Archive for the ‘Alzheimer’s’ Category

Drexel Prof: Lyme Persists

https://newsblog.drexel.edu/2017/07/18/qa-what-happens-when-lyme-disease-is-not-treated-early/ by Lauren Ingeno July 18, 2017

Original Title: I.pacificus(F)_55sRGBBlacklegged ticks are known vectors for the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which is the pathogen responsible for Lyme disease. Summer is tick season. (CDC / James Gathany)

Pennsylvania is the Lyme disease epicenter, with over 7,000 cases diagnosed in 2015.

The disease is caused by the spirochete bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which is carried by ticks and then transmitted to humans. When treated early, antibiotics can cure most patients. But making a diagnosis is often challenging, and chronic symptoms — such as memory problems, digestive issues and joint conditions — can linger for years, even after treatment.

Chronic Lyme is a controversial issue, dividing frustrated patients and some in the medical community who do not view their disease as a persistent infection. The Infectious Diseases Society of America, for instance, does not recommend longer courses of antibiotics even when symptoms continue.

Garth Ehrlich, PhD, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Drexel University College of Medicine, studies how chronic bacterial pathogens prevail after antibiotic therapy, and he was recently quoted in an Associated Press story about a Lehigh Valley woman who contracted the disease.

Below, he weighs in about chronic Lyme disease and why it is so hard to eliminate.

 What is the connection between your research and Lyme disease?
Lyme disease, in its persistent form, is most likely due to the bacteria forming a biofilm. I study bacterial biofilms, which are multicellular forms of bacteria, providing for increased resistance to antibiotics. If Lyme disease patients are not treated early enough or long enough, then it is possible the bacteria will form biofilms, and their acute disease will become chronic.

How is Lyme disease currently treated, and does that treatment work?
In many cases, Lyme can be treated by antibiotics, but it does not necessarily mean the disease won’t become chronic. There are many factors that contribute to the course of the disease, including the overall health and immune status of the patient, as well as the particular strain of the Lyme disease bacteria that they contract.

Why is there disagreement among the medical and scientific communities about chronic Lyme disease?
A few physicians involved in characterizing the disease in the early stages of its recognition staked their reputations on the fact that it only had an acute phase. But the bacteria that causes Lyme is a spirochete, and spirochetes are primarily associated with chronic infections, like gum disease and syphilis.

How is Lyme disease diagnosed? What are the challenges?
There is a huge problem with diagnosing it, and there are many reasons why it is difficult. There are two stages for the standard testing: an ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is used to detect antibodies against B. burgdorferi proteins and a Western blot (used to separate and identify specific antibody proteins), which is more specific and used for confirmation of the ELISA.

Scientists are working to develop DNA-based tests, but they are not widely available yet, and they won’t be perfect. The problem with both types of testing is that there is enormous variability among the bacterial strains that cause the disease. Thus, an assay based on one strain might very well miss variant strains. And different individuals mount more or less of an immune response to the infection. If the infection becomes focal, then you might not be able to detect it with a DNA blood test.

What do we need to do to better combat Lyme disease?
The most important thing is to develop better diagnostics. And the next most important thing is better therapeutics. My lab is trying to develop drugs against biofilm bacteria.

For media inquiries, contact Lauren Ingeno at lingeno@drexel.edu or 215.895.2614.

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**Comment**

Fantastic article revealing Oz behind the curtain:  biofilms.

I appreciate the careful wording about treating early – that it can cure most patients; however, the caveat is that treatment has to be early enough AND long enough.  I would add, and smart enough.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/13/lyme-disease-treatment/

That said, there is an elephant in the room.  Since Eva Sapi discovered in vitro that doxycycline throws the spirochete into the cyst form, is it hiding out to reemerge later?  Many think so, and believe Lyme can be contributing to dementia and Alzheimer’s which means treatment should also include not only something that addresses biofilms, but something that addresses the non-cell wall form (even in acute cases).  For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/06/03/borrelia-hiding-in-worms-causing-chronic-brain-diseases/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/08/09/dr-paul-duray-research-fellowship-foundation-some-great-research-being-done-on-lyme-disease/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/06/10/the-coming-pandemic-of-lyme-dementia/

The other elephant standing by the first is the prevalence of coinfections.  Research is absent on the compounding factors of coinfections.  For more:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/05/01/co-infection-of-ticks-the-rule-rather-than-the-exception/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/07/01/one-tick-bite-could-put-you-at-risk-for-at-least-6-different-diseases/

 

Category:

Activism, Alzheimer's, Lyme, research

Wisconsin – 117% Increase in Human Version of Mad Cow Disease

In a recent article by Dr. Mercola,  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/07/25/chronic-wasting-disease.aspx?utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art3&utm_campaign=20170725Z1_UCM&et_cid=DM152228&et_rid=2092836335,  statistics reveal there is a a 117% increase in Wisconsin and an 85% increase in the U.S. of the human version of mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob, which is a contagious neurological disease caused by eating beef contaminated with brain, spinal cord or other central nervous system tissue from infected cattle.

Now the Canadian Government is warning that chronic wasting disease (CWD), a similar disease found in the deer family may jump to humans as well.  Both mad cow disease and chronic wasting disease cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE).

The deer family is also known to pick up hitchhiking ticks and carry them long distances.

This warning is due to a study which found CWD was transmitted to three out of five macaque monkeys infected with white tail deer meat.  There is also a systematic literature review showing CWD could also be transmitted to squirrel monkeys.

There is a potential for transmission to humans exposed to deer through diet, health products containing antler velvet, slaughter, velvet harvest, field dressing, preparing trophies and hunting lures.

The state of Wisconsin offers free CWD testing to hunters.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel states,

“Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR)] figures show that tens of thousands of hunters are killing deer in areas where CWD is prevalent and are not submitting them for testing. In 2016, in a CWD-prone area that the DNR describes as the southern farmland zone, 442 deer tested positive for disease out of 3,760 samples. More than 65,000 deer were killed in that zone and were not tested, according to DNR figures.”

Animals infected with CWD shed prions in saliva and urine and remain contagious for life and contaminate land and water.

Similar to Chronic Lyme Disease, CWD does not evoke a detectable immune response or inflammatory reaction. It is different; however, in that it is smaller than most viruses.  It also persists in the environment which is why animals raised in captivity are more likely to infect each other.  Avoid meat from those who force natural herbivores to eat animal parts (routine in concentrated feeding operations).

Researchers have also found an infectious protein (TDP-43) in Alzheimer’s patients is quite similar to prions in mad cow disease and CWD and was found in 200 of 340 autopsied brains of Alzheimer’s patients.  Patients with TDP-43 are 10 times more likely to have been cognitively impaired at death.

A 2005 study published in the journal Medical Hypotheses, stated:

“In the opinion of experts, ample justification exists for considering a similar pathogenesis for Alzheimer’s, Creutzfeldt-Jakob and the other spongiform encephalopathies such as Mad Cow disease. In fact, Creutzfeldt-Jakob and Alzheimer’s often coexist and at this point are thought to differ merely by time-dependent physical changes. A recent study links up to 13 percent of all ‘Alzheimer’s’ victims as really having Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.”

**Please have your meat tested.  It’s free and it may save your life.**

Category:

Activism, Alzheimer's, Psychological Aspects, Transmission

A Bug for Alzheimer’s?

https://aeon.co/essays/how-microbial-infections-might-cause-alzheimers-disease

Please read the article above, written by Melinda Wenner Moyer, edited by Pam Weintraub.

A brief summary:

Robert Moir, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, believes that beta-amyloid, a key player in Alzheimer’s, might be a good guy who is actually protecting the brain from pathogens.

This idea is coming from numerous corners of the world and has been labeled ‘pathogen hypothesis.’ Others pointing this out are pathologist Alan MacDonald, neuropathologist Judith Miklossy, and microbiologist Tom Grier.

Moir has published mouse studies showing that their brains create amyloid plaques within hours of contracting infections and they actually kill pathogens.

This observation flies in the face of accepted dogma about beta-amyloid and it is rarely discussed in AD groups.

A meta-analysis of 25 published studies has shown that infected folks are 10 times more likely to develop AD, leading international researchers to co-sign an editorial begging others to consider pathogens in relation to AD.

But, the cabal isn’t having it. Moir’s 2016 paper was rejected six times without even a review before finally getting the nod.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/01/13/lyme-science-owned-by-good-ol-boys/

The author reminds the reader that infections in the brain are nothing new and a short list of them includes: Syphillis, Herpes simplex encephalitis, tick borne disease, HIV, Toxoplasma gondii, Chlamydia pneumoniae, HSV-1, and Zika.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/04/10/bugs-causing-alzheimers/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/06/03/borrelia-hiding-in-worms-causing-chronic-brain-diseases/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/08/09/dr-paul-duray-research-fellowship-foundation-some-great-research-being-done-on-lyme-disease/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-michael-conner/man-diagnosed-with-als-di_b_8891262.html

The journalist also points out that pathogen causation is not proven and that Alzheimer’s patients might be prone to infection but that some studies suggest the infections came first. She also says that the majority of folks suggesting the ‘pathogen hypothesis’ do not feel the infections work alone but rather can cause a domino effect that over time can accumulate causing AD.

And lastly, if beta-amyloid causes AD then removing these plaques should get rid of symptoms, but when 145 beta-amyloid-reducing drugs were tested, not one slowed progression of the disease.

Once again, proving a science cabal exists, Moir recounts how at a Korean conference, attendees were asked to raised hands if they thought infections played a part in AD and a majority of hands went up.

“Ten years ago, it would have been four guys in a corner, all huddled together, not talking to anyone else,” Moir says.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/01/02/fake-science/

Isn’t that sad?

Category:

Alzheimer's, Lyme, research, Syphilis, Toxoplasmosis, Viruses, Zika

Aluminum, Alzheimer’s, & LD

Although a strong link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s is fairly well known, a recent study confirms it once again.   http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0946672X16303777  Chris Exley, a member of the research group, states that in his view;

“The findings are unequivocal in their confirmation of a role for aluminum in some if not all Alzheimer’s disease.”http://www.thevaccinereaction.org/2016/12/strong-evidence-linking-aluminum-and-alzheimers/

He also states that those with familial Alzheimer’s have some of the highest levels ever measured that are similar to fatal cases of aluminum-induced encephalopathy in patients also undergoing renal dialysis.

While this information is important for everyone to know, it is particularly import for Lyme/MSIDS (multi systemic infectious disease syndrome – or Lyme with friends) patients as there is a connection between Alzheimer’s and Lyme Disease as well as other infections.
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/11/17/alzheimers-lyme/,
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/06/09/alzheimers-byproduct-of-infection/,


Published on Jun 9, 2016
Dr. Marc Siegel explains on ‘Fox & Friends’ how Kris Kristofferson was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s but actually had Lyme Disease.
(Warning:  the news reporter propagates a myth that “One antibiotic,” prophylactically will cure LD if used early.

The Take Home:  One or two pills of doxycycline will not cure LD.

What is aluminum in and how can we avoid it?

Most Vaccines: (Hepatitis A, B, Hib, DTaP, pneumococcal, Gardasil, and others.) Aluminum is added as an adjuvant that when mixed with a viral or bacterial antigen creates a greater inflammatory immune response which theoretically elicits a higher response of protective antibodies. The problem with this, according to Dr. Mercola, is that vaccines containing inactivated microbes promote antibody-mediated (Th2) immunity which means your body is less prepared to fight infections and more apt to acquire allergies. http://www.thevaccinereaction.org/2016/06/how-aluminum-in-vaccines-affects-your-health/ (Read this well written article about how vaccines work)

According to Dr. Mercola, aluminum injected into a muscle is 100% absorbed by the body, whereas, when ingested it 2-1.5% is absorbed. Also, there seems to be no upper limit in the vaccine program, with the number of aluminum containing vaccines quadrupling over the past 30 years.

The truly frightening aspect of vaccines is that studies have shown that immediately after vaccine injection, macrophages race to eat up the aluminum and the antigen and have the ability to go right through the blood brain barrier into the brain like a Trojan horse – delivering aluminum directly to the brain. This, if you remember, is what Exley warns about – an accumulation of aluminum in the brain – which is a part of the perfect storm of Alzheimer’s. Adding to the perfect storm are infections such as tick borne infections, inflammation (which TBI’s also cause), mitochondrial problems (TBI’s can cause), dysbiosis (think “leaky gut” which TBI’s can cause as well as yeast/fungus due to antibiotic use), premature birth, irradiation, infant formulas, and methamphetamines.

Antiperspirants: Aluminum (chloride, chlorohydrate, zirconium) salts can make up 25% of some antiperspirants, and after a single application about .012% of aluminum may be absorbed. The tally over a life-time of use is huge. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/16/aluminum-lurks-in-crystal-deodorants.aspx   Look in your health food store for alternatives or take a pinch of baking soda mixed into water and apply to underarms.

Food supply:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/03/22/aluminum-toxicity-alzheimers.aspx  Aluminum compounds are often added into foodstuffs as well as by contamination with aluminum equipment. Baking powder, self rising flour, salt, baby formula, coffee creamers, baked goods and processed foods, coloring and caking agents often have aluminum. Read labels. Cooking in aluminum foil increases concentration. Avoid aluminum laminated pouch drinks.

Drugs: antacids, analgesics, anti-diarrheals and additives like magnesium stearate.

Toothpaste: read labels and avoid aluminum oxyhydroxide.

Aluminum Cookware and aluminum espresso makers

Chelating agents to detoxify Aluminum:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/03/22/aluminum-toxicity-alzheimers.aspx, by Dr. Mercola (March 22, 2014)

• Silica-rich water, such as Fiji water,17 which contains 83 Mg of silica per liter. Research published in 2013 showed that drinking up to one liter of a silicon-rich mineral water daily for 12 weeks effectively excreted aluminum via the urine, without detrimental effects on essential metals such as iron and copper. According to the authors: “We have provided preliminary evidence that over 12 weeks of silicon-rich mineral water therapy the body burden of aluminum fell in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and, concomitantly, cognitive performance showed clinically relevant improvements in at least 3 out of 15 individuals.”
• Melatonin: Research shows that melatonin has a metal binding role and is a useful supplement in the treatment of neurological disorders in which oxidative stress is involved, which includes Alzheimer’s. Melatonin can travel freely across all cellular barriers, facilitating the removal of toxic metals such as aluminum. It also appears to suppress the oxidative activity of aluminum in your brain.
• Anything that raises your glutathione. Your body synthesizes glutathione from three amino acids: cysteine, glutamate, and glycine. Raw fruits and vegetables, particularly avocado, asparagus, grapefruit, strawberries, orange, tomato, cantaloupe, broccoli, okra, peach, zucchini, and spinach are rich in the precursors glutamate and glycine. Dietary sources of cysteine include eggs, meat, red peppers, garlic, onions, Brussels sprouts, whey protein, and wheat germ. Other helpful treatments for improved glutathione metabolism include:
◦ Exercise: Exercise affects your adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels needed to help produce glutathione
◦ Optimizing your vitamin D levels through sun exposure: There’s some evidence vitamin D increases intracellular glutathione levels
◦ Epsom salt baths
◦ MSM supplementation
◦ The supplement N-acetyl L-cysteine (NAC) may also be useful. NAC is the rate-limiting nutrient for the formation of the intracellular antioxidant glutathione
• Curcumin: Research suggests that curcumin has a protective effect against aluminum-induced damage by modulating the extent of oxidative stress. It also decreases beta-amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s, delays neuron degradation, chelates metals, decreases microglia formation, and has an overall anti-inflammatory, antioxidant effect. Studies have shown that curcumin can help improve memory in Alzheimer’s patients. There are some contraindications that curcumin is not recommended if you have biliary tract obstruction (as it stimulates bile secretion), gallstones, obstructive jaundice, or acute biliary colic.

Category:

Alzheimer's, Detoxing, Lyme, research