data full comments to remove all such references. Thanks.
Posted by: Kevin | November 17, 2006 at 03:09 PM
How unsurprising there is such a large overlap between 'AIDS' and malnutrition in Africa:
"Prolonged fever, cough, diarrhea and weight loss were the most common presenting symptoms, and wasting, generalized lymphadenopathy and pyrexia were the most frequent signs in children with HIV/AIDS in the present study. These findings are similar to reports from Calabar, 4 Jos5 and Ile-Ife6 in southern, western and middle belt of Nigeria respectively. The trio of weight loss, chronic diarrhea and prolonged fever are the major criteria for the clinical diagnosis of paediatric AIDS in Africa as proposed by WHO.2, 8
The finding of high prevalence of protein energy malnutrition (PEM) in the present study is not surprising as previous reports have documented such findings in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Moreover children with HIV infection may have other associated factors contributing to malnutrition such as reduced oral intake, chronic diarrhea and malabsorption resulting from infectious or non-specific causes.7"
http://www.bioline.org.br/request?am06018
And I find it interesting that:
"Children with PEM are more susceptible to infectious diarrhea diseases (GORDON, GUZMAN and ASOCOLI, 1964; TOMKINS, 1981; TROWBRIDGE, NEWTON, CAMPBELL, 1981; CHOWDHURY et al., 1990) which are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries."
and;
"Recurrent episodes of diarrhea lead to malnutrition as a result of anorexia with fever, catabolism from infection...'
http://www.unu.edu/Unupress/food2/UID07E/uid07e16.htm
Wow, considering 'AIDS' is most often diagnosed with 'clinical presentation' alone, one wonders how PEM and 'AIDS' are differentiated?
Chris
Posted by: Chris Tyler | November 18, 2006 at 01:32 AM
"Aggressive efforts to improve nutrition...could greatly improve the quality of life and possibly extend the lives of AIDS patients ...
'Malnutrition in AIDS is common, severe, and progressive,' said Dr. Donald P. Kotter, a panel member from St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York. Starvation is a major contributing factor in the deaths of many AIDS patients, Dr. Kotter said at a news conference ... Even some drugs taken by AIDS patients can lead to malnutrition or vitamin deficiencies."
Gina Kolata
Posted by: Piña Colada | November 24, 2006 at 10:14 AM
There are some interesting articles on the fabrication of UNAIDS statistics on NotAIDS
India
Africa
Posted by: Hollywood | November 29, 2006 at 01:29 PM