Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus

This is not a work of debunkery, but a serious and fascinating investigation by a serious researcher. It contains theory and questions, not practical advice. It does not conclude that AIDS is unrelated to HIV, a position that is looking less likely all the time. In fact, HIV plays a prominent role in one of the most likely-looking hypotheses considered. Most of the hypotheses and causes discussed in the book are looking less and less likely. AIDS behaves too contagiously, and HIV is too closely associated with it (including AIDS response to anti-HIV treatments), to believe that AIDS is just general immune suppression. However, there is one hypothesis that appears consistent with mainstream knowledge and may be worth close attention by researchers. Root-Bernstein builds a case, through actual lab research, that HIV creates antibodies with binding patterns that are complementary to those created by a few other diseases--CMV and TB, if I remember correctly. Someone infected simultaneously by HIV and CMV will be making antibodies that bind to _each other_ and cause the immune system to fight itself. (Perhaps this is analogous to graft-vs-host disease?) By this theory, AIDS is definitely a contagious sexually transmitted disease. HIV is necessary, but not sufficient, to cause AIDS. But almost all people with AIDS have CMV, and HIV+CMV is sufficient to cause AIDS, and anyone who acquires HIV from someone with AIDS will probably get a dose of CMV as well. I would recommend this book most of all to two groups: AIDS researchers, and anyone who's interested in how diseases are investigated and understood (or not).

Root-Bernstein has compiled an impressive body of information about hiv and "AIDS" in this well-referenced, big book. He almost immediately proceeds to launch into the many, many anomolies behind the monocausal "AIDS" hypothesis, and does exactly what any decent scientist would do when faced with a literal mountain of contradiction: he challenges the hypothesis.This is not light reading, but it is written by a teacher, a very fine one, I might ad.Be prepared for the "facts" about HIV and "AIDS" that the media has inundated you with to be challenged and proven blatently false !Thank you Dr. Root-Bernstein !!!

I found Root Bernstein's book after seeing an intriguing interview on a PBS TV show about low immunne system strength in AIDS patients. The hypothesis was that by maintaining a super strict regieme of personal hygene and taking massives doses of vitamins, the immune system could be restored.Rethinking AIDS did not cover that subject but opened a new set of questions. Did you know semen is immuno-suppressive? Blood Transfusions? Poppers? Most Drugs? The answers are impressively intuitive once presented but are known in isolation and not connected to the diagnosis of AIDS.Root Bernstein builds an impressive argument that we should know much more about how our body works and what we ask it to put up with in the course of a normal day.The key argument in the book is that there is no direct evidence that HIV is the single causitive factor in developing AIDS. The author acknowledges that HIV should be studied but asks the AIDS community to question and study other approaches.The author details how many of the elements of risky life styles can contribute unknowingly to depressing one's immune system and what questions we need to ask before declaring a conclusion. A good diet, exercise and avoiding risky behaviour might be the best defense against AIDS if you really know what constitutes "risky behaviour"Not many answers but lots of good questions. An interesting companion read might be Nicholas Regush's "the Virus Within"