HOW TO OVERCOME THE  STRESS ?

The world provides a lot of wishes,  but one thing that we must be sure of is that the world is not a loyal servant  for all our wishes.    Once in a while, the world acts like a very soft,  nice,  attractive and enchanting servant by providing all facilities for the achievement of such wishes,  so that we can feel happy and satisfied to enjoy them.    In another time,  the world acts just like an old,  ugly and annoying servant,  because it doen't want to give way out even a little to our wishes.    If the way out is given,  it is in the form of alternatives with the same heavy risks.    Who will not be confused,  restless,  worried,  and sad in facing such a dilemmatic condition just like dealing with the  "  simalakama fruit  "  :   if you eat this fruit your father will die,  if you do not your mother will die  ?

In another day,  the world is persuading and flirling,  namely by giving the enchanting facilities.    However,  behind all this things,  in a sudden all of these facilities turn to tangle us,  to compete against us,  even to plunge us into a very difficult situation we never expected before !    Dealing with such a situation,  who will never feel annoyed,  regretful,  nauseated,  and run amuck  ?

Then,  if someday our wishes have turned on the other way around to tangle us and to force us to be in a situation making us feel annoyed,  worried,  restless and nervous,  or we feel sad,  regretful, and angry continuously,  or we feel confused or staying in a very difficult position because we have to choose the alternatives with the same heavy risks.    Therefore,  before being attacked by psychological lengthy stresses,  we can practice the Eight Ways to Overcome the Stresses as described below.

 1.    DON'T BLAME THE SITUATION AND DON'T BLAME OTHER PEOPLE.

Don't blame the situation and don't blame other people  !    This is the first and the prominent advice.    As a medicine for the stress,  this first advice is the most effective one.    Unfortunately,  this first suggestion is the most difficult to accomplish,  especially for those whose stress level has already been very high.    However,  this first advice shall be tried to be implemented,  otherwise our stress will be getting more tensed.   Or,  at least please reduce the habit of blaming other people,  although in reality other people make or cause us suffering.

Don't blame the situation and don't blame other people,  but just blame yourself for having too many wishes,  or just blame yourself for not able to be patient to the situation occured.    Learning from the experience,  it is found out  the disliked situation frequently gives a bg use for us,  or even such a situation saves us.    And although in reality there is another person making us suffer,  just stop debating and arguing,  and stop blaming that person.    Only by having this means,  we will be able to see our own shortages,  or maybe our own mistakes.

We should know that whatever situation we are experiencing  :   happy or sad,   satisfied or disappointed,  peaceful or restless,  either a little or big one as we feel it,  all of them do not originate from the situation and they are not caused by other people.    But they start and derive from ourselves !    Therefore,  not the situation nor other people that have to be force to obey to our wish,  but we have to start from ourselves.

Be sure and believe it.    Start the change immediately from ourselves  :  either in our attitude,  our saying,  actions as well as our behavior up to this present time upon the situation or other people of whom we are previously in hostile or we dislike.

Be sure and believe it as well that each time there is an action,  there must be a reaction.    Under such a circumstance,  do not demand other party to reach pursuant to our wish.    First,   we have to start the action from our side,  the change in our attitude to be better and positive one.    Having done this in our best,  then be patient,  not in very long time the unfavorable situation will change into the better and positive one !

                                                         

2.  INSTROSPECT AND IMPROVE YOURSELF.

When we have already stopped the habit of blaming the situation and other people,  then we can make introspection to know our own shortages and mistakes.    On the contrary,  if we cannot stop blaming yet to the situation and other people,  it is difficult for us to realize our own shortages or mistakes.    We will always feel that we are right,  will others people are wrong.    Therefore,  we must be the winner.    We will not be able to accept if we are treated as the mistaken party.    Moreover if we feel that we have a lot of superiority,  either in th form rank,  position,  power,  intelligence and weath.

We should certainly always remember and realize that we,  the human being,  are weak creature.    Therefore,  we always have shortages and mistakes.    And although we have already been sure that on the disputed subject,  we are the correct one,  please do understand that there is still a possibility that we are mistaken.    Certainly we do not know the said mistake,  because it occurred in the past,  while our memory is limited.    Therefore,  do not evaluate yourself too high.    How really bad and unfair we are if we see other people as if they were full of shortages and mistakes,  whereas we ourselves as if we were sterile from any error !  

Let us realize our own shortages and mistakes.    Please avoid and do not find fault of other people any more.    Please avoid and stand away from exaggerating other people's fault.    These two things have no use at all.    We will certainly agree and justify if another person does those two things as stated above to ourselves,  certainly we will be angry and we do not like them.    Therefore,  consequently,  do not do those two things to other people  !

To other people,  even to our enemies or to the persons we hate very much,  please do remember and think about the goodness they have ever given to us.    Throw away as far as you can the memory of their faults.    If it is difficult for us to do,  let us ask ourselves  :  "  Don't you feel happy if other people whom we have ever hurt their feeling can forget our mistakes immediately  ?    Don't you feel happy as well if other people only remember our goodness  ?  "

Under such a circumstance,  if it is still difficult to forget our hatred,  then try to make dialogue with our own heart,  such as  :  "  He makes a mistake to me because he is weak,  whereas I make mistakes to him while I am certainly stronger.   Shouldn't I be the one who is ashamed with him  ?    He does something bad because he is foolish,  whereas I do the same thing while I actually have known it,  so am I fair if I blame him  ?    He is cheating because he is poor,  whereas I am doing the same thing while I am actually prosperous,  so how can I blame and punish him  ?    He makes mistakes and I exaggerate his mistakes,  whereas I make mistakes but he never tells my mistakes to other people.    Then,  who deserves for the appreciation,  he or I  ?  "

As a matter of fact,  if we often make a dialogue with our heart as stated above,  we will soon realize how weak we are,  and what so many mistakes we have made !    And if we have realized this,  we have to make improvement immediately to ourselves !    The step of improvement to ourselves has two advantages,  if we are in the right side,  our truth and our goodness will be more stable.    However,  if we are in the wrong side,  our mistakes will be quickly erased and immediately forgiven.

How to make improvement to ourselves,  can be taken from many different ways,  for example by conducting a lot of good deeds to other people and community,  or pursuant to the demand of our own respective religion.  
                                

3.  DO NOT GET USED TO BE ANGRY NOT IN ITS PROPER PLACE.

Actually getting angry is a loss.    Those who get angry are in loss,  whereas those who get the anger are lucky.    Because,  they who get angry do not have any opportunity for them to see their shortages.    On the contrary,   those who get the anger will have a lot of opportunities to see their shortages.

Under such a circumstance it does not mean that anger is completely bad and must be absolutely avoided.    No,  it is not that way.    Because,  if we always sustain our  anger,  it may result something no good.    What we need is the anger which does not harm ourselves,  but also the anger able to bring advantage to the person we get angry with.    This is certainly rather difficult,  but it is not something impossible to do.    Namely,  getting angry conducted at the proper time in a proper manner,  in good intention and goal,  and in controlled emotion.

Therefore, do not get yourself used to be angry not in a proper place,  moreover with uncertain goal or even with evil one,  for example to embarrass someone we dislike.

                             

4.  DEVELOP THE SOCIAL LIFE ATTITUDE.

One of the factors accelerating the process of psychological stress is the work routine.    It is due to the fact that our attention is only on certain limited environment.    For example,  our work environment.    Day by day,  month by month and year by year,  we always face the same work environment and the similar subjects again and again.

Although there is a tour of duty and promotion, the works natures and problems remain the same as before,  so that they create the boredom.    Such work routine and boredom are tried to be suppressed and abolished in various different ways.    However,  basically they are unable to be completely abolished.    They settle under our sub-consciousness as a deposit which emerge again any time.    And as a matter of fact,  by time when our psychological condition is unstable or under stressed,  the memory on such boredom frequently  appear again,  and even develops very fast,  so that it can increase the psychological stress or pressure.

It is for this reason,  in we  are in stressed or frustrated condition,  just try once in a while to turn our head to look outside the window of our limited work environment.    There we can see a wide space,  many kinds of people,  as well as the various types of life.    After that,  make sure that we are able to do something useful among them.

Spare our time immediately.    Look for and visit your old friends you have not seen them for a long time and almost forgotten.    Listen to them when they are chatting and give the proper response.    It is quite often that from chatting with such old friends,  we can get some good ideas serving as an opening key for our problem !    Further,  try to get along with many people,  and do something useful for them !    Here,  under such a circumstance,  we can understand about the Islamic way of life which always suggest to do a lot of  "  silahturahmi  " or  "  making good relationship and friendship with other  ".    It is stated that making closer relationship or silahturahmi can lengthen our age.    It is also suggested that we should frequently make a congregation,  because it is stated that making a congregation has bigger merit.    These are all unquestionable and undoubted truth.

It is for this reason that we are suggested to get along with many people.    Develop and improve your attitude and outlook.    Do not feel satisfied to know everything in your environment only.    Do something useful for them,  for example,  although it is only at the level of neighborhood association.    We should realize that doing something useful for community can give a special spiritual satisfaction which might be very difficult obtain in our work environment  !    Also,  such social loyalty can make us feel useful in community,  so that it can save us from psychological and lengthy stress.

                 

5.   TALKING ABOUT OUR DIFFICULTY WITH THE TRUSTABLE PERSON.

If we feel are no longer capable to bear the psychological burden which is getting heavier,  so that we get confusion and unable to concentrate our mind,  difficult to sleep and restless all the time,  then do not force to solve the problem by yourself !    Talk and state your restlessness or your sadness to the closest person we can trust,  for example our closest friend,  relative,  parent,  our teacher,  our superior,  or someone we know having the skill in psychological field.

In expressing the aforesaid subjects,  sometime we fail to control our emotion so that it is accompanied by the fall of our tears or our sobbing.    Do not feel ashamed to do it.    Just release all your sadness,  so that we can be sure that there is still someone else willing to understand our difficulty.    Having done the aforesaid things,  then listen to the advice of the trustable person.    Basically,  other people will be more capable in judging our problem more objectively,  therefore appreciate their opinion and suggestions.    Possibly by then we cannot accept their opinions and suggestions yet.    However,  it is better for us not to make an argument or debate in length.    Because every man deserves the right to express his opinion or his idea on something.    If the opinion of another person is different from ours,  do not get cranky,  or do not try to force our opinion to others

Moreover it is to another person we have already trusted to know our problem or our difficulty.    Learn the positive aspects of the aforesaid opinions and suggestions.   In other time,  when our mind has already been cooled down,  possibly we are just able to justify the aforesaid opinions and suggestions.

                                                   
               
           

6.   BE WILLING TO GIVE-IN IN ORDER TO WIN.

Do not play as the winner only,  although we are in the correct side.    Even if we win,  try to do in such a way that the said victory does not make someone we have defeated feel ashamed.    On the contrary,  if we are in the wrong side,  do not force ourselves to win although we have power to do so  !    Because,  if we act arbitrarily,  it is the same with spreading out the seeds of hatred,  which in turn someday we will certainly pick up its yields.

Do not make mistake,  that at the beginning the thing we are looking for is the truth.   But due a lengthy ergumentation,  the original goal of looking for the truth is forgotten,  and turns to play for victorious deeds.

Therefore,  avoid playing persistence with other people although we feel we are in the correct side.    It is better retreat without having to change our firmed opinion.    In this case,  beside showing our great spirit,  it is also intended to cool down the enemy's head.   In cool-headed condition,  our enemy possibly will realize his errors,  so that later on he will justify our  opinion.

In the case of trying to make ourselves accustomed to give-in in order to win as suggested above,  it would be better if we deeply consider and fully comprehend the wise suggestions below  :

"  If you fight against someone weaker than you are,  it show that you are a coward.    If you fight against someone who is stronger than you are,  it indicates that you have no shame.   And if you fight against someone equal with you,  it shows that you are not well-behaved  ".

                         

7.   SPORT.

Generally,  people who are undergoing stress tend to reduce and even stop the sport activities they usually have.    This needs a special attention,  because with a routine sport,  the blood circulation in our body will run smoothly and our body will be fresher and certainly will be healthier.


                         

8.   RECREATION.

We do not need to explain this subject,  because it has already been quite clear that recreation has a lot of advantages,  as long as it is not conducted too often since it is costly.

                                                                            ________________________




             All stress is created by mind and the ability to overcome stress is also created by mind  !

Tests for HIV are highly inaccurate

This article was written in June 2000
and posted during the Internet Discussion
of the South African Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel

For the last 6 years I have been working at a laboratory of clinical immunology in one of the most prestigious University Hospitals in the City of New York. Here I have had the opportunity to personally run and get to know in detail the current tests used for the diagnosis of HIV status, namely, the ELISA, Western blot and Viral Load tests.

1. The ELISA, Western blot, and Viral Load tests, used for the diagnosis of "HIV infection" are not at all accurate

There are many arguments against the accuracy of these tests to diagnose infection by what is known as HIV. For those who want to search the issue deeper I strongly recommend begin studying the 1993 article in Bio/Technology by Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos and her group of researches from Perth, Western Australia (12).

Here are some facts that support that a person who reacts positively on these tests does not mean that he/she is infected with HIV:

1.1. The definition of AIDS, as developed by the United States Federal Government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, requires a positive result on the antibody test for HIV (1). This definition is accepted worldwide. The importance of HIV in this definition is so strong that, currently, many AIDS researchers, health care professionals and lay people, in following the lead of the United States Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences and most AIDS researchers now refer to "AIDS" as "HIV Disease" (2-7).

However, AIDS in Africa can be diagnosed without HIV test or any other laboratory test. This was decided by American public health officials at a conference in Bangui, in the Central African Republic in October 1985 (WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record 1986; 61:69-76 and Science magazine 21 November 1986). This allows health professionals to diagnosis AIDS in Africa based only on the symptoms and signs that a patient manifests.

1.2. The tests that are used most frequently to diagnose HIV status are the ELISA "screening test", the Western blot "confirmatory test" and the PCR "Viral Load test" (8-11). In the United States the ELISA and Western blot tests, when done together, have become known as "the AIDS test". These tests supposedly detect antibodies against HIV. The "Viral Load" or PCR test is a genetic test that makes copies of small fragments of nucleic acids that, it is claimed, belong exclusively to HIV. These are the same tests that are used to check for HIV in mothers, infants, children, and in the population at large. The problem with all of these tests is that a positive HIV reaction does not guarantee that the person is really infected with HIV at all (12-21).

1.3. Currently, a positive result on "the AIDS test" - ELISA and Western blot antibody tests - is synonymous with HIV infection and the attendant risk of developing AIDS (8-11).

However, these antibody tests are neither standardized nor reproducible, with respect to HIV they are themselves meaningless because they mean different things in different individuals, they also mean different things in different laboratories and in different countries (12). They are interpreted differently in the United States, Russia, Canada, Australia, Africa, Europe and South America (22-27), which means that a person who is positive in Africa can be negative when tested in Australia; or a person who is negative in Canada can become positive when tested in Africa (28). The other problem is that the same sample of blood when tested in 19 different laboratories gets 19 different results on the Western blot test (29).

1.4. The Western blot antigens, proteins or bands - p120, p41, p32, p24/25, p17/18 - which are considered to be specific to HIV, may not be encoded by the HIV genome and may in fact represent human cellular proteins (12-14,20,30).

1.5. The only valid method of establishing the sensitivity and the specificity of a diagnostic test in clinical medicine is to compare the test in question with its gold standard. The only possible gold standard for the HIV tests is the human immunodeficiency virus itself. Since HIV has never been isolated as an independent free and purified viral entity (31), it is not possible to properly define the sensitivity or the specificity of any of the tests for HIV (12). Currently, the sensitivity and the specificity of the tests for HIV are defined not by comparison to purified HIV itself, but by comparison of the tests in question with the clinical manifestations of AIDS, or with T4 cell counts (12). Abbott states, "At present there is no recognized standard for establishing the presence and absence of HIV-1 antibody in human blood. Therefore sensitivity was computed based on the clinical diagnosis of AIDS and specificity based on random donors" (32). Since there is no gold standard for defining the specificity of the tests used for the diagnosis of HIV infection, all HIV-positive results for HIV infection must be considered false-positives.

1.6. There are abundant scientific publications explaining that there are more than 70 different documented conditions that can cause the antibody tests to react positive without an HIV infection (12-14,17,19,30). In other words, there are more than 70 scientifically acknowledged reasons for false positives when testing for HIV. This fact has been abundantly documented in the scientific literature.

1.7. Of course, it is shocking to find out that a diagnosis of HIV infection is based on tests that are not specific for HIV. However, the scientific evidence tells us that a person can react positive on the test for HIV even though he or she is not infected with HIV (12-14,17,21,30,33).

1.8. The pharmaceutical companies that make and commercialize the kits for these tests acknowledge the inaccuracy of them, and this is why the inserts that come with the kits typically state the following: "Elisa testing alone cannot be used to diagnose AIDS, even if the recommended investigation of reactive specimens suggests a high probability that the antibody to HIV-1 is present" (32). The insert for one of the kits for administering the Western blot warns, "Do not use this kit as the sole basis of diagnosis of HIV-1 infection" (34). The insert that comes with a popular kit to run viral load warns, "The amplicor HIV-1 Monitor test is not intended to be used as a screening test for HIV or as a diagnostic test to confirm the presence of HIV infection" (35). The problem is that not only most AIDS researchers, journalists and lay people but health care workers themselves do not know these facts about the tests because they do not have access to them. There likewise appears to be little or no concern on the part of the knowing faculty of institutions to communicate these facts to physicians, let alone the general public.

1.9. Since the viral load results are given in copies per ml of plasma (35) AIDS researchers, health care professionals, and lay people may think that they represent copies or counts of the virus itself (12,36-41). However, the viral load test only makes copies of fragments of nucleic acids. It does not count HIV itself. A positive viral load test cannot be regarded as signifying the presence of the whole HIV genome, and therefore the test cannot be used to measure virus.

1.10. Results of the viral load test cannot be reproduced. This can be seen in the wide range of variability that is accepted in the quality controls set by the companies that make and commercialize the test kits. For example, Roche accepts low control having a range between 1,200 and 11,000 copies per ml [Lot # 0047], and high control having a range between 99,000 and 750,000 copies per ml [Lot # A00246] [Roche, Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor test Lot # B00985, expiration August 2000]. Most important of all, the problems with the lack of a gold standard for HIV infection also apply to the evaluation of the accuracy of the PCR or Viral load test (12,41,42). As a consequence, the specificity of the viral load test for HIV has never been defined properly. Therefore, all viral load positive results are likewise false-positives for HIV.

1.11. The fact that the defenders of HIV as the cause of AIDS, had to appeal to a genetic trick – the PCR test – is a strong argument against HIV as the cause of AIDS. To have to amplify tiny amounts of genetic material in the blood of the AIDS patients to try to identify HIV, instead of culturing the entire virus, isolate it and purify it, violates one of the central rules of infectious diseases: in the climax or maximum state of severity of any infectious disease is when the patient has the higher amount of microbes in his/her tissues. Is in those moments when it is easier to isolate and purify the microbes that are really causing a disease.

1.12. People have the right to make informed choices (43-45). However, the right of informed choice implies a right to good information. There is no justification for the fact that most people have not been informed about the serious inaccuracy of the tests for HIV infection. Withholding or obscuring these facts is a serious breach of public trust, violating as it does a person’s right to informed consent when making decisions about their health care. The legal implications of this situation have been noted (46).

2.1. There are a growing number of scientific publications explaining in detail that the tests for HIV infection are not specific for HIV (12-14,47). There are many reasons other than a past or present HIV infection to explain why an individual reacts positive on these tests. In other words these tests can react positive in the absence of HIV (12-14,17-19,30).

2.2. Some of the conditions that cause false positives on the so-called "AIDS test" are: past or present infection with a variety of bacteria, parasites, viruses, and fungi including tuberculosis, malaria, leishmaniasis, influenza, the common cold, leprosy and a history of sexually transmitted diseases; the presence of polyspecific antibodies, hypergammaglobulinemias, the presence of auto-antibodies against a variety of cells and tissues, vaccinations, and the administration of gamma globulins or immunoglobulins; the presence of auto-immune diseases like erythematous systemic lupus, sclerodermia, dermatomyositis and rheumatoid arthritis; the existence of pregnancy and multiparity; a history of rectal insemination; addiction to recreational drugs; several kidney diseases, renal failure and hemodialysis; a history of organ transplantation; presence of a variety of tumors and cancer chemotherapy; many liver diseases including alcoholic liver disease; hemophilia, blood transfusions and the administration of coagulation factor; and even the simple condition of aging, to mention a few of them (12-14,17,18,30).

2.3. It is interesting to note that all of these conditions that cause the "HIV tests" to react positive in the absence of HIV, are conditions which are present with varied distribution and concentration in all of the conventionally recognized AIDS risk groups in the developed countries, as well as in the vast majority of inhabitants of the underdeveloped world. This means that in all probability many drug users [including mothers], certain gay males, and some hemophiliacs in the developed countries, as well as the vast majority of inhabitants in most countries of Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean, who have positive reactions to the tests for HIV, may very well do so due to conditions other than being infected with HIV (12-14,30,48).

2.4. Further, it is well known that people with or at risk for AIDS have high levels of antibodies - immunoglobulins - as a consequence of having been exposed to significant quantities of a variety of foreign substances such as recreational drugs, semen, factor VIII, blood and blood components, sexually transmitted infections and other infections (12-14,49). All these substances are oxidizing agents that cause oxidative stress (47,50,51).

2.5. Recently I had the opportunity to carry out an experiment by which I was able to demonstrate that all blood react positively on the ELISA test when run the test with neat or non-diluted serum. This could indicate that everybody has antibodies against what is supposed to be HIV. The ones that only react positively with straight or neat serum would have fewer amount of antibodies than the ones that continue reacting positively even when the serum is diluted 400 times (88). This possibility has been confirmed by Yugoslavian and Italian researchers (90)

2.6. There is also a great deal of scientific data indicating the widespread presence of non-specific interactions between what are considered to be retroviral antigens and unrelated antibodies (12,52-54). It is then possible to conclude that the tests for HIV react positively in the presence of those antibodies; in other words, that a positive result on an antibody test for HIV may be the result of previous antigenic over-stimulation, rather than a result of an HIV or any other retroviral infection (12-14).

2.7. Finally, it has been proposed that antibodies against HIV are surrogate markers for recreational drug use in the United States and in Europe (55,56).

2.8. On the other hand, even if "the AIDS test" were able to detect antibodies to HIV, it would not be logical to say that the presence of those antibodies indicate an active infection. The presence of antibodies to any virus simply means humoral immune response to that virus and not necessarily that the virus is still active and pathogenic (48,58). One can have antibodies against many germs without those germs being active, pathogenically active or even present at all (58,59). In most instances, antibodies against viruses indicate immunity. This is the very basis of vaccination against viral diseases (48,58,60). Even if the tests were specific for antibodies against HIV, the question would then be the following: Why is it that only in the case of AIDS the presence of antibodies indicates the presence of disease, rather than protection against it?

2.9. There is no justification for the fact that both patients and the general public have had all of the preceding facts withheld from them. Without the merits and demerits of the tests for HIV, people cannot make informed decisions.

Biophysicist Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos and her group of researchers at Royal Perth Hospital in Perth, Western Australia, were the very first scientists in mentioning the fact that HIV has never been isolated (12). For several years Papadopulos-Eleopulos and coworkers, have been publishing papers where they have described in detail, the scientific facts that support the assertion that the so-called AIDS virus, HIV, may not even exist (12-14,20,30,31,47,50,61-64):

3.1. The correct procedures (31) employed for over half a century to achieve isolation of a retrovirus are: a) to find in infected cell cultures particles with a diameter of 100-120 nM that contain the so-called condensed inner bodies or cores and that have surfaces studded with projections - spikes, knobs - b) In sucrose density gradients the particles band at a density of 1.16 gm/ml; c) At the density of 1.16 gm/ml there is nothing else but particles with the morphological characteristics of retroviral particles; d) The particles contain only RNA and not DNA, and the RNA consistently has the same length [number of bases] and composition no matter how many times the experiment is repeated; e) When the particles are introduced into secondary cultures they are taken up by the cells, the entire RNA is reverse transcribed into cDNA, the entire cDNA is inserted into the cellular DNA, and the DNA is transcribed back into RNA which is then translated into proteins; f) As a result of e the cells in the secondary cultures release particles into the culture medium; g) The particles released into the secondary culture medium have exactly the same characteristics as the original particles, that is, they must have identical morphology, band at 1.16 gm/ml and contain the same RNA and proteins (31).

None of these procedures have been achieved in the case of HIV (12,14,31,47).

3.2. None of the researchers who claim to have isolated HIV have shown the presence of particles with the morphological characteristics of retroviruses banding at 1.16 gm/ml (31).

Even the word "isolation" as used by the most noted researchers (65-67) is incorrect and misleading since neither Montagnier, Gallo nor Levy isolated HIV particles, particles of any other human retrovirus, or even virus-like-particles at all (12-14,30,31,47,61,68-74).

3.3. Since no "retroviral particles" [retroviruses] have ever been isolated from any culture (12-14,31,47,61-63,69-75), the existence of HIV has been established indirectly: by the presence in blood cultures of AIDS and "HIV-positive" individuals, proteins/glycoproteins such as gp 160/150, gp120, gp41/45/40, p34/32, p24, and p18/17, each claimed to belong to HIV; by the presence of enzymes such as reverse transcriptase that supposedly belongs to HIV; and by the presence of RNA or DNA fragments that supposedly belong to HIV (12-14,31,47,61-63,69-75).

However, none of these substances have been proven to belong to HIV at all (12-14,31,47,61-63,69-75). How can anybody prove that the substances found in those cultures belong to a viral particle that has never been found at 1.16 gm/ml? To prove that those substances are part of a retrovirus named HIV, it is absolutely necessary that the retroviral particles have been previously separated - isolated - from everything else. This has never been done with HIV (31).

3.4. It is interesting to note that the substances listed in 6.3. are claimed to appear exclusively when one co-cultures supposedly infected blood with abnormal cells from leukemia patients, or from umbilical cord lymphocytes (31). The problem is that the same substances can be obtained from the same cultures in the absence of the supposedly HIV-infected blood (31).

3.5. The cultures where the above substances have been found are cultures that have been heavily stimulated with substances such as phytohemagglutinin, IL-2, antiserum to human interferon, and other agents (31). These culture stimulants are oxidizing agents (31,47). The problem is that the same type of material can be observed in stimulated cultures of lymphocytes from healthy persons (31,76).

It is interesting to note than in the presence of antioxidants, no HIV phenomena can be observed in culture; nor can HIV substances be found (12,64,76).

3.6. The substances listed in 6.3. are not specific to HIV at all (31). For instance, it is currently known that reverse transcriptase can be found associated with entities other than retroviruses, including eukaryote cells, some animal and plant DNA viruses, and even some introns (77).

Gallo and co-workers have claimed that the cell-free supernatants from "infected" cultures have HIV-DNA (78,79). They forgot that by definition retroviruses are infectious particles that contain only RNA. When retroviruses enter a cell the RNA is reverse transcribed into DNA, which is then integrated into cellular DNA as a provirus, which means that "HIV DNA" will be present only in the cell and no where else (31).

There is also ample evidence that any RNA or DNA present in the supernatant of the cultures is there as an effect of stimulation by polycations and oxidizing agents, rather than as an effect of the presence of a retrovirus (31).

"HIV cloning" is likewise misleading. Without isolating a retroviral particle containing RNA inside its core, the cloning of that "specific HIV-RNA" is not possible (31).

3.7. To date nobody has presented evidence that the so-called HIV proteins or antigens [gp160/150, gp120, gp41/45/40, p34/32, p24, p18/17], are constituents of a retrovirus particle or even retrovirus-like particle let alone a unique retrovirus, HIV (31).

3.8. The proteins or antigens derived from stimulated cultures form the basis for the ELISA and Western blot HIV antibody tests (31,73). Fragments of RNA from stimulated cultures form the basis of the HIV viral load test (31,73). This is the main reason why the current tests used for the diagnosis of HIV are not specific for it (12-14,31,61,62).

3.9. In the January 1997 issue of the journal Virology, two independent groups of researchers published experiments claiming to isolate HIV. Now and for the first time in the history of HIV, the researchers followed the internationally accepted procedures to isolate retroviral particles. Not surprisingly, in the sedimented bands at 1.16 gm/ml of sucrose, where retroviruses are known to be located, nothing was found but cellular debris. At 1.16 gm/ml there was nothing that even looked like a retroviral particle (80-81). They could not have isolated HIV simply because HIV was not there to be isolated.

It has been proposed that all those substances that indicate the existence of HIV are nothing more than non-viral material altogether, induced by the agents to which the AIDS patients and cultures are exposed (31). When found in people, these substances would be seen as regular products of the stress response (82), secondary to exposure to chemical, physical, biological, mental, and nutritional stressor agents (48,51,57,83-87).

3.10. It is therefore possible to conclude that the entire model of AIDS as an infectious and transmissible viral disease has its basis on a non-existing organism. The foundation stone for the HIV-AIDS model then, is a ghost.

4. The real meaning of being HIV-positive

4.1. Above considerations allow one to propose that the reactivity on the ELISA, Western blot, and PCR tests is caused by multiple, repeated, and chronic exposure to chemical, physical, biological, mental, and nutritional stressor agents. The degree of reactivity would be proportional to the level of exposures to immunological stressor or oxidizing agents (12-14,20,30,31,63,88,89).

Positive results on ELISA and Western blot tests, can also be understood as the consequence of the presence of high levels of polyspecific antibodies, due to a state of chronic polyantigenic stimulation (52-54). The reactivity on the three main tests for HIV -ELISA, Western blot, and PCR or viral load - would be simply the result of the stress response (82,88,89,91-94).

4.2. Being "HIV-positive" - reacting positive on the tests for HIV – would then mean simply that the person has been exposed to many antigenic and toxic challenges, i.e., to many oxidizing agents (47,50,89). His or her immune system has been responding a lot to these immunogenic and immunotoxic challenges (51,57,89). The immune system of these "HIV-positive" individuals would be debilitated - oxidized - after it has been over-stimulated and intoxicated. Therefore, their risk for AIDS is higher than those who are "HIV-negative" (12,13,49,51).

4.3. Undoubtedly, there is almost a perfect correlation between the reactivity on the so-called "tests for HIV" and AIDS.

Exposure to immunological stressors makes the tests to react positively. At the same time, the exposure to immunological stressors or oxidizing agents is the cause of the mild to moderate levels of immune suppression present in all non-symptomatic individuals who react positively on the "tests for HIV." If the exposure to immunological stressor is not stopped, and if the individual is not disintoxicated, it is very probably that the non-symptomatic "HIV-positive" individual will worsen his/her immune suppression, and will develop the clinical manifestations of AIDS.

What we know as HIV has not causative role in AIDS. By the contrary, the HIV phenomenon is one of the effects of the stress response to multiple repeated, and chronic exposures to chemical, physical, biological, mental, and nutritional stressor agents.

5. Possible trial to find out the real meaning of the tests for HIV

To take blood from four groups of people and run the tests highly diluted, undiluted and at a wide spectrum of dilutions in between. a) The first group would be a group of healthy people of many age groups, b) the second group would be a group of people from the conventional AIDS risk groups, c) the third group would be a group of people with clinical conditions unrelated to AIDS, and d) the fourth group would be a group of patients with full manifestations of AIDS.

All groups would be subjected to both ELISA and Western blot tests. Additionally, all blood samples could be subjected to the viral load test for HIV.

The result of such experiment could determine whether these tests measurements bear any relationship to an individual’s level of exposure to stressor or oxidizing agents. If so, the tests could be salvaged as a measure of individual’s level of intoxication.

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DID THE HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF AGAIN  ?