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Pathways to Health: AIDS
From the archives of The Memory Hole

HIV=AIDS Controversy: Drawing Distinctions

The following item drawing important distinctions between health, disease, and the role of infection first appeared in The Slant [Marin Co.], May 1995, p.16.

Pathways to Health: AIDS

by Raymond Francis

Readers have asked for our opinion on AIDS. Daring to set foot in this political mine field, here we go. Four years ago, I wrote a paper title �The Unrecognized Epidemic.� The thesis of this paper is that the world is in the midst of the largest epidemic in history, an epidemic of immune dysfunction disease. For lack of something better, I called this epidemic 20th Century Syndrome. Because of our outmoded system for classifying diseases, hardly anyone knows 20th Century Syndrome exists. Instead of being classified as the one disease that it is, 20th Century Syndrome is called a variety of confusing names including: AIDS, allergies, arthritis, asthma, chronic hepatitis, chronic herpes, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome, diabetes, eczema, lupus, multiple sclerosis, plus other autoimmune syndromes.
In fact, all of the above are the same thing. They are different manifestations of chronic immune dysfunction caused by a combination of poor diets, toxic overload, physical inactivity, and distress. Often, the final blow to immune competence is delivered by our physicians. Modern Medicine subjects us to a variety of procedures and medications, such as vaccinations and antibiotics, which damage our immune defense and repair systems.
What about HIV? Dr. Peter Duesberg, an eminent molecular biologist, maintains that HIV plays no role in AIDS. Conventional thinking says that HIV causes AIDS. So, what�s the truth? Does HIV play a role in AIDS? It might, but after spending $22 billion on AIDS research, there is still not scientific proof that it does.
A number of scientists, including myself, think that HIV may possibly play a role in AIDS as an opportunistic infection. But, does HIV cause AIDS? Absolutely no! No virus causes disease. All of us live with pathogenic viruses in our bodies every day of our lives. If viruses were the cause of disease, we would all be dead. Under normal conditions, we live in harmony with the microbes in our environment. Infection occurs when we upset the natural balance between us and the microbes. Infections are not the cause of disease, they are the effects of disease. Infection occurs when cells malfunction and immune competence is compromised.
Given that germs don�t cause disease, should we continue to encourage safe sex? Of course we should! It�s common sense to avoid sources of infection. Especially since most Americans are already immune compromised to one degree or another.
We live in a sea of germs, and to prevent or cure infection we must maintain or restore immune competence. Otherwise, we are just sitting ducks for the next infection. Modern Medicine has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on medical research, including that on AIDS. What do we have to show for these billions? Not much! Medicine hasn�t found the cure for a single chronic disease. For example, the 24 year old �war on cancer� has expended over $35 billion on research plus over $1 trillion on treatment, and the death rate has increased.
Before we waste more money and lose more lives, it�s time to rethink the fundamental errors on which Modern Medicine is founded. For more than half a century, scientists have known that medicine�s Newtonian approach to disease is scientifically invalid. This is why doctors can�t cure chronic disease. All they do is suppress the symptoms. The answer to AIDS, cancer, or any chronic disease, is not to surgically remove body parts, expose people to cancer-causing radiation, or give them poisonous chemicals. These approaches damage our biological competence. To prevent or cure disease, we need to maintain or restore competence.
Maintaining or restoring competence is best accomplished by getting good nutrition, reducing toxic loads, decreasing stress, getting plenty of exercise, and putting love, purpose, and joy in our lives. Unfortunately, most people have no idea how to get good nutrition or how to avoid toxins. It�s time we all started learning how to do this, not just people with AIDS. To save my own life, I had to learn it myself.

Copyright 1995, Raymond Francis.
Raymond Francis is an M.I.T.-trained scientist who has spent the last nine years researching cellular biochemistry. He is a nationally known Health Educator.

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