MAJIC JOHNSON FREE OF AIDS SYMPTOMS

[Louis Cypher]

The Associated Press
Thursday, September 19, 2002; 3:32 PM

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. –– Magic Johnson's latest checkup confirmed that he is free of AIDS symptoms, 11 years after he first tested positive for HIV.

The NBA star, who will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame next week, said Wednesday in a conference call that his doctor told him last week that he's still healthy.

"He said, 'Man, whatever you're doing, just keep it up, because you look great,'" said Johnson, who exercises regularly and takes medications.

"I passed all the tests again."

Johnson won five NBA titles in the 1980s with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I don't feel ill. I never have," the 43-year-old said. "I still work out every day. Everything has been super since Day 1."

Johnson will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sept. 27, along with coaches Larry Brown and Lute Olsen, the late Drazen Petrovic, North Carolina State women's coach Kay Yow and the Harlem Globetrotters.

The ceremony precedes a grand opening of the Hall's new building on the following day.

[Total Square]

LC,
that is great news for him, and shows what good medical care can bring.

this morning I was getting a coffee, and saw a friend in donut shop that is HIV positive. he looks horrible, and when he saw me, he didn't even want to talk. he has no money, no insurancem and is just withering away to nothing. this guy used to be the life of the party...shaking hands, yapping non-stop. i went up to him, said hi, put my hand out, and nothing. got a barely audible 'hey'.

i would think he is gravely ill, and this was a horrible sight.

i guess my point here is that magic has the ability to afford the best of everything, including medical care. the disease is still out there, and kills. may we one day be rid of this horrible affliction.

i will now get down from my soapbox.

[alysheba88]

I hope this doesnt turn into a "Magic deserved to get Aids" thread (always a possibility).

Ill never forget when I first heard he had it. It was pretty much a death sentence at the time. Was at the Net game and everyone was really upset. Thought he would be dead in five years. He was positive from the beginning and swore he'd beat it. Of course you just figured he was putting on the good front. But he did. He beat it somehow. And others are too.

Totally agree with TS in that he had the best of everything. But I have to think his attitude and work ethic helped to some degree.

He has his faults and dont want to get into how he got it or why, or how "moral" someone wants to say he is.

[timbo37]

No one "deserves" any disease, but Magic Johnson does deserve scorn for his overall dishonesty. He uses his illness for public sympathy while not addressing the specifics of how he personally contracted it. The media is equally guilty with its kid-glove treatment.

[rabbit]

I've never sensed that Magic is begging for sympathy. And why is he obliged to tell the planet exactly how he "attained" the virus? I mean, does it really matter whether he got it from Isiah or from some Laker groupies?

[Pancho Sanza]

good for him, however, he is a rotten person for cheating on his wife, a point that was totally glossed over at the time he announced he had aids, partly out of sympathy for his plight and his popularity.

[timbo37]

Magic himself was the one that when he contracted HIV theoretically wanted everyone to be educated as much as possible about AIDS. Also, he has never begged for sympathy because he has never had to do so.

[Bucky]

Is it possible for someone who has had an HIV positive test to ever be HIV negative again?

[dildo]

Magic will run for mayor of LA in the next 10 years.

[System of a Down]

I know someone who insists that Magic doesn't really have HIV, that it was all a publicity stunt.

[TheOnlyOne]

I was never a Magic Johnson fan, always rooted for Bird... until I saw him fight the HIV virus in a very positive way...... I'm very sorry to hear about TS's friend, who is suffering from this horrid disease... Hopefully, some day there will be a cure or at least some drugs that everyone with this hiv can afford, unless you have some very good insurance company.

[lowroller]

the one thing i never understood...after he tested positive, they tested his wife and child, and neither one of them ever came up positive.

on a side note, i saw an interview with magic a year or so back, and he personally attributed his attitude as the number one reason he was(is) so healthy. he also made a point to say that he gets the same care that anyone else would receive, and that he receives the same drug "cocktail" that everyone else is being treated with. (i am assuming he was talking about those who are receiving medical care/who can afford it).

[SurfRat]

<< Is it possible for someone who has had an HIV positive test to ever be HIV negative again? >>



No. It's actually impossible. What is possible is that the "viral load" (amount of virus in blood) can receed so that the levels that are virtually undetectable. I suspect that this is what the medical professionals are talking about for Magic. Despite what Magic stated, he is getting better treatment than most patients. From what I understand, he is receiving (or was) a special ozone treatment that most patient cannot afford.

I have vast experience within this field because of a previous profession and believe me when I tell you it's about a person's "will" to keep going. Magic has the will and determination and most importantly, the discipline to fight the disease. The cocktails (drug regiment) that need to be taken daily is amazing. Imagine taken between 40-80 pills per day, depending on your symptoms and all of which have to be taken at specific times of the day! Some before meals, some after, some in the middle of the night, etc. If you miss one, the drugs won't be as affective.

Plus, having a lean body mass helps. Muscles deteriorate much faster than fat. Total Square, sounds like your friend has given up, especially if he's eating donuts.

Anyways, hope this helps every get a better understanding. And in case you are wondering, I'm HIV-NEGATIVE. I just know alot because of my previous profession.

[buckeye]

http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/index.htm

I ran across this site a few years back which says that Western Culture aids is more likely caused by habitual drug use and its cumulative effect over time ( similar to smoking over years bringing on cancer in many ) and that HIV is more of a co-factor than a cause and that many people get aids because when they are diagnosed with HIV they immediately get put on drugs that speed up and contribute to the onset and deterioration of their immune system because they are so strong. It says African Aids is just a re-classification of diseases of the immune system that have been around there forever and are due to unsanitary conditions and malnutrition and are very different than Western Aids. Also talked about the prevalence of aids in affluent countries with recreational drug users.

Some of the stuff I didn't buy 100% but some was very thought provoking. One big question it answered for me is why gay guys are so susceptible. It ends up it is because gay men use drugs at an alarmingly greater rate, particularly inhalents/poppers and cocaine, for which sustained use are likely causes of aids, than the rest of the general population. The gay community uses poppers to enhance/help them have sex easier and the KS they get when aids sets in usually starts near their nose and lungs where the drug has been used. The reason it is hard to pin down is many lie about their drug use and studies are often invalidated by the lack of honesty about heavy and prolonged drug use by those patients.

Some of the conspiracy stuff gets a little questionable but I found a lot of the material answered some questions about the disease I couldn't understand by the HIV theory and I do believe their is something to this alternate theory.

So maybe if Magic stays away from AIDS DRUGS, he could be around a long time!

[SurfRat]

Buckeye -

<< One big question it answered for me is why gay guys are so susceptible. It ends up it is because gay men use drugs at an alarmingly greater rate, particularly inhalents/poppers and cocaine, for which sustained use are likely causes of aids, than the rest of the general population. The gay community uses poppers to enhance/help them have sex easier and the KS they get when aids sets in usually starts near their nose and lungs where the drug has been used. >>



This is not true. Gay males are more susceptible because they are more active sexually and usually with many partners. Drug use in this demographic causes uninhibited sexual behavior, which leads to unsafe sex. Plus, anal sex is much too rough, usually causes small cuts around the anus, which provides and entry point for the virus. Hence the reason why this disease speads so fast in the gay community.

The reason it starts in the nose and lungs is because the muscus membrane is so permiable.

[buckeye]

Surfrat,
I had read the same things as you but I don't think it occurs in promiscuous women who have a lot of anal sex in any higher rate than women in general. I don't think it is rough anal sex with cuts that makes gays more susceptible, that's the part that never really made sense to me. I can more readily believe that most gays that get KS were big popper and drug users than I am that a virus targets gays. Why wouldn't gays be more susceptible to all STD's than we are if anal sex and cuts were a better/easier means for spreading them? The articles talk about the huge popper use in that community and how toxic those inhalents are - that makes more sense to me! I wasn't aware of the prevalence of drugs in the gay culture until I read those articles. The multiple partners are a contributing factor to breakdowns in immune system but the studies cited show a stronger link to drug use. Either in gay community or IV drug users. Read some of the articles on that site, they are interesting. If sexual transmission were the main vehicle for spreading it, it would be much more pervasive in all of our society. That's the myth! If spread thru sex, it wouldn't remain so concentrated in certain pockets of victims like gays and IV drug users. Also, remember that HIV may be spread via sex but that isn't AIDS. The basic tenent of the site is to show that HIV is likely NOT THE CAUSE, but a co-factor for AIDS as no other virus has ever been attributed with all the things that HIV is supposed to do "seems like the magic bullet of viruses so to speak" - it doesn't add up! Breakdowns in your immune system may make you more likely to have HIV, but that doesn't mean HIV causes aids.

I'd say there are things not well "covered" by this theory, but there are as many ? marks about the HIV-causes-AIDS theory. Make of it what you will!