A New Hypothesis
Here below are three letters, from Ching-Chee Chan, Ph.D. to the
editor, originally published in Canadian Research, reproduced by
kind permission of the publisher.
The AIDS virus: culprit or by-product?
To the Editor:
I would like to suggest plotting graphs of number of cases of given
population of diseases such as arthritis, bone softening, cystic
fibrosis, emphysema, muscular distrophy, multiple sclerosis,
lymphatic cancer, skin cancer . . . etc., against year.
I suspect something happened in the biological sphere in the early
60s, and vast numbers of cases of these diseases are related. When
these graphs are available, they should be examined to see whether
there are relationships among them. I expect them to swing upwards
in the early 60s, continue the upward swing throughout the 70s, and
start levelling off in the 80s.
There is one bacterium which is known to attack muscle, bone,
nerve and skin tissues. It eventually causes the victims to lose their
natural immunity to fight infection- AIDS. The bacterium is the one
that causes Hansen's disease.
Isolation of the AIDS virus has been reported, but I wonder if the
material isolated is the culprit or just a by-product. I doubt the
possibility of creating something entirely new, whether it is a new
transuranium element, plastic or bacterium. The so-called "new"
thing is always an old material with a new arrangement.
It is time to look at the situation from a different angle. The problem
may be due to something old but "improved." My suspicion is that
AIDS is an "improved" version of Hansen's disease. These graphs
may partially confirm my suspicion.
Ching-Chee Chan, PhD.
Canadian Research September 1987; 20(9): 4.
AIDS related to living conditions
To the Editor:
The "spread" of AIDS has been attracting a lot of attention. It is
time we paid more attention to the development of AIDS to the level
detectable by present-day technology, particularly to relationships
among the rate and course of development, and the lifestyles and the
living conditions of the victims.
A statistical study should be conducted on groups which have been
tested HIV-negative, but with AIDS-like or related symptoms such
as arthritis, bone softening, cystic fibrosis, emphysema, muscular
distrophy, multiple sclerosis, lymphatic cancer, skin cancer,
hemophilia, etc. after a certain duration, all the subjects should be
retested, and the results correlated with the following: sexual
orientation, drug-related lifestyle, combination of poor living
conditions and undisciplined lifestyles.
Women in poor countries are more deprived, and statistics
published by the United Nations show more female AIDS victims
than male. In rich industrialized countries, men are less disciplined
than women and more men than women develop the syndrome. If
the determining step was "spread," it would most likely be an equal-opportunity factor. It is a well-known fact that countries or
communities with adequate nourishment and disciplined lifestyles
have fewer incidents of AIDS per capita, but no fewer AIDS-related
problems. This indicates that some lifestyles, living conditions or
combination of both accelerate the development of AIDS to a level
detectable by present technology.
It is logical to assume that cases with a high rate of development are
classified as AIDS and those with low rates as diseases such as
arthritis or cancer- development being the determining step.
Dr. C. C. Chan.
Canadian Research, September 1988; 21(6): 6.
Modified bacterium + poor lifestyle = AIDS
To the Editor:
In Canada, the number of deaths due to diseases of the musculo-skeletal system1 increased by 40.5 per cent from 1980 to 1986. It is
difficult to translate such data into rates of incidence, but they can
reflect the rate somewhat if medical intervention is not too
successful. In this case, no vital organs are involved and the diseases
are chronic. The average time between incidence and death is 15 to
20 years. This indicates the period- near the early 1960s- in which
the rate of incidence started to rise.
From 1977 to 1986, the number of deaths due to diseases of the
nervous system and sense organs1 increased by 105 per cent.
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis affects persons 18 or younger.
According to Statistics Canada, the first recorded death was in
1969.1 if the average age of the victims is assumed to nine, the year
1960 would be the earliest possible for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
to appear. This can only mean juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is a
recent phenomenon.
Apart from the juvenile rheumatoid arthritis data, data on deaths
due to diseases of musculo-skeletal and nervous systems indicate a
new variable in the early 60s. They can be correlated and explained
as a whole by a hypothesis proposed by this writer2: there is one
bacterium known to attack muscle, bone, nerve and skin tissues. It
eventually causes its victims to lose their natural ability to fight
infection. The bacterium is the one that causes Hansen's disease.
This bacterium is known to be able to change, and thrives when
living conditions are poor. In poor countries there are almost as
many female AIDS victims as male. In rich industrialized countries,
men are less disciplined than women, and more men than women
develop the syndrome. It is a well-known fact that countries or
communities with adequate nourishment and disciplined lifestyles
have fewer incidents of AIDS per capita, but no fewer AIDS-related
problems. This indicates that some lifestyles, living conditions or
combination of both accelerate the development of AIDS to a level
detectable by present technology.3
From the above, it follows that AIDS is the combined result of an
improved version of Hansen's disease and socio-economic
conditions. Hopefully, life scientists will suggest a mechanism by
which the Hansen virus may have been modified, and provide
details regarding how such a modification might have created AIDS
as we know it.
Dr. C. Chan,
Toronto.
REFERENCES
1. Statistics Canada, Causes of Death, Catalogue 84-203, 1965-1986.
2. Chan C. C., Canadian Research, September 1987.
3. Chan C. C., Canadian Research, September 1988.
Canadian Research, June/July 1989; 22(4): 6.
For the shortened versions of the two booklets, entitled "AN
ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO AIDS AND RELATED
PROBLEMS" and "AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO AIDS
AND RELATED PROBLEMS: BOOK 2," please click here.