Some findings that have slipped under the radar. Valid findings that go against official theory seem to be ignored by media.
I report and link. You decide. - BJon
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalms 20:7
From a About .com HIV / AIDS forum post, Developments in aids researches Post 2:
Developments in aids researches Post 2 [/] From: DistractibleDan [/] Date: 2/5/08 [/] Here's some fairly recent info from the folks at Alive & Well.
=== [/] The Failure of Viral Load Tests [/] JAMA Study Shakes AIDS Science, Angers HIV Advocates [/] A nationwide team of orthodox AIDS researchers led by doctors Benigno Rodriguez and Michael Lederman of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland are disputing the value of viral load testsa standard used since 1996 to assess health, predict progression to disease, and grant approval to new AIDS drugsafter their study of 2,800 HIV positives concluded viral load measures failed in more than 90% of cases to predict or explain immune status.
Published in the September 27, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the findings by Rodriguez et al shake the foundation of the past decade of AIDS science to its core, inciting skepticism and anger among many HIV adherents. [...] [/] For further information see: Cohen J. Study says HIV blood levels don't predict immune decline. Science 313(5795):1868, 2006; Rodriquez B, Sethi AK, Cheruvu VK, et al. Predictive value of plasma HIV RNA level on rate of CD4 T-cell decline in untreated HIV infection. JAMA 296(12):1498-506, 2006
===\New Study Questions Reliability of T Cell Counts Finds HIV Negatives with AIDS Defining Numbers [/] Following the news that viral load is not an accurate method of assessing or predicting immune status comes word from the Journal of Infectious Diseases that T cell counts may be less reliable measures of immune competence than previously believed. [/] A study in Africa conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that HIV negative populations can have T cell counts below 350, a number that would, according to WHO guidelines, qualify for an AIDS diagnosis in HIV positive populations. Another surprising conclusion from the same WHO study: HIV positives that started AIDS drug treatment with low T cell counts had the same survival outcomes as HIV positives that began treatment with high T cell counts.
[===] [/] Check out the conundrums in this November 11 2006 article from New Scientist found online at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10511-are-we-prescribing-hiv-drugs-properly.html [/] Are We Prescribing HIV Drugs Properly? [/] [“]In cash-starved regions of the world, deciding who should get anti-retroviral drugs for HIV is a tough call. Now it seems that one of the main tools for making that decision may be less reliable than it appeared. [/] [...] What's more, when people with low pre-infection cell counts did contract HIV, and received anti-retrovirals, they survived for about nine years - the same as people with high counts (Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol 194, p 1450). [/] [...] But CD4 counts can vary a lot naturally so if you follow the WHO guidelines to the letter, then some people started on anti-retrovirals would not even be infected with HIV, he concludes.
=== [/] Lancet Study Challenges Claims about HAART Treatment Does Not [Equal] Life [/] The surprising conclusion from a recent study published in the medical journal, The Lancet: After starting treatment with HARRT, viral response improved but such improvement has not translated into a decrease in mortality.
[…] Instead of finding data that provide a ringing endorsement of anti-HIV drug therapy, the studys results refute popular claims that the newer anti-HIV meds extend life or improve health. [/] Commenting on the article, Felix de Fries of Study Group AIDS-Therapy in Zurich, Switzerland had this to say: The Lancet study shows that after a short period of time, HAART treatment led to increases in precisely those opportunistic infections that define AIDS from fungal infections of the lungs, skin and intestines to various mycobacterial infections. De Fries also notes that while HAART has led to no sustained increases in CD4 counts, no reduction in AIDS-defining illness and no decrease in mortality rates, its use is associated with a list of serious adverse events including cardiovascular disease, lipodystrophy, lactacidosis, liver and kidney failure, osteoporosis, thyroid dysfunction, neuropathy, and non-AIDS cancers among users. [/] For more information, please refer to The Lancet, issue 368:451-58 and/or The Study Group AIDS-Therapy by telephone or fax at 0041 44 401 34 24 or by email at felix.defries[...] tele2.ch
=== [/] Journal Article Advocates Radical Approach to AIDS Prevention Questions Popular Ideas about HIV in Africa [/] Excerpted from
http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20031447 […] [/] "Differences in sexual behaviour cannot explain 50-fold differences in HIV prevalence around the world," writes the economics professor from Gettysburg College. "Yet global AIDS policy relies almost entirely on behavioural interventions - abstinence or condoms - for HIV prevention. Southern Africa's very high AIDS rate has been a source of much speculation. President Thabo Mbeki has been the most vocal proponent for poverty to be put on the global AIDS agenda, and has also condemned Western notions of African sexuality in the context of AIDS.[…] "Policymakers seem to be convinced (without evidence) that Africans are having more sex than Americans. They do not ask why US college campuses, where rates of chlamydia and genital herpes are as high as 30 to 40 percent, do not have high rates of HIV." She argues compelling for a return to "the fundamental causes" of the raid spread of AIDS in poor countries - biological and socio-economic factors. [/] As far as biology is concerned, says Stillwaggon, the immune systems of people in southern Africa are weakened by malnutrition and parasitic illnesses. […] [My ellipses and emphasis]
