''Continuum'' was a magazine published by an activist group of the same name who denied the existence of HIV/AIDS. Favoring

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

content, the magazine addressed issues related to

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

AIDS denialism HIV/AIDS denialism is the belief, despite conclusive evidence to the contrary, that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Some of its proponents reject the existence of HIV, while oth ...

alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and ...

, and themes of interest to the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

community. It ran from December 1992 until February 2001 and ceased publication because the editors had died of AIDS-defining clinical conditions.

History

''Continuum'' was created in December 1992 by Jody Wells (12 March 1947 – 26 August 1995) in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It ceased publication in 2001, after all the editors died from AIDS-defining clinical conditions, leaving debts of over £14,000. The magazine last appeared in print in 1998 and then surfaced again in February 2001 on the Internet. It was initially published bimonthly, then began to be published seasonally. According to the magazine: ''Continuum'' promoted the idea that AIDS was a

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

and was not related to HIV. Wells believed that the fear of AIDS was based on

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy ...

, not science. ''Continuum'' claimed to be a scientific journal for those who had alternative theories about HIV/AIDS, even though it had no peer review and promoted and advertised alternative therapies such as urinotherapy.

AIDS denialists HIV/AIDS denialism is the belief, despite conclusive evidence to the contrary, that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Some of its proponents reject the existence of HIV, while ot ...

often cite the articles published in this journal as a source of scientific information. In the January/February 1996 edition, the magazine began offering £1,000 to the first person who could find a scientific study that showed the isolation of HIV, even though it had been isolated in 1983 by

Luc Montagnier Luc Montagnier (; , ; 18 August 1932 – 8 February 2022) was a French virologist and joint recipient, with and , of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). He worked as a r ...

and

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (; born 30 July 1947) is a French virologist and Director of the Regulation of Retroviral Infections Division (french: Unité de Régulation des Infections Rétrovirales) and Professor at the in Paris, France. Born in Paris, France, Barré-S ...

(for which they received a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...

), and then was confirmed by

Robert Gallo Robert Charles Gallo (; born March 23, 1937) is an American biomedical researcher. He is best known for his role in establishing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the infectious agent responsible for acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( ...

in 1984, demonstrating that a retrovirus they had isolated, called HTLV-III in the belief that the virus was related to the leukemia viruses of Gallo's earlier work, was the cause of AIDS.

Peter Duesberg Peter H. Duesberg (born December 2, 1936) is a German-American molecular biologist and a professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is known for his early research into the genetic aspects of cancer. ...

tried to claim the prize and wrote an article for the magazine in its July/August 1996 issue, but the award was rejected because it had to meet certain conditions. Immunity Resource Foundation hosts the complete library of ''Continuum'' magazine among an internet database of 120,000 similar documents .

Editors

Jody Wells, founder and editor-in-chief, died at the age of 48 on 26 August 1995, by ''Pneumocystis'' pneumonia, an AIDS-defining clinical condition. Huw Christie Williams was the editor-in-chief after the death of Jody Wells until shortly before his death at the age of 41 on 17 August 2001, by

Kaposi's sarcoma Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a type of cancer that can form masses in the skin, in lymph nodes, in the mouth, or in other organs. The skin lesions are usually painless, purple and may be flat or raised. Lesions can occur singly, multiply in a limit ...

, an AIDS-defining clinical condition. Michael Baumgartner was the acting editor on the last edition of the magazine. At the request of Huw Christie Williams before his death, Baumgartner served as editor for what would ultimately be the final publication before the final closing of the magazine.

Notes

References

{{Reflist

External links

Continuum website

Continuum archives
Alternative medicine publications Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Health magazines HIV/AIDS denialism LGBT-related magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines disestablished in 2001 Magazines established in 1992 Magazines published in London