SCI/TECH: Medieval Plague May Explain European Resistance to HIV

Scientist have a theory as to why 10 percent of the European population is resistant to HIV. The epidemics of hemorrhagic fever that struck Europe during the Middle Ages, may have perpetuated a specific gene mutation that was resistant. Called delta-32 in the cellular receptor dubbed CCR5, it protects against HIV and may have also protected against the Black Death and smallpox.



Its a very interesting find, and I wonder if gene therapy can be adopted to make the population immune to a variety of disease? Now can it be done in a cost effective manner is another story. But it may prove of some use to help prevent the spread of the disease. No doubt, as the population pressures increase we will face new strains of a yet undiagnosed disease that will continue to challenge scientists.

If 10 percent of Europeans are resistant to HIV and the US is primarily European, why isn't 10% of that part of the US resistant to HIV or say about 5% of the entire US?

Good point.

I'm going to assume that it has something to do with the genetic mixing that resulted from a few hundred years of asian, black, white, arab, native, mixing going on here. It only takes one interacial (if there truly is such a thing) child to change a whole genetic lineage.

think about it....if your family didn't get sick like everyone else, why wold you leave your native land? If your family was the ones that didn't drop dead during the plagues, you wouldn't get your land taken from you, for fear of contaminating the lord and master.

First go learn some history LOL!
The reason why the plague started and happend in Europe in the first place (and no where else) was because in the middle ages Europeans were THE filthiest society ever in history.

Europeans were throwing their garbage out of their windows, piling it up on the streets. Doing it for year and years. This horribly unsanitary condition led to the plague happening.

In ADDITION, Europeans never washed their bodies, nor hands. (As evidence by the rampant condition of "bed bugs", scurvy, lice, and other bugs that constantly crawled all over Europeans. This led to them shaving their heads and wearing wigs.)

During the plague 99% of deaths were NOT because the victims didn't have this "protective gene". It was because the priests, doctors, nurses, did NOT wash their hands after dealing with patients. The doctors, priests, and nurses, would then spread the plague. When they finally discovered washing, then the plague was able to be quarentiened, and it finally ended. Moral of the story? Doctors now scrub their hands before and after dealing with each patient.

Right now in modern times, AIDS/HIV was spread from gays on purpose having sex in bath houses. There would be orgies of hundreds to thousands of gays every night. White, Euro-American, gay, males, are what spread AIDS/HIV. Some were bi-sexual or "in the closet" which is what spread it to the straight population, and to female prostitutes which also spread it to the straight population. Some gays did drugs, which also spread it to the straight population. AIDS/HIV became a political disease which is why no effort was made to quarentine it cuz then the ACLU would say "your discriminating on gays!" So AIDS/HIV spread and spread.

BTW, these past 2 weeks, a new Super-AIDS virus has now been released... I mean... has mysteriously... come out. It acts faster than the old HIV/AIDS, and is resitant to everything!

Finally, it doesn't matter if your part of the other 90% of whites, mixed, asian, indian, arab, black, yellow, just freeeeekin don't do drugs, shoot up drugs, share needles, engage in gay orgies with gays, do orgies with groups of strangers, and you will never get AIDS/HIV/!!! You don't need some special gene to protect from AIDS/HIV, you need to use common sense LOL!

[edit on 10-3-2005 by OpenSecret2012]

[edit on 10-3-2005 by OpenSecret2012]

[edit on 11-3-2005 by OpenSecret2012]

I think its just as likely that it was contracted by a straight person who got it from an animal who then gave it to a gay person person.

Your "thousands of naked gay people orgy" thing is a bit much.

[edit on 11-3-2005 by The Big O]

Finally, it doesn't matter if your part of the other 90% of whites, mixed, asian, indian, arab, black, yellow, just freeeeekin don't do drugs, shoot up drugs, share needles, engage in gay orgies with gays, do orgies with groups of strangers, and you will never get AIDS/HIV/!!! You don't need some special gene to protect from AIDS/HIV, you need to use common sense LOL!

Just because you don't do any of these things, doesn't save you if your partner has ever done them or might try them sometime.

Originally posted by The Big O
I think its just as likely that it was contracted by a straight person who got it from an animal who then gave it to a gay person person.

Your "thousands of naked gay people orgy" thing is a bit much.

[edit on 11-3-2005 by The Big O]

My thing I got from a famous documentry on the gay bath houses. And from a newspaper called the "Village Voice" that also did a coverstory on how gays would on purpose have all night orgies at these special bath houses. The majority of the gay bath houses have now been closed.

I hate saying this, but many sickos have been having sex with animals for thousands of years, and no AIDs virus. AIDs is a man-made virus. It targets only the immune system. It's like a criminal who goes around trying to rob police stations. Or invades police stations trying to kill as many cops as he can. No other virus, disease, in history has ever been a cop killer.

Originally posted by Corgidancer
Finally, it doesn't matter if your part of the other 90% of whites, mixed, asian, indian, arab, black, yellow, just freeeeekin don't do drugs, shoot up drugs, share needles, engage in gay orgies with gays, do orgies with groups of strangers, and you will never get AIDS/HIV/!!! You don't need some special gene to protect from AIDS/HIV, you need to use common sense LOL!

Just because you don't do any of these things, doesn't save you if your partner has ever done them or might try them sometime.

Yeah your right. Let me amend my statement with, as long as you AND your partner/wife/husband/girlfirend use common sense you will never get AIDs/HIV!!!!

This may not sound exciting, but delta 32 is a powerful mistake. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, attacks the human immune system, infecting the white blood cells sent to destroy it. The delta 32 mutation, however, effectively blocks the crucial gateway into human cells the virus needs. In the case of Steve Crohn, whose partner was the fifth person to die from AIDS, possessing the CCR5 mutation has prevented him from contracting the virus.

O'Brien explains further, "In order to have total resistance to HIV, you have to carry two doses of the mutated gene -- one from each parent. If you get only one dose, you will not be resistant to infection. However, you may be able to delay the onset of HIV once you become infected. That's because, in patients with one copy of the mutation, the amount of 'portals' or 'doorways' that HIV can use is reduced by about 50 percent. That slows down virus replication, which is the most important factor in AIDS progression."

Slim odds of having immunity considering the rarity of the mutation and the fact that both parents must have had it. But on a more optimistic note:

Scientists studying HIV first learned about the gateway-blocking capacity of the CCR5 mutation in 1996. Several drug companies, then, quickly began exploring the possibility of developing pharmaceuticals that would mimic delta 32 by binding to CCR5 and blocking the attachment of HIV. Previous methods of treatment interfered with HIV's ability to replicate after the virus has already entered a cell. This new class of HIV treatment, called early-inhibitor -- or fusion-inhibitor -- drugs seek to prevent the virus from ever attaching at all. These pharmaceuticals are still in relatively early stages of development, but certainly stand as a hopeful new method of approaching HIV treatment.

Source: PBS - Secrets of the Dead

B.