Email Mohammed Ali Al-Bayati:
maalbayati@toxi-health.com

Individuals with AIDS and HIV-positive asymptomatic individuals, including pregnant women, have long been treated with toxic antiviral drugs (AZT, Protease Inhibitors, as well as Nevirapine) that can cause serious systemic injuries and even death. This is erroneously based on the assumption that HIV is the cause of AIDS. Furthermore, the long-term effects of these drugs on the composition of the human genomes have not been determined. Prior to October of 1997, I believed that HIV was the cause of AIDS based solely on the information that had been reported by the United States Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) and the AIDS establishment. However, my view was unquestionably changed when I evaluated the medical evidence on the worldwide AIDS epidemic. My findings clearly show: 1) The HIV-hypothesis is not supported by any medical fact and AIDS is caused by agents and factors other than HIV. 2) The proponents of the HIV-hypothesis have long overlooked crucial and essential medical evidence that clearly describes the real causes of AIDS. 3) The results of clinical studies on AZT, protease inhibitors, and nevirapine indicate that these agents can cause severe systemic damage, AIDS, and death. However, it is my opinion that the US Federal Drug Administration inappropriately approved these drugs to be given to pregnant women and individuals with serious health problems. My in-depth research findings are described in my book "Get All the Facts: HIV Does Not Cause AIDS" in addition to my other articles [1-7]. Below are examples that were selected from a large body of evidence to illustrate my points.

Causes and pathogenesis of AIDS in drug users and homosexual men:

In the USA, about 90% of AIDS cases were male homosexuals and heterosexuals and homosexual drug users [8]. The appearance of AIDS in the USA and Europe in drug users and homosexuals in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s coincided with the synergistic actions of several events. Briefly, these include the spread of illicit drug use, especially smoking crack cocaine in 1970’s; the approval of glucocorticoids aerosol by the US FDA in 1976; the wide use of the glucocorticoid inhalers to treat chronic respiratory illnesses resulting from inhaling cocaine; the wide use of alkyl nitrites by homosexuals to facilitate anal sex in 1970’s; and the wide use of corticosteroids to treat chronic gastrointestinal tract illness in homosexual men [1]. Furthermore, the approval of antiviral drugs (AZT and protease inhibitors) and the corticosteroids by the US FDA to treat patients with AIDS and asymptomatic patients infected with HIV has exacerbated the problem [1,8].

It has been stated that the use of alkyl nitrites to relax the anal muscle and facilitate anal sex permeated the gay life by 1977 [1]. Duesberg cited studies that show the significant use of alkyl nitrites and illicit drugs by homosexuals [9, 10]. These are: 1) 86.4% of 420 homosexual men attending clinics for sexually transmitted diseases in New York, Atlanta, and San Francisco reported that they frequently used amyl- and butyl nitrites as sexual stimulants and the frequency of nitrite use was proportional to the number of sexual partners; 2) a total of 170 male homosexuals from sexual disease clinics, including 50 with KS and pneumonia, and 120 without AIDS were surveyed showing 50-60% had used cocaine, 50-70% amphetamines, 40% marijuana, 10% heroin, over 50% had also used prescription drugs, about 80% had past or current gonorrhea, 40-70% had syphilis, 15% mononucleosis, 50% hepatitis, and 30% parasitic diarrhea; 3) A study of a group of 359 homosexual men in San Francisco reported in 1987 that 84% had used cocaine, 82% alkyl nitrites, 64% amphetamines, 51% methaqualone and 41% barbiturates; 4) a total of 3916 self-identified American homosexual men were surveyed, among which 83% had used one, and about 60% of them used two or more drugs with sexual activities during the previous six months (similar drug use has been reported from European homosexuals at risk); and 6) survey of homosexual men from Boston, conducted between 1985 and 1988, documented that among 206 HIV-positives, 92% had used nitrite inhalants,73% cocaine, 39% amphetamines, 29% lysergic acid in addition to six other psychoactive drugs as sexual stimulants.

The regular uses of alcohol, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, and alkyl nitrite cause acute and 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 typically diagnosed as “idiopathic” and currently treated with high doses of glucocorticoids and/or cytotoxic drugs. In addition, some homosexual men use rectal glucocorticoids as a treatment for chronic injuries [1, 8]. The treatment of a patient with prednisone at 60 mg per day for about three months can actually cause AIDS [1]. This treatment and doses often given to patients suffering from lung fibrosis, thrombocytopenia, or other chemically induced chronic illnesses. For example, Fauci et al. described the treatment for patient with lung fibrosis as follows: “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” [8, page 1463]. At this 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 US Center For Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC).

The following is HIV-negative drug user woman who developed AIDS following a few months of treatment with immunossuprassants. 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 from her first admission to the hospital with interstitial pneumonia and her death with AIDS was about 21 months [11].

In addition, I reviewed 7 selected studies that included 736 patients (97% of them were homosexual or bisexual men) who were infected with HIV and/or had AIDS. I found that these individuals suffered from extensive rectal and gastrointestinal problems that dictate the chronic use of therapeutic rectal corticosteroids [1].

Review of the medical literature revealed that the short and the long term use of glucocorticoids at therapeutic doses, resulted in a variety of effects on the immune system that range from a transient reduction in T cells count in peripheral blood to the development of full blown AIDS. In 1975 and 1976, Fauci and Fauci et al. described in detail the effects of corticosteroids on the immune system [12,13]. These effects resemble the immune abnormalities that are found in patients suffering from AIDS or Idiopathic CD4 T cells lymphocytopnea (ICL), which are also described by Fauci et al. in 1998 [8]. For instance, in 1976, Fauci et al. stated 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 steroid in the aerosol, Candida infections of the larynx and pharynx occurred more often” [13].

The reversal of CD4+ T cells depletion in the peripheral blood was reported in HIV-positive homosexual men after the termination of their treatment with glucocorticoids [14, 15]. Sharpstone et al. reported that eight HIV-positive males with inflammatory bowel disease who used rectal steroid preparation had a decline in their CD4+ T cells at a rate of 85 cells/µL per year [14]. Four of them underwent coloectomy that eliminated the need for the steroid and their CD4+ T cells increased 4 cells/µL per year. Eight HIV-positive men used as match control who did not have surgery continued to have a decline of 47 cells/µL per year as the result of the use of rectal steroid. In addition, investigators from George Washington University and the National Institutes of Health reported a case of HIV-positive homosexual man with ulcerative colitis who developed a severe reduction in CD4+ T cells counts following 9 days treatment with corticosteroids and the depletion in CD4+ T cells number was reversed following the cessation of the treatment [15]. Briefly, approximately 3 weeks prior to surgery for ulcerative colitis that was unresponsive to corticosteroids, 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 corticosteroids. Five days postoperatively, the patient become asymptomatic and was discharged on tapering prednisone without the use of antiretroviral agents. After surgery, the patient's CD4+ T cells counts progressively rose. The CD4+ T cells counts were 622 cells/µL and 843 cells/µL at 3 and 6 weeks following the operation, respectively.

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), an AIDS-indicator disease also developed in HIV-negative patients chronically treated with glucocorticoids [1, 16]. For example, KS developed eight months after initiation of prednisone treatment (40 mg per day for three months) in HIV-negative man. He also had lymphocytopenia (896/µL), reduction of T4 (CD4+) cells (215/µL), and T4/ T8 ratio of 0.7. [16]. In addition, there are many cases who developed KS following treatment with glucocorticoids and they had reversal of their KS after the termination of the treatment [1].

My investigation also revealed that the majority of AIDS patients suffer from metabolic and endocrine abnormalities [1]. The high prevalence of adrenal insufficiency observed among AIDS patients provides very strong evidence that AIDS in these patients is caused by the use of corticosteroids. Fauci et al. stated that endocrine and metabolic abnormalities are frequently seen in HIV-infected individuals and most HIV -infected individuals studied at autopsy had involvement of adrenal glands [8]. The most common abnormality seen in HIV infected individuals is hyponatremia, seen in up to 30 percents of patients. They also stated in the same book that the presence of a low sodium level combined with a high serum potassium level in a patient should alert one to the possibility of adrenal insufficiency and adrenocortical insufficiency as seen following prolonged administration of excess glucocorticoids [8]. However; the use of corticosteroids by AIDS patients was not considered by Fauci and his colleagues.

The HIV-hypothesis states that HIV cause AIDS by killing the CD4+ T cells directly or indirectly [8]. It appears that there is no scientific evidence to show that HIV can kill infected T4 cells (CD4+ T cells) in vitro or in vivo. In addition, the abnormalities in the immune system of patients with AIDS are not restricted to the reduction of T4 cells as predicted by the HIV-hypothesis. Hoxie et al. observed no evidence of death in T cells infected with HIV in tissue culture [17]. These cells continued to produce virus particles for more than four months after inoculation with the virus. Many reports described the changes in the lymph nodes of patients infected with HIV and these changes range from extensive cellular hyperplasia of T and B lymphocytes and the supporting stroma to severe atrophy of the glands. Changes in the lymph nodes of 505 HIV-positive patients who were asymptomatic or had AIDS demonstrate three distinct stages [1]. These are hyperplasia (245 patients), atrophy (117 patients), and mixed stage (172 patients). The presence of hyperplasia in the infected lymph nodes contradicts the HIV-hypothesis which states HIV destroys infected T cells [8].

The proponents of the HIV-hypothesis provide further elucidation. Muro-Cacho, Pantaleo, and, Fauci examined 29 HIV-positive lymph nodes and found twelve of these lymph nodes with follicular hyperplasia and extensive germinal centers, five with follicular hyperplasia mixed with follicular involution, twelve lymph nodes with a mixture of follicular involution and lymphocyte depletion, and five lymph nodes with lymphocyte depletion [18]. They stated that “apoptosis was not restricted only to CD4+ T cells; both B cells and CD8+ T cells were found to undergo apoptosis. They also stated that the increased intensity of the apoptotic phenomenon in HIV infection is caused by the general state of immune activation, and is independent of the progression of HIV activities and the levels of viral load”. HIV provirus was also found in CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and B cells lymphocytes in the lymph nodes of HIV infected patients and its ability to infect cells is not restricted to cells that have CD4 receptor as predicted by the HIV-hypothesis [1].

The changes in the lymph nodes described above are not unique to HIV- infected individuals but also were described in HIV-negative patients in risk groups. The lymph nodes from 215 HIV-negative homosexual and drug users men showed hyperplasia in 187 patients and atrophy in 28 patients, and 15 lymph nodes showed Kaposi’s sarcoma and lymphoma [1]. US CDC considers these changes as AIDS-indicator illnesses, yet the subjects were HIV-negative.

In addition to the information presented above that demonstrates the invalidity of the HIV-hypothesis, the rates of T cells infection by HIV, and the rates of the thymus and the lymphoid tissue regeneration also conflict with the HIV-hypothesis. Duesberg stated that HIV infects on the average only 0.1% (1 out of 500 to 3000) of T-cells in AIDS patients, and at least 3% of all T-cells are regenerated during the two days it takes a retrovirus to infect a cell [9]. HIV could never kill enough T cells to cause immunodeficiency. Thus, even if HIV killed every infected T cell, it could deplete T cells only at 1/30 of their normal rate of regeneration, not considering activated regeneration. Gallo agreed with Duesberg that 1 in 10000 T cells are infected with HIV [19]. Baltimore and Feinberg also stated that, in the late stage of AIDS disease, HIV infects 1 in 100 CD4+ T cells or 1 in 400 mononuclear cells [20]. Furthermore, Al-Bayati et al. found that the rates of regeneration in the damaged thymus and lymphoid tissue of mice treated with a lymphotoxic agent (vanadate) are very high [21]. A total of 120 mice were treated with metavanadate solution (15.5 mg/kg). Severe necrosis in the thymus of treated mice was observed at 2 days following treatment and the thymus healed completely in about 10 days.

Some studies show increases in CD4+ T cells in HIV-positive individual after treatment with the antiviral drugs [1]. This information was interpreted as a good response to the medications. On the contrary, the elevation of T cells is not a good response in these conditions, but rather, it indicates severe tissue damage and infection. This explains the death of the patients following treatment with these drugs. For example, the CD4+ T cells were also increased following the treatment of HIV- negative nurses with AZT who took AZT as a prophylactic. They developed severe symptoms following 3 weeks of treatment with AZT [1]. In addition to the failure of the antiviral drugs, AIDS patients suffering from immune deficiency are treated with glucocorticoids [8]. This practice is not supported by any known biomedical mechanism of action.

The causes of AIDS in infants and children:

In the United States of America, ninety percent of infants and children who developed AIDS had mothers who were drug users [8]. The prevalence of cocaine use among pregnant women in the USA is relatively high as shown by countless studies [1,8]. Cocaine-positive urine was found in 15.3% of 411 pregnant women surveyed in hospitals at the time of delivery. During 1993, 12.8% (361 of 2810) of all live singleton infants born at Harem Hospital in New York were identified as cocaine exposed. The impact of illicit drug and alcohol abuse during pregnancy on infant health is extremely serious. Nine studies that included 1,295 drug-using mothers and 4,293 nonusers showed that cocaine use during pregnancy led to a high prevalence of premature births and low birth weights [1].

A mother expected to have a premature birth is treated with glucocorticoids prior to delivery to facilitate the development of the lungs and to reduce the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis in a premature infant. Drug exposed infants usually have serious health problems that are treated with glucocorticoids [1]. In addition, the natural cortisol levels in plasma and urine of the cocaine-exposed preterm neonates was also found to be significantly higher than in normal infants [22]. Therapeutic glucocorticoids and endogenous cortisol can cause severe reduction in T cells and B cells numbers and their functions. The long- term use of corticosteroids at the therapeutic levels causes atrophy of the thymus and lymphoid tissue of infants, children, and adults and increases the incidence of infections [1, 8, 23].

The histology of the thymus of HIV-infected infants and children showed changes such as atrophy of the lymphoid tissue, Hassall's corpuscles, and connective tissue. These changes are consistent with those observed in the lymphoid organs of HIV-negative individuals suffering from severe malnutrition or treated with high doses of corticosteroids. Moreover, HIV-positive infants and children who died with AIDS suffered from opportunistic infections (tuberculosis, fungal, yeast, and viral infections) similar to those reported in HIV-negative infants and children suffering from malnutrition or treated with high doses of corticosteroids [1, 8, 23, 24]. However, the proponents of the HIV-hypothesis have not considered corticosteroids as a factor of causing AIDS in the risk groups who are receiving high doses of these agents. On the contrary, corticosteroids are used to treat people with AIDS who suffer from tuberculosis, thrombocytopenia, peripheral neuropathy, lung fibrosis, and other chronic diseases. This approach is unscientific and should be evaluated.

Anthony Fauci and the proponents of the HIV-hypothesis have long been aware of the use of illicit drugs among pregnant women and the impact of drug use on the health of mothers and their infants as shown in their literature. For instance, Fauci et al. explained the impact of illicit drugs on the pregnant mothers and their infants as follows: women who abuse cocaine have reported major derangement in menstrual cycle function, including galactorrhea, amenorrhea, and infertility. Chronic cocaine abuse may cause persistent hyperprolactinemia as a consequence of cocaine- induced disorders of dopaminergic regulation of prolactin secretion by the pituitary. Cocaine abuse, particularly the smoking of crack by pregnant women, has been implicated as causing an increased risk of congenital malformations and prenatal cardiovascular diseases in the infants. Cocaine abuse per se is probably not the sole reason for these prenatal disorders since many problems associated with maternal cocaine abuse, including poor nutrition and health care status as well as polydrug abuse, also contribute to the risk of prenatal diseases [8].

In addition, Fauci et al. stated that a special case of opiate withdrawal is seen in the newborn passively addicted by the mother's drug misuse during pregnancy. Some level of addiction develops in 50 to 90 percent of children of heroin-dependent mothers. The syndrome consists of irritability, crying, and tremor in 80%; increased reflexes, increased respiratory rate, diarrhea, and hyperactivity in 60%; vomiting in 40%; and sneezing, yawning, and hiccupping in 30%. The child usually has a low birth weight and may be otherwise unremarkable until the second day, when symptoms are likely to begin [8].

O'Shea et al. evaluated the outcome of pregnancy of 95 HIV-positive pregnant women and found that there was little variation in plasma viral load occurred during pregnancy. However, there was an association between viral load and prematurity; the mean gestation at delivery decreasing by 1.3 weeks for every 10-fold increase in maternal HIV RNA [25]. We know that HIV does not induce labor but premature delivery is a good indicator for drug use as described above and in Fauci's book and my book [1,8]. The findings of this study and others indicate that HIV is a good marker for drug use, practicing unsafe sex, in addition to poor hygiene.

I reviewed the designs and the results of numerous AZT and protease inhibitors clinical trials and found that AZT and protease inhibitors are very toxic drugs and the conclusions of these studies do not support the claims that these drugs can be used to cure people with AIDS [1]. On the contrary, AZT causes severe bone marrow depression and reduces white blood cells 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. For example, Fischl et al. treated 145 AIDS patients treated with AZT for up to 24 weeks. The CD4+ T cell counts of these patients were reduced from baseline of 66/µL to 37/µL [26]. Some patients felt very sick and treatment was terminated early.

In a second study, Fischl et al. gave AZT to 524 subjects who had a first episode of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia [27]. 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 one hundred thirty-four subjects received red-cell transfusions. One hundred eighty-three 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.

Besides, the following is a list of some of the serious adverse reactions to AZT that have been reported in infants, children, and adults as stated in the drug information book for physicians and other databases to illustrate the danger of AZT [1, 8, 23]. These reactions may include, neutropenia, granulocytopenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, myopathy and myositis, hepatomegaly with steatosis, hepatitis, pancreatitis, lactic acidosis, sensitization reactions, hyperbilirubinemia, vasculitis, abdominal pain, back pain, body odor, chest pain, chills, edema of the lip, fever, flu syndrome, hyperalgesia, syncope, vasodilation, bleeding gums, constipation, diarrhea, dysphagia, edema of the tongue, eructation, flatulence, mouth ulcer, rectal hemorrhage, lymphadenopathy, arthralgia, muscle spasm, tremor, twitch, anxiety, confusion, depression, dizziness, emotional lability, loss of mental acuity, nervousness, paresthesia, somnolence, vertigo, cough, dyspnea, epistaxis, hoarseness, pharyngitis, rhinitis, sinusitis, acne, changes in skin and nail pigmentation, pruritus, rash, sweat, urticaria, amblyopia, hearing loss, photophobia, taste perversion, dysuria, polyuria, urinary frequency, and urinary hesitancy.

The adverse reactions of the second drugs (Nevirapine) that have also been given to HIV-pregnant women may include severe and life-threatening skin reactions (stevens-johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis), severe and life-threatening hepatotoxicity, skin rash, maculopapular erythematous cutaneous eruptions, fever, nausea, headache, and granulocytopenia [23]. In addition, the safety profile of this drug in the neonates has not been established.

The information presented above describing the toxicities of AZT and nevirapine tells the horrifying stories about the suffering of pregnant women, infants, and children who are given these toxins based on a false assumption that HIV is a killer virus. Some of these people are forced to ingest these toxins. This is heartbreaking!

Causes and pathogenesis of AIDS in hemophiliacs:

The medical evidence shows that AIDS in hemophiliac patients is caused by the treatment with immunosuppressive agents (cyclophosphamide and/or glucocorticoids) to prevent the development of antibodies to factors VIII and XI. Fauci et al. also described the development of antibodies against factors VIII and IX and the use of corticosteroids in the hemophilia patients [8]. Patients with severe hemophilia usually have serious chronic joint problems resulting from bleeding inside the joints and this is also treated with glucocorticoids. Low CD4+ T cells counts have been observed in both HIV- negative and HIV-positive hemophiliac patients. Duseberg presented the results of 17 studies showing that a total of 717 hemophiliac patients had T4/T8 ratios less than or equal to one and 46% of them (329 patients) were HIV-negative [9].

Causes and pathogenesis of AIDS in organ transplant and/or blood transfusion patients:

As of January 1, 1997, the number of patients in the USA who received blood transfusions, blood components or tissues then subsequently developed AIDS was 7,888 [8]. Adverse reactions to blood transfusion have been frequently reported and the standard treatment used to prevent or cure these reactions is glucocorticoid as stated by Fauci et al. [8]. For example, the risk of getting an allergic reaction from a blood transfusion is 1-4 per 100. The risk for delayed hemolytic reaction is 1 per 1,500. In contrast, the risk of infection with HIV from blood transfusion is 1 per 490,000 [8]. However, immune suppression as a result of the use of glucocorticoids in these patients was not investigated. Furthermore, glucocorticoids and other immunosuppressive agents are also used to prevent tissue rejection in organ transplant patients. The complications from these treatments and the list of opportunistic diseases are also described by Fauci et al [8]. The list of opportunistic diseases in organ transplant patients receiving immunosuppressive agents is identical to the list of opportunistic diseases listed in people with AIDS [8].

Causes and pathogenesis of AIDS in Africa:

As of November 1996, the number of AIDS cases reported in Africa by the World Health Organization was 553,291 [8]. Severe malnutrition has been very well known to cause immune dysfunction and other serious health effects. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis in HIV- infected patients with AIDS and suffering from severe malnutrition before implicating HIV as the cause of AIDS in Africa. Actually the finding of atrophy of lymphoid tissue in people suffering from malnutrition was observed as early as 1925. For example, Jackson’s review on this topic in 1925 noted that many investigators had found a pronounced tendency of atrophy of lymphoid tissue in all conditions of malnutrition. Thymus weight was exquisitely sensitive to malnutrition and was earlier designated as the “barometer of nutrition” [28].

The functions of the immune system, especially the cellular immunity, are impaired in malnutrition cases. The severity of the impairment is dependent on the degree of malnutrition in both human and animal. The size of the thymus of 42 malnourished children was reduced by 90% as compared with the size in the normal children of the same age [29]. In a second study involving 110 malnourished children, the thymic area was found to be 20% of the size in healthy children [30]. The results of autopsy of 118 malnourished children showed: 1) both thymus and peripheral lymphoid tissues were reduced in bulk in protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM), this reduction being disproportionately greater than the loss of body weight; and 2) severe thymic atrophy was presented in 70% of marasmus cases and 85% of Kwashiorkor cases and 59.3% of the children had marasmic and Kwashiorkor symptoms [31]. Fakhir et al. evaluated 100 severely malnourished children and found that these children had a significant reduction in the absolute lymphocytes counts, T cells counts, and in the skin reaction to dinitrochlorobenzene [32]. The lymphocyte functions of 30 black children with PCM as assessed by the delayed hypersensitivity reaction and morphology of lymphocyte transformation were found to be impaired and serum cortisol level was elevated [33]. The functions of lymphocytes and cortisol levels in these patients were returned to normal after 30 days of feeding.

Atrophy in the lymphoid organs in malnourished people is caused by increased levels of cortisol as well as by protein and vitamin deficiency. The reduction in the thymus and the lymphoid tissue size and the reduction in the functions of the immune system of malnourished children and animals were reversed after proper feeding. For example, the size of the thymus increased from 20% of normal in a malnourished child to 107% of normal following 9 weeks of proper feeding [30]. The levels of endogenous cortisol in plasma and urine have been found to be abnormally elevated in malnourished patients as shown by studies included 159 malnourished children and 148 AIDS patients [1].

The incidence of starvation, parasitic diseases, septicemia, and low birth weight are very high in Africa and other developing countries as shown in eleven studies that include the prevalence of malnutrition and diseases in 1,425 infants and 5,834 children surveyed in nine countries [1]. For example, the mortality rate among 299 severely malnourished children in Zambia was 25.8% [34]. Pneumonia and diarrhea were the major causes of death. In India, 49% of 183 cases of lymphadenopathy in children were found to be due to tuberculosis [35].

The prevalence of KS and lymphoma, lymphadenitis, and tuberculosis in Africa are similar to those reported in the male homosexuals AIDS patients in US and Europe and even higher [1]. However, AIDS in Africa occurs almost equally in males and females because starvation affects both sexes equally. Sibanda and Stanczuk reviewed all lymph nodes histopathology reports of lymph nodes biopsies submitted to the Histopathology unit in Harare, Zimbabwe, in the period of January 1988 to June 1990. They found that the commonest diseases in the 2,194 lymph node specimens were: non- specific hyperplasia (33%), tuberculous lymphadenitis (27%); metastases (12%), Kaposi’s sarcoma (9%); and lymphomas (7%). Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) involving the lymph nodes was reported in 176 (9%) of the lymph nodes [36]. In children, the prevalence of KS was higher in children under 5 years than in 6-15 year bracket. In adults, approximately two thirds (65%) of all patients with KS were aged between 20 and 40 years.

The study of Fawzi et al. in Tanzania clearly demonstrated that HIV is a harmless virus. Feeding HIV-positive malnourished pregnant women proper nutrition reversed the impairments of the immune system functions. This measure also improved the outcome of their pregnancy [37]. They gave 1,075 HIV-infected pregnant women between 12 and 27 weeks' gestation vitamin A (n=269), multivitamins excluding vitamin A (n=269), multivitamins including vitamin A (n=270), or a placebo (n=267). All T- cells subsets (CD4+, CD8+, and CD3+) increased in all treatment groups from baseline levels during pregnancy and 6 weeks following delivery. There was a significantly larger increase in the CD4+ T cell counts and percentage of CD4+ T cells among women assigned multivitamins. The mean increases between baseline and 6 weeks postpartum were 167 cells/µL and 112 cells/µL among women on multivitamins and those on no vitamins, respectively. Vitamin supplementation also decreased the risk of low birth weight (<2500 g) by 44%, severe preterm birth (<34 weeks of gestation) by 39% and small size for gestational age at birth by 43%.

Summary of findings:

1) HIV is a harmless virus, both in vivo and in vitro. The HIV- hypothesis is not supported.

2) AIDS in drug users and homosexuals in the U.S. and in Europe results from heavy ancillary use of glucocorticoids and other immunosuppressive agents. Physicians prescribe these drugs to treat a wide range of chronic illnesses of the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems, and other organs.

3) The appearance of AIDS in the U.S. and Europe coincided with the approval of glucocorticoid aerosol use in 1976, the introduction of crack cocaine, the use of heroin by inhalation, and the use of alkyl nitrites by homosexuals to enhance anal sex.

4) AIDS in hemophiliacs relates to the use of corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive agents to prevent development of antibodies for factors VIII and IX, and used to treat other chronic illnesses such as joint disease.

5) AIDS in people receiving blood and/or tissue follows use of glucocorticoids to prevent transfusion and tissue rejection, and to treat other illnesses.

6) AIDS in infants and children is caused by their exposure to drugs and corticosteroids in utero, and to corticosteroids used after birth to treat their chronic illnesses.

7) AIDS in Africa results from malnutrition, the consequent release of endogenous cortisol, and opportunistic diseases. Atrophy in the thymus and lymphoid tissue in people suffering from malnutrition has been known since 1925; malnutrition also impairs T cells function. Feeding an adequate diet reverses these changes. It cures AIDS! Thymus size in malnourished children increased from 20% of normal to 107% of normal, after nine weeks of feeding.

8) Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and lymphoma result from the use of steroids and drugs, and the release of endogenous cortisol. They are not caused by a slow virus. Stopping treatment with immunosuppressive agents prior to metastasis reverses KS in some cases.

9) The medications currently used to treat patients with AIDS, such as AZT, protease inhibitors, and glucocorticoids are highly toxic. They can cause AIDS in asymptomatic patients; they worsen the condition of AIDS patients and even lead to their death. These drugs have no therapeutic value; their use should stop forthwith.

10) Damage to the immune system is rapidly reversible after removal of the true insulting agent or treatment of the true causes. Examples: a) The CD4+ T cells of 1,075 HIV-positive pregnant women increased from 426/uL to 596/uL in six months on a balanced diet. This also improved the outcome of their pregnancies; and b) In HIV-positive homosexuals, stopping treatment with glucocorticoids reversed a fall in CD4+ T cells.

Urgent actions are needed to correct the problem:

I hope that the medical evidence presented in this article along with the cited references will alert you to the facts that unfortunately we are moving in the wrong direction concerning the war on AIDS. It is incredibly difficult to imagine that A. Fauci, the director of the AIDS program at the National Institute of Health, has spent billions of dollars to find a cure for AIDS, yet the solutions for the AIDS crisis are presented in his very own publications. We have a large body of medical evidence that clearly shows HIV does not cause AIDS. I urge each and every government, including all individuals, to review the evidence. The AIDS establishment's unscientific, costly, and risky approach needs to be re- examined to save the world population from an imminent tragic consequences from the wide use of toxic drugs and to save important resources.

Implementing effective preventives measures can solve the problem of AIDS. These include: 1) prevent the causes of AIDS by educating the public about the toxic effects of the illicit drugs and alcohol; 2) limit the use of glucocorticoids in the treatment of chronic health conditions and in the treatment of people with AIDS; 3) monitor the levels of CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells in the blood of patients who are receiving medium or high therapeutic doses of glucocorticoids for a significant time; 4) discontinue the treatment of patients with AIDS and asymptomatic HIV- positive patients with AZT and protease inhibitors immediately since these are very toxic medications and have no therapeutic values; 5) provide proper clinical support and nutrition to patients with AIDS based on their medical needs

References

[1] Al-Bayati, MA. Get All The Facts: HIV does not cause AIDS. Toxi- Health International, Dixon, CA 1999 [http://www.toxi-health.com].

[2] Al-Bayati, MA. The Real Cause of AIDS. Mecola's health newsletter, Issue 236, July 11, 2001 [http://www.mercola.com/2001/jul/11/aids3.htm].

[3] Al-Bayati, MA. Is there proof that HIV-positive persons consistently develop illnesses that are rare or never occur in HIV negative persons? Virusmyth.net, September 2001 [http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/data/mabcdc.htm].

[4] Al-Bayati, MA. HIV Does Not Cause AIDS. The British Medical Journal, January 30, 2002 [http://bmj.com/cgi/eletters/324/7331/237].

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