AIDS/HIV which theory do you believe?

[Proud1p4]

Where lies it's origin? Homosexuality? Personally, i think they're misinformed, i did some research and there are several theories by scientists, some have been shunned more thna others but they are as follows:

-Production of oral polio vaccine which used monkey kindey tissue that contained SIV which then crossed over into humans to form is cousin strain HIV

-South African tradition of hunting monkeys in a particular way that could've trasmitted SIV by blood (hence HIV) to any given S.African(s) which by air travel, came to North America etc.

OR

-A cluster sexually promicious men contracted Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in 1981, most, but not all of whom we're gay and had relations with other men.

What i don't get. Why is everyone pointing the finger at the homosexual PCP theory instead of the first theory which IMO sounds so much more realistic. I just don't see how poof, just sex between to males creates such a deadly disease, it just doesn't add up for me. And it might be because i have a bias, but tomorrow, i'm running it by my friends.

I saw an Oprah special on AIDS/HIV and i got sicken by how much she stressed "so you got this through heterosexual sex?" i was like this isn't the only theory out there but its so much easier to blame the minority. My mom and friends love Oprah and i think she's ok but i donno, lately i've seen a side of her thats just too 2D. I mean preaching Catholicism and Christianity and not world religions. I recognize she's just one person but someone with so much influence should watch who they're backing here.

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PLEASE GO HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS#Alternative_hypotheses) BEFORE VOTING AND READ A LITTLE BEFORE.

FYI. HIV dissidents is defined as denial that current testing methods are valid and HIV isn't related to the AIDS virus.

[Negasta]

I am a qualified geneticist, so I can talk about this with at least some authority.

Genetic testing and sequence comparison between the two major strains of HIV and the Simian Immune Virus (SIV) that infects chimps, has shown that there have been at least two crossover events between humans and apes, both somewhere in the 1940's.

These most likely occurred because humans encroached further into the African jungles during that time and killed and ate undercooked chimp meat infected with SIV.

The virus the started to adapt to its new host (humans) and remained relatively benign for decades, as it had not yet properly adapted to our immune system, then in the mid-1970's it had finally adapted enough to human hosts, that it became a virulent infection that could easily spread from person to person and thus it became HIV.

This is a very rough outline of the currently accepted theory of the origin of HIV.

[Proud1p4]

Thank you very much for giving up your time to type that, Negasta. Nice to have at least a qualified persons perspective, hopefully the votes will keep flocking in or maybe even a discussion or two will be sparked.

[JayHew]

I agree with Negasta concerning how things might have come about. It appears that this is the most likely way things came into being with this disease. With enough exposure viral infections can transfer over to humans from animals. Example: Bird Flu in Asian countries- reason it happens is most have large numbers of birds (chickens) and basically live with them, so have constant exposure. Viruses mutate over time, thus can mutate to adapt to a human host.

Of note concerning HIV, in Western Europe and North America for the most part, it appeared to be a homosexual disease, but in Africa and other third world countries it is primarily a heterosexual disease. One of the thoughts for this is in the third world countries with general poor nutrition and medical care, immune systems are battered down quite a bit and also there is a lot of other diseases present, thus making it easier for the HIV to be transferred.

In healthy individuals, there appears to be a bit of resistance to transfer, but with direct blood/body fluid exposure that becomes moot. Example: studies have shown the vaginal track in healthy females is resistant to HIV but depending on "load" (how many viral particles one is exposed to) how intact the vaginal track is all play a huge part. In Anal intercourse, there is increased chances of transfer due to minor abrasions that can happen, but again depends on load and general health. This does not mean that there is total resistance, it is minor, and many factors can negate it.

In the role of "poppers" and drug use, long term or frequent use can affect the ability of the immune system to ward off disease. The thought was (70's) the drug use by the gay population along with infection with other STD's was a major factor in causing the immune system to just collapse. This until the virus was discovered.

Unfortunately by the time the true reason for AIDS (which is the syndrome that develops from the havoc HIV raises with the body's immune system) was found, the label of it being a "gay disease" in relation to drug use was established and to this day carries on.

The current thinking and worry now is the age of knowing someone who has died of AIDS or the complications of AIDS has seemed to pass. Also the older generation of gays were well schooled in safe sex and lived through a fairly rough time. The worry is the younger generation has not had the exposure to the many deaths from AIDS and now there is a "cocktail" of medications someone takes to control everything and thus can live a "normal" life. This is quite wrong thinking as the routine of daily dosing with the medications is extremely demanding and over time the virus manages to become resistant to various meds used, also the quality of life is affected enough to interrupt a lot of the good times.

Safe sex is something everyone needs to know and practice all the time. It is not to become paranoid, but to decrease the chances or risks in contracting the disease. You might have a 50/50 chance of being infected with HIV from unprotected sex, but if you should contract it, it is 100%.