Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Lyme Disease is Associated With Various Sleep Disorders

https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-sleep-disorders/

LYME DISEASE IS ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS SLEEP DISORDERS

woman awake in bed with lyme disease and a sleep disorder

Patients with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) may experience sleep disturbances, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Researchers found,

“PTLDS participants reported significantly worse global sleep and sleep disturbance scores and worse fatigue, functional impact, and more cognitive-affective depressive symptoms compared to poor-sleeping controls.” [1]

By

Dr. Robert Bransfield, a New Jersey-based psychiatrist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne illnesses, has seen a broad range of sleep disturbances in Lyme disease patients treated at his practice. He describes the various sleep disorders in the article “Neuropsychiatric Lyme Borreliosis: An Overview with a Focus on a Specialty Psychiatrist’s Clinical Practice.” [2]

The patients experienced:

  • Non-restorative sleep
  • Early insomnia
  • Middle of the night insomnia
  • Early morning insomnia
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness
  • Loss or reversal of circadian rhythm
  • Restless leg
  • Paroxysmal nocturnal limb movements
  • Sleep apnea (central and/or obstructive)
  • Sleep paralysis
  • Hypnagogic hallucinations
  • Sleep attacks
  • Cataplexy
  • Narcolepsy

The combination of “non-restorative sleep and chronic unremitting stress appear to play a significant role in disease progression,” explains Bransfield.

“Both non-restorative sleep and the chronic unremitting stress seen in these chronically ill patients contribute to disease perpetuation and progression and are associated with fatigue, cognitive impairments, decreased regenerative functioning, compromised immunity, decreased resistance to infectious disease and neurodegenerative processes,” he writes.

Editor’s note: I have also found that Lyme disease patients can suffer from a broad range of sleep issues. However, it can be difficult to determine whether Lyme disease or a comorbidity is responsible for the sleep disturbance. I have found that antibiotic treatment often improves sleep disorder symptoms.

Related Articles:

Poor sleep quality in Lyme disease patients

16-year-old boy with Lyme disease presenting as depression

References:
  1. Weinstein ER, Rebman AW, Aucott JN, Johnson-Greene D, Bechtold KT. Sleep Quality in Well-defined Lyme Disease: A Clinical Cohort Study in Maryland. Sleep. 2018.
  2. Bransfield RC. Neuropsychiatric Lyme Borreliosis: An Overview with a Focus on a Specialty Psychiatrist’s Clinical Practice. Healthcare (Basel). 2018;6(3).
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Chronic lack of sleep is a terrible thing.  Parasites notoriously cause insomnia.  Appropriate treatment for infection(s) is the most important step but often times other adjunctive therapies are needed as well.

Category:

Lyme, research, Sleep

Ticktective Podcast & Video Series

https://www.bayarealyme.org/blog/ticktective-podcast/

| NewsBy Bay Area Lyme Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Tara DiMilia, 908-947-0500, tara.dimilia@TMstrat.com

Bay Area Lyme Foundation Launches Ticktective™ Podcast

PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif., September 30, 2020 — Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, announces the launch of the Ticktective podcast and video series.  Ticktective is a Bay Area Lyme Foundation program designed to investigate the latest scientific knowledge and advances in Lyme and tick-borne diseases. The podcast offers insightful discussion with researchers, physicians, patients, and thought leaders in the field.

“Because the science surrounding tick-borne disease is so complex and there are so many unanswered questions, Ticktective aims to share firsthand perspectives about the challenges of Lyme in ways that will intrigue more scientists, physicians and patients to join our battle towards making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure,” said Linda Giampa, executive director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation.

There are more than 400,000 people diagnosed with Lyme disease each year in the US, and millions of Americans live with persistent Lyme disease (PLD) caused by an ongoing bacterial infection. The current “gold standard” diagnostic for Lyme disease misses up to 60% of cases of early stage Lyme disease, and if not treated promptly, Lyme may progress to a debilitating stage, becoming difficult, or impossible, to cure. Bay Area Lyme Foundation has funded over 100 research projects at 37 institutions across the US in a mission to find solutions for these patients.

“I’ve always had an insatiable curiosity, and my own diagnosis of Lyme disease has driven me to use this curiosity to find answers that will help lead to solutions for all tick-borne diseases,” said Ticktective host Lia Gaertner, who is the director of education and outreach for Bay Area Lyme Foundation and holds degrees in environmental science and ethnobotany.

Initial Ticktective interviews include conversations addressing the challenges of developing a diagnostic for Lyme disease, the scientific techniques being used to overcome these challenges, what motivates researchers taking on this challenge, and the frustration of patients.

  • 2020 Emerging Leader Award Winner Jacob Lemieux, MD, DPhil of Harvard University discusses the similarities and difference of Lyme disease and malaria, the promise of next-generation sequencing for developing a diagnostic, his lab’s role in COVID-19 research, and the intersection of COVID-19 and Lyme disease.
  • 2020 Emerging Leader Award Winner Artem Rogovsky, DVM, PhD of Texas A&M University discusses what he learned from radioactive ticks, why he is aiming to develop a direct diagnostic for Lyme, and how a conversation at a kids’ birthday party ignited the innovative idea for this diagnostic concept.
  • Liz Horn, PhD, MBI is principal investigator for the Lyme Disease Biobank, which aims to enable and accelerate research by providing scientists with the biological samples needed to conduct important experiments. The Biobank has enrolled over 900 participants and currently supports more than 55 research projects.
  • Singer-songwriter Dana Parish, who not only has numerous chart-topping singles, but has also become a strong advocate for people with Lyme disease after a tick bite in 2014 that progressed to a persistent infection despite antibiotic treatment. She discusses how she is “fighting the good fight,” and making progress in her personal battle and for the cause.

“I was driven to become a songwriter as I wanted to make people feel understood, knowing that the best songs are personal yet universal. With that same spirit, it’s been vital to me to use my voice to be honest about what I’ve learned about the travesty of tick-borne diseases. In an area of medicine filled with misinformation, Ticktective is bringing valuable insights and help straight to the Lyme community. I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to share my Lyme experience with listeners of Ticktective,” said Parish, whom Gaertner refers to as a fierce champion for the under-represented Lyme community.

Listen to the Ticktective podcast here. Check out other resources of Bay Area Lyme Foundation, including printable fact sheets, videos, educational tools and more, and follow us on and Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

About Lyme Disease
The most common vector-borne infectious disease in the country, Lyme disease is a potentially disabling infection caused by bacteria transmitted through the bite of an infected tick to people and pets. If caught early, most cases of Lyme disease can be effectively treated, but it is commonly misdiagnosed due to lack of awareness and unreliable diagnostic tests. There are more than 400,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year, according to statistics released in 2018 by the CDC. As a result of the difficulty in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, more than one million Americans may be suffering from the impact of its debilitating long-term symptoms and complications, according to Bay Area Lyme Foundation estimates.

About Bay Area Lyme Foundation
Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a national organization committed to making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure, is a leading public not-for-profit sponsor of innovative Lyme disease research in the US.  A 501c3 non-profit organization based in Silicon Valley, Bay Area Lyme Foundation collaborates with world-class scientists and institutions to accelerate medical breakthroughs for Lyme disease. It is also dedicated to providing reliable, fact-based information so that prevention and the importance of early treatment are common knowledge. A pivotal donation from The LaureL STEM Fund covers overhead costs and allows for 100% of all donor contributions to Bay Area Lyme Foundation to go directly to research and prevention programs. For more information about Lyme disease or to get involved, visit www.bayarealyme.org or call us at 650-530-2439.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Ticks

New Dapsone Study: Breaking Biofilm

https://lymediseaseassociation.org/about-lyme/science-a-professional-articles/new-dapsone-study-breaking-biofilm/

New Dapsone Study: Breaking Biofilm

Dr. Richard Horrowitz co-author of the published case study on Lyme disease and COVID-19
Dr. Richard Horowitz, lead-author: Effect of dapsone alone and in combination with intracellular antibiotics against the biofilm form of B. burgdorferi

New in vitro study on dapsone (diaminodiphenyl sulfone), and dapsone combination therapy (DDS CT) was just published by Dr. Richard Horowitz et al. and provides hope of effective treatment for patients with persistent Lyme disease.

The study is suggestive that dapsone combination therapy may well characterize both a novel and successful option to treat Borrelia burgdorferi persister cells in the form of biofilm.  There are several hypotheses causing great controversy regarding the persistent symptoms that greater than 10-20% of patients are experiencing after infection with B. burgdorferi. The study evaluated the effectiveness of dapsone against B. burdorferi biofilm forms of the bacteria by testing in individual as well as in combination therapy with several drugs including cefuroxime, doxycycline, rifampin, and azithromycin in vitro.

The results were robust, showing that using dapsone alone or in various combinations with the above stated drugs significantly reduced the mass and protective glycosaminoglycan layer affecting the capability of the biofilm form of B. burdorferi. DDS CT efficacy on the B. burgdorferi biofilms was also determined by ascertaining the biofilm polysaccharide matrix content, glycosaminoglycans (GAG).

Study results showed the most efficient single use antibiotic at reducing biofilm was dapsone at both 10 µM and 50 µM concentrations,  showing 69% and 58% residual viability respectively. Used individually, other antibiotic treatments (doxycycline, cefuroxime, and azithromycin) proved to be less efficient and, in some cases, even caused an increase biofilm mass. In contrast, triple and quadruple combination antibiotic therapies showed greater efficacy.

  • The most significant finding was that dapsone used individually or in combination therapy with rifampin, and a tetracycline and/or a macrolide and/or a cephalosporin showed great promise in the treatment of persistent Lyme patients, with prior clinical studies demonstrating improvement in many of the debilitating symptoms that patients suffer including fatigue, pain, neuropathy, sleep disturbances, cognitive dysfunction, sweats and flushing.
It is urgent that randomized trials are launched to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of DDS CT as the spread of Lyme disease continues to increase on a global scale.

Read the full journal article: Effect of dapsone alone and in combination with intracellular antibiotics against the biofilm form of B. burgdorferi

Read the 2016 article: The Use of Dapsone as a Novel “Persister” Drug in the Treatment of ChronicLyme Disease/Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome

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**Comment**

This is great news.  If you suffer from chronic symptoms you may want to discuss this with your doctor and consider it in your treatment arsenal.  I have heard the side-effects from Dapsone are substantial so make sure you and your doctor read up on those and ways to mitigate them.  I know Dr. Horowitz utilizes many supplements for this purpose when using Dapsone.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/06/26/new-treatments-for-lyme-disease-on-the-horizon/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/05/09/leprosy-drug-for-lyme/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/10/09/mycobacterium-drugs-for-ld/

Sadly, those RCTs are far down the research pipeline. Unfortunately the ‘sexy’ topic of climate change trumps effective treatments that would make life bearable for patients.  

Category:

Lyme, research, Treatment

Intestinal Bacteria Could Give Doctors An Objective Test For Chronic Lyme Disease

https://news.northeastern.edu/2020/09/29/intestinal-bacteria-could-give-doctors-an-objective-test-for-chronic-lyme-disease/

by Emily ArntsenSeptember 29, 2020

Fatigue, muscles aches, brain fog—are these symptoms of chronic Lyme disease, or merely side effects of the daily grind of human existence? It’s hard to tell. 

Chronic Lyme disease, also known as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome or PTLDS, is incredibly hard to diagnose because symptoms vary greatly, and there is currently no biological test to detect the disease.

Now, Kim Lewis, University Distinguished Professor of biology and director of the Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern, has proposed a new way to objectively diagnose this elusive disease by analyzing the microbes in a patient’s gut.  (See link for article)

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**Comment**

A few points of consideration:

  1. The article falsely states that 10-20% go on to suffer with symptoms – 800,000 by their estimation.  It’s far, far more than that. Their number needs to be doubled to even get remotely close to reality according to microbiologist Holly Ahern:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/25/medical-stalemate-what-causes-continuing-symptoms-after-lyme-treatment/
  2. The author is obviously clueless as they have the audacity to compare this madness to the ‘side effects of the daily grind of human existence’ which historically came straight out of Gary Wormser’s mouth. Not being able to get out of bed is a far cry worse than ‘aches and pains of daily living!’ 
  3. Dr. Lewis more accurately states that Lyme prevents people from having a normal life.
  4. He also says some doctors don’t believe in chronic Lyme.
  5. The study compared fecal matter from healthy people, ICU patients, and PTLDS patients and found that people with PTLDS have two distinct differences in microbial levels compared to the other groups—an abundance of a type of bacteria called Blautia (usually seen in obesity, Alzheimer’s, and MS) and a suppression of a type of bacteria called Bacteroides (help regulates digestion, inflammation, immune responses and produces GABA, the neurotransmitter that wards off anxiety & depression).
  6. ICU patients on antibiotics did not experience these same changes suggesting antibiotics alone are not responsible for the difference.
  7. Lewis believes this will provide a potential diagnostic tool as well as new treatments.

“If we can fix the microbiome, then we could perhaps find an intervention for PTLDS,” Lewis says.  

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/06/meet-the-researcher-kim-lewis-ph-d/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/10/31/news-story-on-researcher-kim-lewis-and-chronic-lyme/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/07/07/promising-new-research-for-persisting-lyme/  Interestingly, Lewis’ past research focused on borrelia persistence.  This is what he found:

His team started by killing Borrelia (the causative agent of Lyme Disease) with antibiotics and waiting three weeks.  He expected and found that persisters remained.  He found this promising as it helps explain why many continue to have symptoms.

He tried numerous things against the persisters – all of which failed, until they focused on Borrelia’s weakness:  it doesn’t develop antibiotic resistant “superbugs.”  From this conclusion they decided to manipulate dosing by killing the Borrelia, waiting, and then going back and hitting them again.  After doing this four times, the researchers discovered no bacteria in the petri dishes.

This is what Dr. Burrascano found clinically as well.  He called it ‘cycling’ antibiotics and cured himself and many of his patients with this method.  He also found blood levels of antibiotics were important as well:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/28/the-history-of-lyme-disease-dr-burrascano/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/11/03/lyme-bug-stronger-than-antibiotics-in-animals-and-test-tubes-now-study-people/

Category:

Lyme, research, Testing

Hidden Immune Weakness Found in 14% of Gravely Ill COVID-19 Patients

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/hidden-immune-weakness-found-14-gravely-ill-covid-19-patients

A new study may help explain why men, like this patient in an Italian intensive care unit, are more likely than women to develop life-threatening COVID-19.  FLAVIO LO SCALZO/REUTERS/NEWSCOM

Hidden immune weakness found in 14% of gravely ill COVID-19 patients

By Meredith Wadman

Science’s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.

doi:10.1126/science.abe9395

Category:

research, Treatment, Viruses