Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Brazil Faces Same Problems With Lyme Disease As Seen in the USA

http://cameronmd.com/brazil-faces-problems-lyme-disease-seen-usa/

Brazil faces same problems with Lyme disease as seen in the USA

An article published in the Brazilian Journal of Microbiology entitled “Brazilian borreliosis with special emphasis on humans and horses” examines the growing number of cases in Brazil of Lyme disease, referred to, in that country, as the Lyme-like or Baggio-Yoshinari Syndrome (BYS).

By 

The authors take an in-depth look at BYS and how it compares to Lyme disease (LD) found in the United States. Although there are slight differences between the diseases, BYS and LD share similarities on many fronts. [1] “Despite the increasing number of suspect cases, this disease [BYS] is still neglected in Brazil by the medical and veterinary communities,” writes Basile and colleagues.

BYS causes some of the same symptoms seen in Lyme disease, such as erythema migrans, arthritis, neurological symptoms and cardiac disease. Both are difficult to diagnose.

“The disease is often unrecognized, especially at secondary or tertiary stages when patients do not remember what occurred months or years before the current disease,” stated Basile. “Certainly, many cases of unrecognized chronic neurological or articular disease are in fact cases of BYS not identified and treated at early stage.”

The capybaras, a popular Brazilian house pet, is a known reservoir for ticks infected with the Lyme-like or Baggio-Yoshinari Syndrome (BYS).

The Brazilian disease can also be multisystemic. “Baggio-Yoshinari Syndrome has been reported to cause neurological, cardiac, ophthalmic, muscle, and joint alterations in humans.” Furthermore, it has been associated with a high morbidity “due to the presence of symptom recurrence, severe reactive manifestations such as autoimmunity, and the need for prolonged treatment.”

According to Basile and colleagues, the disease progresses with recurrences, “especially if antibiotic treatment is initiated later than three months after infection.” Thus, treating the disease in its early stages is critical.

Cystic forms have been described, as well. “Because motile and spiral spirochetes were never isolated or cultured in Brazil, researchers from LIM-17 assumed that the etiological agent in Brazil was present in cystic form.”

The Brazilian patients may also be suffering from co-infections, as investigators identified other microrganisms in the blood of BYS patients. Tests showed “the occurrence of microorganisms with morphological structures similar to Mycoplasma spp., Chlamydia spp., and non-flagellated spirochetes in the peripheral blood of patients with BYS who were seropositive for B. burgdorferi sensu lato,” according to Basile. “Those patients exhibited negative serology for Mycoplasma spp. and Chlamydia spp.”

Additionally, laboratory testing for BYS is unreliable. There is a low sensitivity and specificity with the ELISA, enzyme immunosorbent assay, or western blotting for B. burgdorferi, in part because these tests utilize antigens from B. burgdorferi stricto sensu from the Northern Hemisphere.

Domestic pets have been described as potential reservoirs for ticks carrying the disease. The capybaras, a large rodent and popular house pet in Brazil, has been identified as a likely reservoir and is thus a threat in spreading the disease.

Wild and domestic animals can be infected. “Studies indicate that LB [Lyme borreliosis] in horses has clinical signs similar to the disease in humans, including fever and lethargy, arthritis, polysynovitis, lameness, muscle stiffness, abortion, meningitis, cranial neuritis, radiculoneuritis and encephalitis, uveitis, and premature death of foals,” according to Basile.

The authors’ findings reminds us that the challenges faced in the United States in gaining recognition for a disease that is growing in numbers and has the potential to cause chronic, debilitating illness is not unique to our country. The Brazilian patients suffering from the Lyme-like or Baggio-Yoshinari Syndrome are struggling to conquer the same obstacles.

“Lyme disease is a condition of extreme importance because it is a zoonosis that causes physical and psychological sequelae in affected individuals. It remains poorly investigated in Brazil, especially in the field of veterinary medicine. Therefore, studies describing the unique aspects of the disease in Brazil and the etiological agents found are needed.”

References:

  1. Basile, R.C., et al., Brazilian borreliosis with special emphasis on humans and horses. Braz J Microbiol, 2016.

Update: Oliveira from the Ministry of Health, Brasilia, DF, Brazil was not able confirm Lyme-like borreliosis in Brazil in a letter in the journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease.1 “The interpretations of the results have not followed those recommended by the CDC.” writes Oliveira. Only three cases of Lyme-like borreliosis were identified. “This evidence reinforces the hypothesis that Lyme borreliosis does not occur in Brazil.” writes Oliveira.

  1. de Oliveira SV, Faccini-Martinez AA, Cerutti Junior C. Lack of serological evidence for Lyme-like borreliosis in Brazil. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2018.

________________

**Comment**

Another perfect example of why the CDC must go.

This corrupt, inept organization rules the world.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Transmission

Ceftriaxone Cures a Chronic Lyme Patient (Who Took Lots of Other Things As Well)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379477460_Case_Report_Prolonged_Treatment_with_Ceftriaxone_Cures_A_Patient_with_Chronic_Lyme_Disease_Affiliation_History_of_the_Disease

Case Report : Prolonged Treatment with Ceftriaxone Cures A Patient with Chronic Lyme Disease Affiliation: History of the Disease

Authors:  Alexis Lacout
Christian Perronne
Michel Franck
Download full-text PDF

Abstract

This is the case of a 40-year-old immunocompetent, female patient presenting with a “polymorphic persistent syndrome after a possible tick bite” (SPPT), a syndrome officially recognized by the French High Authority for Health (HAS). This patient presented with polymorphic symptoms and was unable to walk without a walker. Only ceftriaxone was effective. She experienced several episodes of remission and relapse, when treatments were started and stopped.
Finally, it was possible to achieve a prolonged final remission, persisting for 3 years after the last anti-infective treatments had been stopped.  See link for full article
______________
**Comment**
A very interesting case study on a poor woman who like most Lyme/MSIDS patients have been through hell and back.  Thankfully, Dr. Christian Perrone came the the rescue and now this woman has her life back.
Cefriaxone is also called Rocephin.
For more:

Category:

Lyme, research, Treatment

How DMSO Treats ‘Incurable’ Autoimmune and Contractile Disorders

https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/how-dmso-treats-incurable-autoimmune?

How DMSO Treats “Incurable” Autoimmune and Contractile Disorders

The decades of research that could have prevented an immense amount of human suffering

A Midwestern Doctor

Oct 20, 2024

Story at a Glance:

•DMSO is a remarkably safe substance that effectively treats a variety of conditions (e.g., chronic pain, acute injuries, and strokes) that medicine has struggled with for decades. Many readers here have already experienced profound benefits from using it.

•DMSO is a powerful (but safe) anti-inflammatory agent that is often extremely helpful for autoimmune conditions. For example, it’s frequently used to treat asthma, inflammatory bowel diseases (e.g., ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome), interstitial cystitis (painful bladder syndrome), ITP, lupus, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, scleroderma, Sjogren’s syndrome, and uveitis.

•DMSO is also remarkably effective at stabilizing and refolding proteins. This allows it to treat a variety of “untreatable” genetic disorders, and conditions characterized by the abnormal accumulation of misfolded proteins in the body (e.g., amyloidosis) or chronic deposits of excessive contractile collagen (e.g., surgical scars, abdominal adhesions, Dupuytren’s contractures, and Peyronie’s disease). Two of the most dramatic examples of this are scleroderma and fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva—both “untreatable” conditions where DMSO can provide truly lifesaving benefits.

•In this article, I will present the wealth of evidence substantiating each of those uses, share my theory on how the unusual antimicrobial properties of DMSO explain some of these benefits, and present DMSO treatment protocols for many of those disorders. Additionally, since many readers requested it, I put together a simplified guide on how to use DMSO orally or topically.

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a simple and readily available naturally occurring chemical that rapidly enters the body through the skin and has a variety of remarkable therapeutic properties. When it was discovered, its proponents believed it (much like antibiotics) represented a new therapeutic principle in medicine and once adopted, would completely change how medicine was practiced. Unfortunately, the FDA conducted a reprehensible campaign against it and was able to successfully bury it.

Since there are so many uses for DMSO, to effectively present them, I’ve had to comb through well over ten thousand pages of scientific literature and then order them into a logical sequence (of what will be roughly a nine-part series). For instance, in the first part of this series, I discussed how DMSO completely changed the management of neurological injuries and showed that were it to be adopted, millions would no longer be disabled from the common emergencies we view as insurmountable within the current medical paradigm (e.g., frequent disabilities from stroke and the inevitability of becoming a paraplegic after a spinal cord injury).  (See link for article)

_______________

**Comment**

DMSO has been a well-kept secret among those who are desperate enough to learn about it.  If you are new to it, go here for a basic article and helpful videos that explain it in layman’s terms as well as MSM, a derivative of DMSO.  I also include helpful info on dosages, etc.

I’ve used it many times over the years and always with good, measurable results.

I highly recommend reading a Midwestern Doctor’s thorough article in full as the good doctor goes through many conditions DMSO treats as well as the scientific studies and experiences behind them.

He goes through DMSO use for MS, Lupus, Asthma, Interstitial cystitis, Uveitis, inflammatory bowel diseases, Myasthenia gravis, Sjogren’s syndrome, as well as the possible bacterial component (even the challenges of pleomorphism) in many of these conditions and how DMSO is bacteriostatic, antiviral and antifungal.

You can use DMSO topically (recommended for newbies first), orally, intramuscularly, and intravenously.

Its only downsides are the tingling, itching in topical applications as well as the odor for all applications.  The severity of smell is commiserate with the amount used.

Go here for more:

[DMSO’s] virtues were extolled in another Congressional Hearing, this one taking place on March 24, 1980, before Claude Pepper’s Select House Committee on Aging. The drug was DMSO, and the opponent, as in Senator Johnson’s Hearing, was once again the FDA.

As with Ivermectin, the FDA [Bureau of Drugs] Director, Dr. J. Richard Crout, explained—tongue in cheek—that the agency would be the first to advocate DMSO’s use if it had only evidence that it worked.

“The FDA is willing, indeed anxious, to approve DMSO for such uses whenever controlled trials meeting the statutory standard are available [Page 61].

In place of Dr. Pierre Kory sat Dr. Stanley Jacob, a professor of surgery at the University of Oregon Medical School. Dr. Jacob was the dynamic Harvard-trained physician who headed the University of Oregon Transplant Program and had discovered many of the benefits of DMSO after first using it as a cryoprotectant.

Dr. Jacob testified before the committee in 1980, just as Dr. Kory would do some 40 years later, in 2020, and told an unbelievable story to a group of Washington D.C. insiders about the miraculous benefits of an almost unknown drug.

Like Dr. Kory, he has been proven correct.

Dr. Kory authored a book about his experience entitled The War Against Ivermectin: The Medicine that Saved Millions and Could Have Ended the Pandemic.

Dr. Jacob authored the book Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) in Trauma and Disease.

DMSO met the same fate in 1980 as Ivermectin did following Dr. Kory’s Congressional hearing in 2020: The FDA buried it.

The FDA shut down research on DMSO in 1965 after an estimated 100,000 patients began enjoying its benefits.

Many states have laws that steer licensed physicians away from prescribing DMSO for anything other than interstitial cystitis.

Sound familiar?

Category:

Activism, Pain Management, research, Treatment

23andMe Reportedly Faces Bankruptcy – What Will Happen to Everyone’s DNA Samples?

https://activistpost.com/2024/10/23andme-reportedly-faces-bankruptcy-what-will-happen-to-everyones-dna-samples.

23andMe Reportedly Faces Bankruptcy — What Will Happen to Everyone’s DNA Samples?

October 21, 2024

By Megan Prictor, The University of Melbourne

Since it was founded nearly two decades ago, 23andMe has grown into one of the largest biotechnology companies in the world. Millions of people have used its simple genetic testing service, which involves ordering a saliva test, spitting into a tube, and sending it back to the company for a detailed DNA analysis.

But now the company is on the brink of bankruptcy. This has raised concerns about what will happen to the troves of genetic data it has in its possession.

The company’s chief executive, Anne Wojcicki, has said she is committed to customer privacy and will “maintain our current privacy policy”.

But what can customers of 23andMe themselves do to make sure their highly personal genetic data is protected? And should we be concerned about other companies that also collect our DNA?

What happened to 23andMe?

23andMe has had a rapid downfall after the 2021 high of its public listing.

Its value has dropped more than 97%. In 2023 it suffered a major data breach affecting almost seven million users, and settled a class action lawsuit for US$30 million.

Last month its seven independent directors resigned amid news the original founder is planning to take the company private once more. The company has never made a profit and is reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy.

What this might mean for its vast stores of genetic data is unclear.  (See link for article)

______________

**Comment**

Many Lyme/MSIDS patients have had this genetic testing done, often to determine if they have a problem detoxing due to genetics.

The article advises:

The simplest thing is to delete your account, which opts you out of any future research and discards your saliva sample. But if your data has already been de-identified and used in research, it can’t be retrieved. And even if you delete your account, 23andMe says it will keep hold of information including your genetic data, date of birth and sex, to comply with its own legal obligations.

For more:

Category:

Activism, research, Testing, Uncategorized

Bartonella in Association With Psychosis

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11190357/

Front Psychiatry

. 2024 Jun 7;15:1388442. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1388442

Bartonella species bacteremia in association with adult psychosis

 1,2,†,‡,  3,‡,  3,  4,  3,  3,  1,  1,2,  3,*
 
PMCID: PMC11190357  PMID: 38911703

Abstract

Introduction

The potential role of pathogens, particularly vector-transmitted infectious agents, as a cause of psychosis has not been intensively investigated. We have reported a potential link between Bartonella spp. bacteremia and neuropsychiatric symptoms, including pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome and schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to further assess whether Bartonella spp. exposure or infection are associated with psychosis.

Methods

In a blinded manner, we assessed the presence of anti-Bartonella antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence assays (IFA), and infection by amplification of bacterial DNA from blood by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), digital PCR (dPCR), and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) in 116 participants. Participants were categorized into one of five groups: 1) controls unaffected by psychosis (n = 29); 2) prodromal participants (n = 16); 3) children or adolescents with psychosis (n = 7); 4) adults with psychosis (n = 44); and 5) relatives of a participant with psychosis (n = 20).

Results

There was no significant difference in Bartonella spp. IFA seroreactivity between adults with psychosis and adult controls unaffected by psychosis. There was a higher proportion of adults with psychosis who had Bartonella spp. DNA in the bloodstream (43.2%) compared to adult controls unaffected by psychosis (14.3%, p = 0.021). The Bartonella species was determined for 18 of the 31 bacteremic participants, including infection or co-infection with Bartonella henselae (11/18), Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii (6/18), Bartonella quintana (2/18), Bartonella alsatica (1/18), and Bartonella rochalimae (1/18).

Discussion

In conjunction with other recent research, the results of this study provide justification for a large national or international multi-center study to determine if Bartonella spp. bacteremia is more prevalent in adults with psychosis compared to adults unaffected by psychosis. Expanding the investigation to include a range of vector-borne and other microbial infections with potential CNS effects would enhance knowledge on the relationship between psychosis and infection.

_______________

For more:

Category:

Bartonella, Psychological Aspects, research