Anti-Retrovirals Can Cause AIDS

This article was written in June 2000
and posted during the Internet Discussion
of the South African Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel

1. All anti-retroviral drugs are highly toxic to humans.

The following scientific facts support the assertion that “all anti-retroviral drugs are highly toxic to humans”:

1.1. After more than a decade of treating and trying to prevent AIDS with antiretroviral therapies, neither individual nor public health benefits have been achieved (1,2).

2.2. Zidovudine (AZT), the most popular of the AIDS medications, was originally developed for chemotherapy in cancer, but due to its toxicity it was never approved for human use (3). AZT is now licensed by the Food and Drug Administration – FDA – As an anti-HIV medication (1,4,5).

AZT is a potent cytotoxic DNA chain-terminator (1,6,7)

The toxicity of AZT, the drug now prescribed indefinitely to both healthy “HIV-positive” individuals and to AIDS patients, has been solidly documented (1,8-13).

AZT is highly toxic to human cells, including T4 lymphocytes, at the “antiretroviral” dosage recommended by the manufacturer (12).

The immunotoxicity of AZT, as well as its myelotoxicity, are very well recognized (14). Granulocytopenia is one of the most common effects seen in persons treated with AZT (15,16)

There are also very well documented investigations showing that AZT has carcinogenic properties with respect to fast growing human and animal immune and other cells (12). In humans, AZT magnifies the risk of lymphomas by 50 (17). AZT has also been confirmed to be carcinogenic in mice (18-20). Nevertheless, AZT is sold in the United States, where it is illegal to sell drugs that are carcinogenic (19,21).

AZT can also cause anemia, lymphocytopenia, hepatitis, pancreatitis, myositis, muscle atrophy, wasting disease, dementia, lactic acidosis, severe hepatomegalia with steatosis, vasculitis, and it prevents mitochondrial DNA synthesis (22-26).

The toxicity of AZT is so well documented that the pharmaceutical company that makes and commercializes it typically writes, “Retrovir (Zidovudine) may be associated with severe hematologic toxicity including granulocytopenia and severe anemia particularly in patients with advanced HIV disease” and they add that, “Myopathy and myositis with pathologic changes similar to that produced by HIV disease, have been associated with prolonged use of Retrovir” (5).

The use of AZT for pregnant women can induce abortion, congenital malformation such as cavities in the chest, abnormal indentations at the base of the spine, misplaced ears, triangular faces, heart defects, extra digits and albinism (27). This toxicity for embryos has also been documented in animals (28).

The American National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has warned about the toxicity of AZT for children (29). It is recognized that AZT impedes normal child growth and development (29).

AZT can also destroy non-growing cells, such as neurons and muscle cells (26), thus causing muscle atrophy (22,30-34), and dementia (11,25).

It is well known that many illegal acts were committed in pursuit of the 1987 FDA marketing approval of AZT (35).

1.3. The toxicity of AZT can be potentialized by other DNA chain terminators such as gancyclovir and acyclovir, drugs that are frequently prescribed together with AZT in the treatment and prevention of opportunistic viral infections (36,37).

1.4. Currently, the HIV-AIDS supporters are prescribing hydroxyurea, an inexpensive drug used for chemotherapy of leukemia (38). This too is an inhibitor of DNA synthesis.

1.5. The toxicity of the new protease inhibitors, prescribed as part of the so-called AIDS treatment “cocktails”, is also well documented (39).

The “cocktails” contain a protease inhibitor in conjunction with two DNA chain-terminators (39).

Researchers have been documenting that persons on protease inhibitors are developing abnormal fat accumulations, termed “buffalo humps” and “crixbelly” (40-42).

The hepatotoxicity of protease inhibitors has also been documented (43). Dogs and rats treated with protease inhibitors develop hepatic cell necrosis 30 minutes after administration of the drug (44).

As time passes, more and more metabolic and endocrine disturbances are described in individuals placed on protease inhibitors. Recent studies report hypertrophy of the breasts; increase of blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglycerides; abnormal subcutaneous and visceral fat accumulation; peripheral fat wasting and lipomatosis; pancreatitis and angina (40,41,45-47). Hypertriglyceridemia is being described in 79% of the individuals taking protease inhibitors (48).

It has even been documented that protease inhibitors can induce the development of AIDS-defining diseases such as mycobacterial infections (49).

All these protease inhibitor “side effects” are having a chilling effect on “cocktail euphoria” (50).

Thus, scientific evidence shows that antiretroviral drugs are highly toxic to both humans and animals.

2. Anti-retroviral drugs can by themselves cause AIDS.

The following scientific facts support the assertion that the “antiretroviral drugs can by themselves cause AIDS”:

2.1. Many healthy “HIV-positive” individuals along with AIDS patients, are being placed on lifetime prescriptions of nucleoside analogues that act as DNA chain-terminators, such as AZT, the analogue of the nucleoside thymidine (51,52).

Currently, protease inhibitors are being prescribed as anti-HIV medications for the lifetime of the individual (53,54).

All the drugs that are currently used as antiretroviral medications are drugs that act specifically on cells that are either metabolically active or in constant division (55). By definition, the immunocompetent cells, as well as the bone marrow cells, are cells that are dividing constantly. A very unique characteristic of the cells of the immune system is that they have to divide during the immune response (56). This makes the cells of the immune system much more vulnerable to the actions of these chemicals.

All the antiretroviral medications are known to be very toxic chemicals (1,52).

The toxic effects of AZT on people’s immune systems have been documented (57). AZT was given to 14 healthy health care professionals who were exposed to AIDS blood through needle sticks and similar accidents. Fully half of the 14 health professionals had to quit the drug because of severe toxic effects. Neutropenia developed in 36% of the 11 people who completed at least 4 weeks of AZT treatment. 5 of the 14 individuals could not even make it to four weeks due to “severe subjective symptoms”. One professional had to be stopped prematurely because his neutropenia was so severe that he developed a respiratory infection. These toxic effects developed in only weeks, while persons with an HIV-positive diagnosis often take AZT for years (57).

2.2. There is a great deal of scientific evidence showing that the antiretroviral drugs can induce the development of AIDS-defining diseases. The possibility that AZT may actually contribute to the pathogenesis of AIDS is real (1,9,10,12,13,58).

The British-French Concorde trial found that AZT was unable to prevent AIDS, and instead increased mortality by 25%, compared to the untreated controls (59).

Another British study found that AZT prophylaxis decreased survival and induced wasting syndrome, cryptosporidiosis, and cytomegalovirus infection (60).

The American MAC study shows that AZT increases the risk of pneumonia, one of the AIDS defining diseases (61).

Studies often show that individuals given AZT have a worse prognosis (6,7), but the mainstream researchers prefer to blame HIV (62).

The lymphocyte counts decreased significantly in humans treated with AZT, but not in the non-treated controls (22,63). Interestingly, these are the experiments that the Food and Drug Administration Office evaluated before the licensing of AZT (1,6,7,9).

Another study similarly found that AZT users experienced more rapid CD4+ cell depletion (64).

Prophylactic AZT has also been shown to increase significantly the risk of AIDS in hemophiliacs when compared with the untreated controls (65).

Since AZT use has begun, the mortality of British “HIV-positive” hemophiliacs has increased 10-fold (66).

A similar finding has occurred with American hemophiliacs (67). However, most of the AIDS researchers insist on blaming HIV (66-68).

2.3. The immunological alterations secondary to antiretroviral therapy and described in section 1 can be reversed after individuals stop taking these medications. 10 out of 11 individuals recovered their cellular immunity after stopping AZT (69).

Even patients suffering from severe pancytopenia and bone marrow aplasia recover after discontinuing AZT (8).

Clinical manifestations of mycobacterial infection started 1-3 weeks after starting the protease inhibitor Indinavir. Symptoms disappeared after the patients stopped the medication (49).

Two babies born to mothers treated with AZT for 6 months and then treated themselves for an additional month and a half, developed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, one of the clinical manifestations of AIDS. Since the babies were “HIV-negative”, AZT was suspended and they completely recovered, remaining healthy beyond the one-year period of observation (70,71).

2.4. Merck itself, the pharmaceutical company that produces and commercializes the protease inhibitor Crixivan warns, “It is not yet known whether taking Crixivan will extend your life or reduce your chances of getting other illnesses associated with HIV” (72).

2.5. In animals, there are several examples of immunotoxicity due to antiretroviral medications:

Rats and mice treated with AZT for 7 weeks developed anemia, neutropenia, lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, bone marrow depletion and weight loss (73).

In a similar experiment, mice were also treated with AZT for 7 weeks and developed anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and myelodysplasia (74).

Hamsters treated with AZT for one or two weeks developed T-cell depletion and atrophy of the thymus (75).

Mice treated with the drug for 2 weeks developed anemia, nephrotoxicity, and lymphotoxicity (76).

AZT is also toxic to the liver (77).

The carcinogenic properties of AZT have been documented in animal experiments (75). AZT can stimulate leukemias (74).

2.6. In addition to the antiretroviral drugs, healthy people who are “HIV-positive” are taking many prescribed antibiotics, anti-mycobacterials, antifungals, antivirals, antidepresants, as well as many over-the counter medications (78,79). All are potentially immunotoxic stressor agents (80), and all help in generating AIDS (81).

The HIV-AIDS supporters will always have the excuse that HIV is mutating and developing resistance to the current medications. However, there is no scientific substantiation for the assertion that “HIV is mutating” (82).

2.7. AIDS patients are also taking a polypharmacy of immunotoxic medications (6,7) that, rather than improving, very often debilitate the patient’s immune and other systems, and therefore contribute to the eventual death of the individual. Medications such as metronydazol, pyrimethamine, daraprim, amphotericin B, clotrimaxole, dapsone, interferon, pentamidine, vincristine, fluocytosine, adriamycin, vinblastine, to mention some of the more frequently used, are potent immunotoxic, myelotoxic, lymphotoxic, nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic drugs (37,80).

2.8. It is unethical, to say the least, to treat or prevent AIDS with medications known to be highly toxic to the cells of the immune system, of the bone marrow, and to the cells of other tissues and systems. It is the equivalent of mainstream AIDS researchers attempting to stop fire with gasoline.

3. Pregnant women, infants, and children are much more vulnerable to the toxic effects of anti-retroviral drugs.

The following scientific facts support the assertion that “pregnant women and children are much more vulnerable to the toxic effects of antiretroviral drugs”:

3.1. For decades, medical science has known that growing cells are much more vulnerable to the toxic effects of many different agents (83,84). This has been the very basis for the effort to avoid exposing, as much as possible, pregnant women and their fetuses to any potential toxic agent (85,86).

It is also important to keep in mind that the immune system of a child attains its own maturity only after the age of ten (56).

3.2. However, in the era of AIDS, mainstream AIDS researchers are changing all the rules. Currently, toxic medications are recommended and prescribed worldwide to pregnant women and children (87,88). As of 1993, even “HIV-free” babies are taking AZT; this is because “HIV-positive” pregnant women are prescribed AZT for the last two trimesters in the hope of preventing HIV transmission from mothers to babies (70).

Babies who test “HIV-negative” but who are born to HIV-positive mothers are nevertheless prescribed AZT for six weeks after birth (70,87,89).

3.3. Many “HIV-positive” healthy newborns, infants, and young children are placed on combinations of potentially immunotoxic medications such as antiretrovirals, antifungals, antivirals, and antibiotics. All are currently prescribed indefinitely as prophylactic drugs (90,91).

It is as if they have forgotten the vulnerability of newborns and young children to toxic substances (92).

3.4. The toxicity of antiretroviral drugs for embryos and fetuses has been documented in humans and animals, as well as In Vitro:

AZT is a potent cytotoxic DNA chain-terminator (1,6,7) and “it has been well known for many years that the compounds which can alter DNA metabolism often exhibit pronounced prenatal toxicity” (55).

The use of AZT for pregnant women can induce abortion, congenital malformation such as cavities in the chest, abnormal indentations at the base of the spine, misplaced ears, triangular faces, heart defects, extra digits and albinism (27). In some instances intrauterine growth retardation has been documented (93). The hemoglobin at birth in infants exposed to AZT was found to be significantly lower than in a placebo group (70,94,95).

The American National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is well aware of the toxicity of AZT (29). AZT has been shown to impede normal child growth and development (29).

The toxicity of AZT in animal embryos has been recognized. If used before the implantation of the embryos, the effects seem to be even worse (28).

When administered to pregnant mice, AZT reduced the number of fetuses by 60%, altered the livers of newborns, and caused a significant reduction of hematocrit in the pregnant animals (96). A similar experiment with pregnant mice also showed a significant reduction in the number of fetuses (97). These effects are worse if mice embryos are preimplanted (98).

There are also In Vitro data documenting the toxicity of AZT: it induces reduction in the number of thymocytes in cultured thymic lobes from rat fetuses (99). It inhibited the erytroid colony formation of liver cells from mouse fetuses (77). Also, exposure of two-cell mice embryos to zidovudine was consistently associated with significant inhibition of blastocyst formation (100).

3.5. A recent comprehensive review of this issue concluded: “Sufficient data regarding the safety of zidovudine in human pregnancy are not available” (55).

In spite of the scientific evidence about the toxicity of AZT for pregnant women, a review of the issue by the National Center for Toxicological Research of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that: “Initial human studies suggest that maternal use of AZT during pregnancy is very well tolerated by both mother and child and provides a promising degree of protection from vertical HIV transmission to the infant.” And that: “Although in vitro and in vivo laboratory animal studies suggest the potential for toxicity with preimplantation exposure, the risk for teratogenic events after postimplantational exposures appears to be low at therapeutically effective concentrations of these dideoxynucleosides” (101).

It is unethical, to say the least, to insist on prescribing AZT and other antiretrovirals to prevent AIDS in healthy “HIV-positive” pregnant women, in infants, in children, or in anybody. The potential cytotoxic, mutagenic, theratogenic, immunotoxic, and carcinogenic properties of these chemicals have been scientifically documented (6,7,88,102-104).

Before the AIDS epidemic, antimicrobials were only prescribed prophylactically for the prevention of a relapse of rheumatic fever. There were no other exceptions. Additionally, antimicrobials, especially antibiotics, were only prescribed for short periods of time, such as a few days for the treatment of an infectious disease. Why are the rules being changed now? Where is the scientific justification that researchers have for changing the rules now?

4. Conclusions.

4.1. Scientific data presented here demonstrate that it is not rational to treat or prevent AIDS with toxic antiretroviral drugs in any patient. It is contrary to common sense to treat or prevent a highly toxicological syndrome with even more toxicity.

4.2. The use of antiretroviral medications to treat or prevent AIDS in pregnant women, infants, children, and anyone else should therefore be stopped immediately.

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