Blacks and HIV/AIDS

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netrox

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Just recently, there's a report saying that 3% of DC residents have HIV/AIDS. People say, "It's because they are poor... poverty.. malnourished... no condoms... lack of education..." and while they are valid factors, I suspect that it's also because they're black.

"BLACK?!?! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT?!?! HIV IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY DISEASE!"

WRONG!

I've argued blacks are genetically more likely to get HIV than whites. I pointed out that Africa is high with HIV and it's not just because of their behavior but also their genetic differences making them more likely to be infected.

This new study just vindicates what I've been saying all along:

Newfound genetic clue to HIV rate in blacks

In simple words, HIV favor blacks more than whites hence the high rate of HIV rate in blacks.

Statistics just show over and over... HIV prefers blacks the most and it takes a LOT of exposure for a white person to get HIV from a HIV+ person.

Remember 49% of new HIV cases in the United States are diagnosed in African Americans, who make up 12 percent of the population.

That is significant. The majority of people with HIV/AIDS here in USA is homosexual but the majority of people with it are black which is unnaturally out of proportion with the rest of the nation.

Simply put, there is a STRONG correlation between race and HIV.
 
It's the same with many other diseases. There are different races that are prone to different diseases than other races.

I remember watching an episode of House where a black guy was diagnosed with something that was common among African Americans. When he was offered medication for that particular disease, he refused to take it because he felt he was being singled out as an African American and felt that he deserved to be treated as every other patient... by taking a different medication that white people would take.
 
Vampy was that sickle cell anima?
That is significant. The majority of people with HIV/AIDS here in USA is homosexual but the majority of people with it are black which is unnaturally out of proportion with the rest of the nation.

Simply put, there is a STRONG correlation between race and HIV.
Click to expand...
Um it's not as clear cut as that. This is only ONE demographic example.
Maybe it just sticks out b/c HIV infection has been relatively well controlled in majority populations. It doesn't surprise me that blacks are at risk for HIV infection, since many of them live in ghettos which tend to be hotbeds of drug abuse. Also black families tend to be kinda homophobic. It's actually quite common for gay black men to be married to a woman, but go "cruising" for sex annoymously. They then put themselves at high risk for infection.
This set up was very common overall back in the 80's and early 90's....it was common for gay men to be deeply in the closet but do stuff like rest area sex on the side.
 
The reason that it's so common among blacks is

A. The continent it originated in (which is pretty much all black) is unstable, undeveloped, largely devoid of sex-education, and has very few medical facilities. Simply put few people there know how it's transmitted and how to stop it. The virus having a huge headstart there before anybody knew what HIV and AIDS were doesn't help us either.
and....
B. The areas where unprotected sex, hypodermic drug abuse, and prostitution occur tend to be ghettoes (predominately black/hispanic/etc. in immigrant friendly countries).

An extra susceptibility to the virus when chances of transmitting it during unprotected anal sex (primary means of transmission) are already so high is just icing on the cake.
 
I do not think it is in their genes. You have to remember that Africa Americans have the highest rate of abortions too. Where there a large amount of abortions, then there are misused condoms or unprotected sex. Condom is suppose to keep a girl from being pregnant. If it not protecting from her from being pregnant then it is not protecting her from HIV/AIDS either
 
If there seems to be something that makes them more susceptible to HIV, then I'll give them that, but I don't necessarily agree with the comments in the article that "Gay black men do not engage in riskier behavior than gay white men, for example." When that's pretty clearly not true these days. When AIDS became a huge "gay" thing in the 80's, I don't think anyone would have said that they were just more vulnerable to it. They were clearly living in an environment that did not support or enforce safe-sex practices. Am I saying that it was their fault? Not at all, but the fact that to live their lives they had to make certain unsafe decisions does not mean that they didn't engage in "risky behavior". Right now, many black men still live in a culture that does not support or tolerate homosexuality. The whole culture of being on the "DL", is probably leading to the same types of "risky behavior" that were so common among all gay men in the 80's. It's also why so many straight black women get infected with HIV from their "straight" husbands.

Maybe they're more vulnerable to it, maybe not. It doesn't change the fact that generally, the black community is not very supportive of homosexual lifestyles, which inevitably leads to some "risky behavior".
 
heteosexual men are more likely to practice safe sex out of fear of paying child support.

That's the only difference.
 
The OP's article was about African Blacks. African Blacks have a gene mutation to protect them from malaria that also makes them more susceptible to HIV than other aces. Not all American Blacks are of African descent, so the information in the article does not apply to any other Black people (e.g. those of Jamaican descent, for instance.)
 
still, you have to protect yourself. I've heard people say, "well I am fat because it is in my gene" Sure, you may be more prone to be overweight while another person can eat all she wants and never get fat.. but the food and lack of excercise is still the cause of being fat no matter how you slice it. Same with HIV/AIDS when it comes to sex.
 
Lifestyle will always trump genetic influence in almost any scenario. Eating more calories than you use will make you fat. Sitting around makes you weak. Practicing unprotected sex with untested partners and risky sexual practices will probably end up with you getting an STD.
 
Actually, genetic predisposition and environmental factors have an equal impact on the manisfestation of disease.
 
Races and genetics plays a role. < genetic factors

Just like my genes plays a role for me to have a tendency to be more prone to have certain illnesses, Some can be helped some can not.

Majority can be controlled if I use precautionary measures. < The environmental factors.
 
Babyblue said:
Races and genetics plays a role. < genetic factors

Just like my genes plays a role for me to have a tendency to be more prone to have certain illnesses, Some can be helped some can not.

Majority can be controlled if I use precautionary measures. < The environmental factors.
Click to expand...

Exactly!
 
jillio said:
Actually, genetic predisposition and environmental factors have an equal impact on the manisfestation of disease.
Click to expand...

Well it can't be generalized very much. This example is one of those where environmental factors can easily be controlled, but the same can't be said about having a genetically faulty immune system.
 
Mockingbird said:
Well it can't be generalized very much. This example is one of those where environmental factors can easily be controlled, but the same can't be said about having a genetically faulty immune system.
Click to expand...

That can be said of any disease. Predisopistion cannot be controlled for. Environmental factors can. Individual response to environmental factors cannot.
 
Agreed. Too many people resign to their "genetic problems" which are often minute/controllable or a result of self delusion. The same can be said of other conditions too.
 
I think that blacks are more susceptible

I would look at higher prevalence of HIV and AIDS ANYWHERE where theres black people. I live in Venezuela. Venezuela is a latin-american country with people of all races. The african blacks usually reside near the coast, in places like choroni, el callao, Barlobento...Now the prevalence of AIDS in all these places is way higher than the rest of the country. Just like DC, more Blacks more AIDS. Now lets take latin america as a whole. Which latin countries have the most blacks percentage-wise? Panamanians and Dominicans are almost all black. Also Brazil has a high proportion of Black People as well, not as much as Panama and Dominican howerver. Now, which Latin countries have the highest rates of HIV infection? You guessed it, Panama, Dominican Republic, and Brazil. It just so happens to be that the three countries with the highest percentage of people of African descent in Latin America are exactly the ones with a highest percentage of HIV infection...Investigate for yourself...Look up AIDS in New Orleans same thing, higher rates than the rest of the country, and DC the highest rate in all US.
Now lets take another demographic group which to me is the most telling. 7%of white homosexuals have AIDS, compared to 33 % of Black Homosexuals. The exception is Cuba. A lot of Blacks, but not a lot of AIDS. But theres factors in Cuba that dont apply anywhere else, the most obvious being that Cuba is an isolated nation in terms of emigration and tourism (although tourism to Cuba increased greatly in the 90s). But lets take poor countries in Latin America with a low percentage or Abscence of Black people. Bolivia, has virtually no AIDS at all. Guess what too? Most Bolivians are native americans, with very few people being of African Descent. I suspect countries like Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Ecuador, that have enclaves of Black people in certain regions, will show higher rates of infection in exactly those regions. Im just saying where theres smoke theres gotta be fire. I would look up the rates of AIDS in places in Colombia like Cartagena or Cali, where theres a lot of Black people, and compare them with the rest of Colombia. I cant just cant look at the statistics and say, well Blacks are just oversexed people and that explains it. Cause sexual liberalism trascends race.
 
Although Ahuja and his team are highly respected researchers, some scientists in the field cautioned that the conclusions may be premature. "I'm a little skeptical about it," said Cheryl Winkler, head of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute, in Frederick, Md.

More study urged

Winkler, an expert in genetic factors that cause disease, said the differences in infection rates between soldiers who carried the gene variant and those who did not was statistically significant, but barely so.
"They have a model here, but they don't have enough evidence," she said. "This definitely requires more study and replication of results before you can make these assumptions."

...As quoted from said article. Wow hardly a strong correlation more like "
barely"..I suppose what strengthened this weak argument was the fact that African Americans were being discussed. If the facts and conclusive data was being discussed...how could it be assumed this information is valid. Also, I would be careful about spreading this info to less savvy people, who are white and feel they can gamble their lives sexually a few times as long as their unprotected partner is also white. I understand the reasoning to a degree, and my understanding is the benefit of this study
is as follows:
"At a deeper level, he said, the study opens doors for new research into the complex relationship between blood cells and the chemical signals that turn the immune system on and off."

"They've done a real good job of trying to explain their results," said UCSF virologist Dr. Jay Levy, who was among the first to isolate HIV as the cause of AIDS. "It poses a nice challenge to researchers trying to understand how HIV causes disease."

...exactly good job trying to explain their results
 
I wish the presumptions were old..and ramifications. Just like I came across this misinformation someone else may have so my point is....Whomever you are or identify with protect yourself each and every time you have sex, HIV/ AIDS still doesn't discriminate!..It only takes ONE time.
 
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