Subject: Dr. Joseph Sonnabend's Theory of AIDS 

AIDS THEORY OF DR. JOSEPH SONNABEND,
NEW YORK PHYSICIAN AND VIROLOGIST

See also:

<47> Background on Joseph Sonnabend
<50> Why Sonnabend thinks AIDS is spreading now
<51> How Sonnabend treats AIDS
<49> How Sonnabend feels about HIV as AIDS cause
<48> The future for Sonnabend


Dr. Joseph Sonnabend says HIV doesn't cause AIDS.  He says that
in many infectious diseases the causative germ isn't enough to
produce the disease.  For example, even though many people have the
influenza virus in their systems, not everyone gets the flu.

In these cases it's well accepted that additional factors must be
in place which determine whether or not a person gets sick. Advocates
of the HIV theory believe that the virus and the virus alone causes
AIDS.

See <40> for opinion that HIV alone causes AIDS.
See <2> for background on AIDS.

Sonnabend says the environment is filled with many immune
suppressants such as chemical substances, pollution, recreational
drugs and medications.

Biological factors such as cytomegalorvirus (CMV, a virus which
shows up in 94 per cent of male homosexuals and which causes host
cells to enlarge abnormally) <12>, malaria, Factor 8, the blood
product given to hemophiliacs for clotting, and herpes <16>
have the potential to suppress the body's immune system. Even semen,
<28> if introduced into the blood stream, is an immune
suppressant. It's clear that during anal intercourse semen can enter
the bloodstream.

Each environmental or biological factor on its own can't hurt the
body very much, but together they can be a lethal combination.

"My view is that we look at all the background of the individual
and  ... the agents that we know cause immune suppression and ask if
we can come up with a disease model that describes AIDS, Sonnabend
said. "I believe it's possible to construct such a model."

Sonnabend says AIDS develops in two stages.

In the first stage a male homosexual is repeatedly exposed to
CMV <12>, semen in the rectum, and an environment in which
syphilis <30> and hepatitis-B are prevalent. With each exposure
the immune system is damaged a little bit more. It's estimated that
some male homosexuals have a many as 250 different sexual partners a
year though many have far fewer or are monogamous.

In a 1983 paper published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association Sonnabend argues that cytomegalovirus <12> and the
immunosuppressive properties of human sperm <28> work together
to damage the immune system.  He also argues that in a depressed
immune system Epstein-Barr virus <13> (carried by 98 per cent of
adults) is activated causing even greater immune system unbalance.

In the second stage further exposure isn't necessary. "There is
an element of positive feedback by some of the infections themselves.
"The result is progressive spread of the diseases," Sonnabend says. In
other words, you can push your immune system past the point of no
return.

Sonnabend suggests the first stage is a "cumulative process" and
the second one is "self-perpetuating."

See <50> for information on why AIDS is spreading now.