I want to know the truth about aids and cancer....

[rachie]

What a confusing world I've found myself in - the "all natural" as part of my daily life, part of keeping my kids healthy - we eat organic we try to stay away from chemicals and use homeopathy and chiropractic much more often than modern medicine. 

But what about when it comes to what seems like scary topics - things that are for many many people life-threatening like aids or cancer?? 

I've read things like this article from "Natural News" and don't want to just believe it - though I would like to - it sounds great - but I also don't want to make anything overly simple - like as if all people with cancer or aids would be "magically" healed if they suddenly began to eat healthy. 

So is there anyone here who has done research and knows their stuff when it comes to especially these (but also more) conditions in regards to "cure" and "nutrition" being in the mix?? 

What about "Gerson Therapy"? 

And I want to know fully the truth about aids because I've considered adopting a child who may be hiv positive but I already have children in my home and since they are already my responsability to "protect" I would not want them, of course, to be at any risk for a serious health problem all their life if there was a real risk they could somehow become infected with an HIV virus.  So I would really, really like to hear from people who fully understand the managability of hiv and the possability of spread of it between siblings or parents (I think somewhere it said that kids shouldn't share toothbrushes - um....  my kids always mix theirs up even though they know who's is who's - they are just kids and play around with that stuff, kwim?). 

[Annie Mac]

I don't think there's any one "truth" out there. There's an evolving, but incomplete, understanding and cancer and aids through scientific study and yes, pharma plays a part in that (do they make money? Of course they do. Does that negate their research and contributions? No.). Then there are the people who purport to have all the answers, definitively. Those people I distrust, regardless of what "side" they're on. It's really important to critically evaluate your sources of information. ALL of them, whether mainstream or alternative or somewhere in between. The article you have linked uses inflammatory language, creates an us and them dichotomy, hints at conspiracy and grossly oversimplifies things.

I absolutely 100% believe that diet plays a huge role in our overall health, whether or not we have cancer or aids, and I absolutely 100% believe a good diet can contribute to healing. But anyone who tells me that they can cure cancer, any cancer, all cancer, just come to my institute, pay $5000 and drink carrot juice everyday...now that I have my doubts about. There's anecdotal evidence on all sides, and everyone (myself included) can come up with stories that support whatever therapy you have in mind, be it chemo, wheatgrass, or whatever. And everyone can come up with anecdotes that don't support those things. Nothing works 100%. There's no definitive answer that someone is withholding from us to make money from. There's no conspiracy. There's just us humans struggling to understand and thrive in the world. 

That's my two cents. As for AIDS transmission, I don't think you can get it from a toothbrush. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I think the main methods of transmission are blood contact and sexual contact. That said, if I had one family member living with HIV/AIDS, I'd probably exercise a little extra caution. Couldn't hurt & might help.

[stik]

The concern about toothbrushes is that a lot of minor infections make your gums bleed, as does vigorous brushing.  Some doctors think that, under some circumstances, it might be possible for AIDS to be transmitted via a shared toothbrush if both individuals have bleeding gums or sores in the mouth.  Other infections can be transmitted that way too, so it's a good idea to keep toothbrushes separate.  FWIW, my kids mix theirs up all the time too.  But I can see how, if there was a greater concern about sharing infections in a household, keeping the toothbrushes clearly identified would be a good idea.  

[mamacolleen]

I can't speak to all your question but rest assured there's no risk of getting HIV through regular household contact. There is a theoretical risk that HIV can be spread through sharing toothbrushes. The thing is though is that both kids would need to have a cut in their mouths (you would need an exit and entry point for the virus - saliva has next to no HIV in it) and it would need to be a pretty immediate sharing. HIV survives only a minute or two in the open air before it dies.

ETA: Also, if you're considering adopting a child with HIV, presumably you have enough resources to give the child the medications he/she might need to keep his/her viral load (the amount of the virus present in the body) to nearly undetectable levels. This would also contribute to the lack of risk of the children sharing toothbrushes since the child would have next to no virus to pass on.