PREFACE

The following case history was the spark that ignited this in-depth investigation of the causes and pathogenesis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). A 60 year-old-white male, HIV- negative, developed Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) following treatment with a two month course of prednisone (60 mg per day) and a two week course of azathioprine (50-100 mg/per day) for lung fibrosis. His blood CD4+ T cells count was 255/µL, the CD4+ T cells /CD8+ T cells ratio was 0.6, and he had severe lymphocytopenia. He also suffered from pneumonia and severe fungal infection in his mouth and skin. Cessation of the treatment with prednisone and azathioprine lead to the reversal of the damage in his immune system. He recovered from pneumonia and the fungal infection after a short course of antibiotics and the use of antifungal lotion. Twenty-two days after the last dose of prednisone, his CD4+ T cells count was 657 cells/µL. The development of AIDS in this man was by use of therapeutic immunosuppressive agents. This case and the wide use of immunosuppressive agents in modern medicine to treat a variety of chronic illnesses, gave me the incentive to review the medical literature to evaluate the HIV-hypothesis, and to investigate the contribution of therapeutic agents in addition to illicit drugs, alcohol, and malnutrition to the pathogenesis of AIDS.

The HIV-hypothesis states that HIV cause AIDS by killing the CD4+ T cells directly or indirectly, usually after long incubation times (about 10 years), and reduction in the number of these cells to very low levels leads to severe immune deficiency. Patients with severe immune deficiency (CD4+ T cells parasitic) and certain forms of cancer such Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoma. The HIV-hypothesis prescribes that treatment of patients with antiviral drugs such inhibitors of reverse transcriptase such as Zidovudine (AZT) or protease inhibitors can delay the progression of AIDS by preventing the HIV replication in the cells.

Review of the medical literature revealed the following facts:

1. The HIV-hypothesis is not supported. HIV is a harmless virus both in the in vivo and the in vitro settings. HIV infected (HIV+) and HIV-negative patients have similar symptoms and lesions of AIDS. Damage to the immune system is rapidly reversible after removal of the true insulting agent or treatment of the true causes. For example, the thymus of a mouse with 50% damage induced by vanadate, healed completely within 10 days; 80% atrophy in the thymus of a malnourished child was reversed in 9 weeks by feeding a proper diet. Thus, a slow virus, such as HIV, cannot result in immune failure because it cannot cause enough damage to overcome this rapid rate of natural healing. Some lymph nodes and spleens of HIV infected individuals (HIV-positive) show
hyperplasia of the lymphoid tissue. This contradicts the HIV-hypothesis that HIV kills T cells. The literature is clear that Anthony Fauci, the Director of the AIDS program at the NIH, and his colleagues seem to agree that HIV does not cause cell necrosis in T cells or B cells. Their own work led them to change of their original hypothesis (HIV infects and kills CD4+ T cells) to state that "apoptosis is strictly dependent on cellular activation and direct infection of CD4+ T cells with HIV is not required for apoptosis to occur".

2. At least 77% of the 2,349 patients who participated in the four major clinical trials with AZT (1986 to 1992) were HIV-negative prior to their treatment with AZT. These trials cumulated in the approval of AZT as the treatment for patients with AIDS or for the
asymptomatic patients who were HIV-positive. Therefore, the conclusions indicating that AZT prolongs lives and/or delays the development of AIDS in HIV infected individuals are incorrect. These studies also indicated that AIDS is caused by agents and/or
processes other than HIV. Nobody, including the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) who approved the use of AZT, questioned the HIV-hypothesis.

3. AZT and protease inhibitors are very toxic drugs. Their use in the treatment of AIDS has complicated the picture of this disease by causing bone marrow damage, liver and kidney damage, and damage in other organs.

4. AIDS in drug users and homosexuals in the USA and Europe is actually caused by the heavy ancillary use of glucocorticoids and other immunosuppressive agents to medically treat the wide range of the chronic serious illnesses of the respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, and other organs, malnutrition, release of endogenous cortisol, and opportunistic infections in these persons. The appearance of AIDS in the USA and Europe has coincided with the approval of the use of glucocorticoid aerosols in 1976, the timing of the introduction of crack cocaine, the use of heroin by inhalation, and with the use of alkyl nitrites by homosexuals to enhance sexual activities.

5. AIDS in hemophiliacs is related to the use of corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive agents to prevent the development of antibodies for factors VIII and IX and to treat other chronic illnesses such as joint disease.

6. AIDS in people receiving blood and/or tissue is related to the use of glucocorticoids to prevent reactions of transfusion, tissue rejection, and to treat other illnesses.

7. AIDS in infants and children is caused by their exposure to drugs and corticosteroids in utero and their exposure to corticosteroids after birth used to treat their chronic illnesses.

8. AIDS in Africa is caused by malnutrition, release of endogenous cortisol, and by opportunistic diseases. Atrophy in the lymphoid tissue in people suffering from malnutrition has been known since 1925. Malnutrition causes severe atrophy in the thymus and lymphoid organs and impairs the function of the T cells. These changes are reversible by feeding. The size of thymus in malnourished children increased from 20% of normal to 107% of normal, following nine weeks of feeding. In addition, the CD4+ T cells of 1075 HIV+ pregnant women increased from 426/µL to 596/µL in six months by giving these women a balanced diet. This also improved the outcome of their pregnancy. The reduction in CD4+ T cells in HIV+ homosexuals was also reversed by the cessation of treatment with glucocorticoids.

9. Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and lymphoma are induced by the use of steroids and drugs, and the release of endogenous cortisol. It is not caused by a slow virus. KS is reversible upon the termination of the treatment with immunosuppressive agents prior to metastasis.

10. Some symptoms of AIDS are reversible, especially at early stages prior to the development of malignant cancer. These symptoms can be cured by supportive medicine, diet, antioxidants (alpha lipoic acid) and vitamins, antibiotic and antifungal medications. The use of glucocor-ticoids, AZT, and protease inhibitors to treat AIDS are contraindicated.

Furthermore, I found that Anthony Fauci's publications contain detailed description of the side effects of glucocorticoids and other therapeutic drugs, toxicity of illicit drugs and alcohol, and the impact of malnutrition on the immune system. He and his colleagues described the symptoms of AIDS in 1976 that resulted from the use of glucocorticoids and warned against their side effects, especially the fungal infection of the respiratory system which is associated with the use of gluc-ocorticoid aerosols. I used their publications extensively as principle references for this report and to unravel the mysteries associated with AIDS. However, Fauci and his colleagues apparently overlooked significant medical facts presented in their publications and in the published literature. They also did not explain the many cases of AIDS who are HIV-negative and misunderstood the thousands of cases infected with HIV+ and who have not developed AIDS even over 10 years after infection. They described the first group of these patients as, "idiopathic CD4+ T cells lymphocytopenia (ICL)" and the second group of patients as, "long-term nonprogressors".

My review of the medical evidence indicated that A. Fauci and other leaders of the HIV-hypo-thesis inadvertently misdirected the great resources of our country by misunderstanding the etiol-ogy of the disease, promoting overly complex and incorrect pathogenic models, and by encouraging the use of toxic drugs. It appears that the entire efforts of the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the
Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) have been focused on maintaining that HIV is the cause of AIDS and not on objectively evaluating the medical evidence. This tragic approach has to be stopped now. We need to use more valid scientific approaches in working to understand diseases.

Mohammed Ali Al-Bayati
Ph.D., D.A.B.T., D.A.B.V.T.