Aids

[Xaero4]

The epidemic thats sweeping the human race, day after day, month after month, year after year. I suppose the epidemic has decreased in a way, due to the increased awareness and "safe sex", but is still a MAJOR problem in third world, developing countries.

Some people think AIDS it is God's Judgement on the human race.
Others say that it was a ploy by the government to control population.
AIDS is also said to have came from some monkey in Africa. Atleast thats what I've heard.

What do you think?

 

[michel]

The epidemic thats sweeping the human race, day after day, month after month, year after year. I suppose the epidemic has decreased in a way, due to the increased awareness and "safe sex", but is still a MAJOR problem in third world, developing countries.

Some people think AIDS it is God's Judgement on the human race.
Others say that it was a ploy by the government to control population.
AIDS is also said to have came from some monkey in Africa. Atleast thats what I've heard.

What do you think?

I don't for a moment believe that aids is God's judgement on the human race - we humans are perfectly able to wreak havock on ourselves, without the need for God to have a hand in our daily lives, neither do I believe that it wa a Government 'Ploy' - I am personally convinced that aids came from Africa.........

 

[Xaero4]

I'm just presenting all sides. Personally, I think it came from Africa, but who really knows...

 

[Jaymes]

I think it's a horrible disease that nobody deserves having inflicted on them. Because people fear it or feel that the people that have it "deserve it," I feel it doesn't get as much publicity as it should. I can only hope that as technology increases and, hopefully, sex education gets better in schools that this disease becomes more preventable. Or, if not prevented, held at bay for as many years as possible.

 

[michel]

I think it's a horrible disease that nobody deserves having inflicted on them. Because people fear it or feel that the people that have it "deserve it," I feel it doesn't get as much publicity as it should. I can only hope that as technology increases and, hopefully, sex education gets better in schools that this disease becomes more preventable. Or, if not prevented, held at bay for as many years as possible.

You are right, Jensa - nobody ever deserves to be ill, but Aids is beyond imagination. The worst of it all is the fact that children are born with it.........that, I cannot bear to think of.

 

[Saw11_2000]

Monkey in africa. I wonder how it jumped from monkeys to humans though...:areyoucra

 

[BUDDY]

There are many horrable diseases out there, AIDS is one of them. I don't know how it started, but I am possitive it is not God's judgement upon homosexuals or anyone else. When you compare the number of people who have AIDS to the number who have other diseases, the victims of AIDS get a whole lot more attention in comparison. Not that the shouldn't. I just think that there is not enough of a balance in it. I think one of the reasons it has become such an item of focus is because of the fact that it is often transmitted through sexual activity. There is a cure for AIDS, stop having unprotected sex. If we get everyone to be more responsible, we can stop it from spreading and eventually end AIDS altogether.

 

[michel]

Surprisingly, I have managed to find something recent, and from an apparently rreputable source:-
BBC.co.uk

Last Updated: Monday, 10 January, 2005, 17:04 GMT

Gene clue to HIV origin in humans

Researchers compared human and monkey genes
Scientists say they have uncovered an important clue to understanding the origins of the Aids epidemic.
They have pinpointed crucial differences in a gene found in rhesus monkeys that can prevent HIV infection, and its human counterpart, that cannot.
It appears that only a single change to the human gene is needed to enable it to block HIV infection.

The study, by the National Institute for Medical Research, is published in Current Biology.

This discovery has significant implications for the development of effective gene therapy to combat Aids.

Dr Jonathan Stoye
The scientists say their work indicates that HIV would not have become established in the human population if mankind carried the same version of the gene found in rhesus monkeys.

Lead researcher Dr Jonathan Stoye said: "This discovery has significant implications for the development of effective gene therapy to combat Aids.

"In theory, it should be possible to take cells from an HIV-infected individual, make them resistant to HIV infection with the modified gene and reintroduce them into the patient. These cells could then block progression to Aids.

"Alternatively we could seek for drugs that activate the human gene against HIV."

Long term approach

Christopher Gadd, editor of HIV & AIDS Treatments Directory, told the BBC News website: "What is particularly exciting is that the researchers have identified that changing just one amino acid 'building block' in one protein can switch a cell from susceptible to insusceptible to long-term HIV infection.

"However, it is important to stress that any therapeutic benefits that may arise from this research are unlikely to be felt for many years.

"This type of gene therapy would involve removing white blood cells from patients, cloning them, and altering their genetic make-up before reintroducing them to the patient on an individual-by-individual basis.

"Although it is theoretically possible, this approach is unlikely to be practical or cost-effective with currently available technologies."

Jo Robinson, a senior treatment specialist at The HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust agreed that gene therapy was a promising approach which might yield results in the longer term.

But she said: "We should stress that although this research is important we are still a long way from it having a practical application for people with HIV. There is still no cure for HIV and no vaccine."

According to the latest UNAIDS figures, at the end of 2004, 39.4 million people worldwide - 37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children younger than 15 years - are living with HIV/Aids.

HIV is a retrovirus that infects cells of the human immune system and destroys or impairs their function.

Infection with this virus can result in the progressive depletion of the immune system, which ultimately may lead to Aids.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4160849.stm

 

[fromthe heart]

It's a serious epidemic...It's also a preventable one for most parts...the reason it's such a big deal is because it causes some to reconsider their sexual behavior and to not be so promiscuis...That hampers some folks way of life. I feel a cure is not far off and soon it will be something such as polio that everyone will look back at in the progression of the human race.


How did it start? some say this and some say that...does it really matter since we know now how to NOT get it?!

 

[michel]

Tuberculosis is rapidly becoming a serious problem. Doctors thought that it had been eradicated, and stopped giving vaccines, and now it is coming back in a more virulent strain........

 

[Scott1]

A way to help fight AIDS is to support groups who are working against it... for instance:

Botswana Alcohol Aids Project


Co-Founder: Rev. Jim MacDonald, Counselor/Therapist, Addiction Specialist

Jim's Background Information​

Jim MacDonald has spent the last 30 years as a Counselor, Therapist,Addiction Specialist, and Behavioralist. He is a graduate of the Clinical Training In Alcoholism, Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Pennsylvania & Hospital as well as the Certification Program of Advanced Relapse Prevention offered by the Center for Applied Science in Chicago, Illinois.​

Jim is skilled in Prevention Techniques as well as in In-Patient and Out-Patient Treatment of Addictions, CoDependency and other Behavioral and Biological, Psychological, and Socialogical Dysfunctions.

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