European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 28, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse New clues to an insidious virus new findings indicate that the aids virus can enter and multiply in immature Bone marrow cells. Although it is not Clear How the virus enters the cells the research helps explain How the virus can Lurk in the body making it difficult to eradicate. Bone marrow As the aids virus multiplies inside the Bone marrow cells the cells show no exterior signs of infection. Immature marrow cells blood vessel the virus enters the body through blood or mucous membranes and from there infiltrates the Bone marrow. Virus macrophage when the marrow cells mature into monocytes and macrophages scavenger cells of the immune system they remain infected with the virus. Infected monocytes and macrophages May fail to fight infections and May spread the virus to other immune system cells and other parts of the body including the brain. Not healthy people9 with aids by Brenda c. Coleman associated press Mike has lived twice As Long Smight have been expected when doctors diagnosed his aids. Vanturner and Cristofer Shihar had one Hance in five of seeing 1984. They Don t know Why they be survived what has been a death sentence for More than 45,000 americans but say it May be a matter of attitude. A lot of people Don t die of the disease they die because they give up said Mike a 34-year old chicagoan who was diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome in january 1984. He asked that his last name be withheld. According to Judith Wiker a Chicago holistic therapist who says she has counselled hundreds of clients with aids or aids related problems Mike is one of Many people with the disease who Are Well enough to feel and act Normal. There Are a lot of healthy people running around with aids she said. Scientists Are trying to determine just Why some people have survived As Long As 10 years with aids. The Federal centers for disease control in Atlanta is studying 119 people known to have lived with it for three or More years. Is the virus somehow different asks Ann m. Hardy a cd epidemiologist now at the National Center for health statistics in Hyattsville my. Is it something in their immune system does survival time hinge on the mildness or severity of the infections that attack people with aids or could the key really be a lifestyle psychosocial Type of thing a positive attitude and emotional support All of these possibilities Are now being studied either by the cd or in studies funded by the National institutes of health. For the purposes of the cd s 2-year-old study Long term survivors were defined As people who lived at least three years after being diagnosed. Unlike the estimated hundreds of thousands of americans who Are infected with the aids virus but do not have symptoms Long term survivors actually have battled one or More ailments that define acquired immune deficiency syndrome including Kaposi s Sarcoma pneumonia damaged immune systems and severe weight loss. Most Long term survivors Are White homosexual men in their 30s whose main or Only symptom is Kaposi s Sarcoma the skin cancer that was rare before aids became an epidemic cd data indicates. The major Issue people Are interested in is what Way the immune response for the Long term survivor is different than in the Short term survivor said or. Henry Masur Deputy chief of critical care Medicine at the the clinical Center of the Nih in Bethesda my. With any disease whether it s cancer or pneumonia in a healthy person some people get sick very quickly and die and other people survive much longer. With breast cancer or Colon cancer some people will be dead within a few months and some people will go for 30 years Masur said. For Mike an accountant three years of chemotherapy kept the skin sores of Kaposi s Sarcoma at Bay. He then began treatment with the drug at now called zidovudine which prolongs the lives of Many with aids. Mike who considers himself fairly Lucky said his Only current health problem is mild leg pain. I m basically As Normal As they get. Nobody would know if they saw me on the Street that i had been diagnosed with Turner 42, of san Francisco was diagnosed with Kaposi s in february 1982, before most americans including doctors had heard of aids. I do believe one can live with aids and strike up a bargain and co exist with the virus As we do with other viruses said Turner. He underwent chemotherapy a year of acupuncture took Mega doses of Vitamin c for a while has taken zidovudine intermittently since Early 1988 and still gets Alpha interferon a genetically engineered anti cancer drug. I go to the gym regularly and i try to maintain my weight and my Energy level said Turner who writes and performs music. A Friend and i have just finished writing a movie script which we Hope to Shihar 38, of los Angeles was diagnosed with Kaposi s in november 1982, and said he s done just about the opposite of All the recommended treatments but his illness went into remission anyway. Volunteers at the names project in san Francisco sew a quilt panels memorialize those who have died. A few known aids patients Are beating the Odds and leading Normal lives. Not Page 14 the stars and stripes i would love to say it was All very spiritual but i was in remission before i became spiritual said Shihar who works for Northern lights alternatives a new York based education and support organization for people with aids. I think the one thing i hear from people i know who have survived is they re Leal Wiker believes there is a certain kind of person that is a survivor with aids. That kind of personality the one that starts living in the moment a person that is letting go of their past feelings and fears. And they re letting go of future projections about that theory is being tested in a federally funded study at the new York state psychiatric Institute where 450 people infected with the aids virus Are being tracked for five years to determine whether their emotional state influences their resistance to the illness. Most people would like to believe they have control Over this and if they remain optimistic and cheerful it will help said or. Jack m. Gorman associate professor of clinical. Psychiatry at Columbia University College of physicians and surgeons and principal investigator in the study. And we certainly want to encourage people to remain optimistic and cheerful but we Don t really know if it makes a difference or not and that s what we re trying to see he added. Regardless of psychological factors survival prospects continually improve in newly diagnosed aids cases thanks to drug treatments such As zidovudine and an aerosol form of pent Maidine a medication that fights the rare Type of pneumonia that has been highly fatal to aids patients. As recently As two years ago 80 percent of people with aids were expected to die within 24 months but that has changed dramatically said or. Nathaniel pier a new York City physician with a Large number of aids patients. The cd says it can t currently estimate aids victims average survival. As of november 1988, we can assist somebody to stay alive and healthy for two years with the current therapy piers said. And a great Deal May occur in two years. We be seen an enormous change from 1986 to 1988. Many people being diagnosed now May Benefit from breakthroughs that will totally change the surface of the saturday january 28,1989 near death experiences profound Impact shared by people worldwide by Jane e. Brody new York times Jane s. Was 23 years old in 1952 when she suffered anaesthesia induced cardiac arrest inthe birth of her second child. Yet Jane who was revived by her physician remembers the entire event As if it were yesterday. I suddenly Felt something go whoosh out from the top of my head she recalls. I was puzzled because i was supposed to be unconscious but i was very aware of things happening. I found myself standing in a Gray Mist and As the Mist cleared i realized i had died. But i was still myself and i had these incredible feelings of thanksgiving that i was still alive. I became aware of a Brilliant whiteness and lightness and i seemed to merge with it. The Light was t just Light. It was also love an indescribable feeling of being cherished protected unconditionally eventually Jane said the whole scene faded out and i began to hear loud banging and clicking i opened my eyes and found my doctor pressing on my Chest she said. It was More than two decades before Jane realized that her experience was not unique. A nationwide Survey by the Gallup poll in 1982 indicated that some eight million american adults and an unknown number of children have had a near death experience. Now recent studies have shown a remarkable similarity in the characteristics of these experiences and in their profound Impact on people. Although details May vary among people of different cultures the Overall pattern of the experience and its aftermath seems to be shared worldwide. Moreover the new research increasingly indicates that in virtually All cases people Are permanently and often dramatically changed. People adopt new values change careers abandon materialism and question relationships. Nearly Universal is a loss of fear of death and with that a greater willingness to live life to its fullest. Surprisingly those whose near death experience resulted from a suicide attempt Are much less Likely to attempt suicide again. Near death experiences were first described for the mass audience in 1977 in or. Raymond a. Moody s Best Selling Book life after life. Moody s account of More than a Hundred such experiences was widely criticized As unscientific and the experiences themselves were often dismissed As a form of mental illness or a religious event. But psychologists and other scientists have since studied the curious commonality of these spontaneous reports and they have determined that near death experiences Are not concocted. In fact they Are far More common than even Moody had thought. Thirty five to 40 percent of people who have almost died can relate an experience in which they seemed to be removed from their bodies and transported to another very inviting realm. Exactly what causes the experiences is not known the researchers have discounted such explanations As religious beliefs and expectations hallucinations aesthetics or other drugs and a Lack of oxygen in the brain. Leading researchers also say that the experiences Are not proof that there is life after death although most of the patients who report the experience become convinced that they will continue to exist in some Beautiful and Blissful state after they die. Near death experiences Tell us much More about life than about death said or. Bruce Greyson a psychiatrist at the University of Connecticut health Center. They Are poor proof of an the most frequent Phenomena or stages of near death experiences have been outlined by or. Kenneth ring a psychologist at the University of Connecticut. In a near death experience people May feel peaceful tranquil Serene and free of pain. Have an out of body experience in which the leave their body and Are Able to View it from above. Find themselves in a dark Tunnel or void where they encounter a presence and review their life. See a Brilliant but warm Loving and accepting Light. Enter merge with or be enveloped by a Light and perhaps reunited with deceased relatives Only to be told that they must return to their physical bodies. The near death experience of Jane s. Was typical. Before she was revived she said she entered into a state of Bliss and the rapture kept building and suddenly a whole Block of knowledge came into my consciousness she recalled. I knew i was immortal and that the world operated according to a perfect plan. I realized that we Don t have to worry about All the things we re so concerned about. Then the Light began to fade and i found myself standing in a Beautiful Meadow with exquisite Flowers in colors i had never seen before and with a glowing Light inside each Flower. Then i saw a Hill with people standing on it. Somehow i got there effortlessly and was met by three men who seemed to be waiting for me. One Man stood out and told me i would t be staying there that it was t my time yet. He asked me what was in my heart and i was somehow Able to look into the Core of my being and see perfect love love of everything. I understood immediately that there was no Way i could Ever Hurt someone. I Felt As if i was reconnecting with knowledge i had previously she then opened her eyes and became aware of the efforts to keep her alive. In emerging from such an experience doctors say patients Are frequently angry at their physicians for having forced them to return. For Many a near death experience resembles a religious conversion in which values beliefs and attitudes can change dramatically. Interpersonal relationships spiritual values love become More important than material things like Competition Fame and Fortune Greyson said. Some people make dramatic career changes abandoning successful businesses and moving into the helping professions. A different concept of love commonly emerges one that is unconditional. For the spouse who does t change this can be very unsettling and May sometimes cause marriages to break up Greyson reported. The stars and stripes Page 15
