A 52-year-old woman was hospitalized with rhombencephalitis (inflammation of the rhombencephalon, also known as the hindbrain). The condition was found to be triggered by an infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease.
Over an 8-month period, the patient experienced intermittent fevers, dry cough, fatigue, headaches, night sweats, unintentional weight loss of about 15 lbs., double vision, a tremor in the neck, paresthesia and tremor in the extremities, an unsteady gait, and memory loss.
Approximately 4 weeks prior to symptom onset, the woman had been vacationing in a Lyme-endemic region of Norway. However, she did not recall a tick bite or rash.
“An MRI scan demonstrated pathology in rhombencephalon with quite symmetric T2 hyperintensity involving capsula interna bilaterally, extending through mesencephalon to pons,” the authors wrote.
Borrelia burgdorferi-specific IgM and IgG antibodies were identified using Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA).
An MRI scan revealed inflammation in rhombencephalon (also referred to as the hindbrain) that are extremely rare in patients with Lyme disease, the authors wrote.
The patient was treated successfully for 4 weeks with intravenous ceftriaxone.
“The MRI findings in rhombencephalon had almost disappeared,” according to the authors. Seven months later, a follow-up MRI “was completely normal, and she had further improvement of her symptoms.”
The authors suggest, “Significant improvement of neurological symptoms and resolution of the MRI findings after proper treatment confirmed the diagnosis neuroborreliosis with rhombencephalitis.”
Furthermore, “we recommend that neuroborreliosis should be considered among the differential diagnoses in patients where neurological symptoms and findings suggesting inflammation in the CNS, despite unusual or normal neuroimaging findings.”
Rhombencephalitis can be caused by infections with Listeria monocytogenes as the most common agent followed by Enterovirus 71 and Herpes simplex virus, the authors wrote. However, it is “exceedingly rare” to find Borrelia burgdorferi as an infectious cause of rhombencephalitis.
References:
Svingen H, Orrem J, Nørgaard Eskesen A. Neuroborreliosis with involvement of rhombencephalon: A case report. IDCases. 2022;28:e01472. Published 2022 Mar 8. doi:10.1016/j.idcr.2022.e01472
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**Comment**
Please remember everything is considered “rare” regarding Lyme, even though many may have the symptoms. They are rarely recorded. Big difference.
Multiple sclerosis (MS): Drug targeting Epstein-Barr virus shows promise
Researchers are investigating the effects of a drug that targets the Epstein-Barr virus in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in an ongoing phase 1 clinical trial.
The drug improves MS symptoms and may even reverse the condition.
The researchers are now recruiting for a Phase 2 clinical trial to further study the drug’s effects.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic condition that affects the central nervous system (CNS). It is characterized by the immune system attacking myelin sheaths — fatty layers that surround nerve fibers and enable them to communicate.
A study published in early 2022 found that contracting the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a herpes virus, significantly increases a person’s risk of MS. Multiple studies have also found EBV-infected immune B cells in patients with MS.
Researchers still don’t know how EBV may increase MS risk. However, one study suggests that EBV proteins may mimic human myelin proteins and induce an immune reaction against myelin by CNS antigens. (See link for article)
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SUMMARY:
Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. is in the middle of a Phase 1 clinical trial utilizing ATA118 that targets EBV-infected cells in people with MS.
Of 24 volunteers receiving varying doses, 20 showed improvement or halt in progression after 1 year.
Of 18 volunteers who took the drug for up to 39 months, half achieved sustained disability improvement with 7 showing signs of remyelination
Results will be presented at a conference by Atara on October 13th, 2022.
A188 might:
Interrupt cell-mediated autoimmune cascade driven by EBV-infected B cells.
Reduce the production of myelin-targeted antibodies made by EBV-infected plasma cells.
No serious or fatal side-effects were experienced, although one volunteer suffered a relapse.
Higher doses led to greater clinical responses.
The small sample size requires further research.
Atara is actively recruiting for a randomized, Phase 2, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Important quote:
“A majority of persons with MS appear to have been exposed to EBV. There is a protein on the EBV that is the same as a protein in myelin. When the body’s immune system attacks the virus, it also ends up attacking the myelin. Clearing the virus would decrease the stimulus for the immune cells to attack the myelin.” ~ Barbara Giesser, MD, neurologist and MS specialist
Summary: Almost 50% of older adults now die with a recorded diagnosis of dementia, up 36% from two decades ago.
Source: University of Michigan
Nearly half of all older adults now die with a diagnosis of dementia listed on their medical record, up 36% from two decades ago, a new study shows.
But that sharp rise may have more to do with better public awareness, more detailed medical records and Medicare billing practices than an actual rise in the condition, the researchers say.
Even so, they note, this offers a chance for more older adults to talk in advance with their families and health care providers about the kind of care they want at the end of life if they do develop Alzheimer’s disease or another form of cognitive decline.
The study, published in JAMA Health Forum by a University of Michigan team, uses data from 3.5 million people over the age of 67 who died between 2004 and 2017. It focuses on the bills their providers submitted to the traditional Medicare system in the last two years of the patients’ lives.
In 2004, about 35% of these end-of-life billing claims contained at least one mention of dementia, but by 2017 it had risen to more than 47%. Even when the researchers narrowed it down to the patients who had at least two medical claims mentioning dementia, 39% of the patients qualified, up from 25% in 2004.
The biggest jump in the percentage of people dying with a dementia diagnosis happened around the time Medicare allowed hospitals, hospices and doctors’ offices to list more diagnoses on their requests for payment.
The biggest jump in the percentage of people dying with a dementia diagnosis happened around the time Medicare allowed hospitals, hospices and doctors’ offices to list more diagnoses on their requests for payment. Image is in the public domain
But around this same time, the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease also went into effect, with a focus on public awareness, quality of care and more support for patients and their caregivers.
The end-of-life care that patients with dementia received changed somewhat overtime, including a drop in the percentage who died in a regular hospital bed or a ICU bed, or who had a feeding tube in their last six months. The percentage who received hospice services rose dramatically, from 36% to nearly 63%, though the authors note this is in line with a national trend toward more hospice care by the late 2010s.
“This shows we have far to go in addressing end-of-life care preferences proactively with those who are recently diagnosed, and their families,” said Julie Bynum, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study and a professor of geriatric medicine at Michigan Medicine.
“Where once the concern may have been underdiagnosis, now we can focus on how we use dementia diagnosis rates in everything from national budget planning to adjusting how Medicare reimburses Medicare Advantage plans.”
About this dementia research news
Author: Press Office Source: University of Michigan Contact: Press Office – University of Michigan Image: The image is in the public domain
Begley’s reporting described how a powerful group of researchers became fixated on one theory of Alzheimer’s causation at the expense of all others.
Their hypothesis: that Alzheimer’s cognitive decline was caused by neuron-killing, beta-amyloid protein clumps in the brain, and that if you dissolved the clumps, the disease process would stop.
As this theory hit a brick wall, Begley showed how the actions of the cabal harmed patients: “…for decades, believers in the dominant hypothesis suppressed research on alternative ideas: They influenced what studies got published in top journals, which scientists got funded, who got tenure, and who got speaking slots at reputation-buffing scientific conferences.”
Decades later, with no cure or effective drugs for Alzheimer’s dementia, some researchers are gathering evidence on a different causation theory — that dementia could be triggered by any number of chronic infectious diseases, and that amyloid plaques are a byproduct of an active infection, not the cause.
One of these researchers is Monica Embers, PhD, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the Tulane National Primate Research Center. She’s also the leading expert in identifying treatments that can eradicate Lyme bacteria infections in nonhuman primates, our closest mammalian relatives.
CME course on infection and dementia
In her new continuing medical education course, “Chronic Infection and the Etiology of Dementia,” she lays out the evidence that the Lyme bacteria could be one possible cause of dementia.
Her theory is this: When pathogens like the Lyme bacteria sneak past the blood-brain barrier, the immune system doesn’t allow protective killer cells from the entering the inflexible brain cavity, because resulting brain inflammation and swelling could lead to death.
Instead, it encapsulates invading microbes with protein clumps, called beta-amyloid plaques or Lewy bodies, to stop the infection. As a person ages, the bodily processes that clean up this “brain gunk” slows, resulting in protein accumulation that impedes brain signaling and kills neurons.
In her 31-minute course, Dr. Embers describes the clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Lewy body dementia, the impact on public health, genetic risks, and the list of infections associated with dementia-like symptoms.
The course also reviews a well-documented case study about a 54-year-old woman who was treated for the Lyme bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi), developed dementia, then died 15 years after the initial infection. After death, B. burgdorferi was identified by PCR (DNA detection) in her brain and central nervous system (CNS) tissues, and by immunofluorescent staining of the bacteria in the spinal cord. (For more, read this peer-reviewed study.)
Dr. Embers and her study’s co-authors conclude, “These studies offer proof of the principle that persistent infection with the Lyme disease spirochete may have lingering consequences on the CNS. Published in postmortem brain autopsy images and extensive pathology tests are a compelling reason to pursue this line of scientific inquiry.”
Kris Newby is Communications Director of Invisible International, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation dedicated to reducing suffering from invisible illnesses. The organization offers 24 free, online Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses on the diagnostics, epidemiology, immunology, symptoms, and treatment of Lyme disease, bartonellosis, and other vector-borne infections.
Bioweapons Expert Speaks Out About U.S. Bio labs in Ukraine
April 9, 2022
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola
Story at-a-glance
According to bioweapons expert Francis Boyle, Russia’s accusation that Ukraine is conducting U.S.-funded bioweapons research appears to be accurate
If true, everyone involved is subject to life in prison under the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989
According to Boyle, the U.S. government and Pentagon have had a “comprehensive policy” to “surround Russia with biological warfare laboratories” and “preposition biological weapons” there for use against them
The problem with trying to make a distinction between “biodefense” and “biowarfare” is that, basically, there is none.No biodefense research is purely defensive, because to do biodefense work, you’re automatically engaged in the creation of biological weapons, and all dual use research can be used for military purposes. SARS-CoV-2 may be the result of such dual use research
Boyle believes we can hold the culprits behind the SARS-CoV-2 bioweapon accountable by asking local prosecutors to convene a grand jury to seek the indictment of those responsible for the pandemic for murder and conspiracy to commit murder
Excerpts of article:
“InfoWars” host Owen Shroyer interviews Francis Boyle, Ph.D., a Harvard educated lawyer and bioweapons expert with a Ph.D. in political science, about the biolabs in Ukraine, which Russia claims are engaged in U.S.-funded bioweapons research.
While the U.S. has vehemently denied Russia’s accusations, Boyle says that based on what he’s discovered so far, the labs in Ukraine are all conducting biological warfare research — including ethnic-specific biological weapons — at the behest of the U.S. Pentagon, just as Russian authorities are claiming.
Go here for background on Metabiota, a U.S. firm with ties to WEF, DOD & is implicated in a cover-up.
According to Boyle, the justification that the labs are for bio defense and health purposes is nothing but a façade for the fact that they’re conducting offensive biological warfare research with genetic research, gain-of-function and synthetic biology.
When asked what the motive behind this kind of research might be, Boyle highlights two potential reasons:
a global “Nazi cult” that wants rid the world of certain ethnic groups, hence the focus on DNA-based ethnic-specific weapons. Please see this video of Dr. Ariyana Love on this topic as well as this supporting evidence
money – made on the research and creation of biological weapons, and money made on the supposed cures, be they vaccines or therapeutics
Boyle states that because our federal government has been captured by those who seek to destroy the U.S. from within, it’s highly unlikely federal authorities, even judges, will ever enforce the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act, but that we need to go to our local prosecutors, states’ attorneys, district attorneys, county attorneys, etc., who have been empowered by the 10th amendment and are accountable to the people of the community. These elected officials can convene a grand jury and return indictments for murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He recommends a two-step plan – the first of which is aimed at those responsible for the COVID ‘pandemic,’ and the second of which is aimed for those behind the COVID shots. Go here to see the list of 27 State AGs Suing Biden Administration Over Vaccine Mandates.
The U.S. military biological research program in Kazakhstan started in 2008 and the Pentagon has spent more than $300 MILLION on two bio labs in this former Soviet country doing risky biological research. The two labs are:
Central Reference Laboratory in Almaty (also known as Kazakh Scientific Center of Quarantine and Zoonotic Diseases (KSCQZD)
Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems (RIBSP) in Otar
These labs are just two of the many Pentagon labs in 25 countries across the world. They are funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) under a $2.1 billion military program – Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP), and are located in former Soviet Union countries such as Kazakhstan, Georgia and Ukraine, the Middle East, South East Asia and Africa.
Unit A1266 and local scientists have collected 40,000 ticksfrom 13 regions in Kazakhstan. Why Kazakhstan? It borders Russia and China – the main rivals of the U.S.
They have isolated four bio-agents that post a serious bio-terrorism threat. The following bio agents have the potential to be engineered for mass aerosol dissemination and used as bioweapons:
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) – which Chinese scientist whistleblower Dr. Li-Meng Yan states the CCP spread at the Olympics in Bejing, Feb. 2022. Xi’an had an outbreak of CCHFV in Dec. 2022 and it is considered a common infectious disease in northern China. Dr. Love N.D. states it has been weaponized using ticks to infect humans.
Rickettsia prowazekii (typhus) – Pentagon Unit A1266 has also studied the pathogen in fleas
A US Air Force C 17 cargo plane transported plague samples, a priority Pentagon project, from Kazakhstan the the U.S. as well as anthrax, tularemia, and coronavirus. Plague has been developed as an aerosol weapon by several countries in the past. The Pentagon project from 2015-2018 & funded by the DOD, showed all bat guano samples screened were positive for coronaviruses.
More recently, ProjectGG-21, a five year long project with a possible 3 year extension studies “Arthropod-borne and zoonotic infections among military personnel in Georgia.” Blood samples looking for the following pathogens will be obtained form 1,000 military recruits during their physical exam at the Georgian military hospital:
Bacillus anthracis
Brucella
CCHF virus
Coxiella burnetii
Francisella tularensis
Hantavirus
Rickettsia species
TBE virus
Bartonella species
Borrelia species
Ehlrichia species
Leptospira species
Salmonella typhi
WNV
The project report states:
“all volunteer deaths will be promptly reported (usually within 48 h of the PI being notified)” to the Georgian Military Hospital and WRAIR.
The author of the article points out that simply testing blood for antibodies cannot cause death, which raises the question why this statement is even given.
The results will NOT be given to the study participants and the samples will be stored at the controversial and heavily guarded Lugar Center, a U.S. funded (2.1 BILLION) Pentagon bio lab in the country of Georgia, known for laboratory incidents and scandals surrounding the US drug giant Gilead Science‘s Hepatitis C program which has resulted in at least 248 deaths. The cause of death in the majority of cases has been listed as unknown,internal documents have shown.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has funded a similar project involving soldiers in Ukraine code-named UP-8, which will look at the spread of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus and hantaviruses in Ukraine as well as the potential need for differential diagnosis in patients with suspected leptospirosis. The project started in 2017 and was extended until 2020, internal documents show.
This project will also collect blood samples from 4,400 healthy soldiers in Lviv, Kharkov, Odesa and Kyiv. 4,000 of these samples will be tested for antibodies against hantaviruses, and 400 for the presence of antibodies against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus. The results of the blood testing will also not be provided to the study participants.
The project report also states:
“serious incidents, including deaths should be reported within 24 hours. All deaths of study subjects that are suspected or known to be related to the research procedures should be brought to the attention of the bioethics committees in the USA and Ukraine.”
But, again, simply testing blood does not cause deaths or serious incidents – begging the question, are these soldiers being infected and then tested?
Similarly to “vaccine” manufacturers, DTRA-sponsored scientists have full indemnity if they cause deaths or injuries to the local population.
unify public health data systems at the state and federal levels
“help” states hire staff to work on data collection & analysis (using $3 BILLION CDC funds)
create a “Travelocity”-like system where a “cloud-based” framework would allow staff to quickly analyze data and understand what is happening in real-time. WHO minion Dr. Harari, a real life Dr. Evil, states“intelligent design,not created by “some God above the clouds,”“but our intelligent design,” and the “intelligent design of ourClouds, the IBM Cloud, the Microsoft Cloud, these are the new driving forces of evolution.”
This centralization and monopolization of health data will give the CDC even more power and authority, and sounds like a perfect prelude to global“vaccine” passports
Nearly every single detail about the current COVID “White House Plan” is flawed.Walensky wants to create an even more powerful federally based health system which further forces people into a box with no optionsor individualization, and which would be a top down approach where independent doctors wouldn’t stand a prayer of a chance. As it is, independent doctors who dare defy the accepted narrative are being hunted down and persecuted. These medical renegades are branded as giving “misinformation,” and Walenski’s plan would only amplify this polarization, and would take away the already few options for desperate patients.
Madison Area Lyme Support Group 