From: CurtAdams@aol.com
Date: Fri Mar 07 1997 - 14:28:01 MST
pfallon@postoffice.ptd.net (Pat Fallon) writes:
>A number of the AIDS indicator diseases are not opportunistic infections
>preying on immune-deficient hosts, including dementia, wasting syndrome,
>and the various AIDS cancers-Kaposi's sarcoma, the lymphomas, and, as
>of 1993, cervical cancer.
Dementia is not a disease; it's a symptom, and it's quite common with
anything affecting the brain, as many diseases do. Also, AIDS dementia is
often relatively mild and would be hard to detect in something that can't
talk (like an experimental ape).
Wasting syndrome is not a disease; it's a symptom. It's also common with
chronic gastrointestinal problems, which many AIDS patients have.
Many cancers, including cervical cancers and lymphomas, can be caused by
viruses. Remember what the original name for HIV (HTLV-III) stood for? The
immune system may not be responsible for fighting the cancer cells, but it's
definitely responsible for fighting the virus that makes the cell cancerous.
The causal agent for Kaposi's isn't currently known; it isn't HIV, but its
higher incidence rates amongst homosexuals with AIDS than amongst hemophiliac
indicate an agent capable of sexual transmission. Its absence amongst
immunodeficient apes shouldn't surprise anybody.
(Unless the apes have been going to gay disco bars and scoring :-)
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