Way crazier than Creationism….

7 Responses to Way crazier than Creationism….

1. Roger Hallman says:

   January 5, 2009 at 8:35 am

   Not only AIDS denialism, but there are a few religions that have particularly quirky positions regarding medical care. Christian Scientists have their professional faith healers and I remember looking up the number of child endangerment cases brought against them when their kids died due to lack of medical attention. I’m sorry to say that there was a <50% success rate. Andrew Sullivan is really harping on John Travolta and Scientology on the chance that that organization’s positions caused the Travolta boy to go without proper medical treatment for his condition.
2. Stopped Clock says:

   January 5, 2009 at 8:51 am

   When someone realizes they have a fatal and incurable illness, sometimes the only way they can cope with it is to create for themselves a false hope that the illness can be survived. This is the first of the “five stages of death” model and is really not unusual. But HIV/AIDS kills more young people than any other disease and I believe that this is the main reason for the continued existence of its vocal denialist organizations.

   Denialist groups exist for autism as well, but in my opinion this is partly because there is genuine uncertainty as to the causative mechanism(s) responsible for the condition. Nevertheless I understand how desperate parents of children with autism must feel and how easily they can fall for the pseudo-cures constantly being brewed up by quack scientists looking to make quick money.

   Nozipho Bhengu was another woman killed by AIDS denialism.
3. Kevembuangga says:

   January 5, 2009 at 11:02 am

   It’s problematic when other people are involved (children, partners, neighbourhood) but otherwise the best policy would probably be a special section in Darwin Awards.
4. kurt9 says:

   January 5, 2009 at 11:40 am

   The successful treatment of AIDS with the protease inhibitor drugs since 1995 should have made clear to everyone the connection of HIV to AIDS.
5. Brian Westley says:

   January 6, 2009 at 10:03 am

   I don’t know if you can call it “way crazier” than creationism; thinking AIDS has some other cause other than HIV (in spite of all the evidence) at least doesn’t involve magical beings (or advanced aliens) creating life.
6. Anthony says:

   January 6, 2009 at 11:02 am

   Questioning any scientific theory is important. Maggiore was probably right about certain things:

   1. AZT can be highly damaging.
   2. Heavy drug use can cause weak immune systems.
   3. Testing (at least awhile ago) for HIV had a significant chance of giving false results.

   Second, she tested positive in 1992 – that’s at least 16 years ago.

   Third, she died after her 3 year old died – I wouldn’t be surprised if this event highly stressed her, and led to a weakening of her own immune system.

   I think this case, the history of HIV-AIDs, and AIDS treatment is more complex than those who describe it as “denialism” would like to believe.

   If you want a litany of incorrect consensus medical beliefs throughout the ages, I would be happy to list some of them. Inductively, we are assured that many medical practices or beliefs we currently have are incorrect. An intelligent person becoming highly informed about an area, and then make a choice about how to act based on the evidence, isn’t “denialism” – it’s rational decision making.
7. kurt9 says:

   January 7, 2009 at 11:26 am

   Maggiore was certainly right about 1) and 2). She may even have been right about 3) in the early days of such testing. It seems obvious that the strength of a persons immune system is affected by factors such as recreational and medical drug use, nutrition, and even the amount of sleep one gets each night. People who do not practice good health are more at risk of infection by ANY disease than people who do take care of themselves.

   It is likely that HIV is similar to Chicken Pox in that a person with a robust immune system who gets infected with HIV, that their immune system can keep the infection bottled up for many, many years. It is also likely that a person with a robust immune system is less likely to infection with an given contact with HIV. By practicing good health, a person who is HIV positive can keep the infection at bay for many. many years, such as the case with “Magic” Johnson. I know people who have been HIV positive for over 20 years and are still alive and “healthy”. I believe it is this kind of mechanism that is at work for these people.

   However, when one’s immune system declines below a certain threshold, either due to traumatic injury like a car accident or due to aging, then the HIV is able to become active and the person starts to come down with AIDS and then eventually dies of it.

   Where Maggiore and the other “denialists” go off the deep end is when they claim that there is no causal connection, whatsoever, between HIV and AIDS. Clearly this is bunk. Also, the success in treatment of AIDS patients with the protease-inhibiting drugs (which replaced AZT starting in 1995) clearly demonstrates the causal link between HIV and AIDS.

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