Week 8: HIV Origins

Two theories on the origin of HIV are that of the Hunter theory and the Conspiracy theory. The Hunter theory comes from the practice African bush meat hunters. It is known that SIV is carried by certain types of primates. The theory is that somehow this disease was transferred to the hunters of these primates either by consumption of the meat or through cuts on the hunters that came in contact with the simian blood. The virus then adapted itself to live within the human body. The Conspiracy theory states that the HIV virus was man made by the government to wipeout large numbers of African Americans and homosexuals. The hunter theory is very plausible. This theory also is backed by data. The conspiracy theory is entirely based on speculation and the only data avaliable leans toward disproving the theory. People that believe this theory ignore the similarity between SIV and HIV, along with fact that people have been contracting the disease since the 1950s. Although knowing how the disease originally spread to the human population is an important fact, it really will not do much for fighting the disease today. However, knowing how HIV came to be a human disease may help stop other animal diseases from becoming virulent in humans.

Week 7: White Privilege

The article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack describes how being white in our American society automatically grants us things that minorities do not get to experience. Most of the advantages that are experienced by white Americans go unnoticed by them, mainly because they are so common for a majority population to experience. Some examples of things that are brought up in the article by Peggy McIntosh are the fact that white Americans can if they want arrange to be in the company of their own race and they can turn on the television and see their race widely represented. Another example is if a white American receives employment from an affirmative action employer, their coworkers will not assume they got the job only because of their race. I agree that most of the things brought up in the article are true. For several different reasons these attributes of being a minority in the predominately white American culture come true. A main reason is the fact that racism played a large part in founding our country and continues even today, although many people and organizations are making large strides in reducing it. This racism definitely comes into play with the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients. These treatments are expensive and in a society where most of the wealth lies with white Americans, it can be hard for minorities to afford medicines such as antiretrovirals.

Week 5: HIV/AIDS Info

Over the years I have learned many things about AIDS. This disease is caused by a virus which attacks our immune systems, weakening us which provides the opportunity for other diseases to infect that normally would not. AIDS is spread through many difference means including through blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and needle sharing. At this point there is no cure although there are a variety of treatments that can allow a patient to live a long and fulfilling life. Many of these are cocktail methods which mix a variety of drugs to hit the virus in several different ways to help keep it from multiplying. These drugs attack important points in viral replication such as docking with the host cell membrane, turning its RNA into DNA, and integrating its genome into the host DNA. Most of the information that I have learned about AIDS has come from either biology or health courses that I have taken since the beginning of high school. I would like to learn more about the actions taken to education people around the world about the risks of spreading AIDS and different aspects of AIDS prevention. The most surprising thing that I have learned so far came from the video seen on Monday of this week. I never thought about how many children are left as orphans when their parents are both killed by the disease. These children are in many cases left to fend for the themselves unless they are lucky enough to have family members able to care for them.

Week 4

One of the largest global disparities in STIs is that of information and education. When people are not educated about the diseases that they have or could possibly contract, there is no way to keep it from spreading. Lifestyle changes must occur to keep diseases such as STIs from spreading. In many places around the world things such as condoms are available, however, the people either do not know how to use or they are stigmatized. They assume that if their spouse wants them to use a condom then they are not being faithful. This is taken so seriously in some countries that women have been beaten and even killed over the suggestion of using protection.
In the USA, for the most part we have access to the information we need about STIs and their means of spreading. We know that many of these diseases are curable and are not something that will ruin our lives. We also know how to prevent them from spreading and their is always a risk when engaging in sexual behavior. However, even within the United States these diseases are still prevalent. While lack of knowledge, in some cases, is still the reason for spread of disease in the USA many other reasons still affect spread of STIs. A main one is that most people that have these diseases either don't know or do not show any symptoms. People are still human and will make mistakes in judgement no matter how much information they have available to them.