Archive for the ‘research’ Category

When Lyme Causes Dysfunction of the Autonomic Nervous System

https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-autonomic-nervous-system/

When Lyme causes dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system

By Nancy Dougherty

2/8/24

Infection-associated chronic illnesses such as Long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and chronic Lyme disease share similar symptoms and may share important biologic mechanisms, too.

Dysautonomia, or autonomic nervous system dysregulation, is widely accepted as an underlying contributor to long COVID and ME/CFS.

A multidisciplinary team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has published a research review in Frontiers in Neurology that implicates dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system in post-treatment/persistent Lyme disease.

Common symptoms of these infection-associated chronic conditions include severe fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, cognitive and sleep difficulties.

Although not yet well-established in the medical literature, the Johns Hopkins team, by scrutinizing case reports, autopsy and primate studies, found compelling clinical and biologic bases for the association between dysautonomia and Lyme disease.

More research is warranted to better understand disease mechanisms and identify biomarkers to improve diagnostics and treatments.

POTS

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), the most common manifestation of dysautonomia, is reported to occur after an acute Lyme disease infection. POTS has been recognized by some clinicians as a contributor to post-treatment/persistent Lyme disease but has not been studied in depth.

POTS results from impaired regulation of blood flow, particularly when in an upright position. Symptoms can be debilitating and include brain fog, severe fatigue, profound weakness with standing, racing heart, exertional intolerance, light-headedness, and muscle aches. When properly evaluated with formal testing, POTS can be diagnosed and treated.

More research needed

There are gaps in knowledge that the Johns Hopkins researchers aim to address in prospective studies of Lyme disease-associated dysautonomia in order to:

  • Identify underlying abnormal biologic mechanisms causing Lyme disease-associated dysautonomia and to compare those with other infection-associated chronic illnesses
    • Investigate small-fiber neuropathy, endothelial dysfunction, mast-cell activation, autoantibodies, vagus nerve damage, gut microbiome disruption, neuroinflammation, neurotoxicity, genetic predeterminants and other factors
  • Determine the prevalence of small-fiber neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction in chronic Lyme disease using objective autonomic tests and skin biopsies
  • Understand the relationship between acute Borrelia burgdorferi infection and the development of small-fiber neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction
  • Understand the contribution of co-infections to chronic symptoms and dysautonomia
  • Expand prior autopsy and animal studies to better understand the mechanisms Borrelia burgdorferi utilizes to disrupt the autonomic nervous system

Investigating treatments

Treatment trials are also important to advancing patient care:

  • Randomized studies of IVIG treatments are needed
  • Vagus nerve stimulation treatment studies are in progress (at the Columbia University Alexandra and Steven Cohen Foundation Clinical Trial Network site)

Authors of this paper are renowned international authorities in ME/CFS, POTS, and Lyme disease. Research at the Johns Hopkins Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) Program is ongoing in ME/CFS and Long COVID, and Lyme disease POTS/dysautonomia research is now underway at the POTS Program as well.

To help address some of the gaps in knowledge, new prospective Lyme disease research studies at Johns Hopkins are utilizing transcranial doppler ultrasound, tilt table testing, and other objective tests to help elucidate the abnormalities and mechanisms of Lyme disease-associated dysautonomia. This is the first research program focusing on understanding POTS/dysautonomia in Lyme disease.

Please visit here for more background information on POTS and Lyme disease, including symptoms, diagnostic tests and treatments.

Nancy Dougherty is an education and communications consultant for the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center. Other research investigations at the Center include Pilot Treatment Trials and the SLICE Studies.

_____________

**Comment**

Sadly, the study regurgitates the myth that only 10-20% go on to suffer chronic symptoms, when the truth is somewhere between 40-60% or even more.

Again, Lyme/MSIDS research has always been biased due to the extremely limited study design parameters. The sickest never test positive on the antiquated and unscientific CDC 2-tiered testing and most don’t have the EM rash – two parameters continually used despite their glaringly known flaws.

The study also uses the flawed Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) moniker.

The study authors hope their work will lead to new treatments to improve the quality of life; however, the concern is that these treatments will focus solely on dysautonomia that will ignore pathogen involvement and the need for antimicrobials (i.e. long term antibiotics). 

Category:

Lyme, research

Harvard Magazine: Deciphering Lyme Disease

https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf

Harvard Magazine; Deciphering Lyme Disease

Carl Tuttle

Hudson, NH, United States

FEB 14, 2024 — 

This is the starting point for a criminal investigation (1979)… see email below to Jacob Lemieux, M.D., Ph.D. who successfully completed genome sequencing  of the spirochete responsible for Lyme disease.

A chronic relapsing SERONEGATIVE disease does not fit the vaccine model. You cannot prove vaccine efficacy with a disease where we don’t know who has or does not have the infection so narrowly define the disease to fit the vaccine model, (fabricated two-tier case definition) deny the chronically infected and your patent royalties continue to reap benefits.

Email to Jacob Lemieux, M.D., Ph.D.

———- Original Message ———-
From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: “jelemieux@partners.org” <jelemieux@partners.org>
Cc: “pardis@broadinstitute.org” <pardis@broadinstitute.org>, “asteere@partners.org” <asteere@partners.org>, “jon_shaw@harvard.edu” <jon_shaw@harvard.edu>, “john_rosenberg@harvard.edu” <john_rosenberg@harvard.edu>, “yourturn@harvard.edu” <yourturn@harvard.edu>, “lindsay_mitchell@harvard.edu” <lindsay_mitchell@harvard.edu>, “natalie_vinard@harvard.edu” <natalie_vinard@harvard.edu>
Date: 02/12/2024 1:14 PM EST
Subject: Harvard Magazine; Deciphering Lyme Disease

Harvard Magazine

Deciphering Lyme Disease

by Jonathan Shaw  JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2024

https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2024/01/right-now-lyme-disease

Excerpt:

“It turned out that the genetic diversity of Lyme disease is orders of magnitude harder to handle than any other pathogen.” And that complexity is associated with the wide range of Lyme disease symptoms—from severe arthritis in children to fatigue and potentially debilitating joint, neurological, and cardiovascular symptoms in adults—that persist in some patients for months or even years after treatment.
 
Some of the genes encode lipoproteins [composed of fats and proteins] on the bacterial surface, which appear to armor the bacteria against immune assault in the bloodstream.”

Feb 12, 2024

Jacob Lemieux, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Infectious Disease, MGH

Dear Dr. Lemieux,

Thank you for investing the time into whole genome sequencing of the spirochete responsible for Lyme disease and recognizing the pathogen’s diversity as “harder to handle than any other pathogen.”

Allen Steere documented the severity of Lyme disease in 1979 in his article titled Neurologic abnormalities of Lyme disease with 18 case studies describing meningitis, encephalitis, chorea, cerebellar ataxia, cranial neuritis, bilateral facial palsy, motor and sensory reticuloceratids, mononeuritis multiplex, and myelitis. Eight patients continued to have residual disability with some unable to walk.

These are the same experiences exposed in the documentaries; Under our Skin and The Quiet Epidemic  as well as fourteen-year-old Lyme patient Evan White who testified in a 1993 hearing in Washington while in a wheelchair.

Additional reference:

Study detects tick-borne illness in teens hospitalized for depression
https://www.lymedisease.org/hospitalized-teens-lyme-depression/

-Ten patients were diagnosed with DSM-5 Major Depressive Disorder, seven were additionally diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and three had made serious suicide attempts.

-Ten adolescents picked at random with mental illness severe enough that they required institutionalization—nine of them had evidence of tick-borne infections and nine had evidence of autoimmune encephalitis.

So why was this disabling infection transformed into a low-risk and non-urgent health issue as reported in the 2001 New York Times article “Lyme Disease Is Hard to Catch And Easy to Halt” effectively eliminating Social Security Disability compensation for the hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions worldwide) who end up disabled from the disease?

Your study Dr. Lemieux should be the foundation for a Manhattan Project to find a cure for chronic Lyme disease as a mountain of evidence has been growing and ignored by the IDSA/CDC and NIH that we have been dealing with an antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug.

Instead of finding a cure, all the eggs were put into the vaccine basket. (LYMErix)

Let us hope your findings move the research forward to find a cure and not used by our public health officials with a vaccine agenda to scare the public into submission.

Respectfully submitted,
Carl Tuttle
Hudson, NH

Cc: Jonathan Shaw,  Managing Editor, Harvard Magazine

_______________

**Comment**

Don’t hold your breath.

For more:

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research

ALS & MS Suspected in Woman Later Diagnosed With Bartonella & Lyme Disease

https://danielcameronmd.com/als-and-ms-suspected-in-woman-later-diagnosed-with-bartonella-and-lyme-disease/

ALS AND MS SUSPECTED IN WOMAN LATER DIAGNOSED WITH BARTONELLA AND LYME DISEASE

bartonella-lyme-disease

After developing multiple neurologic symptoms following a spider bite, a woman tests positive for Bartonella. Yet, her symptoms are attributed to possible multiple sclerosis (MS) or ALS. Just prior to having hip surgery, additional tests confirm that she is positive not only for Bartonella, but for Lyme disease, as well.

By 

In their article, “Bartonella- and Borrelia-Related Disease Presenting as a Neurological Condition Revealing the Need for Better Diagnostics,” Ericson and colleagues describe the case of a 61-year-old female, who experienced a painful bite while hiking in Minnesota.¹

It was diagnosed as a spider bite because of the two large bite marks present and the painful sensation. One day after the bite, a large blue ring appeared around the bite and the woman developed muscle aches and pains.

The woman was treated with doxycycline for two weeks, which decreased but did not resolve the arthritic pain.

Five months later, her symptoms progressed to include blurry vision, lack of balance, muscle pain, night sweats and insomnia.

At this point, testing for Lyme disease and Bartonella were negative.

After expressing continued concern about having Lyme disease, she was referred to an infectious disease physician, who stated that he “did not believe in persistent Lyme disease.” She was then referred to a neurologist for an MRI.

“At this time, her blood was used in a research study aimed at developing new PCR diagnostic techniques for Bartonella infections,” the authors state.

This new PCR test confirmed the presence of both Bartonella vinsonii and Bartonella henselae.

One year after infection, the patient visited an integrative medicine physician who prescribed clarithromycin and rifampin based on symptoms consistent with a Bartonella infection.

However, her symptoms continued and she was referred to a physical therapist, who prescribed a wheeled walker. Her primary care physician attributed her symptoms to possible ALS or MS.

“She reported to multiple physicians that her hips sounded like popcorn whenever she walked or climbed stairs.”

Hip x-rays revealed a loss of cartilage. She had bilateral hip degeneration, which would require hip replacements.

Prior to surgery, the woman underwent another round of tests for Bartonella. And again, test results confirmed for a second time the presence of Bartonella.

However, in addition, testing revealed “a spirochete-like organism” in a buffy coat smear sample.

“Given her symptomology and the known possibility of co-infections in Lyme disease, the spirochete was suspicious for Borrelia burgdorferi.”

Testing for Lyme disease was positive.

Once the woman began treatment for Lyme disease, her condition improved.

However, “Despite the intermittent use of antibiotics for five years, the patient remains positive for Bartonella henselae and Borrelia burgdorferi.”

If she ceases taking antibiotics, her symptoms recur within 3 months.

Authors Conclude:

  • “This case report illustrates the inadequacy of conventional tests in diagnosing Bartonella spp. infections, and the potential promise of enhanced techniques.”
  • Serology and other antibody-based tests are usually used for Bartonella and Borrelia detection. However, this patient never tested positive through serology but was positive by FISH and PCR testing.
  • “The limitations of serology for detecting an active infection need to be more clearly understood by the medical community.”
References:
  1. Ericson ME, Mozayeni BR, Radovsky L, Bemis LT. Bartonella- and Borrelia-Related Disease Presenting as a Neurological Condition Revealing the Need for Better Diagnostics. Microorganisms. 2024; 12(1):209. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12010209

________________

**Comment**

Incredible work here, and it’s easy to see why: the funding for it was independently obtained through the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation and all the authors are serious researchers who are not part of the Cabal.  I know three of them personally and Dr. Mozayeni is a widely known and respected LLMD.  This work would NEVER happen in mainstream research which is completely bought out and untrustworthy.  Ericson, whose son had a severe Bartonella infection, continues to do amazing work:   https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/27/advanced-imaging-found-bartonella-around-pic-line/

This study shows perfectly what patients have been up against for decades: negative serology, coinfection involvement making the CDC definition meaningless, and transmission by other insects and arachnids.

But, nobody will care about this work except patients and the doctors who dare to treat them.

For more:

Category:

Bartonella, Lyme, research, Testing, Treatment

Moderna Scientists Admit mRNA Drugs Have Toxicity Risks & Leaked AstraZeneca Audio Recording

Dr. Yeadon warned about this toxicity over two years ago.

These are “toxic by design”. It cannot be an accident.  ~ Dr. Yeadon

Brave doctors, researchers, embalmers, funeral directors and even paramedics continue to expose what they are seeing, and to implore people not take the mRNA gene-therapy injections.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41573-023-00859-3

Strategies to reduce the risks of mRNA drug and vaccine toxicity

Dimitrios Bitounis, Eric Jacquinet, Maximillian A. Rogers & Mansoor M. Amiji

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

mRNA formulated with lipid nanoparticles is a transformative technology that has enabled the rapid development and administration of billions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine doses worldwide. However, avoiding unacceptable toxicity with mRNA drugs and vaccines presents challenges. Lipid nanoparticle structural components, production methods, route of administration and proteins produced from complexed mRNAs all present toxicity concerns. Here, we discuss these concerns, specifically how cell tropism and tissue distribution of mRNA and lipid nanoparticles can lead to toxicity, and their possible reactogenicity. We focus on adverse events from mRNA applications for protein replacement and gene editing therapies as well as vaccines, tracing common biochemical and cellular pathways. The potential and limitations of existing models and tools used to screen for on-target efficacy and de-risk off-target toxicity, including in vivo and next-generation in vitro models, are also discussed.

For more:

http://  Approx. 7 Min

White Clots in Bodies of COVID Jabbed

Dr. John Campell presents data from Major Thomas Haviland’s Worldwide Embalmer Blood Clot Survey:

  • in 2023 embalmers report 20% of corpses had reporting white, rubbery clots
  • in 2022 30% had them
  • in 2021 there were quite a lot, but they didn’t collect a figure
  • in 2020 before the COVID shot rollout, there were very few cases
  • in 2019 none were seen
These clots are new and are not presented in any pathology textbooks.

Campbell asks the important question: Why isn’t this all over mainstream media and the scientific literature?

He also states “We need answers, and we need a moratorium until we get those answers.”

Yet, Bill Gates aka ‘Bat Man,’ is proud of these mRNA clot-shots and continues to peddle them with abandon.

______________

https://sashalatypova.substack.com/p/audio-leaked-from-astrazeneca-covid

Audio recording leaked from AstraZeneca

Recorded at an internal executive meeting at the end of 2020. This recording has not been published previously anywhere.

SASHA LATYPOVA
FEB 7, 2024
Important Excerpts:

The audio confirms that the DOD pandemic pharma consortium was established in 2017 and the DOD, (not pharmas) was, and remains in charge of it. I knew this based on the covid contracts analysis, but it’s good to have a definitive confirmation. The AZ execs are musing that at the time they thought the DOD’s pandemic preparedness plan – from “discovering” new viruses to making new drugs for them in 60 days – sounded like science fiction. That’s because it is science fiction, even though I am sure most people involved in it believe their own insane delusions. It appears that the DOD money was very green and quickly dulled the skepticism of AZ execs. The CEO of AstraZeneca, Pascal Soirot is on record stating that millions of people in the world cannot be vaccinated by mRNA shots because they have autoimmune conditions and other vulnerabilities. They always knew.  (Go to link for audio, article, and transcript)

For more:

Category:

Activism, research, vaccines

Fluoride on Trial: Federal Trial on Neurotoxicity of Water Fluoridation

Brian Berridge, DVM, Ph.D., the former scientific director of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) took the stand on the fourth day of a landmark trial on water fluoridation, despite efforts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to scuttle his testimony. He testified about the initial findings in the NTP’s draft report linking fluoride to lower IQ in children.

He also spoke with The Defender about the fact that to protect their existing practices public health officials are ignoring the fact that many are exposed to high fluoride levels.  This is also an ongoing problem with vaccines and the fact that to date nobody has tested the accumulation of metals and adjuvants that occurs over time due to multiple vaccines.

Ninety seven percent of Western Europe has rejected water fluoridation.

https://www.einpresswire.com/article/683819418/fluoride-on-trial-federal-trial-on-the-neurotoxicity-of-water-fluoridation-resumes-next-week

Plaintiffs Ask Federal Court to Ban Fluoridation Chemicals in Upcoming Ruling

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., January 25, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — After nearly four years of delay, a lawsuit in United States federal court seeking to prohibit the addition of fluoridation chemicals to public water systems due to the threat posed by fluoride to the developing brain is set to continue next week, reports the Fluoride Action Network (FAN).

The final phase of the landmark bench trial against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the neurotoxicity of fluoridation chemicals will start on Wednesday, January 31st, 2024. The U.S. District Court, Northern District of California in San Francisco, has set aside nine days (January 31, February 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13) for testimony and cross-examination of expert and fact witnesses.

The focus of this final phase will be on the new evidence and science published since the last trial dates held in 2020. This will include the National Toxicology Program’s (NTP) 7-year systematic review of the neurotoxicity of fluoride. Specifically, fluoride’s impact on reducing the IQ of children. The NTP reported that 52 out of 55 fluoride brain studies they looked at found decreases in child IQ associated with an increase in fluoride, a remarkable 95% consistency. Of the 19 studies rated highest quality, 18 found a lowering of IQ. The meta-analysis could not detect any safe exposure, including at levels common from drinking artificially fluoridated water.

The Fluoride Action Network (FAN), a non-profit founded in 2000, is the lead plaintiff in this precedent-setting case, which challenges a practice endorsed by the U.S. Public Health Service 75 years ago and that today affects more than 200 million Americans through water fluoridation systems in thousands of communities. FAN is joined by consumer advocacy groups, Food and Water Watch and Moms Against Fluoridation, public health associations, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine and the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, as well as several individuals representing themselves and/or their children. The case is number 17-CV-02162-EMC (KAW), and titled: Food & Water Watch, Inc., et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al.

The lawsuit falls under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) which gives EPA the authority to prohibit “the particular use” of a chemical substance if it presents an unreasonable risk to the general public or susceptible subpopulations. The plaintiffs submitted a Citizens Petition under Section 21 of TSCA to the EPA in November 2016 requesting a ban on the addition of fluoridation chemicals to water. When the EPA denied their Petition, they filed suit in federal court.

Click here for a timeline of the lawsuit.

“There’s no question that the weight of the science overwhelmingly shows that fluoride damages the developing brain,” said Stuart Cooper, FAN Executive Director. “This includes a large body of government-funded research indicating that fluoride is neurotoxic, is associated with lowered IQ in children, and a significant increase in ADHD diagnosis and related behaviors in children at doses experienced in fluoridated communities. Experts in toxicology have likened the size of the effect to that of lead.”

Broadcast of Trial

The trial will take place in San Francisco with attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice, representing the Environmental Protection Agency, and attorneys for the Plaintiffs both attending in person. One of the EPA’s witnesses will testify via deposition video with the remainder testifying in person. All proceedings will also be live streamed daily on the court’s Zoom and recorded and posted publicly on the court’s website as part of the Cameras in the Courtroom program. Exhibits will be displayed electronically at trial and on the live stream to allow for a more efficient display of evidence. The judge said that access to this trial was in the public’s best interests.

Zoom info and official court schedule

Trial days will begin at approximately 8:30 a.m. (Pacific) and end at 1:30 p.m. Each side shall have approximately 18 hours to present their case. This includes opening statements, direct and cross-examinations, and closing arguments.

Stuart Cooper
Fluoride Action Network
stuart@fluoridealert.org

Lead attorney for the Plaintiffs, Michael Connett of Waters Kraus and Paul recently discussed the case and science involved at length in an interview:

For more:

Category:

Activism, Dentistry, research