AIDS Data Shows Decreasing Trend

In an article published in the June 8th 1999 issue of the Washington Times comes a story that reports on a 20 percent drop in AIDS cases from 1997 to 1998. According to the Times article, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta posted the number of AIDS cases as going from approximately 60,000 in 1997, to 48,000 in 1998. This astounding turn around represents a 20% reduction in one year.

This information comes in stark contrast to the dire predictions made earlier. The Times article highlighted several dooms-day claims listed below. "There may be no one left (without massive federal aid)" Donna Shalala, HHS secretary. "By 1991, 1 in 10 babies may be AIDS victims." USA Today 1988. In 1987 Oprah Winfrey stated on her show that a fifth of heterosexuals would be dead of AIDS by 1990.

Over the last 2 decades, the media has definitely blown the alarm of warning about AIDS. As history has shown over many thousands of years, diseases have a cyclical pattern where they first attack more violently at first. This is followed by a reduction in the strength and number of cases of the disease. This is not to state that we should not be concerned. But we should be aware of the facts. Below is a list of facts on AIDS as published in the Washington Times article based on information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

• AIDS cased droped from 60,000 in 1997 to 48,000 in 1998.
• There were 6700 non I-V drug using cases of heterosexual patients with AIDS in 1998.
• Teenagers represented only 0.6 percent of cases in 97 & 98
• The number of AIDS babies went from 671 in 1996 to 473 in 1997 to 341 in 1998.
• Women infected with AIDS dropped from 13,000 in 1997 to 11,000 in 1998.

These decreasing numbers should be viewed in light of the fact that there is no medical treatment or prevention that cures or prevents AIDS. Good common sense has been the most effective method of prevention.

From a chiropractic perspective, research has been conducted on AIDS patients to see the effect of specific chiropractic adjustments on certain measures of the immune systems of patients with AIDS. In this study the effect of specific upper cervical adjustments on the immune system CD4 cell counts of HIV positive individuals was measured by CD4/mm3 in the blood. In patients suffering from immune deficiency a higher CD4 count represents a higher immunity. These tests were performed by the patients independent medical center where they were under medical supervision for the condition. The measured CD4 counts in the regular group were dramatically increased over the counts of the control group. A 48% increase in CD4 cells was demonstrated over the six-month duration of the study for the group receiving chiropractic adjustments. The control group experienced a 7.96% decrease and the adjusted group experienced a 48% increase in CD4 cell levels.