Læknaneminn - 01.04.1997, Side 121

The drug-AIDS hypothesis'
were HIV-negative; and among 6 “crack” (cocaine)
smokers with tuberculosis, 3 were HlV-negative 3I2.
21) Among heroin addicts from New York, having
injected an average of 5.7 years, natural killer cell activ-
ity was reduced 2-fold and T4/T8-cell ratios from 2 to
1.5 90.
22) A survey of the causes of death of 412 intra-
venous drug users from New Jersey, revealed many
HlV-free cases, including at least 48 pneumonias, 35
tuberculoses, and 6 encephalopathies 41.
23) Similar neurological deficiencies were observed
among 12 HlV-infected and 16 uninfected infants of
drug-addicted mothers (Thomas Koch, UC San
Francisco, personal communicadon) 313. However,
babies with and without HIV, but from HlV-positive
mothers, had lower psychomotor indices than babies
from HlV-free mothers. The probable reason is that
HIV is again a marker for the cumuladve dose of intra-
venous drugs consumed by the mother 26.
24) The psychomotor indices of infants “exposed to
substance abuse in utero” were “significantly” lower
than those of controls, “independent of HIV status.”
Their mothers were all drug users but differed with
regard to drug use during pregnancy. The mean
indices of 70 children exposed to drugs during preg-
nancy were 99 and those of 25 controls were 109.
Thus maternal drug use during pregnancy impairs chil-
dren independent of HIV 3'4.
The same study also reports a “significant difference”
based on the HIV status of these children. The mean
score of 12 HlV-positives was 88 and that of 75 nega-
tives was 102. As is typical for the AIDS establish-
ment, HlV-positive babies of non-drug using mothers
were grouped with those from drug-using mothers (see
7.). But although the study did not break down the
scores of the HlV-positive infants based on “exposure
to substance abuse in utero”, it documented that 4 of
the 12 HlV-infected infants were “above average,” i.e.
100-114 - and that 4 of the 12 mothers did not inject
drugs during pregnancy!
25) Ten HlV-free infants born to intravenous drug-
addicted mothers had the following AIDS-defining
diseases “failure to thrive, persistent generalized lym-
phadenopathy, persistent oral candidiasis, and develop-
mental delay...” 315.
26) One HlV-positive and 18 HlV-free infants born
to intravenous drug-addicted mothers had only half as
many leukocytes at birth than normal controls. At 12
months after birth, the capacity of their lymphocytes to
proliferate was 50- 70% lower than that of lympho-
cytes from normal controls 3I6.
Each of these non-correlations between HIV and
AIDS is predicted by the hypothesis that recreational
drugs and other non-contagious risk factors cause
AIDS.
6.9. Discontinuation of drug use either stahilizes or
cures AIDS. The drug hypothesis predicts that terrni-
nation of drug use stabilizes or cures AIDS diseases,
except for those that have reached a critical threshold of
no return. Indeed, this has been documented in sever-
al examples:
1) AZT-recipients. Ten out of 11 HlV-positive, AZT-
treated AIDS patients recovered cellular immunity
after discontinuing AZT in favour of an experimental
vaccine 317. Two weeks after discontinuing AZT, 4 out
of 5 AIDS patients recovered from myopathy 318.
Three of four AIDS patients recovered from severe
pancytopenia and bone marrow aplasia 4-5 weeks after
AZT was discontinued 319.
2) Heroin/cocaine-addicts. The incidence of AIDS
diseases among HlV-positive intravenous drug users
over 16 months was 19% (23/124) and only 5%
(5/93) among those who stopped injecting drugs 246.
The T-cell counts of HlV-positive intravenous drug
users from New York dropped 35% over 9 months,
compared to HlV-positive controls who had stopped
injecting 89.
3) Recreational and anti-HIV/AIDS drugs. The health
of male homosexuals is stabilized or even improved by
avoiding recreational drugs. For example, in August
1993 there was no mortality during 1.25 years in a
group of 918 British HlV-positive homosexuals who
had "avoided the experimental medications on offer”
and chose to "abstain from or significantly reduce their
use of recreational drugs, including alcohol” 254.
Assuming an average 10-year latent period from HIV
to AIDS, and a random distribudon of infection times
prior to AIDS, the virus-AIDS hypothesis would have
predicted about 116 (918/10 x 1.25) AIDS cases
among 918 HlV-positives over 1.25 years. Indeed, the
absence of mortality in this group over 1.25 years cor-
responds to a minimal latent period from HIV to
AIDS of over 1,148 (918 x 1.25) years. On July 1,
LÆKNANEMINN
11 g 1. tbl. 1997, 50. árg.