Page 8, Portland Observer. September 9. 1987
AIDS Education Must Focus on Prevention
by Ron Harris
By the end of 1991, the AIDS virus is likely to be present in the blood of
5 to 10 million Americans according to Dr. Robert Redfield, an infectious-
disease specialist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. As
many experts now believe that up to half of those infected will eventually
die of the virus, public opinion that the government should be devoting
more effort and resources to this national crisis (per a Gallup-Newsweek
Poll) is well justified.
In light of such revelations, the official projections of 270,000 cumulative
cases of AIDS in the next five years are now considered unrealistically low.
For these government projections do not include estimates of AIDS-
Related Complex, a disease syndrome, sometimes fatal in itself, which is
almost invariably a precursor of AIDS. And they also assume that only
those Americans who are already infected with the virus will get AIDS by
But she points out that the secondary cause of AIDS is the underlying
biological condition of the individual, particularly an immune system that
has been abused and rendered ineffective. She suggests that by concen
trating on strengthening the natural immune system of the body, AIDS
might also be prevented.
The ultimate war on AIDS lies in the arena of medical science, either
through the discovery of a vaccine or, if pushed to extremes, through the
same kind of testing and quarantine procedures that quelled Tuberculosis,
according to Dr. David F. Musto of the Yale School of Medicine. (As
recently as 1900, TB caused more deaths per hundred thousand Americans
than are caused today by all cancers and motor-vehicle deaths combined.)
But it now appears that non-AIDS-related discoveries about the immune
system could served as an important stop-gap measure in reducing the
number of AIDS victims.
Both laboratory experiments with animals and human studies have
demonstrated that emotional stress can weaken the immune system, re
ducing the ability of white blood cells to fight germs and viruses. The new
medical field of psychoneuroimmunology has emerged to study the rela
tionship between mind and immunity.
Sereral doctors in Los Angeles and Toronto are even suggesting that
Dianetics (as detailed in L. Ron Hubbard's current New York Times best
seller Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health) could possibly re
duce the number of AIDS sufferers.
Back in the late 1940s and early '50s, Dianetics actually led the way in
proving that mental factors could influence both the predisposition and pre
cipitation of germ and virus caused disease. Hubbard Discovered that
1991.
Progress against AIDS has been phenomenal in the few short years since
the disease was discovered. The virus causing it has been identified and a
drug found-azidothym idine or A Z T -w h ic h controls some of the symp
toms. With Food and Drug Administration approval, AZT is now available
upon prescription at an annual retail cost of about $10,000. But finding a
cure for those infected with AIDS or a vaccine to protect the rest of the
population is years, and perhaps even decades away.
The problem researchers face in developing a vaccine appear in many
ways almost insurmountable. The AIDS virus attaches itself to the cells of
the immune system like microscopic parasites. It has an ever-changing
genetic structure and mutates into hundreds of different strains, making
counter-attack by antibodies almost futile. If one AIDS strain is killed,
numerable others continue unabated in their onslaught.
As well, vaccines traditionally work by stimulating the body's immune
system. But in the case of AIDS, that system has already lost with the on
set of the disease. There is nothing to strengthen.
One hope on the horizon is an apparently harmless AIDS-related virus—
HTLV-IV —discovered in West Africa. Research on chimpanzees is current
ly underway at the Harvard School of Public Health to see if this will create
a natural defense against AIDS. But even if a vaccine was discovered to
m o rro w -high ly unlikely at the current rate of p ro gress-it would take over
5 years just to test it. Meanwhile, millions of Americans will be at risk.
As the death toll from AIDS continues to mount, civil rights and liberties
may fall by the wayside. Already the possibility of mandatory AIDS testing
and compulsory quarantine already being dicussed in publications such as
the Wall Street Journal. Some experts see the future as a race between the
search for a medical cure and the political demands that will inevitably dis
Tuberculosis and the common cold, for instance, frequently occurred only
when a person's mental condition predisposed them to the illness. In such
cases, once the mental stress was alleviated through Dianetics techniques,
these illnesses seemed to disappear despite their germ and virus basis.
Hubbard also observed in his research that Dianetics clears, those
individuals who have "run o u t" the sub conscious factors that bring about
mental stress and other adverse mental conditions, do not get colds. Given
that both the common cold and AIDS are virus based, this might be an
additional indication that mental well-being and stamina could play an im
portant role in reducing the tragedy of AIDS.
It is important that public education on AIDS does everything to elimi
nate panic or worry about the disease, factors which in them selves could
directly influence how many people fall victim to the virus. And AIDS edu
cation should also provide information on diets that tend to strengthen the
immune system. An 'American eat right' campaign wouldn't do any harm
and greatly minimize the epidemic.
As in many tragedies bid and small, natural or man-made, the senseless
destruction of human life can seem pointless and depressing. But meeting
catastrophes head on, with courage and rationality instead of allowing fear
to control the day, has always been the successful formula. We have to
decide that we can get AIDS under control. We must not close our minds
to any possibility that might offer hope in this direction. And finally, we
have to decide that AIDS can be conquered q u ic k ly and then spare no
resources in reaching this objective—until the AIDS epidemic is only a mat
ter for the history books.
IS SPREAD THROUGH
BLOOD,
SEMEN
rupt our free society.
In a growing climate of alarm, the importance of AIDS education has
been recognized as our current mainline defense against the epidemic.
Until now, this has mainly focused on sex education, including the use of
condoms, and what amounts to the promotion of a new morality for our
society. But there is now a growing body of evidence that indicates that
AIDS education should probably cover far more, that in fact there are posi
tive steps that might reduce the risk of developing AIDS even if sexually
or intravenously exposed to the virus.
The key appears to lie in the fact that half of those who have the AIDS
virus do n ot come down with the disease. And now there is growing evi
dence that some measures might reduce the disease rate significantly, per
haps even as low as 1-in10.
At a conference at Boston University in May 1986, new research was
presented which showed that proper diet (in this case macrobiotically
based) could not only strengthen the immune system, but in some cases
possibly even "cure" those with AIDS. Researchers at the Department
of Microbiology at Boston University had studied one group of AIDS suf
ferers who were put on a strict "macrobiotic" dietary regime instead of the
usual drugs, and who were encouraged to exercise, do rewarding work,
and to develop satisfying relationships. In two years, rather than their white
blood cell count continuing to diminish, signifying a decline in the immune
system, the researchers found that the average white blood cell count more
than doubled. (The average calculated white cells number per cubic milli
meter increased from 1122 at diagnosis of AIDS to 2584 still low, but the
reverse trend to the usual course of AIDS.)
Doctors at Boston University are so far cautious in their conclusions
because there are several possible explanations. But Dr. Martha Cottrell,
director of student health at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New
York, who observed this particular study for some time, believes that a new
view of AIDS must be developed.
She says up to now most research has focused on the fact that AIDS is
caused by a virus. Thus the way to prevent the disease is to prevent trans
mission of the offending microbe and the way to cure the disease is to de
IGNORANCE
stroy the virus.
THE NATIONAL AIDS AWARENESSTEST
IV. SAFE SEX
I. THE EPIDEMIC
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II. WHO GETS IT
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Do you find yourself continually
attracted to people who just aren t
good for you?
Have you had an unexplained
urge Io break off a relationship
just when it was going well?
Do you have the same argument
over and over with vour spouse or
partner?
There's an unknown part of the
mind that can influence the way
people act.
Il's called the Heactive Mind.
F in d out how to understand and
handle it in the national best seller
Dianetics: The Modern Science
of Mental Health
by L. Hon Hubbard.
You deserve to be happy.
Huy this book read it and
use it to create trust,
honesty and happiness.
¡YES!
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of Mental
by L Ron i Hubbard
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III. HOW YOU GET IT
Portland Celebrity Centre
and Dianetics Center
709 S.W. Salmon
Portland. Oregon 97206
503-228-0116
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VII. THE COST
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Brought to you in the public Interest by
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Metropolitan Life
AND AFFILIATED COMPANIES
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FOR DIANETICS INFORMATION.
CALL TOLL FREE
1
1 800 367 8788
|
< 1986 LSI Dianetics is a trademark and service mark owned By Religious
Technology Center and is used with its permission
H
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J u s t fill out this order form and
send it with your check or money
order for S5.00 to:
| TRUE |
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VI. WHAT HAPPENS
TO YOU
Are you smart enough not to get AIDS? w h a t can you d o to protect yourself and your family?
Save this form and watch the National AIDS Awareness Test, a unique question-and-answer
program featuring to p celebrities and Americas foremost m edical authorities.
ftine in and take a test you can't afford to fail.
Tuesday, Sept. 15, 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Channel 6