Disarming the Struggle AgaiAIDS: Anti-Science Obscurantism, Conpsiracy Theories

Marco Anglesio mpa at the-wire.com
Thu Dec 7 14:57:27 PST 2000


On Thu, 7 Dec 2000, Christopher B. Hajib-Niles wrote:


> of the drugs work. one need not be an AID dissident to reckognize that
> all of these drugs undermine the body over time. AZT is widely, if not
> universially, considered a failure. i will not be shocked when all of

That's a claim which I have to refute. AZT is not considered a failure; it's used in modern drug therapy, after all, which does reduce virus load. AZT alone statistically extends life by an slim margin: six or eight months, if I recall correctly. Not a great deal. It wasn't an anodyne; that does not make it a failure (since it does demonstrate that HIV can be fought along certain approaches, a *huge* advance) although it certainly didn't cure AIDS.

For that matter, some people vaccinated against smallpox, or polio, or rabies can still get that disease when exposed. Does that make vaccination a failure?

One thing that AZT used alone does well is prevent HIV from being transmitted from mother to child. A rather specialized use, but still a valid use.

It would be interesting if those people where HIV load was reduced to nil and T-cell count partly restored developed AIDS anyway - this would certainly put paid to the HIV=AIDS theory. But it hasn't happened yet.

Marco

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