The proponents of the HIV-hypothesis must be aware of the impact of illicit drug and alcohol abuse on health. However, they choose to discount the AIDS connection. Fauci et al. (1998) stated,
"a markedly higher age-specific mortality rate among injection drug users in the general population was documented even before the epidemic of infection with HIV and AIDS. For example, in New York City between 1965 and 1972, the death rate among relatively young (20 to 54-year-olds) adult heroin addicts not involved in drug-treatment programs was estimated to be five time greater than that among age-matched non-heroin-addicted adults (28.2 per 1000 versus 5.6 per 1000). A substantial portion of this excess mortality was the result of infectious complications of injection drug use. At least 25 percent of such opiate abusers are likely to die within 10 to 20 years of active abuse".
The same period (10-20 years) is also given by A. Fauci and the leaders of the HIV-hypothesis as the incubation time for HIV in the drug users (Fauci et al., 1998 and Al-Bayati, 1999).
The list of health problems induced by drug and alcohol abuse and those resulting from practicing receptive anal sex that required treatment with steroid is extensive. The chronic use of high doses of steroid (40-60 mg per day for several months) can cause AIDS as described in this report. I also stated above that the chronic use of rectal steroid reduced the CD4+ T cells by 47-85/µL per year in HIV positive homosexuals. Suppose that a homosexual man has a 1000 CD4+ T cells/µL prior to using rectal steroids to treat the wide range of chronic health problems. In 10 years, he may lose a total of 470-850 cells/µL from the use of rectal steroids leaving him with 150-530 CD4+ T cells/µL. If a homosexual man inhaling cocaine and has respiratory problems that also requires the use of glucocorticoids, the period needed for the CD4+ T cells count to reach to a level of 150/µL may be cut into half. This explains very well the high prevalence and the severity of AIDS among HIV-positive and HIV-negative homosexual men without any contribution from the HIV.
Alpha lipoic acid is a powerful antioxidant that has been used to prevent injury caused by chemicals in vivo and in vitro and injuries in diabetic patients for the last two decades (Al-Bayati, 1999). It has been used in Europe to reverse peripheral neuropathy in diabetic patients and has been shown to be effective and safe in several clinical trials. This drug is very effective in preventing and reversing injuries resulting from metabolic changes and/or exposure to chemicals that induce lipid peroxidation . This medication should be given to people with AIDS to boost the immune system and to heal tissue injury (Al-Bayati, 1999).
As noted earlier the stage of hyperplasia in the lymph nodes in drug users and in homosexuals HIV-positive or HIV-negative is usually followed by a stage of mixed stage (hyperplasia and atrophy) and then by a state of atrophy. These lympholytic stages resulted from the chronic use of massive therapeutic doses of steroids to treat the wide range of chronic health condition and from the releases of endogenous steroids (cortisol) induced by the stage of infections and malnutrition. Fauci et al. (998) warned about the use of glucocorticoids in patients with lymphoadenopathy . They stated that
"glucocorticoids should not be used to treat lymphadenopathy because of it's lympholytic effect. They contribute to delay in healing or activation of underlying infections".
Fauci et al.(1998) also reported that glucocorticoids produce a depletion of lymphoid tissue, especially T cells and impairs cell mediated immunity. Furthermore, Fauci et al. (1998) provided a long list of opportunistic infections (viral, fungal, bacteria parasitic agents) in organs transplant patients who were treated with steroid and/or other immunosuppressive agents. This list of infections is very similar to the list of opportunistic infections also reported by Fauci et al. (1998) in patients with AIDS.
Hyperplasia in the thymus and in the lymphoid organs of the drug users explains the result of Kreek's study cited by Cohen, (1994) who observed increases in CD4+ T cells of heroin addicts. Kreek reported that 11 long-term heroin users had a mean of 1500 CD4+ T cells/µL which is a significant elevation from normal (normal range of 600 to 1200/µL) and the opposite of what is seen in AIDS,
"Heroin is a blessedly untoxic drug: concludes Kreek".
Cohen (1994) cited the result of Kreek's study an argument against Duesberg's suggestion that the use of illicit drugs is responsible for AIDS and not HIV (Duesberg, 1992a and 1992b). The observations of Kreek and Duesberg are both somewhat correct. The observations by Kreek supports Duesberg's observation that the use of drugs is the cause of the problem in people having AIDS after treatment with corticosteroids. The true problem is that the leaders of the HIV-hypothesis and the CDC do not understand the sequence of events that leads to AIDS in patients in each risk groups. They have been ignoring important medical facts related to this subject, including the information presented in their own publications, and are blindly attributing AIDS to the HIV virus.
The medical evidence describing the effect of malnutrition on lymphoid tissues is extensive (Fauci et al., 1998). Fauci et al. (1998) also described the health problems in haemophilia patients, such as the formation of inhibitors for factors VIII and XI, the joint problems, and the use of immunosuppressive agent in the treatment regimen of these patients. Yet, they ignored all these facts and claimed that the problems in these patients is caused by HIV leading to the treatment of these very sick people with extremely toxic drugs (AZT and protease inhibitors).
AIDS patients have been treated with antiviral medications based on the assumption that the HIV causes AIDS. However, decreasing the plasma viral load does not restore the immune system (Al-Bayati, 1999). The thymus and the lymphoid tissues have very high rates of regeneration. A 50% destruction of the thymus by a chemical agent was restored within 10 days after cessation of exposure. If the cause of AIDS is HIV and the antiviral drugs are reducing the viral load, then the patients would recover within days.
Furthermore, according to the clinical trial results of the major four studies on the AZT conducted in the USA between 1987-1992, at least 77% of the patients were HIV-negative prior to their treatment with AZT. However, they claimed that AZT prolonged lives. The antiviral medications and the glucocorticoids not only fail to cure AIDS but they cause severe damage to sick people. The proponents of the HIV hypothesis failed to anticipate this disaster.
The proponents of HIV causation are unable to explain medical events in patients with AIDS using the HIV-hypothesis such as the changes in the lymphoid organs and the other medical information. They describe the disease by giving names to conditions to fit their hypothesis. For example, "long-term non-progressors" is a name given to a large number of healthy people who have been infected with HIV for more than 10 years but are without AIDS symptom. The number of these people living in USA as of January of 1997 was 28,690. The proponents of the HIV-hypothesis cannot explain why people are living in perfect health 10 years and more with HIV if HIV kills T cells. The second very obvious example is the people with AIDS but who remain HIV-negative. These are described by the leaders of the HIV-hypothesis as having idiopathic CD4+ T cells lymphocytopenia (ICL). Fauci et al. (1998) stated that this condition is different from AIDS because the ICL patient shows low CD8+ T cells and B cells counts. However, in the same book, they stated that people with AIDS also have low B cells and CD8+ T cells counts. These findings seems contradictory.
Treatment
The logical steps that should be taken to prevent AIDS and to cure people with AIDS are: