The Origin and Cause of AIDS

AIDS. Four letters no one in this day and age ever wants to hear. Arguably the deadliest disease since the Bubonic Plague. It has no mercy on anyone, once it is contracted, there is no stopping it. It rumbles through the human body until it overtakes it and kills the body. Since the discovery of this deadly disease, many new studies have been done to find out more about this disease, with the hope of finding a cure. One ongoing study in the field of AIDS is to find the true origin of the disease. Many different theories are believed to be true about the origin but only one can be right. Another issue being thrown around for questioning is What really causes AIDS? This is being constantly studied to find out the true cause. Hopefully, through all this research we will one day find a cure for AIDS.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, this is what AIDS is. It attacks the human immune system so it can not protect the body from disease, therefore leaving the body vulnerable to infection. So what is AIDS anyway? Where did it originate from? There are many different theories about the origin of AIDS, however I believe that one is more prominent then all of the others. AIDS originated from the continent of Africa. There have been cases where scientists have said AIDS originated from monkeys in Africa and the monkeys had there own strain of the disease. Then the disease spread to humans and the humans developed their own strain of the disease. AIDS originated in Africa and was present there for sometime before its spread. (Osmond 1.1.4) This is one of the many claims towards the theory of AIDS in Africa. However there is real good evidence to back up this claim. One fact is the male-to-female ratio in Africa as compared with other nations. The distribution by sex of African cases is nearly equal(1.1 to 1)...These figures contrast strikingly with the 19 to 1 ratio seen in the United States. (Osmond) With this equal distribution of males to females sexual transmission of the disease is the cause of spread. Another good reason as to why Africa caused AIDS is the amount of cases that Africa has there. Africa, which represents about 10 percent of the global population, now accounts for more than 60 percent of the total HIV infections among adults worldwide. (Encarta 96) Since the percentage of infection is so high there, it would make logical sense to draw that point as the origin of the disease. Through all of these points of fact it is easy to see that the origin of AIDS has stemmed from the continent of Africa.

What causes AIDS? For quite sometime now, many people believed that HIV was the cause of AIDS. However, recently scientists has been challenging that thought and have now said that it doesn t necessarily have to. I believe they are wrong. HIV does indeed cause AIDS. There are too many cases where it is evident in. The reasoning behind the newly found claim is, the large variation among individuals in the amount of time between infection with HIV and a diagnosis of AIDS has led to speculation that other cofactors may influence the cause of the disease. (Encarta 96) This is all well and good but it still does not shoot down the fact that HIV causes AIDS. In every AIDS case there has been a trace of HIV. Granted there maybe other co-factors having to do with how the disease generates, but HIV is present in all of them. AIDS is caused by infection with HIV..... The causative agent of AIDS is HIV. (Encarta 96) In fact I had the chance to talk to my friends mother, who is a nurse at a hospital where many AIDS patients are being evaluated and cared for, and this was her view on this subject. Throughout all of our cases in this hospital there have not been any without the trace of HIV in them. They all had that in common with each other. Some caught AIDS faster than others, but the fact remains that HIV was present in all of them. (Hoser Telephone Interview) It is really a difficult task to argue such a topic as AIDS, but there are different views on it and these are some of those views.

AIDS is such a risky topic to write about. You do not want to offend anyone but at the same time you want to get your point across. Although the topic of AIDS is itself hard to argue, there are a few topics which can be debated. It all comes down to us trying to defeat this disease. Whether it originated from Africa or Mars, its here. Whether HIV causes it or do other cofactors, its killing. Our world is being stripped of life by this deadly disease. Hopefully, one day in the future we will find a cure and end this horrible nightmare.