rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (09/13/85)
NPR's "All Things Considered" yesterday described a report from the AMA (American Medical Association) which claimed there were 1 1/2 million Americans NOT IN ANY HIGH RISK GROUPS (which are gay men, intravenous drug users, & hemophiliacs) either infected with HTLV-III virus or testing positive on the bloodtest for it. The report urged those testing positive to have a second bloodtest, because of the high number of false positives, and even a third test of another kind, before drawing any conclusions about themselves. There were a lot of other interesting recommendations in the report and in reaction to it. Does anyone have a copy of it or the reaction? If so, how about posting a summary to the net? Regards, Ron Rizzo
slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (09/14/85)
Ron Rizzo writes: >[about] a report from the AMA ... which claimed there were 1 1/2 million >Americans NOT IN ANY HIGH RISK GROUPS ) ... either infected with HTLV-III >virus or testing positive on the bloodtest for it. > >The report urged those testing positive to have a second bloodtest, >because of the high number of false positives, and even a third test >of another kind... This brings up some questions which, as a regular blood donor, not in a high risk group, have occurred to me. I know that the blood banks are now testing donor blood. I can see the reason for that. However, the test is often wrong. If my blood tests positive, will they inform me about it? If so, how? Who else will be informed? (An especially interesting question--since I give through a program at work.) Must I pay for the extra tests to confirm or invalidate their positive test? It seems to me that if their test was mistaken, I shouldn't be made to pay. (Beyond being scared shitless, of course! I have visions of thousands of people sueing them for pain and suffering.) Suppose I test false positive--can I be reinstated as a blood donor when the incorrectness of their test is confirmed? I would like to give blood if possible--but if they don't want my blood, even for an invalid reason, do I have any recourse? Or, if they act badly, should I even care? As an aside, it seems to me that there are some issues connected with these tests on which straights, (or bi's like me) should really be siding with the gay community--like who gets told about your positive test, and how society treats you (i.e. keeping you out of school or work). Obviously, given the information quoted, this could happen to anyone. And it is most likely, with a false positive, to happen to those people who care about others enough to give blood since they will be tested often. Given the irrational, lynching attitude I've seen, this could really mess up a person's life. And of course, it's even worse with a true positive, because you need support even more in that situation. But I don't see people caring. I wonder how many people will have to be hurt before people do care. Sigh. -- Sue Brezden Real World: Room 1B17 Net World: ihnp4!drutx!slb AT&T Information Systems 11900 North Pecos Westminster, Co. 80234 (303)538-3829 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your god may be dead, but mine aren't. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
wws@ukma.UUCP (Bill Stoll) (09/15/85)
The revelation that >9,500,000 Americans, who are not on the origional list of the only kind of people who can get AIDS, is a giant step toward the truth. You can't get AIDS unless your immune system is near collapse. These people were exposed to the virus and their resistance was sufficient to either kill off the virus or create the carrier state. PRECISELY AS THE AMERICAN HOLISTIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION HAS BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG! The "incubation period" is just the carrier state intil the individual's reserves finally got low enough for him or her to finally yield to the virus--it has nothing to do with an incubation period in the usual sense of the word. In this sense it is like Herpes [which also, by the way, doesn't attack people with an unburdened immune system]--it stays in the system until something lowers the immunity enough for it to break out again. If the Herpes virus attacked the immune system (like the AIDS virus does) instead of the skin, it would be just as bad as AIDS. Unfortunately, many more people will have to get the disease; lots more hysterical things will have to occur; before people have suffered enough to be willing to look at the situation in a very different way. It has always amazed me how painful thinking seems to be for the human animal: it will do almost anything, suffer almost any agony or disaster before, finally (as a last resort) thoughtful shift in perception is tried. There are more ways , to improve the immune system, being learned every week. The thinking human is NOT helpless before AIDS. As I stated a few weeks ago (the position for which I was blasted from all sides): Anyone who does aerobic exercise 20 minutes 3 times/week, practices a whole food diet & switches their hypothalamus to 8-10cps 20 minutes twice daily, has nothing to fear from AIDS, Toxic Shock, Legioniare's Disease (did you know one couldn't get Legionaire's Disease unless they were, or had been, a smoker?)[another example of specific stresses exceeding reserves within the individual], Chronic Systemic Candidiasis, etc. There have been several recorded cases of AIDS already that have gone into remission (possibly to cure--too soon to know yet) simply by following what I have reported to you above. There is still no conventional treatment that has any significant positive results. What harm is there to try? There can not possibly be any harm &, even common sense says it should help. Why so much resistance? Any one who has done their homework knows about the laboratory findings in this area. I believe it is hard because no one really wants to change their lifestyle. Besides, if you have AIDS, changing would be an admission that something that you did, in your lifestyle before you got it, helped you get it. That is a pretty heavy burden for anyone to swallow, especially if one is already pretty sick. The truth will eventually out, regardless what we would LIKE it to be. There may be some fine detail things to learn about what the Holistic understanding has been for some time---but it will follow exactly the present outline I've been sharing with you. My thanks to Ron Ringo for placing the information on the net. Also to Sue Brezden for her contribution. cbosgd!ukma!wws(Walt Stoll) YOU Walt Stoll, MD, ABFP ARE MORE Founder & Medical Director Holistic Medical Centre THAN YOU THINK 1412 North Broadway Lexington, Kentucky 40505 -- cbosgd!ukma!wws(Walt Stoll) YOU Walt Stoll, MD, ABFP Founder & Medical Director ARE MORE Holistic Medical Centre 1412 North Broadway Lexington, Kentucky 40505 THAN YOU THINK (606) 233-4273
sdyer@bbncc5.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (09/18/85)
There is nothing wrong with following the practices Walt recommends. As he
says, it can't hurt and may be helpful. The only reservation is for those
who follow his logic to its ultimate conclusion: that by following such
"common-sense" prescriptions, one need not fear exposure to the virus, and
hence drop other precautions. For some gay men, this means once again
indulging in frequent, promiscuous sex practices which involve the exchange
of fluids which may contain the virus. This is imprudent, to say the
least, but by Walt's theory, it is just fine. This is the only reason he
is being "blasted", for he is confidently predicting the outcome of
exposure to a virus about which still little is known experimentally.
One wonders what he'd say to a formerly "healthy" athlete who is now
dying of KS.
The trouble is, one cannot predict the state of one's immune system
directly from diet and exercise and alpha brainwaves. There is no evidence
that such behaviors provide absolute protection against any kind of
infectious disease, despite his confident assurances. He is dealing in
black and white when all of us are little real numbers along some still
poorly characterized line of susceptibility. There is only one black and
white fact on which we'll both agree: don't come into contact with the
virus (exposure to blood, semen and serus products) and you'll never have
to worry about AIDS.
--
/Steve Dyer
{harvard,seismo}!bbnccv!bbncc5!sdyer
sdyer@bbncc5.ARPAsher@rochester.UUCP (David Sher) (09/21/85)
In article <2192@ukma.UUCP> version B 2.10.2 9/18/84, wws@ukma.UUCP (Bill Stoll) writes: > ... >sides): Anyone who does aerobic exercise 20 minutes 3 times/week, >practices a whole food diet & switches their hypothalamus to 8-10cps >20 minutes twice daily, has nothing to fear from AIDS, Toxic Shock, ... >cbosgd!ukma!wws(Walt Stoll) YOU > >Walt Stoll, MD, ABFP ARE MORE >Founder & Medical Director >Holistic Medical Centre THAN YOU THINK >1412 North Broadway >Lexington, Kentucky 40505 > > What is switching one's hypothalamus to 8-10cps 20 minutes twice daily? I am posting this to the net because I think there is probably a general ignorance on this procedure among the non-medical people listening to net.med. By the way are you Walt or Bill Stoll? -- -David Sher sher@rochester seismo!rochester!sher