The End of the Road

Well folks, we've come to the end of our blogging journey this week. I have to admit, when we first started this assignment I was a little bummed that I was stuck with blogging when I felt I could get a much more hands on experience talking with a pen pal or in the chat room. Attending the infected panels changed my mind about that for one. It is hard to ask people incredibly personal questions about HIV because your not sure how they will take it. Furthermore, the blogging experience has helped shaped my inquiry methods. The lax guidelines for our postings has made it so that we can research and find answers to any questions or hypothesis we had about HIV. More often I find myself researching into things that I wonder about in everyday life.

Did You Know...???

Its Spring Time, and that means allergy season! As if I don't enjoy my pollen covered car enough, I'm even more thrilled with my bouts of sneezing attacks and sinus inflammation. So this got me thinking, does HIV have any effect on allergies or vice versa? You would think, the HIV would increase the sensitivity of allergens as allergies themselves are an over reaction of the immune system to false antigens (i.e dust). On the other hand, could an allergic reaction be too much for a suppressed immune system to handle?

In an article in POZ magazine in 2008 thanks to antiretroviral medications, sinus problems are no longer a life and death matter. Untreated allergies that can lead to sinusitis can sometimes mean that bacteria or another virus begins to reproduce in the sinuses once they are congested. There are no significant studies that show that HIV people suffer from more sinus infections than HIV negative people, especially with the use of ARTs.

Reference:

-web: Spring Awakening: HIV, Allergies, and Sinusitis. April 2008. POZ magazine. Retrieved 4/9/10 from, http://www.poz.com/articles/hiv_allergies_sinuses_401_14336.shtml.

What Health Reform Means for AIDS

Coming up to the home stretch of the semester, things are getting crazy. While classes like physics and statistics torture my mind, I appreciate the knowledge that I have taken from this HIV course. Unlike physics which some people argue is quite handy, I find the information I've taken from this class to be more so of a life skill. While I doubt I will ever really care about the force a raindrop has on your head (which I might add would go right through your head without air resistance) or the frictional force of your car tires on the road, I will care about and use the facts about HIV on a weekly basis at the very least. It has given me so much more than that. It has provided me with the knowledge to protect myself and taught me about a virus that is taking hold of the whole world.

Did You Know...???

In the past month with the health reform fighting its way through Congress, the new implements make way for a change for those with HIV.

1. All Americans must buy health insurance. This means that the government is required to provide subsidies for those too poor to afford the coverage.

2. Bans insurance companies from terminating coverage on people with "pre-existing conditions". This means people with HIV cannot have their coverage terminated because of their health concerns.

3. The reform prohibits a life time cap on the coverage provided within a person's lifetime. This is especially good for people with chronic illness' (i.e HIV)

4. It expands coverage of Medicaid/Medicare to people with income below poverty line. These adults compromise of 37% of uninsured people in America (many of which are HIV+). (Expanding Medicaid)

Reference List:

-Web: The Black AIDS Institute Applauds Congress' Passage of Historic Health Care Reform Bill. March 22, 2010. The Body.com. Retrieved 4/6/10 from, http://www.thebody.com/content/policy/art56015.html.

-Web: Expanding Medicaid: Coverage for Low Income Adults Under Health Reform. Feb 22, 2010. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved 4/6/10 from, http://www.kff.org/healthreform/8052.cfm.

"The First Step Toward Change is Awareness. The Second Step is Acceptance." -Dr. Nathaniel Branden

With each week that goes by, I feel like I am becoming one with the pandemic that they call AIDS even though I myself am not HIV/AIDS positive. With all of the intensive information that we are subjected to each week, AIDS has implanted itself into our lives as well. Even if we didn't have this course, why shouldn't it? AIDS affects everyone: your neighbors, teachers, friends, lovers, children, co workers, peers. It is no longer just about protecting yourself to create one less person in the fight, but also about learning for the sake of progression; for the sake of all of those people. AIDS has existed for over thirty years now without a cure or vaccine. It has existed longer than many other infections that have breezed through. I say "breezed" because these infections often receive the attention and precaution that all contagious/infectious diseases need to squander it. AIDS has yet to receive such diligence. So why shouldn't we be the generation to change things? Even for those us not directly affected by AIDS or not directly participating in the pandemic, knowledge is the fundamental key. Just understanding the virus (like an enemy) leaves it's tactics unsurprising and it's existence vulnerable to defeat.

Did You Know...??

We all know stigma, and religious stigma especially takes a toll on the way HIV positive people are viewed. Earlier this month, Representatives of 40 different religious and faith groups including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism met in a two day retreat in the Netherlands. There the members signed a "personal commitment to action" which requires them to be clear in their teachings about discriminating against those living with HIV. This is important according to UNAIDS because religious acceptance will empower "solidarity" among the communities that follow them and "ensure people living with HIV are being treated with respect and dignity." However, the draw back is religion is having a hard time incorporating public health issues when discussing morality and spirituality because HIV prevention such as condoms and men to men sex is considered immoral.

Reference:

-web: Religious Leaders Vow to Fight HIV/AIDS Stigma, Discrimination. March 25, 2010. MedicalNewsToday.com. Retrieved 3/31/10 from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/183480.php.

Russia for the Gold

While many are excited about the chance to eat M&M's in the simulation, my thoughts are turned away from the enjoyable little candies and the fact that I am terrible at following a scheduled pill regiment. The purpose of the simulation comes into play after all. From everything that I've learned so far about HIV/AIDS, I appreciate the fact that I am a healthy and young individual that does not have to bear this particularly sorrowful responsiblity. I like to think of AIDS in the way that Catherine Wyatt-Morley described it during an excerpt from her diary AIDS Memoir: Diary of a HIV-Positive Mother. AIDS is much like a cross that some people are forced to bear. Those who are healthy and bear no burden should not judge them based off of AIDS because sooner or later, we will all bear a cross of our own.

Did You Know...??

Over the decades since HIV/AIDS was first discovered, it has changed hands as too what groups become the largest group of newly infected or most at risk. In America and most of the Western world we have seen that gay's are the most affected. However while areas like the Western countries and Sub Saharan Africa which are taking steps to prevent and reduce newly infected rates, Eastern Europe and Central Asia are taking the lead. Unlike America where the highest rate is passed MSM (men having sex with men), Russia's transmission acounts almost solely from Injecting drug users and women who have sex with those drug users. According to avert.com, 90% of Eastern Europe's new infections come from Russia and Ukraine alone. In 2007, 65% of newly infected cases were from male drug injectors. 83% of all of the people who know their infection history account for transmission through sharing needles. In 2007, 44% of newly infected women recieved the virus through having sex with men who were HIV positive through drug use with another 35% infected directly through drug use.

Reference List:

-Web: HIV and AIDS in Russia Eastern Europe & Central Asia. Updated 3/11/10. Avert.org. Retrieved 3/24/10 from http://www.avert.org/aids-russia.htm.

AZT, synonomous with Cancer?

Spring break has given us time away from classes, and my HIV results have given me time away from the world of AIDS even just for a little while. Although Teach's intention was to heighten our awareness by making us wait the full two weeks, I didn't have too much of a problem. However, I will admit, the prospect was always lingering over my head. On the way home in the car after getting my results (negative), a variety of thoughts streamed through my mind. For one, I was happy to think of my blood as "clean" in regards to HIV because in other ways it is not. I was happy to no longer have to deal with the idea of "what if"; now I had definite results. And while part of me was also happy that I can continue my life without too much of a fight, I remembered and always will remember those that do because of AIDS.

Did You Know...??

On December 18Th, 2009, Zidovudine or otherwise known as AZT was added to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment list of environmental toxins known to cause cancer and reproductive toxicity. In the process of stopping the integral process of the HIV virus into the host DNA, the medicine causes irreversible damage to the host DNA and mitochondria responsible for cell division. You must also keep in mind that cancer is defined as uncontrolled cell division. According to the official website: AZT causes Cancer, "more HIV positive women in South Africa (where widespread use of AZT occurs) are giving birth to brain- damaged children. Sometimes it shows up years after birth in the form of developmental disabilities." Although AZT remains the most common drug to treat HIV/AIDS, no maximum dosage of toxicity has been warranted.

Reference List:

-Web: AZT Causes Cancer. Feb 27, 2010. Heal London. Retrieved 3/16/10 from, http://www.heallondon.org/health-and-well-being/93-azt-causes-cancer-official.html.

-Photo: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/aidsephemera/images/azt.jpg.

If con is the opposite of pro, then is Congress the opposite of Progress?

When I think about what aspect of HIV that I have taken the most from, I must think about what I believed before this course and those elements that have changed along the way. Prior to, most of my knowledge was limited to the scientific fundamentals. What I did not understand is why in the twenty fist century when we had a cure or vaccine for nearly anything, was there not something to prevent the inevitable fate of AIDS? This is where this class comes into play. With all of the information from the first hand documentaries, diaries, and textbooks I've found that one of the most influential factor behind the AIDS epidemic is government. The future of AIDS and those living with it depends on the funding, law passing, prevention, education, research, and many more as the list goes on and on. It essentially is because of the government and their inability to mobilize that we do have an AIDS epidemic. It is because of their standards and personal morality (i.e Jessie Helms, President Reagan) that stigma exists so publically. It shows me that while the science regard is incredibly important, it is just as important to follow policies in government in respect to AIDS since its role is so key to the allocation and progression of medicine.

Did You Know...??

While in class we have learned about CRF's or circulating recombiant forms of HIV, did you know there may be a possibility of superinfection? Superinfection or otherwise known as reinfection, occurs when an already HIV positive person acquires a second different strand of HIV after establishing the existence of the first strand. Superinfection is less common to interpret and often confused with co-infection. Co-infection is when a person acquires two different strands of HIV from multiple partners simultaneously before a seroconversion is established. More importantly though, the people MOST at risk for superinfection are newly infected or those with a low plasma viral load. Oppositely, those with detectable viral loads are less at risk. This is explained by the fact that those with a detectable load, have less cells to target. Unlike their undetectable counterparts, their antiviral immune response is much more active and does not allow the virus to sneak by so passively. (Center for AIDS Prevention Study)

Reference List:

What Do We Know About AIDS Superinfection? Revised May, 2006. Center for AIDS Prevention Study. Retrieved March 10, 2010 from, http://www.caps.ucsf.edu/pubs/FS/revsuperinfection.php.
Photo: http://www.wellsphere.com/wellpage/hiv-virus-pictures.

Mid Semester

As this week comes to an end, I've had more time to absorb the event and the information from the crazy week before. The movies shed new light on the short duration that HIV has existed in this world. It's truely amazing how little we knew about this thirty years ago and how far we have come with ART's and medications to slow and box in the virus. It is also amazing how little society has grown from its affect. Most of this I feel, can be explained by the inability of schools to educate about AIDS without being about to discuss the high risk behaviors involved with it. While some steps have been taken such as promoting condoms in the anscence of abstinence, other topics such as homosexuality (which is on the rise) and drug use (which some may eventually fall victim to) are not talked about. The movie Age of AIDS shed light on the chronological history of AIDS and how it has seeped into nearly every demographic and region of the world. It was fascinating to watch the evolution of this virus unlike anything else.

Did You Know... About False Positives??


We already know that it is possible for people within the window period to test negative when actually being positive for HIV, it is also possible for the reverse. The common screening test, ELISA works by targeting certain anitbodies and then yeilding a positive if the target is found. However, the body can sometimes has different antibodies that trick the test, yeilding a positive when in fact the person is negative. These can include antibodies in instances of tuberculosis, malaria, and rheumatoid arthritis (cross- reactivity with other retroviruses). Other can include contamination at the lab, pregnancy, or a history of drug use. The chances of this happening are minimal: 1-5 per 100,000 assays. Should a person test positive, a Western Blot test should immediatly be taken to ensure the positive is in fact positive. This test works mainly as a confirmation test that specifically targets the HIV virus.

Add On

Freddie Mercury


Lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Died on November 24, 1991 by AIDS related bronchopneumonia just 24 hrs. after the public disclosure of his status.








Arthur Ashe

First and only African American to win the Wimbledon's men singles to date, and one of two African American men to win the Grand Slams Title. Ashe contracted HIV through blood transfusions recieved during heart surgery and later died on February 6, 1993 from AIDS related toxoplasmosis.





Reference List:

1. Jones, Liz. Causes of a False Positive. eHow. retrieved March 3, 2010 from, http://www.ehow.com/about_5045612_causes-false-positive-hiv-test.html.

2. Arthur Ashe. Arthurashe.org. Retrieved March 3, 2010

3. Photo: Biographicon. Retrieved March 3, 2010 from, http://www.biographicon.com/view/ah91h.

4. Freddie Mercury Biography. Retrieved March 3, 2010 from http://www.freddie.ru/e/bio/.

5. Photo: Style Inspiraion: Mr. Mercury. Retrieved March 3, 2010 from :http://www.ultrapdx.com/zero/2007/12/18/style-inspiration-mr-mercury/.

Irony

This week has definitely been interesting one in regards to the aspect I have found this class to be playing in my personal life. This past Friday was when I went to Miracle of Love for my HIV test. With much searching and driving in circles, my friend and I were finally able to find the quaint little household turned business called Miracle of Love. We felt like we were at some sort of private resort rehab from the looks of the outside. Once inside, the lady at the desk gave us free handouts, free condoms, magazines, and even a free DVD on AIDS and black women. We were the only ones there and waited less than ten minutes before Iris took me back and went through the drill with me. The entire process was pretty much effortless as there was no wait and even no fee! I don't know how many people go seeing as there was no inside, but I would hope and recommend this place to anyone because it is free and the environment and people are comforting and genuine.

On another note, I finally got around to watching Common Threads yesterday in the library. I had already previously rented Silverlake Life and ended up crying at the end as I'm sure most people do. What I enjoyed so much about Common Threads is that it tries to break the notion that HIV/AIDS is restricted to homosexuals. Instead, it evokes stories of all those affected, both gay, hemophiliacs, and drug users alike. Overall, the emotions that I felt from watching this movie wasn't just sadness, but anger. Much of the footage is from the 80's, the time when AIDS was just being discovered. During this time, people were unbelievably discriminated against; houses were being burned down, people were being mugged and killed, and the Reagan administration didn't even address AIDS until after thousands had died. On top of that, the administration was against sex education despite the need to inform children about AIDS based on the fact he may advocating sex. He should have been worried about saving lives.

But to now get to the point of the title of my blog for this week: Irony. I say this, because this week I found out that someone in my immediate family has been seeing someone who is HIV positive. While AIDS/HIV does exist and we have often times run into people who are positive without even knowing it, it was incredibly unexpected to think that someone I love dearly has put themselves knowingly at risk for this disease. I call it ironic because of the circumstance in addition to my enrollment in this class. Needless to say, we discussed it thoroughly and considered the risk at hand. Since my return date for my HIV results are coming up, we have decided to go together so that she may get tested as well. While none of this pleases me, I am happy about one thing: the timing. Had I not been enrolled in this class, I would not have been able to comfort or educate her in any manner besides my support really. I would not have been able to tell her about the window period, about ALL of the types of transmission, or the finite details of how the virus works.


Did You Know...HIV Risk of Different Sex Practice?


Perhaps one thing that spurred on this topic is the referral to AIDS as a "gay disease." I was interested to find why homosexuals were at such a greater risk for contracting HIV more so than heterosexuals. From anatomy and biology, we learn that the skin all over your body has different structures and makeup (stratified, simple, transitional, pseudo stratified, etc.) depending on its location. From this we can ask, why is anal sex much more risky than vaginal sex? This is because the skin and mucosa lining in the rectum has fewer cells than the vagina and can be damaged more easily (especially since things aren't meant to go in). I found statistics from the Center for Disease and Control Website that matched this inference.


This information is AIDS cases by transmission up to 2007



Type
Male to Male Contact: 487,695
Drug Injection: Male:175,704 Female: 80,155 (255,859 total)
Male to Male Contact + Drug Injection: 71,242
Male to Female Contact: Male: 63,927 Female: 112,230 (176,157 total)
Other: Male: 12,108 Female: 6,158 (18,266 Total)

From this I calculated the percentage that people contract HIV from male to male (anal) and male to female (vaginal). Accordingly, 48% of all estimated cases are homosexuals, 6% of heterosexual men, and 11% of heterosexual women. While the percentage for heterosexuals seem small, the percentage of those infected by drug use (24% total men and women) is not accounted for transmission via intercourse. Obviously, these numbers are in accordance with the fact that anal intercourse is the number one high risk behavior. Oral sex is least risky with only 4% (Avert.org). In addition, an article from About.com: AIDS/HIV claims that female heterosexuals are more at risk than male heterosexuals. This, much like the recipient of anal sex, is caused from the tearing of the mucosa lining in the woman allowing direct entrance into the bloodstream. These statistics support this inference as well as 11% of heterosexual woman are infected compared to the 6% in men.

Overall, AIDS is not a "gay disease", but rather the behavior that puts you most at risk. From a biological standpoint, having anal sex is the highest at risk behavior simply because of the skin tissue found there.

Reference List:
Cichocki, M. About.com:AIDS/HIV (2009). Retrieved Feb 24, 2010
CDC: Center for Disease and Control. (2007). Retrieved Feb 24, 2010 from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/basic.htm#exposure.
Picture: bp.blogspot.com/.../s320/homosexual-gay.gif

Week Four... Approaching HIV Testing

Looking at the calendar, we are coming up to the last three weeks that we need to allot for HIV test results before they are due. Although in one sense, the drive to get free testing is a little bit of a nuisance,but the prospect of having concrete results makes it worth it. I have considered today, would I even go get HIV tested if this class didn't require me to? And the answer is yes. Ultimately by not doing so, I am putting myself and others at risk and not being a responsible being of society.

On another note, I'm also coming to close to AIDS Memoir, a diary of a HIV positive black mother. It really plays of the theme of how detrimental lack of education plays on the spread of AIDS. For example, one group Catherine targets are those with geriatric AIDS. Many old people choose to be uneducated because they feel HIV doesn't happen to them but rather their children and grandchildren. They don't seem the harm in a little fling in their old age until they show up with AIDS. Many don't even get tested for it was a possibility to their poor health in old age. I found this information to be interesting as most people point the finger at the homosexual congregation.

Did You Know...You Can Get More Than One Strand of HIV??

For many of us, we assume that HIV is one single evil entity killing thousands of people at a time. But much like the common cold or flu that has multiple strands that mutate throughout the year, HIV can be divided into types, groups, and even further to subtypes!

As the diagram shows, HIV can be first categorized as either HIV-1 or HIV-2. HIV-2 is regionalized to on West Africa and is less virulent than HIV-1. This means that people living with HIV-2 have a longer time period between infection and serious illness or AIDS. While both types are spread through blood contact, intercourse, and childbirth, HIV-2 cannot be spread via sharing needles. HIV-1 is divided into groups M (major), O (Outlier), and N (New). HIV-1 group M accounts for 90% of all cases and is generally what people refer to when they say "HIV". Group M has 9 subtypes plus CRFS (circulating recombinant forms). (Avert.org).

Subtype B is found in the Americas, Europe, Japan, and Australia
Subtype C is found in southern/eastern Africa, and India. It accounts for half of all HIV cases and has caused the worst epidemics

Subtype A / CRFs are found in West/Central Africa and is less virulent than C or B
Now if you didn't know that HIV had that many subdivisions, let me blow your mind a little more as to how quickly HIV likes to join and compound the problem. As I briefly mentioned CRFs before, they stand for circulating recombinant forms. This means that two virus strands have replicated together or rather had "viral sex" and created a totally new subtype distinct for that person. For example, if a person has CRF A/B, they have both subtype A and subtype B. (Introduction to HIV Types, Groups, and Subtypes).

Reference List:
HIV Types, Groups, Subtypes and Strains. Avert.org. Retrieved February 16, 2010 from Avert.org

Text and Graph 1:

Introduction to HIV Types, Groups, and Subtypes. Retrieved February 16, 2010 from
http://www.bodyandmind.co.za/healthweb/Introduction_to_HIV_types.html

Map: The Age of AIDS; Frontline. PBS.org. Retrieved February 16, 2010 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/atlas/clade.html

My Contribution

With the extra credit due date coming up, I've been considering which route I would like to take. On one aspect, money is always needed, especially to be used in advancing medications and research of AIDS. Although the minimum amount required does not mean that I need to stop there, I have turned my attention to educating the younger generation. Just from the amount of time that I have been in this class thus far, I feel like I am already learning a great deal. In part, this is due to the lack of knowledge about this syndrome worldwide (esp, among my peers). For this reason, I feel my efforts would be most rewarding attending a high school (hopefully AP so they can fully grasp the information!) to warn them about protecting themselves and revealing startling facts to shake them into awareness.I went to high school in Windermere, FL and hopefully I can get my old AP Bio or anatomy teacher to let me take over her class for a little while.


Did You Know...

The Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency (JAIDS) recently surveyed 214 African American men in California to test the percentage of them that believe in AIDS conspiracies (i.e Government Conspiracy against the Black Race, HIV does not cause AIDS, and ARTs are poison.) They found that 64% believed in at least one conspiracy, and 48% believed in more than one! This is how it divides up:

44% believe AIDS is man made
35% AIDS was created in govt laboratory
33% believe the genocidal conspiracy
17% ART are poison
22% are human guinea pigs for the government
(keeping in mind that some believe in more than one conspiracy)

Because of their beliefs, many people are refusing to take the proper medication. This means that the AIDS virus has a higher chance of spreading in addition to the person developing resistance to the drugs. It is obvious that these conspiracies are very detrimental in man's attempt to eliminate this disorder.

Reference List:
Conspiracy Theories About HIV Do Real Harm. Farrow, Kenyon. December 16, 2009. Retreieved Feb 10, 2010 from http://www.thegrio.com/2009/12/conspiracy-theories-about-hiv-do-real-harm.php.

Really? An HIV course??

If there is one thing I've noticed since begining this class, is the amount of people that are surprised that such a class is offered. However, I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, I don't think a single one was a health major. Every now and then, I share a bit of information with them that I have learned so far and they always seem to be very interested. To me, I find that the information that is most revealing comes from the research that we do. For many of us, HIV stops at health class in high school. Simply put: don't get it. Of course, some diluted information gets in there too. Overall, it leaves everyone asking more questions and swearing they will take the necessary precautions. However, the research part of this assignment has opened up other variables such as politics (or rather policies, funding, education) and certain adversaires such as AIDS Denial.

Did You Know...about AIDS Denialism?

For the majority of us that have never heard of AIDS Denialism, examining Christine Magguire’s life may give you a better idea.

Christine Magguire had not only lived with AIDS for seventeen years, but she was also a one time activist turned skeptic. Christine’s extreme doubt of the scientific evidence behind HIV she founded two activist groups, one called Alive and Well AIDS Alternative which advocates to HIV positive pregnant women not to take the proper prenatal medication. She herself attests to unprotected sex with her husband, breast feeding both of her children, and rejecting AZT, a prescription needed during pregnancy to avoided transferring the virus to the baby. Just three years old, Christine’s second baby Eliza, died of PCP. It was AIDS related. Just 3 years later, Christine also passed away on December 28, 2008 from pneumonia. (ABC News).


In other words, Christine Magguire belongs to group of theists that believe a number of things, one of which is that HIV does not lead to AIDS. While the theory is no longer mainstream due to undeniability, these people refute all clinical and epidemiological data that does provide proof. For instance, these theories can be separated into five main ones:
1. HIV does not cause AIDS
2. Antiretrovirus Medication is Poison
3. HIV tests are flawed
4. AIDS comes from poverty and malnutrition (mainly in S. Africa)
5. The lack of westward spread goes against orthodox
(Rethinking AIDS.)

Main contributors of this group include Peter Duesberg and Henry Bauer. Duesberg was a researcher for University of California and Bauer who earned a PhD in chemistry and science studies and worked at Virginia Tech. He also has a blog which I’ve posted below along with their official websites.

1. Duesberg on AIDS:http://www.duesberg.com/

2. Henry Bauer:http://failingsofhivaidstheory.homestead.com/


While many people do not follow AIDS Denial due to the validity of science, the existence of this group is nothing but detrimental. They are convincing thousands of people to do the complete opposite of what is needed. They help block funding of medication to parts in South Africa, a country where this theory is set deep. This means spread and sickness and not only lack of education, but misguidance. Here is a website that shows a brief description and photo of people that follow AIDS denial and have since passed.

Whats The Harm?:http://whatstheharm.net/hivaidsdenial.html


Reference List:
*Death of AIDS Skeptic. Cox, Lauren, ABC News. Retrieved Feb 3, 2010, from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6558202&page=1.
*Rethinking AIDS. Retrieved Feb 3, 2010, from http://www.rethinkingaids.com/Portals/0/RaArchive/index.htm.
*Photo: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=328

Ah, Webcourses!

Hello Fellow Classmates!

Let me just begin by addressing how appropriate I feel the title of this very first blog entry relays about my feelings about this course. If there is one thing I am learning from this class, its that you really need to keep up with webcourses if you have found yourself enrolled on a web course. Something I am finding out am I not so great at. Hence, the delay for the first blog lol. Anyways now that I am up and running, I would just like to be the first to admit my turn around feelings for this assignment. I originally picked pen pal, but once again due to my great fondness of checking the webcourse, I ended up with blogging, my last choice. However, actually having delved into the first assignment, I think my first research topic proved to be pretty interesting. A combination I might never have thought up without the help of google. In addition, Im looking forward to Katie's addition to the group as our HIV perspective and I hope to be getting into some good topics with each of you.

Did You Know..Hemophiliacs and Prostitutes role in HIV??

Just from reading the title alone, many of you like thousands of others out there may consider these two characteristics to be a major contribution in spreading HIV. I will admit, I myself think "Of course prostitution plays a major part! These women are having unprotected sex with people they don't even know!" Thus meaning, they are unknowingly contracting HIV and unknowingly spreading it onto the next. However, in this article that I found published by Robert Root-Bernstein in the Wall Street Journal in 1993 called "Rethinking AIDS", he actually refutes this theory completely and logically.

While most people in the 1980's were concerned that these people would become the "vectors" that would spread HIV to the general heterosexual population, Bernstein finds that only 10-15% of female prostitutes that were found to be infected almost always received it through intravenous drug use. Cases of "sexually acquired HIV is nearly unknown."

According to this article as well, in 1984, nearly 90% or about 15,000 hemophiliacs were infected with HIV. The average time for HIV to convert AIDS is about ten years. From this data, people would naturally conclude that all are infected or dead from the virus. However, data provides that only 1,500 of those 15,000 were actually recorded as passing onto the AIDS stage.

Overall, the main point to be reached is that HIV/AIDS does not pick out these certain characteristics for attack. Rather, those that do get infected (i.e blood transfusion, prostitutes) already have some sort of immunodeficiency. For example, those drug using prostitutes use drugs that suppress and throw their immune system out of whack. Those recipients of blood transfusions need them because their immune system is already defective. The blood itself is already suppressing the immune system, so it comes as no surprise that the larger the transfusion, the larger the immune suppression. In addition, the blood they receive could be infected with other viruses which only adds to the damage. Many people receive blood post surgery. Before this, they were under several antibiotics and opiates which all suppress the immune system making a person more susceptible.

Bernstein's main purpose of this article is to break through some of the barriers and stigmas thought by most of society by disproving stereotypes and replacing it with concrete statistics and medical logic.