Læknaneminn - 01.04.1997, Blaðsíða 119

The drug-AIDS hypothesis *
the cause must precede the consequence, drug use
remains the only plausible, group-specific choice to
expiain "acquired” immunodeficiencies prior to HIV.
If male homosexuality were to cause immunodeficien-
cy, about 10% of the adult American male population
should have AIDS 26,282, and the disease should have
been well established long before 1981.
Prospective studies of intravenous drug users also
document T-cell losses prior to infection by HIV. For
example, among intravenous drug users in New York
”the relative risk for seroconversion among subjects
with one or rnore CD4 [T-cell] count <500 cells/pl
compared with HlV-negative subjects with all counts
>500 cells/pl was 4.53” 283. A similar study from Italy
showed that a low number of T-cells was the highest
risk factor for HIV infection 284. Again, a decrease in
T-cells is a risk factor for HIV infection, and not vice
versa.
This confirms the hypothesis that HIV is a marker of
drug consumption, rather than the cause of AIDS: the
more drugs are consumed intravenously or as an aid to
sex, the higher is the risk of HIV infection 26.
3) HlV-free AIDS. Intravenous drug users, their
babies, male homosexuals consuming aphrodisiac and
psychoactive drugs, hemophiliacs, and poor Africans
develop the same AIDS-defming diseases with or with-
out HIV. One summary of the AIDS literature
describes over 4,621 clinically diagnosed AIDS cases
who were not infected by HIV 4S. Additional cases are
described that are not in this summary 231274'275'278.2®5.286.
They include intravenous drug users, male homosexu-
als using aphrodisiac drugs like nitrite inhalants, hemo-
philiacs developing immune suppression from long-
term transfusion of foreign proteins contaminating fac-
tor VIII, and Africans subject to malnutrition, parasitic
infection and poor sanitation 24,48.
The following examples of clinical AIDS in HlV-free
male homosexuals (1-9), and in intravenous drug users
and their babies (10-26) illustrate this point:
1) The first five AIDS cases, diagnosed in 1981
before HIV was known (i.e. presence of HIV is specu-
lative), were male homosexuals who had all consumed
nitrite inhalants and presented with Pneumocystis
pneumonia and cytomegalovirus infection 287.
2) In 1985, and again in 1988, Haverkos analyzed
the AIDS risks of 87 male homosexual AIDS patients
with Kaposi’s sarcoma (47), Kaposi’s sarcoma plus
pneumonia (20) and pneumonia only (20) 217’28S. All
men had used several sexual stimulants, 98% had used
nitrites. Those with Kaposi’s sarcomas reported 2
times more sexual partners and 4.4 times more recep-
tive anal intercourse than those with only pneumonia.
The median number of sexual partners in the year prior
to the illness was 120 for those with Kaposi’s and 22 for
those with pneumonia only. The Kaposi’s cases report-
ed 6-times more amylnitrite and ethylchloride use, 4-
times more barbiturate use, and 2-times more
methaqualone, lysergic acid and cocaine use than those
with pneumonia only. Since no statistically significant
differences were found for sexually transmitted diseases
among the patients, the authors concluded that the
drugs had caused Kaposi’s sarcoma.
Although the data for Haverlcos’ analysis had been
collected before HIV was known, Haverkos’ conclu-
sion is valid. This is because the development of AIDS
was drug dose dependent, and thus was either suffi-
cient or at least necessary for AIDS. Indeed, HIV was
found in only 31% 289, 43% 290'291, 48% 292, 49% 293,
56% 276, and 67% 112 of cohorts of homosexuals at risk
for AIDS in Amsterdam, Chicago-Washington DC-
Los Angeles-Pittsburgh, Boston, San Francisco and
Canada respectively, that developed the same AIDS
diseases as described by Haverkos.
3) A 4.5 year tracking study of 42 homosexual men
with lymphadenopathy but not AIDS reported that 8
had developed AIDS within 2.5 years 214 and 12 with-
in 4.5 years of observation 294. All of these men had
used nitrite inhalants and other recreational drugs
including amphetamines and cocaine, but they were
not tested for HIV. The authors concluded that “a his-
tory of heavy or moderate use of nitrite inhalant before
study entry was predictive of ultimate progression to
AIDS” 214. Thus drug doses of 2.5 to 4.5 years were
necessary for AIDS.
4) Before HIV was known, three controlled studies
compared 20 homosexual AIDS patients to 40 AIDS-
free controls 215, 50 patients to 120 controls 111 and 31
patients to 29 controls 216 to determine AIDS risk fac-
tors. Each study reported that multiple “street drugs”
were used as sexual stimulants. And each study con-
cluded that the “lifetime use of nitrites” 111 were 94%
to 100% (!) consistent risk factors for AIDS 216.
5) A 27-58-foId higher consumption of nitrites by
male homosexuals compared to heterosexuals and les-
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