Yes, aids is a problem but no one sets out to get aids. The hazards are widely known and the answer is personal responsibility, not throwing more money at yet another issue which can be solved by personal restraint.

I've always found it ironic that people who practice unsafe sex and/or sharing needles and get AIDS are given loads of empathy and special programs whereas people who get cancer from smoking are seen as "deserving it". Both diseases are the result of poor lifestyle choices.

I think the gay lobby is more politically powerful than the smokers lobby.

cutawad, As a member of the heathcare industry I am offended by your inference that AIDS is contracted by lack of "personal responsibility" or "personal restraint". Such a statement is irresponsible and unkind.

You generally make the effort to be well-informed but missed the mark on this one. I sincerely hope you will change your mind and attitude after reading up on this disease.

I used to differentiate how one acquired AIDS and pass judgement so I'm not condemning you. Although we rarely agree, I think you have valid points upon which you base your opinion most of the time.

I used to think prostitutes and drug users brought AIDS on themselves; that if they had just changed their ways they would not have contracted the disease. Then I had an epiphany after working with many patients dying from AIDS. The face of death is the same, regardless of the reason one is dying. And death is always sad and heartwrenching in the young (AIDS usually affects young people).

I have had two needle sticks after sticking patients affected by AIDS. By the grace of God I have tested negative for years. But what if I (or any other person working in the healthcare field) turned positive? Would it be because I didn't take personal responsibility for my actions? Or what about the innocent children born of mothers who have AIDS? Or the people who contracted it through blood transfusions?

For every few who contract AIDS thru sexual intercourse, there is one who does not. Think about it, please.

I knew someone would bring up the AIDS cases contracted by "innocent" people. This is from the CDC website:

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/stats.htm#exposure

In 2003 there were 42,555 new AIDS cases due to sexual contact and/or injection drug use. There were 557 (about 1.3%)due to blood tranfusions, perinatal, hemophilia and other causes.

So your statement "For every few who contract AIDS thru sexual intercourse, there is one who does not." is far from accurate. Nice try.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone to get AIDS from any source, but an overwhelming percentage of cases come from bad lifestyle choices.

Dan-Thank you for confirming what most of us already knew. Seems to me that every fact must be restated every time.

'harm reduction' programs would save us money...

I've heard it all now.

According to the bloodborne pathogens films we are required to watch every year, between 300-350 healthcare workers die each year from job-related acquisition of AIDS. Perhaps, if you are not directly affected by these numbers, you can just shake your head and mumble something about how sad it is. Or state how we voluntarily chose to go into the medical field.

While I never inferred the majority of incidence of AIDS was not contracted through male-to-male contact, I will provide some additional information for consideration. (I merely pointed out there are "innocent" people who, through no fault of their own, have acquired AIDS. I do not understand your dismissal, Dan and Cutawad, of those individuals.)

People living with AIDS
At the end of 2004, the CDC estimates that 415,193 people were living with AIDS in the USA.1

Of these,

35% were white
43% were black
20% were Hispanic
1% were of other race/ethnicity.
Of the adults and adolescents2 with AIDS, 77% were men. Of these men,

58% were men who had sex with men (MSM)
21% were injection drug users (IDU)
11% were exposed through heterosexual contact
8% were both MSM and IDU.
Of the 93,566 adult and adolescent women with AIDS,

64% were exposed through heterosexual contact
34% were exposed through injection drug use.
An estimated 3,927 children were living with AIDS at the end of 2004, of whom 97% probably acquired the infection from their mothers.

Yvonne, save me the bleeding heart stuff. I already said I don't want anyone to suffer from AIDS, especially 300-350 healthcare workers and even from drug use and unsafe sex. People die in industrial accidents, car accidents, and all kinds of ways each day. People die from smoking induced lung cancer everyday. Where is all the empathy for them?

My point was just to refute your statement that for every few (what is a few 2 or 3?)who contract AIDS from unsafe sex, there is one who contracts AIDS from "innocent" sources. Your statement is simply not true and your stats back that up as well. Plain & simple.

Yvonne-haven't dismissed anyone, been blase about those misfortunate enough to catch this horrible disease, am appalled at the number infected but...if personal resposibility and restraint were used would we have an epidemic? My point and only my point. For example, you point out that 64% of the women infected contacted the virus through heterosexual contact. A responsible man knowingly engaging in sex is totally irresponsible and showed no restraing. Many of the other statistics could be totally misleading...there is no guarantee that the health workers died from work related contact. I'm sure they represent a cross-section of society in terms of actions and habits. Your concern is felt but the solution is not more money thrown at the problem.

AIDS is a horrible disease and I have lost many friends to it. Most if not all were caused by Dan's and Cutawads definition of a "bad lifestyle choice". Regardless of the reason, the best defense is education. Make young people understand how important safe sex is. But if an accident happens, there needs to be adequate care to those infected. If you have never witnessed first hand how these people suffer, go to a hospice or AIDS clinic and talk with these folks. Healthcare should not just be for the wealthy. Majic Johnson has lived so heathfully because he can afford the meds. He too made a "bad lifestyle choice". Can't we just find it in our hearts to help these terminally ill people? Or are we forever going to pass judgment because of the choices they made in their lives?

Dan, Was your question regarding lack of empathy for folks who have lung cancer meant to infer I had none or was it a general question for anyone? I ask because I have never stated, nor will I state, anyone deserves to die for making bad choices for themselves. (I clearly state anyone who would sexually abuse or torture a child deserves whatever happens to them. But then, they have made bad choices for an innocent child.)

I will put this as tactfully as I can; I despise the smell of cigarette smoke. At the same time, I feel an adult can make choices for themselves. My issue with smoking is where people smoke. When they smoke in public, they have then made choices for me. They have chosen to pollute my lungs as well as theirs.

But as strongly as I feel about that, I think no one "deserves" to develop CA. As I stated initially, the face of death is the same, no matter the cause. The reason I went into nursing was to make a positive difference in people's lives when they need it most. Therefore, I don't make judgements about the cause of their suffering.

I pray that God's will be done, for God to help them and their families accept what lies ahead and that their pain is minimal. Then I do my best to be by their side (if there is no family) when the end comes since I don't want them to die alone in a cold hospital room.

No blame, just honest sorrow that people can't die of natural causes in their own beds.

gaytony,

excellent points. AIDS is an awful way to die. I've seen the fear in the eyes of hospital staff and doctors who have to treat an advanced aids patient. their death is one with little dignity. they need all the love we can give.

imo, regardless of whether you are gay or straight, the real AIDS solution is to be sure of the person you are having sexual relations with, make sure each of you are tested, and engage in monogamous relationships. If you don't love the person and expect to be with them forever, don't go there.

But if someone already has aids, it does absolutely no good to rub their nose in it. they are going through enough as it is. Regardless of whether it is AIDS, cancer, or any other disease, people should be treated with love and compassion

Yvonne, to answer your question it is the latter. I would never assume, especially as a nurse, that you would lack empathy for your patients regardless of their illness.

My point was that I just don't see in general the same empathy and press for cancer victims as I see for AIDS patients. I think the reason for this is the strength of the gay lobby.
The data prove that most AIDS cases are from sexual contact (majority homosexual men) and IV drug use, preventable causes. Yes accidents do happen as Truth states, but he also wisely advocates monogamous relationships.

As for smoking related illnesses, the government sued the bejezzus out of the tobacco industry and used the money to fill state coffers with very little going to the intended cause of smoking prevention and education.

Here is some interesting data from CDC. Cancer (data not specific to lung cancer) is the number 2 cause of death among whites and blacks. AIDS is number 22 among whites and 7 among blacks.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/nvsr53_17tableE2002.pdf

Dan, Thanks for the info although it was difficult to read with these older eyes. We have walked around this block at least twice but I think we can agree education is one way to prevent most kinds of "bad choice" illnesses.

Heart disease is still the number one killer of Americans. Some of that is heredity but most of the contributing factors are bad lifestyle choices. I can see education is making a difference regarding this disease. More people are smoking less. Since that is probably the number one "bad choice" contributing to heart disease, we are making strides.

But I disagree about AIDS getting more press because of a strong gay lobby. I think it has more to do with how easy and quickly one can contract the disease. Generally heart disease or cancer happens over a period of time whereas you can contract AIDS in a matter of seconds. As such, it makes AIDS more feared and more deadly (at least preceived as being more deadly).

As with the high incidence of women who contract AIDS through hetero sex, many are exposed without ever knowing it until they become symptomatic. And unlike cancer and heart disease, AIDS has no cure; no operations, no chemo, no drugs. Sure there are drugs to slow the progression but because of the nature of the mutations in each individual body, the virus has no cure.

Just my opinion, you understand.

If our society were interested in its own financial health, it might provide free prenatal care which saves several dollars for each one spent in birth defects and premature deliveries. If our society were interested in Christian values, those same dollars in prenatal care would save lives (notice where we are on the world infant mortality list). But the unstated goal is survival of the fittest. As pregnant women have to fend for themselves, so do children in poverty, gays, elderly, unemployed, cancer victims and so on. But we do seem to come up with money to wage wars: survival of the fittest should be our motto instead of e pluribus unum

Yvonne, we do agree on education. Not just government education but parental education? I plan to have lots of talks with my kids when they are of age.

I remember when AIDS first came out, it was seen as a gay & IV drug user disease. Now that it is mainstream you may be right about the fear of it because you can get it after one tryst. I see young people smoking (as I did) thinking it won't hurt them, at least now. So you do have a point.

Thanks for all you do as a nurse. My mom was a nurse, I work with nurses all the time in my business, and I was so appreciative of the nurses when my children were born. Also the nurses when my little girl got pneumonia earlier this year and spent 3 days in the hospital. I'm sure if I were ever under your care I would receive excellent treatment even though we disagree on a few things!!

Destinys Mom in Law, I'm sure Darwin would be proud of you. If you are the mom in law then who is Destiny?

"The reason I went into nursing was to make a positive difference in people's lives when they need it most. Therefore, I don't make judgements about the cause of their suffering."

That is kind of funny that you should say that. When you state that you don’t make judgments and you went into nursing to “make a positive difference in people’s lives” would that include making these comments of this blog: “VRWC, As AstroBoy said, I could care less what you do with your own body. You can smoke til the cows come home, drink until you turn blue, sniff, snort, inject, ingest whatever you choose. As long as you are not giving off toxic emissions in my presence, have at it. In fact, you can put a gun to your head and pull the trigger if you choose to. I just think it would be better to do it in your own home.” I find it very hard to believe that any nurse would say such things. Heck I’ve never known anyone on this blog, and believe me I have seen some pretty bad stuff, to have said something as cruel as this.

"And unlike cancer and heart disease, AIDS has no cure; no operations, no chemo, no drugs. Sure there are drugs to slow the progression but because of the nature of the mutations in each individual body, the virus has no cure."

For someone who claims to be a nurse, you sure have no knowledge of diseases. First off, for those that are lucky enough to catch it in time and can have surgery does not mean they are “cured”. There are regular test to monitor the disease and there is a strong possibility of the cancer coming back. I didn’t realize cancer had been cured. Would you mind calling and telling that to my mother’s Oncologists. You see she passed away two years ago, because we were told, “there is no cure, and there is nothing we can do”. So if in fact you know of the cure, please share with the millions of people who die from cancer each year. Also what kind of nurse are you? To say that chemo is a cure. First let us be clear here, chemo is very harsh treatment, it is not like talking a cocktail of drugs and going about your business. A person taking chemo treatments normally are deathly ill, weak and sick. Also chemo may save some lives, but for the most part is it to prolong the life, not a cure, same as AIDS drugs. However chemo makes many so sick that some chose quality of life over the few extra months of throwing up and being weak in bed. So I don’t appreciate you claiming that cures have been found for cancer or heart disease (as I know someone suffering from that now, believe me I know they wish they had a cure).

Trish, I am truly sorry for your loss. My own mother died when I was 12. She also suffered horribly. But you are directing your anger at the wrong person. And saying I am cruel is the pot calling the kettle black. However, if it makes you feel better to belittle me, I'm woman enough to take it.

First off, have you ever heard of hyperbole? It is an intentional exaggeration to make a point. My response to VRWC was the use of hyperbole. It seemed the only way to make any kind of impact. I agree it was poor judgement and if I could retract it I would.

Secondly, Trying to insult me regarding my medical knowledge is a prime example of your pettiness. Had you bothered to look up the word "cure" for a technical definition rather than using your preconceived understanding, you may have saved yourself some embarrassment. A couple of web definitions are as follows: 1)"to make healthy again" 2)"A method or course of medical treatment used to restore health".

I never said all cancers are cured or even have the potential to be cured. I was making a general statement (as most everyone else already knows) about the differences between all other diseases and AIDS. Cancer and heart disease, in general terms, does have a fairly good "cure" rate. You cannot say that about AIDS (and be accurate).

I also did not say chemo wasn't a horrible treatment. I didn't address the side effects of any of the treatments to try to restore health. And while you had your mother's treatment as a single experience, I've had at least a hundred + patients undergoing treatment (as well as a few close friends). So I think I am in a position to know a thing or two about it.

You have such a way of putting words into people's mouths and attributing thoughts to folks that they never implied. It is not a becoming trait, Trish. You really should quit jumping to all those conclusions. It makes you so lightheaded you can't think straight.

You have tried, on more than one occasion, to draw me into a "pissing match" (as you once called it) by deliberately misconstruing (and even lying about) what I have said. Well, I'm not going to play that game, Trish. I admit I am no match for your mean-spirited, cruel pettiness. And I have better things to do with my time than spar with you. You seem to be on a mission to destroy anyone who doesn't stroke your ego and agree with you.

Therefore, I will return to my former way of dealing with your posts; I will scroll past them. And believe me, I won't miss a thing.

TRISH 1
YVONNE 0

Blah blah blah Yvonne. Actually I get sick and tired of your lectures. You made a statement: "And unlike cancer and heart disease, AIDS has no cure; no operations, no chemo, no drugs. Sure there are drugs to slow the progression but because of the nature of the mutations in each individual body, the virus has no cure."

You yourself try to make it sound like one disease is worse then another. I did not put those words into your mouth, it is what you were saying. Maybe to you one is worse but to me they are both horrible disease, one is not as worse then another. Also AIDS for the most part is PREVENTABLE. The same cannot be said for cancer and heart disease. As for my anger, I am not angry however I do not appreicate someone trying to claim that AIDS is more important then cancer. Also let us be quite clear here. You have no idea what my experience with chemo is. Maybe unlike you some of us don't wish to brag about what we do or have done.

Also you said the words to VRWC, no one else. And to be quite honest I really don't care what excuse you wish to give. It was uncalled for, uncompassionate and down right cruel. And yet you cannot even admit you made the mistake in saying it. As much as you like to accuse everyone under the sun of being mean and how much you like to say you are oh so compassionate, you are the one who made those comments. To tell someone you could care less if they put a gun to their head is a horrible thing for any person to say. Why do you have such a hard time admitting it. I can just imagine the lecture you would have gave if Hugh or Dan or Neo had made those same comments, you would fire off. Heck you even accussed Dan of being racist, for no reason and yet you want to lecture me?Look in the mirror Yvonne and you will find that what you accuse me of doing, is what you do here every day. Call me mean, call me what you want. Unlike others here I am not going to pat you on the head like a child and treat you with kid gloves. So go on and take your ball and go home. No big deal to me, scroll right on past my post. Believe me I am not losing a single thing except perhaps long boring lectures that trash me but don't address the subject at hand.