Archive for the ‘Testing’ Category

Dementia Misdiagnosed for PTLDS or Vice Versa? A Case Report

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30282363/

Frontotemporal Dementia Misdiagnosed for Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome or vice versa? A Treviso Dementia (TREDEM) Registry Case Report.

Di Battista ME, et al. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018.

Abstract

We describe the case of a 61-year-old woman diagnosed with Borreliosis at the age of 57. Subsequently, the patient developed depression, anxiety, and behavioral disturbances. A lumbar puncture excluded the condition of Neuroborreliosis. The diagnostic workup included: an MRI scan, a 18F-FDG PET, a 123I-ioflupane-SPECT, an amyloid-β PET, a specific genetic analysis, and a neuropsychological evaluation.

Based on our investigation, the patient was diagnosed with probable behavioral-frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), whereas in the previous years, the patient had been considered firstly as a case of Post-Treatment-Lyme Disease and, secondly, a psychiatric patient.

We believe that, in the present case, such initial symptoms of Borrelia infection may have superimposed on those of bvFTD rather than playing as a contributory cause.

__________________

**Comment**

Here we have a woman with an actual Lyme diagnosis who goes on to develop depression, anxiety, and behavioral disturbances.  (All common symptoms with neuro-Lyme:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/10/18/psychiatric-lymemsids/, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/25/neuropsychiatric-lyme-borreliosis-an-overview-with-a-focus-on-a-specialty-psychiatrists-clinical-practice/, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/04/ld-diagnosis-took-forever-because-of-mental-health-stigma/)

Despite mainstream knowledge of absolute proof of abysmal testing, they state they ruled out infection despite a prior diagnosis based on a lumbar puncture.

In this informative read from Columbia University, we learn that there are specific steps to be followed for lumbar punctures regarding Lyme as well as the fact that patients may have neurologic Lyme Disease but still test negative on the Lyme index (an index used with cerebrospinal fluid in a lumbar puncture)  https://www.columbia-lyme.org/diagnosis.

So this woman was handed a label and told, “Go home and be well.”

This scenario has played out so many times it’s like a skip in a record.

How about a clinical trial of antimicrobials known to have action against borrelia and then retest her (called a provocation test)?  Clinicians in the field understand how elusive this organism is.  A full work-up needs to be done on symptomology as it could possibly be a different pathogen altogether known to be transmitted by ticks and other bugs.  How about also testing for other tick borne pathogens known to give behavioral symptoms like Bartonella?  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/07/01/one-tick-bite-could-put-you-at-risk-for-at-least-6-different-diseases/ (It could be one of 18 and counting pathogens spread by ticks)

You see, something is causing this “probable behavioral-frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).”  

All they’ve done here is slap a name to it but they haven’t found the cause.  Without the cause they will not treat appropriately.  

Somebody get this woman to Columbia University!

How many more are going to slip through the cracks and loose their minds due to poor testing?

For more on the abysmal testing:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/08/15/reliability-of-lyme-testing/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/09/08/whats-the-best-test-for-lyme-dr-rawls/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/01/16/2-tier-lyme-testing-missed-85-7-of-patients-milford-hospital/

More on the relationship between Alzheimer’s, Dementia, ALS and Lyme:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/06/09/alzheimers-byproduct-of-infection/  Kris Kristofferson was wrongly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s but had Lyme Disease. For years doctors told Kristofferson it was either Alzheimer’s or dementia, and may have been the result of blows to his head from boxing, football and rugby. The medication he was given gave him bad side effects and didn’t help.  Since starting treatment for Lyme Kristofferson “has made remarkable strides.” His wife Lisa said,

“all of the sudden he was back.” Although he still has some bad days, there are other days when he is “perfectly normal,” she said.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/06/10/the-coming-pandemic-of-lyme-dementia/  Bacteria are usually ignored despite its historical and current significance in dementia research.  Today, the main bacterial threat to acquiring dementia comes from Lyme disease—a bacterium borrelia burgdorferi.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/06/03/borrelia-hiding-in-worms-causing-chronic-brain-diseases/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/08/09/dr-paul-duray-research-fellowship-foundation-some-great-research-being-done-on-lyme-disease/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/03/chronology-of-research-on-lyme-disease-dementia-alzheimers-parkinsons-autism/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/03/25/a-brief-history-of-neuroborreliosis-research-dementia-an-inside-look-at-two-researchers/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/09/21/connection-between-als-lyme/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/14/lost-link-als-lyme/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/09/11/its-time-to-find-the-alzheimers-germ/

 

Category:

Alzheimer's, Lyme, Psychological Aspects, research, Testing

Another Useless Study Showing Lyme Testing is Abysmal

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30257905/

Limitations and Confusing Aspects of Diagnostic Testing for Neurologic Lyme Disease in the United States.

Theel ES, et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2018.

Abstract

In the United States, laboratories frequently offer multiple different assays for testing of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples to provide laboratory support for the diagnosis of central nervous system Lyme disease (CNSLD). Often included among these diagnostic tests are the same enzyme immunoassays and immunoblots that are routinely used to detect the presence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in serum. However, performing these assays on CSF alone may yield positive results simply from passive diffusion of serum antibodies into the CSF. In addition, such tests are only United States Food and Drug Administration-cleared and well-validated for testing serum, not CSF. When performed using CSF, positive results from these assays do not establish the presence of intrathecal antibody production to B. burgdorferi and therefore should not be offered. The preferred test to detect intrathecal production of antibodies to B. burgdorferi is the antibody index assay, which corrects for passive diffusion of serum antibodies into CSF and requires testing of paired serum and CSF collected at approximately the same time. However, this assay also has limitations and should only be used to establish a diagnosis of CNSLD in conjunction with patient exposure history, clinical presentation and other laboratory findings.

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**Comment**

ALL testing for tick-borne infections is abysmal.  Diagnosis should still be clinical, which is why medical practitioners MUST become educated on this beast.

Also, the past is riddled with thousands who have not made the “antibody” cut and have been essentially left to die.  Trust me when I say there are far more false negatives than positives!

For instance, read about the story of Vicki Logan:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/09/remember-vicki-logan/

Please read the entire article as zinger after zinger is exposed as to the corruption involved, but Liegner requested an autopsy on Vicki and the pathologist not only refused, he refused to even let an outside pathologist use the facilities to perform it.

The reason? Wait for it…..

……danger of infection to himself and his staff.

I thought Lyme disease was benign and similar to the common cold – easily cured with 21 days of doxy?

By now you know that Liegner wasn’t about to let the ball drop and found a way to get Vicki to the Chief of Neuropathology at Columbia Presbyterian where her autopsy results are now available to all. Without this critical step, propelled by Liegner, the pathologist at Hudson Valley Hospital would have successfully prevented medical knowledge of chronic and neurologic Lyme disease as well as the cause of her hypotension, a missed diagnosis of myocardial infarction.

Then there’s this little gem proving seronegativity with active infection occurs:

Seronegative Chronic Relapsing Neuroborreliosis. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7796837

Lawrence C.a · Lipton R.B.b · Lowy F.D.c · Coyle P.K.d

aDepartment of Medicine, bDepartment of Neurology, and cDivision of Infectious Diseases, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and dDepartment of Neurology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York, NY., USA
Eur Neurol 1995; 35:113–117 (DOI:10.1159/000117104)

Abstract

We report an unusual patient with evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection who experienced repeated neurologic relapses despite aggressive antibiotic therapy. Each course of therapy was associated with a Jarisch-Herxheimer-like reaction. Although the patient never had detectable free antibodies to B. burgdorferi in serum or spinal fluid, the CSF was positive on multiple occasions for complexed anti-B. burgdorferi antibodies, B. burgdorferi nucleic acids and free antigen.

 

Category:

Lyme, research, Testing

Tick Project Takes a Deeper Look at Disease

http://www.wboi.org/post/tick-project-takes-deeper-look-disease#stream/0

Tick Project Takes A Deeper Look At Disease

By Jill Sheridan • Oct 19, 2018
  • (Elizabeth Nicodemus/Flickr)
    (Elizabeth Nicodemus/Flickr)

A project to track ticks in Indiana hosted student scientists at Purdue University last week. The students have been involved in the statewide collection of ticks to better understand what diseases they carry.

Purdue University entomology professor Catherine Hill leads the project. She says a better understanding of what else is inside a tick influences diagnosis and treatment.

“We always think about one tick bite, one pathogen, one disease and that’s not really the case,” says Hill.

The Tick INsider project was created because so many Hoosiers reported difficulty getting an accurate right diagnosis.

“What we’re beginning to understand is that ticks are filled with lots of different bacteria and probably some parasites and protozoa and viruses,” says Hill.

These factors are influenced by what animal the tick feeds on.

The students visited the Purdue labs to learn about how the analysis works.

Hill says students are drawn to this opportunity because of the intersection of environment, entomology and health. Another class of student scientists will be recruited next year.

Nine different diseases have been identified in ticks in Indiana including Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.
**Comment**
Don’t forget nematodes (worms), eggs, & larvae:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/06/03/borrelia-hiding-in-worms-causing-chronic-brain-diseases/  Lyme discoverer, Willy Burgdorfer, wrote of finding nematodes in tick guts way back in 1984 and in 2014 University of New Haven researcher, Eva Sapi, found 22% of nymphs and 30% of adult Ixodes ticks carried nematodes.

One thing is for sure, the idea of numerous pathogens working symbiotically is not even on The Cabal’s radar.  No research exists.  No treatments are offered – just a “one-size fit’s all”  21 days of doxy to “cure” you of this complex monster, which if you ponder that for just 1 solitary second would be a joke if it wasn’t so deadly.

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Testing, Ticks, Transmission

Efficacy & Safety of Antibiotic Therapy in Early Cutaneous Lyme Borreliosis: A Network Meta-analysis

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30285069/?i=6&from=antibiotic%20side%20effects

Efficacy and Safety of Antibiotic Therapy in Early Cutaneous Lyme Borreliosis: A Network Meta-analysis.

Torbahn G, et al. JAMA Dermatol. 2018.

Abstract

Importance: Controversies about the choice of antibiotic agent and treatment modality exist in the management of erythema migrans in early cutaneous Lyme borreliosis (LB).

Objective: To conduct a network meta-analysis (NMA) of all randomized clinical trials on various antibiotic agents and treatment modalities in early cutaneous LB.

Data Sources: Electronic searches in MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were conducted from inception until July 2017. The reference lists of the included studies were hand searched, authors were contacted, and ongoing trials were searched at ClinicalTrials.gov.

Study Selection: One reviewer screened the titles and abstracts of the 9975 reports identified by the electronic searches. Full-text copies of 161 potentially relevant articles were obtained, and 2 reviewers independently assessed those articles for inclusion. Adults with a physician-confirmed early localized skin infection who were treated with antibiotics of any dose or duration were included.

Data Extraction and Synthesis: Two reviewers independently extracted data on study, patient, and intervention characteristics. Network meta-analyses on treatment effects and adverse outcomes were calculated with a frequentist approach using the R package netmeta. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation guidance for NMA was used to assess the certainty of evidence.

Main Outcomes and Measures: Treatment effects for response to treatment (resolution of symptoms) and treatment-related adverse events.

Results: Overall, 19 studies (2532 patients) were included. The mean patient age ranged between 37 and 56 years, and the percentage of female patients ranged from 36% to 60%. The antibiotics investigated were doxycycline, cefuroxime axetil, ceftriaxone, amoxicillin, azithromycin, penicillin V, and minocycline. Pooled effect sizes from NMAs did not suggest any significant differences in treatment response by antibiotic agent (eg, amoxicillin vs doxycycline odds ratio, 1.26; 95% CI, 0.41-3.87), dose, or duration (eg, doxycycline, 200 mg/d for 3 weeks, vs doxycycline, 200 mg/d for 2 weeks, odds ratio, 1.28; 95% CI, 0.49-3.34). Treatment failures were rare at both 2 months (4%; 95% CI, 2%-5%) and 12 months (2%, 95% CI, 1%-3%) after treatment initiation. There were also no differences in the effect sizes among antibiotic agents and treatment modalities for treatment-related adverse outcomes, which were generally mild to moderate.

Certainty of evidence was categorized as low and very low mostly because of imprecision, indirectness, and study limitations (high risk of bias) of the included studies.

Conclusions and Relevance: This NMA suggests that neither the antibiotic agent nor treatment modality contributed to comparative effectiveness or drug-related adverse outcomes. This finding is relevant for physicians treating patients with LB and for patient decision making.

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**Comment**

This meta-analysis demonstrates that early detection and treatment for LD is IMPERATIVE.

Also, it needs to be emphasized that current CDC two-tiered testing:  https://www.bayarealyme.org/our-research/diagnostics/

  • Misses up to 60% of acute cases (Rosenfeld , Wang, Schwartz, Wormser, 2005)
  • Can not differentiate between active infection and previous exposure
  • Does not detect other Borrelia species including B. miyamotoi, which causes Lyme-like symptoms
  • Requires subjective interpretation of results, leading to significant variability across and even within laboratories
So there’s a problem Houston even getting through the initial gate.  Many, many people are not even making the criteria to be diagnosed in the first place.

Then, the “management of erythema migrans in early cutaneous Lyme borreliosis (LB),” is a poor marker of effective treatment, particularly since many never remember a tick bite or see the bullseye rash.  https://www.bayarealyme.org/blog/lyme-disease-bullseye-rash/  This informative article shows pictures of varying rashes as well as the fact while the CDC states 70% may exhibit the erythema migrans, it can vary by region. A 2010 study showed that in the state of Maine only 43% of Lyme patients exhibited this particular type of rash.

So….far less than half in Maine had this rash at all…..

https://www.lymedisease.org/lymepolicywonk-how-many-of-those-with-lyme-disease-have-the-rash-estimates-range-from-27-80-2/  This article states a range of 27-80% seeing the rash, and yet that is the main marker of “effective treatment” for this meta analysis.

This is a great example of garbage in, garbage out.  This article shows us very little due to its parameters.  This, right here, has been the trouble from the get-go.  The Cabal has set parameters that just aren’t accurate.

And, everyone under the sun recognizes acute cases are fairly straight forward.  We don’t need MORE research showing this.  What we need is research on the thousands if not millions of us who struggle with chronic/persistent symptoms.

 

Oh, and then there’s this gem:

Certainty of evidence was categorized as low and very low mostly because of imprecision, indirectness, and study limitations (high risk of bias) of the included studies.

I rest my case.

 

Category:

Lyme, research, Testing, Treatment

In vitro and in vivo Evaluation of Cephalosporins for the Treatment of Lyme Disease

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30254421/

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of cephalosporins for the treatment of Lyme disease.

Pothineni VR, et al. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2018. doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S164966. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Background: Lyme disease accounts for >90% of all vector-borne disease cases in the United States and affect ~300,000 persons annually in North America. Though traditional tetracycline antibiotic therapy is generally prescribed for Lyme disease, still 10%-20% of patients treated with current antibiotic therapy still show lingering symptoms.

Methods: In order to identify new drugs, we have evaluated four cephalosporins as a therapeutic alternative to commonly used antibiotics for the treatment of Lyme disease by using microdilution techniques like minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). We have determined the MIC and MBC of four drugs for three Borrelia burgdorferi s.s strains namely CA8, JLB31 and NP40. The binding studies were performed using in silico analysis.

Results: The MIC order of the four drugs tested is cefoxitin (1.25 µM/mL) > cefamandole (2.5 µM/mL), > cefuroxime (5 µM/mL) > cefapirin (10 µM/mL). Among the drugs that are tested in this study using in vivo C3H/HeN mouse model, cefoxitin effectively kills B. burgdorferi. The in silico analysis revealed that all four cephalosporins studied binds effectively to B. burgdorferi proteins, SecA subunit penicillin-binding protein (PBP) and Outer surface protein E (OspE).

Conclusion: Based on the data obtained, cefoxitin has shown high efficacy killing B. burgdorferi at concentration of 1.25 µM/mL. In addition to it, cefoxitin cleared B. burgdorferi infection in C3H/HeN mice model at 20 mg/kg.

________________

For more on Dr. Lewis’ work:  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/2018/08/24/identifying-vancomycin-as-an-effective-antibiotic-for-killing-bb/

 

Category:

Lyme, research, Testing, Treatment