AIDS: A Second Opinion [Hardcover]

Gary Null (Author), James Feast (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 2002

In this first book to bring both establishment and dissenting views of the AIDS crisis into one volume, Gary Null unravels the halftruths that many argue have marred the study of this disease from the start. In clear, jargon-free prose, the book offers an unbiased, unflinching discussion of all sides of each issue.

AIDS: A Second Opinion argues that the AIDS drama has exposed problematic issues having to do with the functioning of U.S. medical institutions. Null explores a new type of health care, grounded in patients' own choices and dispositions, that poses a challenge to the top-down, expert-controlled medical systems favored by the establishment.

Drawing from Null's many years of study of alternative, traditional, and orthodox medicine as well as from interviews with many long-term survivors, the book dissects the claims of the AZT and drug-cocktail approach to treating AIDS and offers a trilogy of treatment strategies based on wide views of how to enhance the immune system and improve overall functioning.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bestselling health and nutrition author GARY NULL is one of America's leading health and fitness writers. He is the author of dozens of books and hundreds of medical articles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press; 1 edition (March 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583220623
• ISBN-13: 978-1583220627
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 2.2 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #511,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > AIDS

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Physician Finds Merit, June 18, 2002

By 

Martin Feldman, M.D. (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AIDS: A Second Opinion (Hardcover)

Gary Null's AIDS: A Second Opinion is a book that I could not put down. I found it to be the most comprehensive, insightful, provocative, and disturbing book on AIDS that I have ever read. And as someone who has counseled numerous patients with AIDS, I found that it offered valuable insights into the politics and controversies surrounding this condition. (I should mention that I am not coming from "the fringe," but am a graduate of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, an assistant clinical professor of neurology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the author of more than 50 articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals. So I read the book with the critical eye of one who has been immersed in the mainstream medical world.)

Null and co-author James Feast do us a service in giving voice to the point of view of AIDS dissidents such as Nobel laureates Drs. Mullis and Gilbert, as well as Professors Strohman and Rasnick, and the many others cited in the book. One has to wonder, why hasn't their collective challenge to the "HIV equals AIDS equals death" paradigm been given more publicity? These are credentialed people, and there certainly is, as this book shows, reasonableness to their claims. I myself have had three patients with advanced AIDS and substantially debilitated health who then undertook various natural protocols and improved their overall immune function significantly. So why wouldn't I want to explore alternative approaches to this condition? Why wouldn't I want to review as many scientific references as possible that support these approaches? I am happy to have a book on hand that goes beyond the party line of those who run the war on AIDS, looks at alternative perspectives, and provides extensive documentation to support them.

Furthermore, I plan to make this book required reading for all of the persons I counsel with AIDS-defining illnesses. And I would recommend it to every concerned and conscientious physician, nurse, and public health advocate in the country.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive discussion of alternative theories on AIDS, October 26, 2004

By 

Gagewyn (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AIDS: A Second Opinion (Hardcover)

AIDS: A Second Opinion provides a good overview of the controversies and differing opinions surrounding AIDS. (There is a general lack of scientific proof for much of what we think we know about AIDS. For example no one has isolated HIV from everything else in a white bloodcell.) Null focuses on science more than social factors but does address social factors by analyzing how they can unconsciously influence scientific thinking.

For me this book's greatest strength was in not having one specific theory to press. For example Duesberg, a prestigious scientist who writes often about our lack of evidence that HIV can cause AIDS, has the view point that AIDS is caused primarily by drug use. Much of what Duesberg publishes on AIDS is concerned with supporting this theory. Null on the other hand presents evidence and what we know about the various theories on AIDS and gives a general overview. He discussed our lack of knowledge about HIV and the lack of evidence for it causing AIDS, but later assumes the viewpoint that HIV causes AIDS to discuss co-factors and theories about where AIDS may have come from.

Among the subjects Null touches on: does HIV cause AIDS?, effects of long term drug use on the immune system, toxicity of AZT, theories on the origin of AIDS (including discussion of government manufactured disease), HIV vaccine feasibility, trends in vaccine research and alternative therapies. Basically the information presented is comprehensive and frequently not kosher. Null gives reliable references for what he is saying and refers to scientific journals where appropriate. He also tells the reader when he thinks that a theory is a bit over the top and if the theory has not been tested or is not testable (as with a comparison of AIDS and mass hysteria). He includes some theories including conspiracy theories for the sake of being comprehensive. For example, a discussion of AIDS maybe being introduced by aliens is included.

As I said Null extensively references his work. This is a scholaly book (in the sense of being dry) and might be slow for some people because of the way it is written. It is also long. Amazon has it listed as 400 pages but my copy is 618 pages long (and then some with the appendixes). For me it was a fast read and very interesting, but maybe not a fast read for everyone.

AIDS: A Second Opinion is an excellent resource for those who want a better understanding of the disease. This should not be the first book to read on the subject.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AIDS: A second opinion- It's More about the Facts, June 11, 2002

By 

Luanne Pennesi, RN, MS (NYC, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AIDS: A Second Opinion (Hardcover)

AIDS: A Second opinion is, in MY opinion, the most revealing, and singly most valuable source book in its field. As a health care professional I have witnessed people with AIDS not only improving their lives after applying the principles outlined in this book, but more importantly, empowering themselves for the first time to stand up for their privacy and to challenge the destructive rituals of an industry designed to perpetuate itself at the cost of human dignity and lives. What really works in this book is the fact that it is well researched, detail oreinted, makes good sense and is easy to follow. It encompasses the economics and politics as well as practical science and natural approaches to healing the immune system. I can say without any hesitation that it's about time we considered what truly helps people with AIDS, even if the answers lie outside of our circle of the proverbial scientific "known" that we try to fiercely to protect with a righteous defensiveness. I praise Gary Null and James Feast for the courage to publish the first renaissance approach to this socially charged "disease". I am humbled by this book's richness and content and highly recommend it as one of the best nonfiction reads of the year.