"Disease by definition" ?

Commented in Al-Jazeera under the article:
Is enough being done to combat HIV/Aids?

Millions of Africans have long suffered from severe weight loss, chronic diarrhea, fever, and persistent coughs. In 1985 Western researchers suddenly defined this cluster of symptoms as a distinct syndrome, AIDS, and declared that it was caused by a single virus, HIV, which they considered to be sexually contagious. First is the fact that many of the Africans who qualify for AIDS diagnoses perhaps as many as 70% turn out to be negative when tested for HIV. Grossly unscientific claims, inaccurate clinical generalizations, western notions of sexual morality, and 19th-century racist stereotypes about Africans that AIDS became a "disease by definition." Africa was assigned a central role in promoting the premise that AIDS was everywhere and everyone was at risk. By 1986, "people were falling over one another to get involved in AIDS research," "They realized that AIDS represented an opportunity for grant money, training, and the possibility of professional advancement...

In April 2003, Hafford, four months pregnant, was urged by her obstetrician to take an HIV test. She agreed, even though she was healthy and had no reason to think she might be HIV positive. The test result came up positive, though Hafford was tested only once, and she did not know that pregnancy itself can cause a false positive HIV test. Hafford was on the drug regimen for thirty-eight days. “Her health started to deteriorate from the moment she went on the drugs,” She was admitted to the hospital’s ICU with “acute and sub-acute necrosis of the liver, secondary to drug toxicity, acute renal failure, anemia, septicemia, premature separation of the placenta,” and threatened “premature labor.” But Joyce Ann Hafford never had AIDS ...

Review of the medical literature concerning the causes and the pathogenesis of AIDS worldwide revealed the following facts: 1 AIDS in drug users and homosexuals in the USA and Europe is probably caused by the heavy ancillary use of glucocorticoids and other immunosuppressive agents to medically treat the wide range of the chronic serious illnesses. 2 AIDS in hemophiliacs is clearly related to the use of corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive agents to prevent the development of antibodies for factors VIII and IX and to treat chronic illnesses. 3 AIDS in people receiving blood and/or tissue is related to the use of glucocorticoids to prevent reactions of transfusion and tissue rejection. 4 AIDS in infants and children is probably caused by their exposure to drugs and corticosteroids in utero and their exposure to corticosteroids after birth used to treat their chronic illnesses. 5 AIDS in Africa is caused by malnutrition, release of endogenous cortisol, and by opportunistic disease

The following case history was the spark that ignited this in-depth investigation of the causes and pathogenesis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). A 60 year-old-white male, HIV-negative, developed Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) following treatment with a two month course of prednisone (60 mg per day) and a two week course of azathioprine (50-100 mg per day) for lung fibrosis. His blood CD4+ T cells count was 255/µL, the CD4+ T cells /CD8+ T cells ratio was 0.6, and he had severe lymphocytopenia. He also suffered from pneumonia and severe fungal infection in his mouth and skin. Cessation of the treatment with prednisone and azathioprine led to the reversal of the damage in his immune system. He fully recovered from pneumonia and the fungal infection after a short course of antibiotics and the use of antifungal lotion. Twenty-two days after the last dose of prednisone, his CD4+ T cells count was back to normal at 657 cells/µL (Al-Bayati, 1999).

Review of the literature of the causes and the pathogenesis of AIDS worldwide revealed that approximately 90% of AIDS cases in the USA and Europe are observed in homosexual men and drug users. The regular uses of alcohol, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, and alkyl nitrite cause chronic health problems of the nervous system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, kidneys and other tissues in these individuals. The majority of these health problems are usually diagnosed as idiopathic currently, and treated with high doses of glucocorticoids and/or cytotoxic drugs. In addition, homosexual men are usually heavy user of illicit drugs, alcohol, and rectal glucocorticoids (Fauci et al., 1998 Al-Bayati, 1999). Detailed descriptions of the studies that I reviewed to evaluate the validity of the HIV-hypothesis were reported. The results indicate that the medical evidence show AIDS is probably caused by the use of illicit drugs, therapeutic use of corticosteroids, and malnutrition.

Could virus-contaminated vaccines lie at the root of AIDS? In the early 1970s the hepatitis B vaccine was developed in chimpanzees, now widely accepted as the animal from which HIV supposedly evolved. To this day, some people are fearful about taking the hepatitis B vaccine because of its original connection to gay men and AIDS and older physicians remember the original experimental hepatitis vaccine was made from the pooled blood serum of hepatitis-infected homosexuals. AIDS first erupted in gays living in New York City in 1979 a few months after the experiment began in Manhattan. The astounding and statistically significant fact is that 20% of the gay men who volunteered for the hepatitis B experiment in New York were discovered to be HIV-positive in 1980 (a year before AIDS became "official" in 1981). This would mean that Manhattan men had the highest incidence of HIV anywhere in the world, including Africa, the supposed birthplace of HIV and AIDS. No cases in Africa until 1982.

In contrast, some still linked the disease to its initial occurrence in gay men, with a letter in The Lancet calling it "gay compromise syndrome". Others called it GRID (gay-related immune deficiency), AID (acquired immunodeficiency disease), "gay cancer" or "community-acquired immune dysfunction". In June a report of a group of cases amongst gay men in Southern California suggested that the disease might be caused by an infectious agent that was sexually transmitted. By the beginning of July a total of 452 cases, from 23 states, had been reported to the CDC. Later that month the first reports appeared that the disease was occurring in Haitians, as well as haemophiliacs. This news soon led to speculation that the epidemic might have originated in Haiti, and caused some parents to withdraw their children from haemophiliac camps.

... and, no, I am not a medical doctor. My last job before retirement, however, was with the Social Security Administration as a disability examiner. I know my way around and into a medical case file. I think, based on the medical evidence, that this whole HIV/AIDS thing needs to be looked into more closely by qualified medical professionals.