Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Increasing Bbss in Tennessee Ticks

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30044211/

Increasing Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto-Infected Blacklegged Ticks in Tennessee Valley, Tennessee, USA.

Hickling GJ, et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2018.

Abstract

In 2017, we surveyed forests in the upper Tennessee Valley, Tennessee, USA. We found Ixodes scapularis ticks established in 23 of 26 counties, 4 of which had Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto-infected ticks. Public health officials should be vigilant for increasing Lyme disease incidence in this region.

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**Comment**

Another study showing infected ticks in places most don’t suspect and the importance of spreading the word.  I pray long gone are the days when a doc stares at a CDC map and announces it can’t be Lyme because it doesn’t exist in their state.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/07/where-ticks-are-and-what-they-carry-science-conversation-with-dr-cameron/  Infected ticks are virtually everywhere. 

 

Category:

Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks

Acute Abdominal Pain Caused by Neuroborreliosis

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30040309/

Acute abdominal pain caused by neuroborreliosis

Dobbe ASM, et al. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2018.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Lyme disease is a multisystem disease which can present itself in several ways. When the nervous system is involved, it is called Lyme neuroborreliosis. Both central and peripheral nervous systems can be affected.

CASE DESCRIPTION: A 39-year-old man visited the emergency department multiple times with severe abdominal-pain attacks with motoric unrest. Extensive diagnostic work-up was done, which was initially inconclusive. Lyme neuroborreliosis was suspected when he developed a facial-nerve palsy during admission; the abdominal pain was thought to be caused by thoracic radiculoneuropathy. Serologic testing for antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi was positive, confirming the diagnosis. The patient was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone.

CONCLUSION: This case shows abdominal pain being caused by radiculoneuropathy at thoracic level, an uncommon presentation of Lyme neuroborreliosis. Often, this diagnosis is only made when neurological paralysis occurs. Information regarding skin lesions or a recent tick bite can lead to earlier recognition of the diagnosis.

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**Comment**

Key statement:  “Often this diagnosis is only made when neurological paralysis occurs.”

How often does that happen?

So all the other sorry suckers who don’t get neurological paralysis won’t be diagnosed.  See why they call this “uncommon” or “rare?”

Until clinicians learn and study the widely variable symptoms and pretty much keep Lyme/MSIDS in the back of their minds at all times, it’s Russian Roulette out here regarding diagnosis.  You may win or you may get the bullet.

I wish I could even count the Lyme/MSIDS patients with “severe abdominal-pain” and “unrest!”  Let’s just say there’s a lot of them!

Radiculonerophathy is when Lyme (borrelia) infects a spinal nerve root and in this patient’s case it was in the thoracic region which gave him abdominal pain.  It all depends upon what nerves are affected.  It could be anywhere.  Extrapolate this throughout the entire spine and you begin to see why thousands of patients are slipping through the cracks.

Under “Neurologic involvement,”  https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/330178-clinical   “Acute radiculoneuritis is reported in 50-85% of cases. Acute onset of motor deficits, severe radicular pain, and sensory loss are commonly seen after 2-4 weeks of infection. Multifocal asymmetric weakness is a common presentation. Although the presentation of inflammatory radiculoneuropathy is often indistinguishable from that of spinal-root compression, involvement of multiple dermatomes in the thorax and a lack of a precipitating injury can aid in diagnosis.”

I don’t think 50-80% of cases is rare, do you?

BTW:  please keep in mind a person can jump throughout the 3 stages of Lyme at at time.  So this idea you have to be infected for weeks to have radiculoneuritis is asinine an unscientific.  Quit saying it.

To understand the Lyme (borrelia) organism better:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/13/lyme-disease-treatment/

Category:

Gut Health, Lyme, research

Co-Infection Patterns in Wisconsin Black Legged Ticks Show Associations Between Viral, Eukaryotic & Bacterial Microorganisms

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30037148/

Co-Infection Patterns in Individual Ixodes scapularis Ticks Reveal Associations between Viral, Eukaryotic and Bacterial Microorganisms.

Cross ST, et al. Viruses. 2018.

Abstract

Ixodes scapularis ticks harbor a variety of microorganisms, including eukaryotes, bacteria and viruses. Some of these can be transmitted to and cause disease in humans and other vertebrates. Others are not pathogenic, but may impact the ability of the tick to harbor and transmit pathogens. A growing number of studies have examined the influence of bacteria on tick vector competence but the influence of the tick virome remains less clear, despite a surge in the discovery of tick-associated viruses.

In this study, we performed shotgun RNA sequencing on 112 individual adult I. scapularis collected in Wisconsin, USA. We characterized the abundance, prevalence and co-infection rates of viruses, bacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms.

We identified pairs of tick-infecting microorganisms whose observed co-infection rates were higher or lower than would be expected, or whose RNA levels were positively correlated in co-infected ticks. Many of these co-occurrence and correlation relationships involved two bunyaviruses, South Bay virus and blacklegged tick phlebovirus-1. These viruses were also the most prevalent microorganisms in the ticks we sampled, and had the highest average RNA levels.

Evidence of associations between microbes included a positive correlation between RNA levels of South Bay virus and Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease agent. These findings contribute to the rationale for experimental studies on the impact of viruses on tick biology and vector competence.

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**Eukaryotes are protozoans or parasites which includes worms (nematodes/helminths)**

Mainstream medicine has yet to take into account the synergistic effect of all of the pathogens found within a tick upon human suffering.  So far they continue to believe this is a one pathogen/one disease/one drug paradigm, hence the mono-therapy of doxycycline as their answer to this 21st century plague.

Until this changes, we are doomed.

Category:

Lyme, Parasites, research, Testing, Ticks, Viruses

MyLymeData2018 Conference Presentation – Lorraine Johnson

  Approx 30 Min.

LYMEPOLICYWONK: Presentation at MyLymeData2018

MyLymeData

Wondering if medical marijuana is effective at controlling the pain associated with Lyme disease? How other patients are treating their fatigue and insomnia? Which treatments have the most side effects?

Watch the presentation from MyLymeData2018 conference to find out.

With over 11,000 participants enrolled, the MyLymeData project is already giving us the answers to the fundamental questions that sick patients want to know. It collects information about the actual experience of Lyme patients–their symptoms, their treatments, what has helped and what hasn’t. This helps researchers target what’s most important–and helps us all learn from each other.

If you are already a member of MyLymeData, we thank you for your continued partnership. If you have Lyme or have had it at any time in the past, please join and help us communicate to academic researchers, scientists and policy makers. We look forward to continuing this vital research.

Lorraine Johnson, JD, MBA, is the Chief Executive Officer of LymeDisease.org. You can contact her at lbjohnson@lymedisease.org. On Twitter, follow her @lymepolicywonk. If you have not signed up for our patient-centered big data project, MyLymeData, please register now.

https://www.lymedisease.org/lymepolicywonk-mylymedata2018/

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If you haven’t joined MyLymeData, I encourage you to do so.  The information gathered is the first of its kind and is often the ONLY information gathered on those affected chronically/persistently.  You can also access direct information on the most effective treatments according to patients.  

If you want to skip to the latest info go to 15:20.  Johnson admits that the patient group is by and large those chronically affected.

For example, 60% who took the survey were diagnosed with a coinfection.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research

Girl on a Public Health Mission

https://www.jhsph.edu/giving/donor-impact/goodreau-zhang.html

Girl on a public health mission

School’s youngest donor supports Lyme research

Olivia Goodreau and Dr Ying Zhang

Olivia Goodreau presents Dr. Ying Zhang with a $25,000 grant from her LivLyme Foundation

Budding scientist. Social entrepreneur. Lyme disease patient. Philanthropist. App developer. The youngest donor in Bloomberg School history. At age 13, Olivia Goodreau is all these things and more.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, as many as 350,000 Americans are diagnosed annually with Lyme disease, a vector-borne illness spread by ticks. When Olivia was six, she contracted Lyme disease but her family did not see the tick, nor did she develop the characteristic bullseye rash. As a second-grader, she began experiencing body aches, brain fog, headaches, a hand tremor, and blackouts. Her teacher and parents grew increasingly concerned and she soon could barely get out of bed.

Olivia experienced firsthand the difficulty of getting an accurate Lyme disease diagnosis. After visiting more than 50 doctors over 18 months and enduring a barrage of tests, she was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease and put on antibiotics. But the delay in treatment meant that, until a cure is discovered, Olivia will never be completely free of Lyme disease.

Fast Olivia facts:

  • She loves art.
  • She misses 38 school days each year because of Lyme, but she’s still a great student.
  • She takes 86 pills a day to control Lyme disease and its symptoms.
  • She’d love to enroll and do Lyme research at one of universities where her LivLyme Foundation has made a grant.
  • The first and second LivLyme Gala events in 2017 and 2018 have raised more than $500,000 to support Lyme disease research and assist pediatric patients with the costs of treatment.
  • In December 2017, Olivia spoke to the US Department of Health and Human Services Working Group on Tickborne Diseases.
  • In February 2018, Olivia launched the TickTrack app to educate users and enable them to report and track ticks using geolocation. TickTrack is now available globally in multiple languages, and Olivia will share the data collected with scientists.

Liv in the Lymelight

As Olivia and her parents began to meet more other children with Lyme, she learned that many families couldn’t afford their medications. Others were living in their car so their child could see a doctor and get the necessary drugs. Olivia was deeply moved and wanted to do something to help.

At age 11, Olivia’s involvement with Lyme awareness activities quickly escalated from doing the Lyme Challenge to starting a Facebook page called Olivia and Lyme to speaking to 300 medical professionals at the invitation of Lyme specialist and advocate Dr. Richard Horowitz.

Philanthropic footsteps

Olivia’s mother, Holiday Goodreau, says that she and her husband “have raised our kids to be very giving and get involved and do things for others,” including taking an active role in the family’s philanthropy to support early childhood learning and end homelessness in Colorado.

While helping her mother set tables before a fundraising gala, Olivia said, “Mom, you do all this great stuff for other people, I want to do something for Lyme disease. It will be called the LivLyme Foundation, because my name is Liv and I’m living with Lyme.” That was in January 2017.

Olivia identified her philanthropic goals: raise $10,000 to help children afford treatment and to support research for a cure. The first LiveLyme Gala raked in more than 20 times that modest goal.

When Olivia’s mother heard that Olivia had invited Dr. Horowitz to speak at her gala, “My jaw dropped, because we hadn’t talked about it or planned anything. So we got the foundation started and vowed to do it right, not just as a little side hobby.

Within three hours after the LiveLyme Foundation website went live, the first grant application was submitted.

“It was powerful and humbling,” Holiday remembers, “to read through the applications from 49 families in 22 states. Every family is struggling to help their child.”

Researching the researchers

Olivia and Dr Zhang in lab

To decide which scientists she wanted to support, Olivia scoured the web and found the very best researchers who were on a path to make progress against Lyme disease. She chose Lyme specialists at three universities, including Ying Zhang, MD, PhD in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, who is pursuing new treatments, vaccines, and diagnostic tests for Lyme disease.

In partnership with the Global Lyme Alliance, the LivLyme Foundation is supporting Dr. Zhang’s evaluation of the activity of essential oils and how they can enhance the power of antibiotics against Borrelia persisters and biofilms.

Olivia’s research didn’t stop at her computer screen. In November 2017, she visited Dr. Zhang’s lab at the Bloomberg School to witness the science of Lyme disease first hand.

“It was amazing, like something out of a movie!” she exclaimed. “I definitely want to come back. The coolest thing I got to see was the Lyme bacteria under the microscope.”

Olivia described Dr. Zhang as “super kind. We even Skyped!” He was a special guest at the April 2018 LivLyme Gala.

Many patients are suffering from post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome or PTLDS, a poorly understood condition with no cure.  The support from the LivLyme Foundation will help us move closer to a cure.

—Ying Zhang, MD, PhD

When asked why she thinks people should give to support Lyme disease research, Olivia replied, “Everything helps! Your gift could mean that a child who has been suffering could feel much better.” We couldn’t have said it better.

Please join us in supporting the Bloomberg School’s new initiative to establish a Lyme Disease and Tick Institute dedicated to developing better methods to diagnose, cure and block transmission of Lyme disease.

For more information, please contact Heath Elliott, Associate Dean for External Affairs, at 410‑955‑5194.

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For more on Dr. Zhang’s work:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/13/oregano-cinnamon-and-clove-found-to-have-high-anti-persister-activity-for-bb/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/12/21/dr-zhang-on-persisters/

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Treatment