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'''Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome''' (usually referred to as '''AIDS''') is a series of infections and other complications arising from problems caused by [[Human Immunodeficiency Virus]] (HIV). The series of infections, complications, and diseases are known as HIV/AIDS.  

'''Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome''' (usually referred to as '''AIDS''') was first identified in the early 1980s. Because AIDS was initially recognized among homosexual men, early researchers called it "the gay disease".<ref>"Established physicians lacked the time and often the inclination to take on what was known as the gay disease ..." [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9905E5DD1431F936A35755C0A9609C8B63 (NY Times)] </ref>

Until 1982, AIDS was called Gay-related immune deficiency, or GRID.

Because AIDS was initially found only in homosexuals, early researchers called it "the gay disease".<ref>"Established physicians lacked the time and often the inclination to take on what was known as the gay disease ..." [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9905E5DD1431F936A35755C0A9609C8B63 (NY Times)] </ref>

Until 1982, AIDS was called Gay-related immune deficiency, or GRID.

 

But AIDS had and has affected only a minority of homosexual men. (MSM is the term used in government documents now, for "men who have sex with men".) It turns out that what was actually shared by all the early AIDS patients was a "fast-lane" lifestyle: abuse of recreational drugs, and extraordinary promiscuity resulting in recurring infections with many diseases and consequent indiscriminate and excessive resort to antibiotics--all of which are immunosuppressive. That is why non-homosexual drug abusers make up such a large proportion of AIDS cases.

AIDS cannot be acquired directly, but is rather a progression of HIV. HIV is spread through contact with body fluids from an infected individual. There is no known cure for HIV/AIDS.

The currently official view is that AIDS is the consequence of infection by [[Human Immunodeficiency Virus]] (HIV), which is spread through contact with body fluids from an infected individual. However, a sizeable number of scientists and other interested people believe that a causative connection between HIV and AIDS has never been proven. Details about these "re-thinkers" and their arguments can be found at several reliable websites: http://aras.ab.ca/index.php, http://www.reviewingaids.org/awiki/index.php/Main_Page, http://rethinkingaids.com.93.seekdotnet.com/. An older website, no longer being updated, has a useful bibliography of books and other writings by rethinkers: http://www.virusmyth.com/aids/

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