Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

Chlamydia & Alzheimer’s

https://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/36/6/2650

Circulating Chlamydia Trachomatis Antigens in Subjects With Alzheimer’s Disease

STEVEN LEHRER and PETER H. RHEINSTEIN
In Vivo November 2022, 36 (6) 2650-2653; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21873/invivo.12999

Abstract

Background/Aim: Chlamydia pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae) is implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Chlamydial elementary and reticulate bodies have been identified in tissues from afflicted AD brain regions by electron and immunoelectron microscopy, whereas similar tests of non-AD brains were negative for the bacterium. Studies in mice have shown that C. pneumoniae can rapidly penetrate the central nervous system by entering glia and causing beta amyloid deposition via the nerves between the nasal cavity and the brain, which serve as invasion pathways.

Materials and Methods: We used data from the UK Biobank (UKBB) to assess the relationship of chlamydia and AD. Circulating C. pneumoniae antigen measurements were not available, but UKBB data field 23037 held measurements of PorB antigen for Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis). We used C. trachomatis as a surrogate for C. pneumoniae since serum cross-reactivity to C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae antigens occurs in patients with documented infection and in healthy children as revealed by microimmunofluorescence and immunoblotting techniques. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data for rs429358 and rs7412 were used to impute ApoE genotypes.

Results: PorB antigen levels for C. trachomatis were significantly higher in subjects with AD (p=0.007). PorB antigen levels were not related to ApoE genotype (e3e3, e3e4, e4e4) p=0.783. To control for the effects of age, sex, educational level, and apoE genotype, logistic regression analysis was performed. AD was the dependent variable. Independent variables were sqrt PorB antigen for C. trachomatis, age, sex, educational level, apoE genotype. AD odds ratio (OR) increased 1.156 for each unit increase of sqrt PorB antigen for C. trachomatis and the effect was significant (p=0.004).

Conclusion: PorB antigens for C. trachomatis being significantly higher in subjects with AD, corroborates previous studies demonstrating that C. pneumoniae inflammation appears to play a role in AD development. AD may result from the reactivation of embryologic processes and pathways silenced at birth. A trigger for the reactivation may be bacterial or viral infections. Further studies are warranted.

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https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-06749-9

Chlamydia pneumoniae can infect the central nervous system via the olfactory and trigeminal nerves and contributes to Alzheimer’s disease risk

Scientific Reports volume 12, Article number: 2759 (2022) Cite this article

Abstract

Chlamydia pneumoniae is a respiratory tract pathogen but can also infect the central nervous system (CNS). Recently, the link between C. pneumoniae CNS infection and late-onset dementia has become increasingly evident. In mice, CNS infection has been shown to occur weeks to months after intranasal inoculation. By isolating live C. pneumoniae from tissues and using immunohistochemistry, we show that C. pneumoniae can infect the olfactory and trigeminal nerves, olfactory bulb and brain within 72 h in mice. C. pneumoniae infection also resulted in dysregulation of key pathways involved in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis at 7 and 28 days after inoculation. Interestingly, amyloid beta accumulations were also detected adjacent to the C. pneumoniae inclusions in the olfactory system. Furthermore, injury to the nasal epithelium resulted in increased peripheral nerve and olfactory bulb infection, but did not alter general CNS infection. In vitro, C. pneumoniae was able to infect peripheral nerve and CNS glia.

In summary, the nerves extending between the nasal cavity and the brain constitute invasion paths by which C. pneumoniae can rapidly invade the CNS likely by surviving in glia and leading to Aβ deposition.

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Category:

Alzheimer's, Lyme, research, Ticks

Lyme Disease Videos From Leading LLMDs

https://www.lymedisease.org/members/resources/resources-lyme-disease-videos/

Preview of Member Videos from Leading Lyme Literate Physicians

Full videos available to members on the account page. You must be logged in to view.
Videos cover:
  • Diagnosis and Treatment
  • Using Integrative Medicine for Lyme
  • Treatment Protocols
  • Basic Lyme for Patients, Family, and Friends

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Testing, Treatment

Kids Are Losing Their Childhoods to Lyme and Other TBD

https://www.lymedisease.org/kids-losing-childhoods-to-lyme/

Kids are losing their childhoods to Lyme and other TBD

My name is Olivia Goodreau. I am the founder of the LivLyme Foundation, and inventor of the free global app TickTracker and my new free symptom tracking app, the LongHaulTracker.

Six years ago when I was 12, I spoke at the very first Tick-Borne Disease Working Group meeting in Washington, DC.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to speak at the first and the last Tick-Borne Disease Working Group meetings.

I am here today to ask all the members to please not forget about the children that have lost their childhood to tick-borne illnesses. The hundreds of thousands of kids who right now are being misdiagnosed with behavior issues, autism, chronic fatigue, or are just told they are making it up for attention.

I was and am one of those kids. It would take 18 months and 51 doctors before I had a positive Lyme test.

During the 18 months I had hundreds of blood draws, liver biopsy, MRI, cat scans, spinal taps–the list goes on. I was told I had Wilson’s disease and would be dead at 40. Then I was told I just needed to drink more water. Finally, the doctors said I was making it up for attention.

I don’t know a single child that wants to be sick. My tick-borne illnesses robbed me of my childhood, took away all of my sports, my friends, I was bullied, and I missed months of school.

Looks can be deceiving

People to this day say, “But she looks fine!!” Yes, I might look fine, but underneath my skin there is a war raging. Lately my brain fog, my word scramble and my tremor in my right hand have become some things I can’t hide from my friends & family. It never ends.

In the US, 200 kids are diagnosed with Lyme disease every day. That is four school buses of children a day. Think how many are going misdiagnosed every single day.

At LivLyme we asked 767 grant applicant families, from 49 different states, three questions:

  • Out of 767 families, 409 families have more than one child with a tick-borne disease.
  • Out of 767 families, 307 moms and 61 dads have Lyme disease.
  • Out of 767 families, 287 moms believe they transmitted Lyme disease to their child in utero.

We will have generations of kids to come that will be struggling with tick borne diseases, whether they were bitten by a tick or contracted Lyme in utero.

What I ask is that you help save the next generations of kids. It’s what I said six years ago, but we need a better tests, better drugs, and better doctor education.

I lost my childhood to one tick bite. I ask this group to help save the children from the devastation of a tick-borne illnesses. I ask the Federal Government to make it a priority to protect innocent kids from ticks and the diseases they carry. I ask Congress to implement the recommendations of the TBDWG immediately.

All kids deserve the opportunity to have a healthy childhood, free from tick-borne diseases, and so that they can just be a kid.

Thank you for your time, and always check for ticks.

Related Posts:

  1. NEWS: Dr. Jones named “Ray of Hope”; kids to make it a “star-studded” gala
  2. Helping chronically ill kids dig deep for healing
  3. New support group for parents of kids with Lyme
  4. TOUCHED BY LYME: Parenting kids with Lyme–“one day at a time” and a two-track approach

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**Comment**

Another unbelievably frustrating story in Lymeland.

Unfortunately, the Federal government is not our answer, nor will it ever be.  It is part of the problem.

We’ve helped fund our own research through the Federal government for decades to no avail. We need to fund our own independent research in a parallel world to get our own answers.

Time for change.

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Category:

Activism, Lyme

Acrodermatitis Chronica Atrophicans

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33085436/

Acrodermatitis Chronica Atrophicans

Anita Gade 1, Taraneh Matin, Richard Rubenstein 2, Carolyn A. Robinson
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan.
.
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Excerpt:

Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) is a late and chronic manifestation of Lyme borreliosis (LB). ACA predominantly involves the distal portions of extremities and is characterized by chronic cutaneous atrophy. Unlike other skin manifestations of Lyme disease, including erythema migrans (EM) and borrelial lymphocytoma (BL), ACA does not spontaneously resolve. If untreated, ACA may progress from bluish-red discoloration and inflammation to chronic atrophy and fibrosis, with the late-stage being more treatment-resistant.

ACA was first described in 1883 by Buchwald in Germany, and cases were later reported in 1895 in North America. The diagnosis of ACA is based on clinical presentation, as well as serologic testing and histopathologic confirmation. Recognizing ACA is often challenging due to variable latency in disease onset following the primary borrelial infection, and lack of symptoms leading to delay in seeking treatment.

Lyme borreliosis is the most common vector-borne disease in the northeastern United States. It is a multisystem disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.It is transmitted to humans via an Ixodes tick bite. There are 3 skin manifestations of LB: Erythema migrans (stage 1) with a characteristic “bull’s eye rash,” which, if untreated, can be followed by early disseminated infection, borrelial lymphocytoma (stage 2) along with neurologic and cardiac abnormalities, and late infection, especially arthritis in North America or acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (stage 3) in Europe. Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is the most common late and chronic manifestation of LB. Approximately 20% of patients with ACA have a history of spontaneously healed EM, usually on an extremity where the ACA lesion developed 6 months to 8 years later.

Sections

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**Comment**

While ‘the powers that be’ continue to want to confine this complex illness within numerical stages and a “one size fits all” box, please know that patients have jumped from stage to stage in no particular order, with some requiring much longer courses of antibiotics/treatments.

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Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks, Transmission

LymeMIND Videos Now Available for Replay

https://www.lymedisease.org/lymemind-replay-youtube/

LymeMIND videos now available for replay on YouTube

Last month’s LymeMIND 2022 conference brought together leading researchers, physicians and advocates to discuss a wide variety of topics related to the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

The annual event is sponsored by the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation, the largest private funder of Lyme and tick-borne disease research in the United States.

Now, videos from that event are available to the public on You Tube.

In the following segment, three prominent Lyme disease advocates discuss “Finding your voice and fighting for the future.” Speakers are:

  • Lorraine Johnson, CEO of LymeDisease.org and principal investigator of MyLymeData
  • Pat Smith of the Lyme Disease Association
  • Dr. Betty Maloney, of Partnership for Tick-Borne Diseases Education
  • Ben Nemser of the Cohen Foundation moderates the panel

http://

LymeMIND7 – 2022 – Finding Your Voice and Fighting for the Future

Other portions of the LymeMIND conference can be accessed here.

Category:

Activism, Lyme