Features: If Magic Made It

...If Magic Made It
On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control printed an article that turned out to be the first scientific report of what is now known as AIDS. It's 26 years since and throughout the world the epidemic has only gotten worse. According to a study published online by the journal "Science" the virus that started the global pandemic passed from chimps to humans in Africa. It all started in southern Cameroon in West Central Africa around 1930. ( My personal feelings is that it was man made. An experiment that went wrong but I'm not here to spread conspiracy theories.) In 1981 it was called Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis and was said to only be spread among gay men in New York and California. I'm sure fanatical religious groups rejoiced at this news. Finally! Proof that being gay was evil. In the modern day Sodom and Gomorra's of San Francisco and New York no less. When the Centers for Disease Control reported the new outbreak they called it GRID (gay-related immune deficiency), stigmatizing the gay community as carriers of this deadly disease. However, cases started to be seen in heterosexuals, drug addicts, and people who received blood transfusions,
proving that the syndrome knew no boundaries.

Still little was done to prevent the virus. It's seemed no one took it seriously. (You know, like Bird Flu.) Just like everything else, no one cares until celebrities do and that didn't happen until the early 90's. Red Hot Organizations released it's first compilation album in 1990. It's made 12 albums to date that benefit AIDS research. The last one was for Fela Kuti who died of AIDS in 1997. In 1993 the movie Philadelphia was made. In 1994 in the movie "Forest Gump" Jenny (Forest' first love) was diagnosed with a mystery disease that could have been read as AIDS seeing as she was perceived to be promiscuous. In 1993 HBO Studios put out "And the Band Played On." In 1994 TLC made the song "Waterfalls." ok, ok in 1989 Salt-n-Pepa made "Let's Talk About Sex." Great, you ruined my whole theory. But you get the point. The world started to care when Hollywood and the music industry did.

In 1991 Magic Johnson announced he had HIV (not AIDS, more on that in a
second.) The Black community was shocked but still didn't pay much attention. I remember Heavy D rapping "Brothers wear your rubbers before you catch some Magic in your Johnson." Funny? Yes. Helpful? Not really. Hip hop as a whole paid it no mind. Ice Cube famously stated "I don't know nobody with AIDS ... I don't want to know nobody with AIDS." A few years later in 1995 Eric "Eazy-E" Write passed away from an AIDS related complication. Hip hops response was basically "What's this! E was a pimp, a gangsta. No, no, no, this can't be!" That's when Hip-Hop started to take it seriously.

But in the flux of this new found information a lot of it has been mangled because a lot of the information came out of fear. No, you can't get AID's from kissing or a water fountain and contrary to popular belief, AIDS isn't an automatic death sentence. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. They are not the same thing. HIV belongs to a subset of viruses called retroviruses or "slow virus." This is because it is a progressive disease. HIV is entered through the body through the mucous membranes or through blood to blood contact. Once you get the virus it slowly begins to attack the immune system, killing off healthy immune system cells. The
deterioration and destruction of immune function leads to AIDS. AIDS is the final stage of the HIV infection not the infection itself.

Let's talk science for a second. CD4 is a glycoprotein expressed on the surface of T helper cells, regulatory T cells, and dendritic cells. T cells are a subgroup of the white blood cell that play an important role in establishing and maximizing the capabilities of the immune system. (Read that again until it makes sense.) A person is said to have AIDS when the CD4 counts drops below 200 and/or a person has 1 or more opportunistic infections. The O.I.'s, as they are called, are normal infections that a healthy person would be able to fight off. A common cold for example.

There are actually four stages of the HIV infection. 1) The period following infection is called the window. It is called this because it reflects the window of time between infection and that which antibodies are develop in a person. The HIV test looks for antibodies not the virus. 2) The second stage is called seroconversion. This is when the body begins to develop lots of antibodies to fight off the virus in the body. During this period a person may have flu like symptom. Also during this period is said to be very infectious. 3) The third stage is called symptom free. During this period a person may have no symptom what so ever. This can last anywhere from 6 months to well over ten years. The medical world is not sure why some people are living symptom free for so long. 4) The final stage is called... AIDS. This is the period when T cell's drop to below
200 and the OI's are present. This is why Magic is still alive and appears to be doing well. He might not actually have AIDS yet. That, and the fact that he has the money to buy whatever medication he needs. AND being that he's an athlete he probably exercised every day of his life and ate correctly which is known to improve the immune system.

So, to recap, HIV is a infection that LEADS to AIDS. The bodies immune system is slowly being attacked until it is destroyed and can't fight off infections. Once this happens a person is said to have AIDS.

HIV/AIDS is not just a health problem, but also a development problem. You
see by spreading fast and mostly to young people and working-age adults, HIV/AIDS affects the economy, society, family and schooling in a country,
weakening the country (whatever country that may be) as a whole.

What can we do to combat AIDS? First, protect yourself, teach others to protect themselves, respect those who are infected, and if you feel so inclined, get involved anyway you can. There is no shortage of chances.

Be safe people.

Lee H. Tillman is a Los Angeles based journalist. You can find more
information about him at Calogerodean.com