How AIDs Started

Most people have heard of HIV or AIDs. But does everyone know where it came from? How it spread across the world? How did it became a major assail on the human race? Well this this blog all the questions will be covered and more.

AIDs was first discovered in the early 1980s. Although many believe HIV sprung up in the 1940s or 1950s. AIDs is an extreme case of HIV. So to find out where AIDs comes from we have to look more closely at HIV and its origins.

"Four of the earliest known instances of HIV infection are as follows:

1. A plasma sample taken in 1959 from an adult male living in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2. A lymph node sample taken in 1960 from an adult female, also from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
3. HIV found in tissue samples from an American teenager who died in St. Louis in 1969.
4. HIV found in tissue samples from a Norwegian sailor who died around 1976.

A 1998 analysis of the plasma sample from 1959 suggested that HIV-1 was introduced into humans around the 1940s or the early 1950s.^"

^(Avert.org)

^{The origin of HIV and how it started is a very debated and controversial subject. One of the most believed theories is that humans contracted HIV from a Chimpanzees and white collared monkeys. It is believed that humans contracted HIV from these monkeys. Which is the "hunter" theory. In many areas of Africa people may kill, butcher and eat these monkeys. So then through a cut on the hunter the hunter could contract HIV from the monkey if the monkeys blood reached their own. This HIV strand would then adapt its self to the human host as it had the monkey.} 

^{Many believe that HIV first developed in Africa, which in fact is true. This is because the strain of HIV in the monkeys listed above is only found in African monkeys. It has not been found in Asian or South American monkeys. It is not clear how the HIV strand jumped from Africa across the world, but it is assumed through people traveling to different places and being in contact sexually or blood transfers. They believe that the blood transfers between primates and humans are still happening today. Therefore, hunting certain monkeys has been made illegal, yet it still happens.} 

 ^{HIV became adjacent to America in the early 1980s. When according to Avert.org "}A number of gay men in New York and California suddenly began to develop rare opportunistic infections and cancers that seemed stubbornly resistant to any treatment. At this time, AIDS did not yet have a name, but it quickly became obvious that all the men were suffering from a common syndrome." Which then escalated the debate of homosexuality and AIDs.

It can not be be determined exactly how HIV was started which the became AIDs. But what is known is that it is spreading across the world more and more every day and without awareness it will never be controlled. So remember everyone! Have safe sex, and don't hunt and butcher rare monkeys in the jungles of Africa with rare virus diseases!

Source:

"The Origin of HIV and the First Cases of AIDS." AIDS & HIV Information from the AIDS Charity AVERT. Web. 15 Dec. 2010. <http://www.avert.org/origin-aids-hiv.htm>.

Interpreting Date

This data is borrowed from Avert.org
This shows how many are infected with AIDs as of 2007. Different ethnicity groups and through male to male sexual contact, injection drug use, ect...
What this data shows is how much AIDs is spread through male homosexual activity and how big of an epedemic it is in African/black ethnic groups. Its also shows how large AIDs is in  white and Hispanic/Latino ethic groups. The white group is almost as big as the African group.
Also it is crazy that 75% of HIV infected people are men.
I believe this data is reliable, avert.org is a very reliable source. And I believe it is complete.
It shows a clear picture of what ethnic groups are most infected with HIV and how they are effected by it the most.

"United States HIV & AIDS Statistics Summary." AIDS & HIV Information from the AIDS Charity AVERT. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. <http://www.avert.org/usa-statistics.htm>.
"The CDC estimates that by the end of 2007 there were 470,902 people living with an AIDS diagnoses in the United States, around 20,000 more than 2006. Since 2000 the annual numbers of new AIDS diagnoses have been relatively constant, with an estimated 37,991 in 2008. In total, an estimated 1,077,972 people have been diagnosed with AIDS in America since the beginning of the epidemic.
Just over 75% of adults and adolescents living with an AIDS diagnosis are men.

Race/ethnicity of those living with an AIDS diagnosis in the U.S. in 2007

As the pie chart below shows, blacks/African Americans accounted for the largest proportion of people living with an AIDS diagnosis in 2007.

Transmission category of those living with an AIDS diagnosis in the U.S. in 2007

Almost two-thirds of adults and adolescents living with AIDS in 2007 became infected with HIV through male-to-male sexual contact.

 

 

Source:

"United States HIV & AIDS Statistics Summary." AIDS & HIV Information from the AIDS Charity AVERT. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. <http://www.avert.org/usa-statistics.htm>.

Reflect & Reconsider

This blog has been an interested experience for me....I thought that it would go slightly different that it has been. For example my blog is "AIDs and the effect the enviornment has on those infected with it" But I haven't talked about people who have AIDs that have to deal with dirty food or water once. Since each blogs topic is choose in advance I haven't had the oppertunity too. So its kind of weird what ever. I think it would be cooler if we had more of a choice in what we write about. Like choose a topic or something to REALLY get into too. Have some option to what we wan to write. 
I feel that I have learned A LOT more about AIDs and those who are infected with it. I have learned more why and how people get infected with the syndrome of AIDs. For example I didn't know that babies can be born HIV clean when their parent(s) are HIV positive but contract the disease through breast feeding. I have also learned about why finding the cure for AIDs is such a struggle, yet how far they have come in finding the cure. Yet how much it MUST be terminated.
I haven't watched a movies on AIDs yet, not sure if I can find? I did read a book though, which was really depressing. But it was a good learning experience.
I hope to learn more about the people infected with AIDs and their personal struggle.

The Great Debate. Absitence vs. Comprehensive Sex Ed

The debate whether schools should teach abstinence or comprehensive sex ed has been a long one. Teaching abstinence states that schools teach that having no sex before marriage is the way to go. While teaching comprehensive sex ed states that students should be taught how to have safe sex. 
The argument for comprehensive sex ed  is against abstinence because it is telling teenagers to just say no. Yet doesn't make them say no and when faced with the option to have sex many still do but don't know how to have safe sex. Which can lead to STDs, including HIV which can turn into AIDs. In an article written by Elizabeth Boskey, Ph.D., on About.com she makes an argument for "Top 10 Reasons to Support Comprehensive Education in Schools" In this she states "A large number of teens are sexually active. According to the CDC, in 2005, 47 percent of high school students had had sex at least once, and 14 percent had had four or more sexual partners. Sixty-three percent of sexually active students had used condoms the last time they had sex, but only 18 percent had used birth control pill." This study shows that highschool students are having sex and the writer argues that they must know how to protect them selves from young pregnancy and STDs. Many believe this argument is obsolete.
The argument for abstinence is saying that abstinence is the only way to prevent STDs an pregnancy 100%.  "The thought of having sex while you are a teenager may seem pretty cool and a really good way to get someone to like you, but it can backfire. The truth is, having sex while you are a teen can make you feel bad about yourself and your partner. While sex may look like something very attractive and worthwhile, you often don’t see what can happen after sex when you are a teen." (Girlshealth.gov)
This debate has been going on for years. No one has come to a conclusion of what should be taught in school because either side wont back down on their argument. What both sides can agree on is that the spread of STDs HAS to be terminated and only through education can it began too.




Sources: 

Boskey, By Elizabeth. "Abstinence - Top 10 Reasons to Support Comprehensive Sex Education in Schools - Sex Education." Sexually Transmitted Diseases - STDs. 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. <http://std.about.com/od/prevention/tp/toptencompsexed.htm>.

 "Abstinence – Safe Sex Is No Sex – Body." Girlshealth.gov: Be Happy. Be Healthy. Be You. Beautiful. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. <http://www.girlshealth.gov/body/abstinence/index.cfm>.

Poll Survey

I did my poll twice, the first time I asked "How are AIDs transmitted?" A. Sex B. Needles C. Breast Feeding D. All of the above. And it was to obvious, eight people voted and they all voted All of the above.
My second one I asked "How are AIDs transmitted?" But I asked it on facebook this time. This is what I said:

Hey everyone!

So I need to get ten answers for my poll for my English class....
If you could answer one of these questions, A-D that'd be great.
I need ten people!! :)
...
How is AIDs transmitted?

A. Only Sex & Needles
B. Water
C. Physical Touch
D. Breast Milk

Thanks!!

Almost everyone except one girl said D, which was the answer. Everyone else said A & D but they didn't read it correctly. Because if AIDs is transmitted through JUST sex and needles then it can not be breast feeding as well. So its a bit irritating they didnt read it right, so both polls were incomplete. Although two girls said A, which is usually what is assumed to be the only way for AIDs to be transmitted.
Wish one of the polls would have came out right.

Avert.org

Avert.org is a very effective, accurate, clear and credible source on AIDs and HIV throughout the world. This organization focuses on the prevention, history, science and facts of AIDs and HIV. The site began in 1995 and only had 30 people reading it a month. Today it is acclaimed as the worlds most popular AIDs website. According to Avert.org on their site information page "In November 2005 AVERT.org was selected by the British Medical Association (BMA) as the winner of the BMA Patient Information Award for Websites. The website was praised by judges for being “very well referenced, information rich and possessing a clean look”." Chairman Peter Kanabus received this reward.  
This website is layed out very well. It is very methodical because it has tabs on the left side of the page to help viewers get where they want to go. It also has bold labels for finding important subjects. Such as donate AIDs, HIV, ect...Each of these brings you to a page full of information. The website is written very well, clear and easy to understand.
Avert.org is very accurate. I think the fact that they were awarded the BMA award and was reported as "very well referenced, information rich and possessing a clean look". This site is very well sourced and they obviously update it regularly because they have very up to date information throughout the entire website.
Anyone interested in AIDs or HIV can find pretty much anything they need on Avert.org. Avert covers prevention, transmission and testing, treatment and care, statistics, history, science, epidemic, the continents Africa, Asia, Americas and Europe, sex, STDs, teens and gays & lesbians. There is also a part under Contact Us that states "If you have already tried our help and advice page, or if you cannot find what it is you are looking for then try typing the keywords into our search page. If you still cannot find the information you need through this then please email us sending your question to info@avert.org, and we will do our best to answer any question you have." So a person seeking information never has to leave empty handed.
Avert.org has been a source for people seeking help and information about AIDs since 1995. For being around for such a short time they are a very well established website that helps millions of people every day. Avert has proven its self as clear, accurate, credible and affective for people seeking help across the world.

Source:

Kanabus, Peter. "Avert.org." AIDS & HIV Information from the AIDS Charity AVERT. 1995. Web. 23 Oct. 2010. <http://www.avert.org/>.

Picture:

http://mobile.oneworld.net/imagelib/temp/avert_1.png

Research in finding a cure for AIDs

Many doctors & scientists have researched a cure for AIDs for many years. There has been medicine created to slow down the effects of AIDs. This medicine is called antiretroviral treatment. This is in a pill and must be taken daily. But antiretroviral treatment is scarce in third world countries where AIDs is running ramped. Even though this drug brings the HIV virus to low levels, it is still hiding in the persons cells. If the medicine is taken away the HIV virus leaks back into the surface. 

Although there isn't a cure for AIDs yet, scientists are working as hard as ever to find one. According to avert.org "Many researchers believe the best hope for eradicating HIV infection lies in combining antiretroviral treatment with drugs that flush HIV from its hiding places. The idea is to force resting CD4 cells to become active, whereupon they will start producing new HIV particles. The activated cells should soon die or be destroyed by the immune system, and the antiretroviral medication should mop up the released HIV." But the virus resurfaced once the patients stopped taking the antiretroviral drugs."  Another hope to cure AIDs is through bone marrow transplants & gene therapy. In 2008 a pair of German doctors announced that they have cured a man of AIDs by using a bone marrow transplant. Patients were tested prior to 1996 who were HIV positive by using bone marrow transplants, but only two came back cured. Although bone marrow transplants are curing some results in curing AIDs, it is to expensive and dangerous to use world wide. Gene therapy is also in the process of being studied as a cure but it will be years before test results are complete. According to Arthur Caplan in his article "Giving up on gene therapy is wrong reaction" he states: "The irony of gene therapy is that despite its name, it has achieved little in the past decade in terms of therapy but has, rather, been associated with serious problems including deaths.  Eight years ago, 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger died in an early experiment with gene therapy at the University of Pennsylvania." Although there has been many issues with gene therapy there is a lot of hope too. New studies are being created every day to end AIDs.

Researchers are more adjacent to finding a cure for AIDs every day. The cure for AIDs is almost tangible. The research is getting stronger through all the time. Those invected with HIV have more hope with every generation of wise scientists & doctors who are determined to beat this disease.

 Sources:

Avert.org. "A Cure for AIDS." AIDS & HIV Information from the AIDS Charity AVERT. 16 Sept. 2010. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. <http://www.avert.org/cure-for-aids.htm>.

Caplan, Arthur. "Giving up on Gene Therapy Is Wrong Reaction." MSNBC. 17 Sept. 2007. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20820827/>.

Picture:

http://www.peaceproject.com/graphics/stickers/aids/s140.jpg