Even if I grant you that, it doesn’t mean much to me unless one of those “specific types” of immune damage is the massive reduction in CD4 cell counts characteristic of AIDS. There are different kinds of immunosuppression, and it won’t do to presume that because something causes one kind of immunosuppression, it causes the kind of immunosuppression associated with AIDS.
This is absolutely true, and is a very good point. However, keep in mind that seropositivity is not a direct measure of HIV, and isn’t even especially correlated with HIV (see my reply in the other thread). Seropositivity is a rather good measure of CD4 cell decline—simply glance at that graph in the Nature paper and you can see that. Although I should point out I’m not sure if it’s actual cell loss that is measured or simply more CD8 expressing T-cells vs CD4.
Also note that there was no body of non-users of nitrates in the homo risk group in this study—they were split simply into ‘light’ and ‘heavy’, and the heavy users were twice as likely to get KS—I’d say that is a rather significant correlation.
This study has some flaws for looking at toxological causes though, as it was only looking at rather recent drug use (24 months), which is not quite the same as use history overall.
But how much does it affect CD4 counts?
I’m not sure about Meth’s effects on CD4 counts in particular, but heavy cocaine use has a strong depleting effect on CD4 counts. First google result
But there are other factors in the homosexual risk group, the most important of which is simply semen. Semen is loaded with immunosuppressants that are designed to temporarily and locally deactivate the female immune system in the vaginal tract. One of those components are the prostglandins. It appears that evolution has struck a balance between semen’s need to disable immunity and the female’s need to regulate opportunistic microbes in the vagina (namely candida) - this balance sometimes fails and yeast infections result.
AIDS is in general associated with candidiasis—yeast infections—which overgrows in the rectal tract and eventually in the blood, and some of the seminal components absorb into the blood. Large-scale overuse of antibiotics to combat STD’s in the gay community is another significant cofactor, but semen itself may be a major part of the problem.
Many papers about semen’s immune suppression effects are a simple google search away—here is one typical example.
They found that just seven daily rectal semen insertions had a marked immune suppression effect, but only in male rats, female rats didn’t seem to be particularly effected.
You seem to think that the CD4 count decline is somehow completely explained by HIV theory. It is not. The CD4 count decline is the defining feature of AIDS, but HIV’s role, if any, is theoretical and not well understood. So it makes sense to look at all the factors involved—for there are many independent immune suppressing factors in the primary AIDs risk groups—homosexuals and injection drug users.
In the original AIDS defining population of homosexuals, AIDS is associated with a tightly bundled set of cofactors:
passive anal sex
drug use
a history of a large number of past sexual partners and STD’s
a history of heavy antibiotic treatment
More on all the known immune suppressing factors in the gay cohort here. All of this needs to be taken into consideration before one starts chasing some new ‘virus’.
The drugs have changed over time (meth and MDMA being more popular now), but the correlation has remained.
The second significant risk group of AIDS patients appears to be injection drug users—really crack cocaine injectors in particular, and cocaine is known to deplete CD4 cells and cause AIDS all by itself.
Hemophilliacs have a genetic disorder of the blood and never lived long until the AIDS era anyway, and injecting foreign protein for the clotting agent is immuno-suppressive in itself.
But how much does it affect CD4 counts?
I don’t know. Do you know? Do you want to investigate this? How? Keep in mind that before the AIDS era, hemophiliacs didn’t live all that long. We simply didn’t have much data on their longer term health problems. Then in 1985 the HIV panic mania spread, and the hemophiliac population was tested with Gallo’s “HIV’ test—which really is just a CD4 decline surrogate test. And we found that a big % of this population had declining CD4 counts and somewhat AIDS-like blood. What does this really mean?
And their wives don’t get it, btw. Neither do non-drug using prostitutes. Porn actresses in general do not appear to be at an elevated risk of developing AIDS either. None of this makes any sense for a sexually transmittable viral theory, but it makes perfect sense if AIDS is caused by primarily toxological chronic immune suppression.
At any rate, CD4 counts don’t appear to be much lower among the elderly than among younger adults.
I’m not so sure about that. I’m not sure that low CD4 counts in particular is common in the elderly, but compromised immune function is a typical problem of the elderly:
“Opportunistic infections occur with greater frequency or severity in patients with impaired host defenses. Growing numbers of HIV-infected persons, transplant recipients, and elderly persons are at increased risk.”
“Elderly persons have defects in T-cell immunity that result in increased incidence and death from TB”
You can probably anticipate what I’d say/ask for the rest of the parent post, so I’ll save you the repetition.
I won’t reply to this comment in full, but there’s a little loose end of my own making here, and I should tie it up:
You can probably anticipate what I’d say/ask for the rest of the parent post, so I’ll save you the repetition.
?
“But how much does it affect CD4 counts?” (In response to the references to meth, cocaine, direct DNA damage due to injection and rectal absorption of foreign matter, and smoking.)
This is absolutely true, and is a very good point. However, keep in mind that seropositivity is not a direct measure of HIV, and isn’t even especially correlated with HIV (see my reply in the other thread). Seropositivity is a rather good measure of CD4 cell decline—simply glance at that graph in the Nature paper and you can see that. Although I should point out I’m not sure if it’s actual cell loss that is measured or simply more CD8 expressing T-cells vs CD4.
Also note that there was no body of non-users of nitrates in the homo risk group in this study—they were split simply into ‘light’ and ‘heavy’, and the heavy users were twice as likely to get KS—I’d say that is a rather significant correlation.
This study has some flaws for looking at toxological causes though, as it was only looking at rather recent drug use (24 months), which is not quite the same as use history overall.
I’m not sure about Meth’s effects on CD4 counts in particular, but heavy cocaine use has a strong depleting effect on CD4 counts. First google result
But there are other factors in the homosexual risk group, the most important of which is simply semen. Semen is loaded with immunosuppressants that are designed to temporarily and locally deactivate the female immune system in the vaginal tract. One of those components are the prostglandins. It appears that evolution has struck a balance between semen’s need to disable immunity and the female’s need to regulate opportunistic microbes in the vagina (namely candida) - this balance sometimes fails and yeast infections result.
AIDS is in general associated with candidiasis—yeast infections—which overgrows in the rectal tract and eventually in the blood, and some of the seminal components absorb into the blood. Large-scale overuse of antibiotics to combat STD’s in the gay community is another significant cofactor, but semen itself may be a major part of the problem.
Many papers about semen’s immune suppression effects are a simple google search away—here is one typical example.
One of the most interesting though was this study of semen’s effects on rats from 1985.
They found that just seven daily rectal semen insertions had a marked immune suppression effect, but only in male rats, female rats didn’t seem to be particularly effected.
You seem to think that the CD4 count decline is somehow completely explained by HIV theory. It is not. The CD4 count decline is the defining feature of AIDS, but HIV’s role, if any, is theoretical and not well understood. So it makes sense to look at all the factors involved—for there are many independent immune suppressing factors in the primary AIDs risk groups—homosexuals and injection drug users.
In the original AIDS defining population of homosexuals, AIDS is associated with a tightly bundled set of cofactors:
passive anal sex
drug use
a history of a large number of past sexual partners and STD’s
a history of heavy antibiotic treatment
More on all the known immune suppressing factors in the gay cohort here. All of this needs to be taken into consideration before one starts chasing some new ‘virus’.
The drugs have changed over time (meth and MDMA being more popular now), but the correlation has remained.
The second significant risk group of AIDS patients appears to be injection drug users—really crack cocaine injectors in particular, and cocaine is known to deplete CD4 cells and cause AIDS all by itself.
I don’t know. Do you know? Do you want to investigate this? How? Keep in mind that before the AIDS era, hemophiliacs didn’t live all that long. We simply didn’t have much data on their longer term health problems. Then in 1985 the HIV panic mania spread, and the hemophiliac population was tested with Gallo’s “HIV’ test—which really is just a CD4 decline surrogate test. And we found that a big % of this population had declining CD4 counts and somewhat AIDS-like blood. What does this really mean?
And their wives don’t get it, btw. Neither do non-drug using prostitutes. Porn actresses in general do not appear to be at an elevated risk of developing AIDS either. None of this makes any sense for a sexually transmittable viral theory, but it makes perfect sense if AIDS is caused by primarily toxological chronic immune suppression.
I’m not so sure about that. I’m not sure that low CD4 counts in particular is common in the elderly, but compromised immune function is a typical problem of the elderly:
from the CDC: Opportunistic Infections in Immunodeficient Populations
“Opportunistic infections occur with greater frequency or severity in patients with impaired host defenses. Growing numbers of HIV-infected persons, transplant recipients, and elderly persons are at increased risk.”
“Elderly persons have defects in T-cell immunity that result in increased incidence and death from TB”
?
I won’t reply to this comment in full, but there’s a little loose end of my own making here, and I should tie it up:
“But how much does it affect CD4 counts?” (In response to the references to meth, cocaine, direct DNA damage due to injection and rectal absorption of foreign matter, and smoking.)