Archive for the ‘Mycoplasma’ Category

One Tick Bite Could Put You at Risk For at Least 19 Different Diseases

http://www.businessinsider.com/deer-tick-can-carry-lyme-disease-powassan-virus-babesiosis-and-more-2017-6 by Kevin Loria, June 28,2017

The deer tick, also known as the blacklegged tick, is a fascinating but nasty little creature, and it’s spreading.

The tiny arthropods carry Lyme disease — the serious illness that we most associate them with — but that’s not the only pathogen they spread.

“One thing that people really need to be aware of is that Lyme disease is not the only pathogen that’s out there — there’s quite a few of them, [including] probably quite a few that we haven’t discovered yet,” says Rafal Tokarz, an associate research scientist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

And the deer tick, which as far as we know carries more illnesses than any other tick, “has been expanding its range enormously in the last 30 years,” says Durland Fish, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. Before the early 70s, it was largely unknown outside the Northeast, but now it has spread north, south, and west.

The diseases that we know deer ticks spread are all serious:

1. Lyme disease, which is transmitted by ticks infected with the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, infects roughly 300,000 Americans every year. It can be treated with antibiotics if caught early, but can cause severe inflammation, nerve, and joint pain,among other symptoms, if left untreated.

2. When people are infected with babesiosis, parasites infect and destroy red blood cells. Not everyone shows symptoms but it can be life-threatening for some at-risk patients. It’s “like tick-borne malaria,” says Fish, and is the most important contaminant of the blood bank right now, he says.

3. Anaplasmosis is spread by another bacteria carried by deer ticks. It usually shows up a week or two after a bite and can cause fever, headaches, nausea, and general malaise, among other symptoms. If untreated it can be severe, leading to hemorrhage, renal failure, and for a small fraction of even healthy patients, potentially can be fatal.

4. Deer ticks can also spread the Borrelia miyamotoi bacteria, which Fish says is similar to the one that causes Lyme. Symptoms include joint pain, fatigue, fever, chills, and headache.

5. A relatively recently discovered disease that’s spread by deer ticks as well as dog and Lone Star ticks is ehrlichiosis, caused by a bacteria in the same family as the one responsible for Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Symptoms often present like the flu.

6. Powassan virus has been around for a while but has received more attention recently, especially since the deer tick (which frequently bites humans) started spreading it — the ticks that transmitted the first reported cases in the 1950s rarely bite people. Unlike Lyme, which often takes many hours or even a couple days before it’s transmitted, Powassan infection can occur in as little as 15 minutes. Not everyone who gets bitten by an infected tick gets sick, but if they do, it’s a serious problem since there’s no treatment. In those (still rare) cases, Fish says that there’s about a 50% chance of permanent neurological damage and a 10% chance of death.

The broad range of potential conditions means that doctors don’t even necessarily know what to look for. Even worse, “ticks can frequently be co-infected with more than one pathogen,” says Tokarz. That’s especially true in certain locations, like on Long Island. One bite could transmit both Lyme disease and babesiosis, conditions that would normally be treated quite differently.

It’s also possible that having two or more illnesses could change the way the disease manifests. “We still don’t know whether co-infection exacerbates a disease or doesn’t make a difference,” says Tokarz.”Studies have shown both.”

Unfortunately, we don’t have any good way to control ticks and to stop the ongoing expansion, which will lead to more people getting sick.

In the places where people are at risk of picking up a tick “it is a very important, very severe problem, but the only thing that can be done is to educate people on the dangers of coming into contact with ticks,” says Tokarz.

If you get one on you, pull it off right away — don’t bother with urban legends about needing to burn it off. And protect yourself if you are going to be hiking or spending time in a place where ticks are common. Use permethrin-treated clothing for outdoors work and use insect repellent that contains DEET.

________________________________________________________________________________________

**My letter to the author**

Dear Mr. Loria,

Thank you for your piece on ticks and the pathogens they carry. I just wanted to add to your list; however, as there are many more pathogens carried by ticks. Also, they are discovering a variety of ticks carry pathogens, and if you think about it logically for a moment, ticks have similar habits and mouth parts, and require blood meals to survive, which technically makes every tick suspect. Unfortunately, geographical maps and entomology information (which ticks spread what) have been used to deny patients diagnosis and treatment. A doctor will look at the CDC map and claim, unequivocally, that since such and such isn’t supposed to be in that state, it isn’t TBI’s (tick borne infections). https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/09/24/arkansas-kids-denied-lyme-treatment/ and then eventually they have to admit they are wrong: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/02/hold-the-press-arkansas-has-lyme/

How many went undiagnosed through the years?

https://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/about-lyme/other-tick-borne-diseases

  • Babesiosis
  • Bartonellosis
  • Borrelia miyamotoi
  • Bourbon Virus
  • Colorado Tick Fever
  • Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic Fever
  • Ehrlichiosis/Anaplasmosis
  • Heartland Virus
  • Meat Allergy/Alpha Gal
  • Pacific Coast Tick Fever: Richettsia philipii
  • Powassan Encephalitis
  • Q Fever
  • Rickettsia parkeri Richettsiosis
  • Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF)
  • SFTS: Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome 
  • STARI: Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness
  • Tickborne meningoencephalitis
  • Tick Paralysis
  • Tularemia

I run a physical support group here in Wisconsin, 4th in the nation for TBI’s, and nearly all of us are co-infected, and while Tokarz states he doesn’t know whether coinfection exacerbates a disease, we all do. http://danielcameronmd.com/babesia-and-lyme-its-worse-than-you-think/.  Each pathogen necessitates different medications so the CDC mono therapy of doxycycline won’t do a thing against many of the other pathogens.

“Babesia can increase the severity of Lyme disease. Coinfected patients were more likely to have experienced fatigue, headache, sweats, chills, anorexia, emotional lability, nausea, conjunctivitis, and splenomegaly more frequently than those with Lyme disease alone. [7]
Babesia can also increase the duration of illness with Lyme disease. Babesia patients can remain symptomatic for years with constitutional, musculoskeletal, or neurological symptoms. One study found that 50% of coinfected patients were symptomatic for 3 months or longer, compared to only 4% of patients who had Lyme disease alone. [7] Meanwhile, one-third of patients with a history of both Babesia and Lyme disease remained symptomatic an average of 6 years. [2]

“The clinical pictures for 3 out of our 4 coinfected patients included a large number of symptoms, and 1 coinfected patient had persistent fatigue after treatment,” according to a study by Steere and colleagues. [8]”

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/03/20/why-we-cant-get-better/

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

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2014/11/14/studies-show-why-its-tough-to-treat-lyme-and-co/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/05/08/interview-with-dr-horowitz/

For a fantastic book on all of this and more, read science journalist and past Executive Editor of Discover Magazine, Pam Weintraub’s work, Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic. http://www.astralgia.com/pamelaweintraubresume18.pdf

Sincerely,
Alicia Cashman
Madison Lyme Support Group
https://about.me/lymecoordinator56
lymecoordinator56@gmail.com
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com

Category:

Activism, Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Bartonella, Lyme, Mycoplasma, Ticks, Tularemia

Membrane Lipid Replacement for Lyme/MSIDS

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005273617301293

Available online 18 April 2017  Garth L. Nicolsona, , , E-mail author,Michael E. Ash

Abstract

Membrane Lipid Replacement is the use of functional, oral supplements containing mixtures of cell membrane glycerolphospholipids, plus fructooligosaccharides (for protection against oxidative, bile acid and enzymatic damage) and antioxidants, in order to safely replace damaged, oxidized, membrane phospholipids and restore membrane, organelle, cellular and organ function. Defects in cellular and intracellular membranes are characteristic of all chronic medical conditions, including cancer, and normal processes, such as aging. Once the replacement glycerolphospholipids have been ingested, dispersed, complexed and transported, while being protected by fructooligosaccharides and several natural mechanisms, they can be inserted into cell membranes, lipoproteins, lipid globules, lipid droplets, liposomes and other carriers. They are conveyed by the lymphatics and blood circulation to cellular sites where they are endocytosed or incorporated into or transported by cell membranes. Inside cells the glycerolphospholipids can be transferred to various intracellular membranes by lipid globules, liposomes, membrane-membrane contact or by lipid carrier transfer. Eventually they arrive at their membrane destinations due to ‘bulk flow’ principles, and there they can stimulate the natural removal and replacement of damaged membrane lipids while undergoing further enzymatic alterations. Clinical trials have shown the benefits of Membrane Lipid Replacement in restoring mitochondrial function and reducing fatigue in aged subjects and chronically ill patients. Recently Membrane Lipid Replacement has been used to reduce pain and other symptoms as well as removing hydrophobic chemical contaminants, suggesting that there are additional new uses for this safe, natural medicine supplement. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Membrane Lipid Therapy: Drugs Targeting Biomembranes edited by Pablo Escríba-Ruíz.

The article also noted that while glycerolphospholipid absorption in the upper intestines was over 90%, after a large meal, and transported into the blood within 6 hours, dietary MLR polyunsaturated phospholipids are oxidized and degraded during storage, ingestion, digestion, and absorption and need to be protected from acid degradation in the gut and bile salts and hydrolysis from the pancreas and gut microflora in the small intestines.  The researchers found an answer to this problem by complexing MLR phospholipids with specific fructooligosaccharides (Inulins), which protect from oxidation and high temps, acidity, and phospholipases and bile salts.

Plants such as legumes or cabbage are good sources for MLR supplementation but in order to get a daily dose of 1.8 g of membrane phospholipids you’d have to have an intake of 15 kg of beans!

The most convenient, efficient, safe and cost effective method of membrane phospholipid administration in humans has been the use of daily oral lecithin supplements [1]; [2]; [3] ;  [6]. Most oral lecithin supplements are rather crude soy, egg yolk or marine preparations that lack oxidation, bile and phosphatase protection. In addition, most of these oral supplements have not been carefully analyzed for phospholipid composition, and in particular for lipid degradation products. However, there are oral MLR phospholipid supplements, such as NTFactor® and NTFactor Lipids®, that fulfill the requirements for efficacy, oxidation and degradation protection, safety and convenience [1]; [2] ;  [3]. The NTFactor® lipid supplements, and their use in clinical studies, will be discussed in more detail in 8, 9, 10 ;  11. NTFactor®, which also contains probiotic bacteria, growth media and other ingredients, and NTFactor Lipids®, without these additives, come in several oral forms, but almost all contain from 1–2 g of phospholipids per dose [1]; [2] ;  [3]. The recommended optimal daily oral dose of NTFactor Lipids® for most clinical conditions has been estimated at 2–4 g per day, and more recently at least 4 g per day, whereas its anti-aging use has been proposed at 2 g per day [2]. Some updates in these recommendations will be discussed in Section 12.

A table in the article shows uses for MLR supplements such as fatigue, infections, autoimmune, and chemical detox and revised dose levels.  These are issues nearly every Lyme/MSIDS patient has.  The dosages for these issues are upwards of 4g/day, showing the intensive mitochrondrial damage these issues cause in the body.

Due to intense detoxification efforts by the liver, many Lyme/MSIDS patients have high liver titers.  The good news is that patients with advanced liver cirrhosis were given oral MLR phospholipids and after just 3 months had normal blood results for liver function.  They are also safe to use during pregnancy and have in fact been used in high risk pregnancies with success.

**The authors are part-time consultants to Nutritional Therapeutics, Inc. and Allergy Research Group, Inc.

 

 

Category:

diet and nutrition, Lyme, Mycoplasma, research, Treatment

Minocycline for MS and Much More

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170601124019.htm

Canadian researchers have discovered that minocycline, a common acne medication, can slow relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in those with initial symptoms.

Standard treatment costs for MS treatment in Canada range from $20,000 to $40,000 per year, with the cost tripled in the U.S.  Treatment using minocycline would cost about $600 per year.  

According to lead author, Dr. Luanne Metz, neurologists will be able to give mino to patients who have MRI results suggesting an MS cause and who are suffering with initial symptoms of demyelination.  

In the study, http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1608889 one group was given 100mg twice a day of minocycline while the other group was given a placebo.  Over six months there was a 27.6% reduction in full blown MS.  (Risk was 61% in placebo group and 33.4% in the mino group).

Minocycline has been used safely and effectively for over 30 years and has many anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, chelates calcium and is well-tolerated.  A Tetracycline drug that is bacteriostatic, it is widely used against both gram negative and gram positive pathogens including Rickettsia, Chlamydia, Plasmodium spp., and Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Minocycline, as most Lyme/MSIDS patients know, is one of the most effective antibiotics which crosses the blood brain barrier, due to its high lipid solubility.  It is one of my personal favorites and the most effective drug for the excruciating occipital (base of the skull) headaches I get due to Tick-borne infections.  If you experience these, please read:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/04/02/chiari/ as brain infections can cause Chiari.  Please also see:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/03/lyme-meningoencephalitis-masquerading-as-normal-pressure-hydrocephalus/

According to Spanish researchers, Minocycline is much more than just an antibiotic.  Minocycline far beyond an antibiotic  Not only is it antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory, it has also been shown to be neuroprotective, anti-apoptotic, and it inhibits proteolysis, angiogenesis and tumor metastasis.  Preclinical trials have shown it to inhibit malignant cell growth and activation and repletion of HIV, and  prevents bone resorption.  It has helped those with Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS, Alzheimer’s, and spinal cord injury.  The link in blue demonstrates minos effectiveness against dermatitis, periodontal disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and CNS (central nervous system) pathologies, osteoporosis, and autism, as well as has potential to help atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and allergic asthma.  The researchers also feel mino is a rational treatment for neuropathic pain, something Lyme/MSIDS patients understand up close and personal.

Mino is inexpensive, has a known side-effect profile, and is well-absorbed (95-100%).  It, along with doxycycline, due to their ability to penetrate the cell wall, is commonly used for Lyme disease treatment:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/13/lyme-disease-treatment/

Category:

Lyme, Mycoplasma, research, Rickettsia, Treatment

Hidden Invaders: Infections Can Trigger Immune Attacks on Kids’ Brains Provoking Devastating Psychiatric Disorders

http://discovermagazine.com/2017/april-2017/hidden-invaders  By Pamela Weintraub Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Hidden Invaders:  Infections can trigger immune attacks on kids’ brains, provoking devastating psychiatric disorders.

Please read Weintraub’s detailed article in link above about seven year old Paul who changed over night, due to pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS).  

“PANS is thought to be an inflammatory condition that results when an infection or some other invasive trigger spurs the body to turn on itself and attack structures in the brain. For years, scientists had focused on a single infection — group A streptococcal disease — that produced antibodies that attacked the part of the forebrain involved in forming habits, resulting in OCD. Today, the paradigm has widened into a much bigger idea that expands our understanding of psychiatric disease: A whole host of infections and other unknown triggers lead to the production of antibodies and immune cells that can cross into the brain. Depending on where these immune responses land and which brain structures they block, erode or destroy, a range of psychiatric ills can result. In one person, it could be OCD; in the next, it could be hyperactivity and inattention, anxiety, restricted eating, even hallucinations or autistic behavior.”

A prominent Wisconsin Lyme literate doctor states that 80% of his PANS children are also infected with Lyme/MSIDS.  They respond and improve with antibiotics, diet change, probiotics, and other supplements to improve immune function.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/13/lyme-disease-treatment/ According to Weintraub, researchers are trying to find the right treatment that stops inflammation and immune dysfunction due to rogue antibodies that attack the brain.

Weintraub also reports that strep infections can cause neuropsychiatric symptoms.  One psychiatrist found that some patients right after a strep infection could develop OCD and eating disorders.  She also found that children with OCD from PANDAS had toxic behavior reactions to typical medications that helped those with standard OCD showing the two groups were not equal.  In studying 43 children with acute onset OCD, the infectious triggers were strep and mycoplasma.  She treated them with Azithromycin and the patients improved. https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/07/mycoplasma-treatment/

Untreated PANS children can be disabled by their psychiatric symptoms and have, “OCD with severe intrusive thoughts such as suicidal ideation, psychosis, deep anxieties and fears, panic, rage, and are at risk of committing violent acts, ” as well as cognitive problems such as:  “handwriting deterioration, slow processing speed and regressions so frightening that a once-normal 10-year-old might have the skills and behavior of a developmentally slow 3-year-old.”

A pediatric rheumatologist managed to find clusters of children from the same school or neighborhood who had all come down with the condition in the same month as well as other infections besides strep were involved, such as bacterial mycoplasma, influenza, sinusitis, pneumonia and others.  

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/01/17/lymemsids-and-psychiatric-illness/  Incredible video by Dr. Marke with written highlights and discussion on PANDAS/PANS.

Category:

Bartonella, Lyme, Mycoplasma, Psychological Aspects, research

Gulf War Illness, Vaccines, MSIDS, & Brain Damage

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/20/research-ties-gulf-war-illness-to-brain-damage/1982817/  There is now physical proof that Gulf War Illness is caused by damage to the brain.  http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0058493  

Gulf War Illness affects more than 250,000 vets and causes black-outs, cysts on scalp, inability to concentrate, chronic headaches, liver damage, Tourette’s syndrome, chronic fatigue, lesions on the brain, heart and lungs, skin rashes, thyroid cancer, paralysis of the stomach, respiratory problems, vertigo, autoimmune disorders, liver damage, chronic fatigue, allergies, pain, and more.

 

Until now most cannot get benefits or treatment, and to add insult to injury vets are accused of faking it or suffering from post traumatic stress.  James Baraniuk, senior author and professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, regarding doctors, states,

“If it doesn’t fall within their small world of known diseases, then the patient is nuts.”

Using fMRI (functional MRI) machines, researchers saw anomalies in the bundle of nerve fibers that interpret pain signals in the brain in 31 Gulf War veterans. The research appears to correlate with previous research on Gulf War Illness, including a major study showing problems in involuntary function, as well as a study showing as many as 100,000 troops may have been doused with Sarin gas when the U.S. Air Force bombed a munitions factory during the war.

The good news about a fMRI (functional MRI) is it allows doctors to diagnose Gulf War Illness quickly, and while most hospitals are equipped with MRI equipment they may need to install fMRI software and be trained to use it.

Researchers suspect environmental factors such as Sarin gas, ACHL-inhibitors found in nerve agents, anti-nerve-agent pills, pesticides, and vaccines, particularly the Anthrax Vaccine which is a 6-shot regimen adjuvanted by aluminum hydroxide, and squalene.

The military calls Gulf War Syndrome an emotional ailment. Refusing the vaccine has ended in dishonorable discharge, fines, and prison. Malcom Hopper M.D. Emeritus Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at a University in Britain, and the chief advisor to the Gulf War Veterans in the UK states that those who have received the vaccine have horrific pain in their sexual organs such as burning semen syndrome. The number of infants born without eye sockets has sky-rocketed following Executive Order 13139. Over 1,000,000 military personnel have adverse side effects to the Anthrax Vaccine (RAC-GWVI Government report 2008). Today 35,000 new soldiers receive the Anthrax Vaccine each month (RAC-GWVI Government Report 2014).   https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/25/vaccines-revealed-6-please-share-with-all-military-members/

Baraniuk states the research is important because it shows that Gulf War Illness is NOT psychological.  He also states:

“If 30% of Congress got sick, or 30% of Manhattan got sick, there would have been an outcry.” Also, “The guys who were robust and leading the charge on this 10 years ago are now using canes.”

Many military members also suffer from Lyme/MSIDS, including Mycoplasma.  

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/21/military-veterans-suicide-and-lymemsids/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15694687/  Owen DC. Med Hypothesis.  2005.

Abstract

Symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome and chronic Lyme disease are very similar. Lyme disease is a condition which can be difficult to diagnose since one of the main features of the condition, the erythema migrans rash, may be absent or overlooked and serological testing for Lyme disease may be falsely negative. Symptoms of Lyme disease may not became apparent until years after exposure to the causative organism. Military personnel during training in the field are at risk of tick bites and it may be that those who developed Gulf War Syndrome entered the conflict with latent Lyme disease. There has been no systematic examination of Gulf War Syndrome sufferers for chronic Lyme disease and it is hypothesized that chronic Lyme disease has been overlooked as a cause of Gulf War Syndrome. To address this it is suggested that sufferers of Gulf War Syndrome or similar illnesses should be examined by physicians who have experience diagnosing and treating large numbers of patients with Lyme disease.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/08/12/connecting-dots-mycoplasma/

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Mycoplasma, research, vaccines