AEGiS-BKREV: Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus

Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus

1993. Free Press/Macmillan, 866 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022. 512p., illus., bibliog., index. ISBN 0-02-926905-9. $27.95.
Robert S. Root-Bernstein.

This book, considered by some as controversial, is a critique on what is known about AIDS. He assumes that most of the published experiments and clinical observations are accurate. "The data are correct; our interpretation of them is not. The problem is that a fact is not a fact until it is interpreted in the light of theory." He maintains that we know much about AIDS but too little about the other causative agents in AIDS. "It is imperative to rethink and research AIDS." In his chapter "Alternative Hypotheses for Explaining AIDS," Root-Bernstein stresses the need to study more of the cofactors rather than just saying that the HIV virus is the sole cause. He also indicates that AIDS is a disease that is the result of a "combination of many immunosuppressive factors." It may be easier to treat a cofactor than the HIV virus and thus in the long run be treating the virus so that it does not reproduce and result in AIDS. He states that he "could not care less whether AIDS is causes by HIV, by HIV with appropriate cofactors, or by non-HIV causes." His main concern is that research should not rule out everything but the HIV virus. The door has been closed on this alternative research and it needs to be reopened. Human lives depend on this research and until that is recognized we may be going down the wrong path.

This is a book well worth reading. It will make you think, make you angry, make you worried, and make you question everything you read. But that is what it is suppose to do. We cannot afford to go into this research blindly in the second decade. Maybe Root-Bernstein is right it what he advocates. If so, it would be a shame that the door is shut without any hope of it being reopened. If he is wrong, he admits that he will take the consequences, but how will we know if he is wrong if science does not try something different in research. Unfortunately AIDS research has become so politically and monetarily motivated that it appears some large companies are afraid of finding a solution for fear of losing all of the money that is currently being spent on this research. That would certainly be a sad day in the lives of all of those who are HIV positive. This book deserves to be read by everyone, including the current researchers. Our political leaders should look seriously at what is being said here and the person on the street should be aware of what is being written. It may cause confusion, but better that than causing more lives to be lost. Recommended for all libraries.

Keywords: Etiology, HIV Infections, HIV Viruses

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