As an AIDS patient whose youngest brother died from "AIDS" related complications I have taken the time to research both HIV and AIDS. I am well aware of all the issues brought up in the article and I am also aware that some scientists questioned that the HIV virus is the culprit as long ago as the middle 1980's. I am also aware that since the gay community was the major fund raiser for research in the early years of the pandemic that the gay community used political pressure to focus research on issues other than what causes AIDS.
Now let me share a little personal history. My brother passed away in November 1995 from liver failure, which resulted from KS plus malnutrition resulting from a sever case of Candida esophagitis, which made it impossible for him to swallow. I was diagnosed HIV in February 1996. My CD4 count was 259. In May 2000 I was diagnosed with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and my CD4 count was 289 (PCP is rarely diagnosed when the CD4 count is above 200). As per my last blood work my CD4 count is 984. PCP has been around for a long time and is caused by a protozoa or fungus. All people with suppressed immune systems regardless of HIV status are at risk for PCP and in fact some organ transplant recipients develop PCP because they immune systems are suppressed to aid in organ acceptance. KS is a benign type of skin cancer found mostly in Mediterranean men and is never fatal unless it goes internal and attacks the organs.
MYTH: The spectrum of AIDS-related infections seen in different populations proves that AIDS is actually many diseases not caused by HIV.
FACT: The diseases associated with AIDS, such as PCP and Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), are not caused by HIV but rather result from the immunosuppression caused by HIV disease. As the immune system of an HIV-infected individual weakens, he or she becomes susceptible to the particular viral, fungal and bacterial infections common in the community. For example, HIV-infected people in certain midwestern and mid-Atlantic regions are much more likely than people in New York City to develop histoplasmosis, which is caused by a fungus. A person in Africa is exposed to different pathogens than is an individual in an American city. Children may be exposed to different infectious agents than adults (USPHS/IDSA, 2001).
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/evidhiv.htm
HIV suppresses the immune system, which results in the person with the HIV virus becoming susceptible to opportunistic diseases.
So queenie if you had taken the time to read the whole article you might have found that what I posted is in fact the truth, at least according to the link you provided from the National Institute for Health (NIH).
Now if you had taken the time to read the above link you would have found a long list of scientists who would like to readdress the accepted belief that the HIV virus is the real culprit, not just Johnson and Wells. You would also have found a link to this:
AIDS PROPOSAL
The following letter was published in Science (17 Feb. 1995, vol.267 pp.945-946):
In 1991, we, the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis, became dissatisfied with the state of the evidence that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) did, in fact, cause AIDS.
Specifically, we have proposed that researchers independent of the HIV establishment should audit the Centers for Disease Control's records of AIDS cases, bearing in mind that the correlation of HIV with AIDS, upon which the case for HIV causation rests, is itself an artefact of the definition of AIDS. Since 1985, exactly the same diseases or conditions have been defined as "AIDS" when antibodies are present, and as "non-AIDS" when HIV and antibodies are absent. Independent professional groups such as the Society of Actuaries should be invited to nominate members for an independent commission to investigate the following question: How frequently do AIDS-defining diseases (or low T cell counts) occur in the absence of HIV? Until we have a definition of AIDS that is independent of HIV, the supposed correlation of HIV and AIDS is mere tautology.
Other independent researchers should examine the validity of the so-called "AIDS tests," especially when these tests are used in Africa and Southern Asia, to see if they reliably record the presence of antibodies, let alone live and replicating virus.
The bottom line is this: the skeptics are eager to see the results of independent scientific testing. Those who uphold the HIV "party line" have so far refused. We object.
Eleen Baumann
Tom Bethell
Harvey Bialy
Peter H. Duesberg
Celia Farber
Charles L. Geshekter
Phillip E. Johnson
Robert W. Maver
Russell Schoch
Gordon T. Stewart
Richard C. Strohman
Charles A. Thomas Jr.
For the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis.
http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/data2/letterscience.htm
Wells name is not among the original group of scientists. Also not all the scientists who have added their signatures to this letter are creationists or ID proponents so to use this letter as a means to discredit what Johnson (an attorney) believes and what Wells science can show is immaterial to this discussion. I for one would not object to revisiting the cause of AIDS, especially if this would lead to a cure or a vaccine to prevent further transmittal of this disease.
I bolded the part of the initial letter that should raise concerns in the scientific community and since there is more than one strain of HIV it is possible that a similar virus could in fact be the primary cause of AIDS.
Also the toxicity of antivirals and other medications used to treat HIV/AIDS related diseases are in fact of concern to those infected, which is why some AIDS patients refuse treatment with these medications.