hey Kimochi,

i don't know very much about the subject, but I think the best favor you can do yourself is buy What if everything you thought you knew about AIDS was wrong, which gives an excellent summary of the arguments of the skeptics. unfortunately it is not available online (although you may try to find and download a pdf version of it through p2p/bittorrent programs. not sure if it's there though)

also, I am not sure that most HIV-AIDS skeptics would say that AIDS symptoms according to the skeptics are mostly caused by syphilis as you seem to suggest on the wikitaba. in Africa for example the probem may be tuberculosis, malaria, malnutrition, contaminated drinking water, etc.

pearls to swine

Initially, I have to admit this bias... when you say the man proposes that germ theory is wrong... I immediately emotionally write this man off as an idiot. There is really no scenario in which I could imagine a Phd coming up with such an asenine proposition.

After having confessed that, I researched what he actually believes.

He ascribes to an Obsolete theory in microbiology called Pleomorphism. So my initial reaction of, "Wow this guy is a new-age crank" holds true.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleomorphism

Wiki

Quote:

A similar theory, called the Dr. Hay diet, was developed by the American physician William Howard Hay in the 1920s. A later theory, called nutripathy, was developed by another American, Gary A. Martin, in the 1970s. Others who have promulgated alkaline-acid diets include Edgar Cayce, D. C. Jarvis, Robert Young, Herman Aihara, and Victor A. Marcial-Vega.

Why hasn't it been universally embraced since it's been around for so long? Sounds to me like this guy is just another face slapped on the same product someone is trying to resell.

The reason is because the essence of his theory is completely factually false, and a misinterpretation of the data.

Quote:

Medical science states that metabolic acidity in blood pH is only attributed to kidney failure, diabetes ketoacidosis and shock; alternatively, it could also be associated to ingestion of toxic substances such as antifreeze or aspirin overdoses.[8] Just as with other biological homeostasis, like body temperature (Thermoregulation) and electrolyte balance, the human body corrects for either respiratory or metabolic acidosis to maintain normal pH.[9][10] The acid/base status of the body (pH) is continuously regulated by the kidneys and the lungs;[11] a healthy human-arterial blood pH varies between 7.35 and 7.45.[citation needed] The alkaline diet has similarities with the Dr. Hay diet which is also based on avoiding presumably acid food. The vast majority of the medical community view this diet as pseudoscience.

Also, your boy Robert studied Biology and Business... which makes me think he's just trying to sell a product. There is also a big gap in between when he studied biology at university and when he was "awarded" his PHD. about 20 years. As of 96' he's been in to "alternative medicine" after being given an N.D. (doctor of naturopathy) from an unacredited distance learning center.

Aside from his being a new-age crank...

His diet is healthy (maybe imbalanced) even though all of the pH jargon used for justification is absolute nonsense. How can you go wrong when you're consuming mainly fresh fruit, vegetables, roots and tubers, nuts, and legumes.

I think avoiding grains and dairy is a mistake, especially whole grains. Meat consumption isn't a problem, either way your lifestyle needs to be a healthy one which contains excersize at least 3x a week. I don't think I've ever read any solid nutritional science which has convinced me to eliminate an entire food group.

You don't need to be "well versed in dietary options" to know that "fresh fruit, vegetables, roots and tubers, nuts, and legumes" are all good for you and healthy... I think you do have to have some kind of stigma to abstain from grains, meat, and diary though...

pearls to swine

If you want to have some kind of debate about this we most certainly can. I don't mind explaining to you why Pleomorphism was abandoned over a century ago.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z24Jy7YnzA4
"Even your thoughts can make you overly acidic."



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3oleKrSCwc
This is supposed to be an example of how "red blood cells give way to the formation of bacteria" but all he does is move the screen quickly and tell you what you ought to think you're seeing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO8MP3wMvqg

Gotta run!

It's also interesting to me that you would complain about big business and corrupt medical practices and pharmaceutical companies when, at the same time you look through Robert O Youngs website and he will refer you to his products page on just about every page. Here you will find such necessities as the The pHaucet pHilter, and it can be YOURS for the low low low low low low price of 129$!!!!

It's practically a steal! And don't worry about the filtration process, he's got you taken care of there too. For the low low low low low low price of of 79$ per unit you can enjoy Alkalynized water for as long as you're willing to fork up the money.

He's not just trying to rob you blind.

I make this kind of comparison.
You have pH Miracle Water on sale from this guy for 48$ for a 12 pack...
You have the Christian Tele-Evangelist Peter Popoff trying to sell you Miracle Spring Water... but he disguises his sales pitch by offering the spring water to donators.

I see no difference whatsoever between these two men. Eithe way what I can't understand even more is how you can hold them to a higher standard than the "established paradigm" based solely on their desire for profit.

If you're really serious about Alkalynizing your diet, you can really pat yourself on the back by buying the Ionizer 3000 for the low low low low low price of 1500$. It's worth it though right? You need this piece of equipment to live a long and healthy life right? You don't want to be ACIDIC do you?

It's marketing pseudoscience... it's on the same intellectual par with Homeopathy (hence my reference to the dawkins film).

(as an aside, I apologize to everyone else for this tangeant. Mods might consider breaking this subconvo off into another thread entirely... as it has nothing to do with AIDS other than Robert Young proclaiming that his dietary approach probably cures it as well as cancer. I personally take pseudoscience personally, and feel obligated to respond to it.)

Having survived 3 open heart surgeries, including the implantation of a donated heart valve, an appendectomy (that was done because of life threatening appendicitis after 24 straight hours of feverish vomiting) 3 hernia repairs, and being continuously treated for a neuropathic injury to the shoulder (those painkillers, they work) for 4 years, I'd just like to come out and thank THEM (my sister, her husband, and his father among them) for their fine work in keeping me alive. I'll worry about my pH and supplements later...

You OBVIOUSLY need to consume more baking soda, man!

(joking, joking! WOW, you've seen a lot more of the medical profession than any of us ever want to, it appears.)

- NonE

And some of it, a lot actually, in 3rd world'ish socialized medicine situations, including Libya and Saudi Arabia (it is weird to be in a hospital with an all male staff, not a single nurse in the traditional sense). All the heart surgeries have been done in the last 15 years, in the U.S. I will say that the difference in treatment and outcome between a state university research hospital and a private, though charitable, hospital could not be more profound. My treatment by the surgeon and the staff, the facilities both clinical and family support wise, the result of the procedure and the follow-up were in different universes. Dr Teodori and Phoenix Children's hospital will, to my dying day, receive boundless praise and admiration from me (while I was recuperating, I met a young boy [and his mother, whose transit and accommodations were also provided by PCH] from Sierra Leon who was about to receive a similar valve replacement operation, by the same doctor, with the same level of care, for free! Who says the free market can't take care of the less fortunate?). UCLA and Dr. Lax... well, not so much. Not least of which is due to their selling me on an experimental procedure that led to total valve failure and severe CHF less than 3 years from the date of the procedure. You can see why I elected not to go back there for a third try, but I sure hope they learned something in using me as a guinea pig.

I raise my glass of bicarb to PCH!

pearls to swine

pearls to swine