The AIDS establishment and the pharmaceutical companies have spent the last twenty-three years and billions of dollars searching for cures for AIDS but they have made zero progress. On the contrary, their recommendations for treatments given to AIDS patients and HIV-positive individuals have led to the poisoning of millions of people around the world with toxic chemicals (AZT, protease inhibitors, and other toxic anti-retroviral drugs, and corticosteroids).
My extensive research on the causes and pathogenesis of AIDS in all risk groups has guided me to discover the factual causes of AIDS. It has also led me to understand the reasons behind the AIDS establishment's failure to control the AIDS epidemic and finding cures for AIDS (1, 2,3) . I believe that implementing the following recommendations will help solve the problems created by the AIDS establishment and save lives and billions of dollars. These recommendations will also help the medical community, governments, and the public to better understand the factual causes of AIDS and eventually controlling the AIDS epidemic.
My recommendations include:
A. Causes and the pathogenesis of AIDS in drug users.
Crack cocaine became very popular in the 1970s and the inhalation of crack cocaine has caused severe respiratory illnesses in the drug users that needed long-term treatment with high doses of powerful anti- inflammatory drugs. The inhalation of crack cocaine has caused nasal septal perforation, necrosis, and granulation; chronic rhinitis; laryngeal edema; bronchial asthma; bronchiolitis obliterans; pulmonary edema; diffuse alveolar damage and hemorrhage; pneumonitis; eosinophilic pneumonia; interstital lung diseases; and foreign body granuloma of the lungs (1) .
The United States Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of glucocorticoids by inhalation in 1976 to treat the inflammation of the respiratory system and asthma that are caused by inhaling crack cocaine and other chemical agents. The chronic use of medications containing glucocorticoids at high doses by inhalation cause severe impairment of the immune defenses of the lungs and the upper respiratory tract. It has led to the infection of the lungs and other organs with opportunistic microorganisms and the development of cancer (1, 2,3).
The treatment described on page 1463 of Fauci et al.'s book for patients suffering from lung fibrosis (LF) can cause AIDS(4). They stated,
"A trial of oral prednisone is begun at a dose of 1mg/kg daily and continued for about 8 weeks. Should the disease not respond or be progressive, additional immunosuppression with cyclophosphomide should be considered. The objective is to reduce the white blood cell count to approximately half the normal baseline value, causing a distinct drop in the total lymphocyte count. However, a minimum count of 1000 PMNs/µL should be maintained".
At these dose levels, the CD4+T cells count in the peripheral blood of the treated individual is expected to be <300/µL which meets the definition for AIDS set by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (4).
The following is a clinical example that shows the treatment of patient who suffered from respiratory illnesses with cortiticosteroids and other immunosuppressent agents caused AIDS. A 33-year-old previously healthy female developed acute bilateral pulmonary infiltrates after 18 hours of intense rock cocaine (crack) smoking. Ten months later she developed progressive dyspnea and interstitial pneumonia. She was unsuccessfully treated with high doses of prednisone (1 mg/kg/day for eight weeks) followed by a trial of cyclophosphamide. She died due to respiratory failure with a superimposed mycobacterial infection. The time between her first admission to the hospital with interstitial pneumonia and her death with AIDS was about 21 months (5).
The chronic use of cocaine, heroin, and alcohol has also caused peripheral neuropathy, thrombocytopenia, renal problems, and other systemic illnesses, that are treated with high doses of corticosteroids and other immunosuppressent agents. Since the 1970s, the prescriptions containing glucocorticoids have increased tremendously to treat more than forty medical conditions in AIDS risk groups. These are the factual causes of AIDS in drug users and not HIV.
B. Causes and the pathogenesis of AIDS in homosexual men
Some homosexual men use cocaine and/or other illicit drugs and suffer from injuries of the respiratory systems, infections, and other systemic damage, which are treated with glucocorticoids and dose levels that cause AIDS (1). For example, a 38-year-old homosexual man with a history of drug abuse, presented with acute bronchitis and focal organizing chronic pneumonia with granulomatous reaction. He was treated with prednisone at 90 mg per day. After three weeks of prednisone treatment, he developed Kaposi's sarcoma on the foot, trunk, and upper and lower extremities. The lesion was regressed after the cessation of treatment with corticosteroid (6).
In addition, the use of alkyl nitrites, also known as "poppers" to facilitate anal sex became popular in the1970's among homosexuals. The inhalation of "poppers" at sufficient amounts causes methemoglobinemia and severe headaches, which was then treated with aspirin. The heavy use of aspirin and alcohol causes thrombocytopenia. As well as, AZT and proteases inhibitors cause bone marrow depression, thrombocytopenia, and peripheral neuropathy. Thrombocytopenia and peripheral neuropathy are classified by the CDC as AIDS indicator diseases, which are also treated with high doses of glucocorticoids that cause AIDS (1, 2,3, 4).
Fauci et al. described the treatment for thrombocytopenia as follows: 60 mg of prednisone is administered for 4 to 6 weeks and then decreased slowly for over another few weeks(4). Cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, and AZT are also among the drugs recommended for the treatment of thrombocytopenia. This treatment for thrombocytopenia can cause AIDS as shown in the following case. An individual with thrombocytopenia was treated with corticosteroid for 42 months and subsequently developed Kaposi's sarcoma that spread to the spleen (7).
Furthermore, some homosexual men suffer from rectal and colon problems that have been treated with high therapeutic doses of corticosteroids. In a study included nineteen HIV-positive homosexual men, hemorrhagic proctitis was diagnosed in seven cases and three cases had purulent cryptitis with abscess formation and fistulation. All patients showed CD4+T cell/CD8+ T cell ratio <1 (8).
Sharpstone et al. reported that eight HIV-positive males with inflammatory bowel disease who used rectal corticosteroid preparation had a decline in their CD4+ T cell at a rate of 85 cells/µL per year (9). Four of them underwent coloectomy that eliminated the need for the steroid and their CD4+ T cell increased 4 cells/µL per year. Eight HIV-positive homosexual men who did not have surgery were used as match control. They continued to have a decline of 47 cells/µL per year as the result of the use of rectal corticosteroids.
Furthermore, investigators from George Washington University and the National Institutes of Health reported a case of an HIV-positive homosexual man with ulcerative colitis who developed a severe reduction in his CD4+ T cell counts following 9 days treatment with corticosteroid. The depletion in CD4+ T cell number was reversed following the cessation of the treatment with the corticosteroid (10). Briefly, approximately 3 weeks prior to surgery for ulcerative colitis that was unresponsive to corticosteroid, the patient's CD4+ T cell count was 930 cells/µL of blood and the count fell to 313 cells/µL within 10 days of treatment with corticosteroid. Five days postoperatively, the patient became asymptomatic and was discharged on tapering prednisone without the use of antiretroviral agents. After surgery, the patient's CD4+ T cell counts progressively rose. The CD4+ T cell counts were 622 cells/µL and 843 cells/µL at 3 and 6 weeks following the operation, respectively.
This case also provides very important clinical observations. The CD4+ T cell counts rose from 313 cells/µL to 843 cells/µL, while the viral load dropped from 31,300 RNA copies/mL to 11,400 RNA copies/mL within a few weeks following the cessation of the glucocorticoid treatment and without the use of the antiviral therapy (10). These data indicate that the viral load count is highly influenced by the glucocorticoid treatment. In addition, the results of the studies described above clearly show that the reductions in CD4+ T cell counts in homosexual patients have resulted from their treatment with glucocorticoid and not as the result of their HIV-infection. These studies provided clinical proof that HIV is a harmless virus and the HIV tests are worthless.
C. Causes and pathogenesis of AIDS in hemophilia patients and people receiving blood transfusion
The main cause of AIDS in hemophilia patients and people who receive blood transfusion is their treatment with high doses of glucocorticoid compounds and other immunosuppressive agents. Hemophilia patients who are receiving clotting factors have been treated with immunosuppressive agents (cyclophosphamide and glucocorticoids) to prevent the development of antibodies to these factors. Patients with severe hemophilia also develop serious chronic joint problems resulting from bleeding inside the joints and they are treated with high therapeutic levels of glucocorticoids (1, 2,3,4).
Some of the people who receive blood transfusion suffer from serious adverse reactions to the blood components and they have been treated with glucocorticoid as described by Fauci et al. (4). For example, the risk of getting an allergic reaction from a blood transfusion is 1-4%. In addition, some people who required blood transfusion also suffer from chronic health problems that are treated with corticosteroid and immunosuppressive agents.
D. Causes and the pathogenesis of AIDS in infants and children
In the United States of America, most of infants and children who developed AIDS usually have mothers who are drug users. The prevalence of cocaine use among pregnant women in the U.S. is relatively high as shown by countless studies (1, 2,3,4).For example, cocaine-positive urine was found in 15.3% of 411 pregnant women surveyed in hospitals at the time of delivery. The impact of illicit drug and alcohol abuse during pregnancy on infant's health is extremely serious. Nine studies that included 1,295 drug-using mothers and 4,293 nonusers showed that cocaine use during pregnancy has led to a high prevalence of premature births and low birth weights (1).
O'Shea et al. evaluated the outcome of pregnancy of 95 HIV-positive pregnant women and found that there was little variation in the plasma viral load that occurred during pregnancy. However, there was an association between the viral load and prematurity; the mean gestation at delivery decreasing by 1.3 weeks for every 10-fold increase in maternal HIV RNA (11). We know that HIV does not induce labor but premature delivery is a good indicator for drug use.
Mothers expected to have premature birth are usually treated with glucocorticoids prior to delivery to facilitate the development of the lungs in the premature infants. Premature infants are also treated with glucocorticoids after birth to reduce the incidence of chronic respiratory disease. In addition, drug exposed infants usually have serious health problems that are treated with glucocorticoids. The thymuses of HIV- infected infants and children with AIDS usually show atrophy of the lymphoid and connective tissue. These changes are consistent with those observed in the lymphoid organs of HIV-negative children suffering from severe malnutrition or treated with high doses of corticosteroids.
In Africa, AIDS is caused by severe starvation. An individual suffering from severe starvation usually loses up to 90% of his or her thymus size along with the capacity of the functions of their immune system. In starvation, the release of endogenous cortisol at high levels causes atrophy of the lymphoid tissues (1,2, 12). Fortunately, AIDS in people who are suffering from severe starvation is reversible with proper nutrition and supportive medical care. In a study involving 110 malnourished children, the thymic area was found to be 20% of the size in healthy children. The size of the thymus in these children was increased from 20% of normal to 107% of normal following 9 weeks of proper feeding (12).
The reversal of the reduction in CD4+T cell count in HIV+ pregnant women following proper feeding was also reported by Fauci et al. (13). Briefly, the influence of diet on T cell counts in peripheral blood of 1,075 HIV-infected pregnant women who had poor nutritional status was studied. The CD4+ T cell counts of the women who received multivitamins increased from 424/µL to 596/µL during six months of proper feeding.
The prevalence of KS, lymphoma, lymphadenitis, and tuberculosis in Africa is similar or even higher than those observed in homosexual men, drug users, and AIDS patients in the United States and Europe (1, 14). However, AIDS in Africa occurs almost equally in males and females because starvation affects both sexes equally. For example, histopathology study of 2,194 lymph nodes conduced in Zimbabwe showed that the most common diseases were: non-specific hyperplasia (33%), tuberculous lymphadenitis (27%); metastases (12%), Kaposi's sarcoma (9%); and lymphomas (7%). In children, the prevalence of KS was higher in children under 5 years than in the 6-15 year bracket. Approximately two thirds (65%) of all patients with KS were aged between 20 and 40 years (14).
The HIV-hypothesis states that HIV causes AIDS by selective killing of the CD4+ T cells because these cells have a special receptor on their membrane that bind with HIV. I have not found any truth to support these assumptions. People with AIDS usually suffer from severe loss of CD4+ T cell, CD8+ T cell, and other white blood cells in the peripheral blood and lymphatic tissues. The lymph nodes of AIDS patients show atrophy and the loss of all components that include T cell, B cell, and connective tissues. These abnormalities resemble those found in patients treated with high doses of corticosteroids and people suffering from severe malnutrition.
I reviewed the changes in the lymph nodes of 117 HIV-positive patients with AIDS reported in the literature (1). These lymph nodes showed atrophy of lymphoid tissues and stroma. Fauci and his colleagues also examined the lymph nodes from HIV-positive AIDS patients and they found that all types of lymphocytes were depleted. They stated that apoptosis was not restricted only to CD4+ T cell; both B cell and CD8+ T cell were found to undergo apoptosis. They also stated that the increased intensity of the apoptotic phenomenon in HIV infection is independent of the progression of HIV activities and the levels of viral load (15).
Furthermore, HIV has been found in CD4+ T cell, CD8+ T cell, and B cell lymphocytes in the lymph nodes of some people. It's ability to infect cells is not restricted to cells that have CD4 receptor as predicted by the HIV-hypothesis (1). In addition, the clinical examples described in this report show that the reductions in the T cell counts observed in HIV- positive patients treated with corticosteroid were reversed following the cessation of the treatment with corticosteroid (8, 9). The reductions in the T cell counts were also reversed in HIV-positive malnourished pregnant women when these women received a proper diet (13). These clinical data indicate HIV is a harmless virus.
It is very clear from the medical evidence presented in this report that Robert Gallo and the proponent of the HIV-hypothesis have made false statements in regard to HIV causes selective killing of the CD4+ T cells and AIDS is a new disease. I believe that physicians, scientists, and governments should ask Robert Gallo to provide the evidence that he isolated HIV from lymph nods of AIDS patients that missing only CD4+ T cell. My extensive review of the medical literature indicates that there is no patient with AIDS who has his or her lymph nodes missing only CD4+ T cell (1).
AIDS patients, pregnant women, and malnourished people have been treated with toxic and expensive drugs (AZT, protease inhibitors, and other antiviral drugs) based on the false assumptions that HIV causes AIDS. AZT causes severe bone marrow depression and reduces white blood cell counts including T cells. It is very toxic to the stem cells in bone marrow (the source of T and B lymphocytes) and to fast growing tissues such as embryonic and fetal tissues. Protease inhibitors and other toxic antiviral agents cause wide spread systemic damage in liver, kidneys, pancreas, and other organs and should not be given to any human being. Also, some patients with AIDS have been treated with high doses of corticosteroids, which cause AIDS. These practices are not supported by science and are causing tragedies and should be stopped (1, 2,3,4).
The following are clinical examples that demonstrate the toxicity of AZT and the invalidity of the AIDS establishment's claim that AZT has helped people with AIDS. Fischl et al. gave AZT to 524 subjects who had a first episode of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (16). These subjects received AZT in either a dose of 250 mg taken orally every four hours (n=262) or a dose of 200 mg taken orally every four hours for four weeks and thereafter 100 mg taken every four hours (n=262).
In this study, additional AIDS-defining opportunistic infections developed in 429 subjects (82%) in the AZT treated groups. Furthermore, the neutrophil counts declined to less than 34% of baseline in 230 subjects; the hemoglobin levels declined to less than 66% of baseline in 178 subjects; and 134 subjects received red-cell transfusions. 183 subjects (35%) were withdrawn from AZT therapy because of toxic reactions such as severe anemia and neutropenia. At 24 months of treatment, the mortality rates were 66% and 73% in the low and standard AZT doses, respectively.
Furthermore, the following is a list of some of the serious adverse reactions to AZT that have been reported in infants, children, and adults, which show the suffering of the people, who are treated with AZT. These reactions may include:
The United States Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Anthony Fauci, the Direct of the AIDS program at the US National Institute of Health have overlooked crucial medical evidence that indicates HIV does not cause AIDS. Below are clinical examples that show specifically the measures that have been taken by Fauci to control the AIDS epidemic are scientifically not valid. Furthermore, they have contributed to the expansion of the AIDS epidemic in the USA and the rest of the world.
i. Fauci has not considered the use of corticosteroids by the AIDS risk groups.
There is overwhelming medical evidence that show the wide use of corticosteroids among patients in all risk groups in the U.S. My review of the medical literature has revealed that Fauci has studied the influence of corticosteroid on the structures and the functions of immune system, especially T cell, since 1970s (18). The symptoms and the types of infections that he described in patients received corticosteroids are similar to those described in AIDS patients. However, Fauci has not considered these clinical data.
For example, Fauci et al. stated in 1976 that we have reviewed many aspects of the host defenses that are altered by corticosteroids, and the combined effects of these changes must be considered in trying to understand the relation between corticosteroids and infections. Since the defect with corticosteroids is broad, it is not surprising that many types of infections seem to occur more often in patients treated with corticosteroids. Of the bacterial infections, staphylococcal and Gram- negative infections, as well as tuberculosis and Listeria infections, probably occur most often. Certain types of viral, fungal, and parasitic infections also occur often. Studies of bronchial aerosols showed that with higher doses of corticosteroid in the aerosol, Candida infections of the larynx and pharynx occurred more often (18).
ii. Fauci's treatments recommendations have caused AIDS.
Fauci has recommended the use of corticosteroids at high doses in individuals suffering from chronic illnesses and those suffering from immune depression. His treatments recommendations have caused AIDS. For example, pneumocystis carinii (PC) is one of the opportunistic infection classified by the CDC as an AIDS-defining disease. Fauci et al. stated, Adjunct glucocorticoid therapy should be started as soon as possible after the diagnosis is made, preferably no later than 36 to 72 h (4, page 1825).
iii. Fauci has called symptoms and lesions caused by drug use and medications as AIDS indicator illnesses.
Fauci has called thrombocytopenea, peripheral neuropathy, glomerulonephritis, and other illnesses induced by drugs and medications as HIV diseases. Fauci et al. stated on page 1,842 of their book (4). HIV- associated nephropathy closely resembles the heroin-associated nephropathy seen in IDUs. It is now recognized as a true direct complication of HIV infection. The prototypic lesion of HIV-associated nephropathy is a focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, which is seen in approximately 80 percent of patients with this complication and occurs predominately in IDUs (heroin) blacks. However; on page 1,550 of the same book, they reported that intravenous heroin use is associated with an increased incidence of focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (heroin-associated nephropathy) and occurs predominantly in blacks (4).
It seems reasonable to conclude that heroin, impurities, and infectious agents other than HIV present in dirty needles are the causes of the renal problem in the heroin drug users and not HIV. Gross examined biopsies from the kidneys of 14 drug users and found that 11 (79%) of them showed focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (19). Fauci's assumption of including glomeruloseclerosis as HIV disease is not supported by medical facts.
Furthermore, the CDC and Fauci have considered peripheral neuropathy and thrombocytopenia as AIDS-indicators illnesses (4). They justified their actions by stating that autoimmune diseases induced by HIV cause these illnesses. The medical evidence clearly shows that the CDC and Fauci's assumptions are not valid. Because alcohol, illicit drugs, and many medications used by individuals in risk groups cause peripheral neuropathy and/or thrombocytopenia. In addition, AIDS and autoimmune disease are mutually exclusive illnesses. Patients with AIDS suffer from a depression in the immune system functions, while patients with autoimmune disease suffer from hyperactive immune system.
The common drugs that cause thrombocytopenia include: chemotherapeutic agents, alcohol, myelosuppressive drugs, thiazide diuretics, estrogens, antibiotics, sedative, hypnotics, anticonvulsants, aspirin, sulfa drug, digitoxin, phenytoin, gold salts, heparin, and sulfnamides and trimethoprim (the treatment for Pneumocyst carrinii). These drugs also cause severe hematological complications, including agranulocytosis and hemolytic and megaloblastic anemia.
iv. Fauci has overlooked many medical indicators that show HIV does not cause AIDS
My investigation has revealed that the majority of AIDS patients suffer from metabolic and endocrine abnormalities. The high prevalence of adrenal insufficiency observed among AIDS patients provides strong evidence that AIDS in these patients is caused by the use of corticosteroids (4,1). Fauci et al. stated that endocrine and metabolic abnormalities are frequently seen in HIV-infected individuals, and that most HIV-infected individuals studied at autopsy had involvement of adrenal glands (4). However, Fauci has not considered the involvement of corticosteroids in the pathogenesis of AIDS in risk groups.
Furthermore, physicians reported to the CDC many cases of individuals with AIDS but were not infected with HIV. Fauci and the CDC have not investigated the cause(s) of AIDS in these people but rather called this condition as "idiopathic CD4+ T cells lymphocytopenia" (ICL). They stated that ICL is different from AIDS because the ICL patients also have low CD8+ T cell and B cell counts in addition to low CD4+ T cell counts (4). However, Fauci et al. also stated that people with AIDS have low B cell and CD8+ T cell counts in addition to CD4+ T cell (4,15). It seems that Fauci's has made contradictory statements.
In addition, there are thousands of healthy people who have been infected with HIV for more than 10 years. However, they remained asymptomatic. Fauci and the CDC have referred to these people as "long-term non-progressors"(4). They should explain to us why people are living in perfect health for 10 years or more with HIV, if HIV is supposed to be a killer virus. The logical explanation for this mystery is that these people are not using drugs and/or taking toxic medications.
Conclusions
The medical evidence presented in this report and the references cited clearly show that AIDS is not a new disease and HIV is a harmless virus. The HIV-hypothesis has misled physicians from all over the world to prescribe toxic medications to healthy HIV-positive people and people with AIDS. It has also influenced physicians to overlook the health problems associated with the use of illicit drugs, alcohol and medications. I urge the medical community, scientists, and governments to investigate these issues to save lives and vital resources.