Archive for the ‘Ticks’ Category

Ally Hilfiger on Fox 5 NY

http://up.anv.bz/latest/anvload.html?key=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“>http://up.anv.bz/latest/anvload.html?key=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  Approx. 8 min.

Put in a psychiatric hospital by her dad, Ally went through hell and back with Lyme/MSIDS.  She suffered with more than a decade with bouts of strep throat, pain throughout her body especially her knees, difficulty concentrating and paranoia.

Unfortunately Ally propagated a myth.  She stated that if it’s 42 degrees, ticks are out and alive.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/20/polar-vorticks/

Fact: In most areas of the country, “tick season” runs from April to November, however, infection can occur any time of the year. For example, in the winter, some tick species actually move indoors, while other species make a type of “internal antifreeze” to survive during the winter months. This is often why veterinarians will recommend year-round tick prevention.

Deer Ticks in this video survived 3 degrees overnight.

Since I live in the tundra of Wisconsin I can attest to this.  You can pull ticks off your dog in February and they are alive and well.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Psychological Aspects, Ticks, Uncategorized

First Frankenbugs – Now Frankinmice

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http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/06/16/482279851/are-genetically-engineered-mice-the-answer-to-combating-lyme-disease?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr

MIT evolutionary biologist Kevin Esvelt wants to let thousands of genetically engineered white-footed mice loose on Nantucket Island in hopes of breaking the cycle of Lyme (borrelia) infection.

Esvelt explains:

“[The GE technique involves] taking immune cells from an exposed mouse that has protective antibodies and moving the genes encoding those antibodies into the second mouse.
“If we insert the antibody-encoding genes into the genomes of mouse reproductive cells, they will pass immunity on to their offspring. Our plan is to vaccinate many mice against Lyme or tick saliva, identify the most protective antibodies, then encode them all into the reproductive cells of other mice. In this way, we can take the total immune capacity of many different vaccinated mice and give it all to future mouse generations.”

Esvelt explains exactly how this is done:

“We will insert several copies of each protective antibody at neutral sites in the mouse genome using CRISPR, a genome editing tool that lets us precisely edit just about any DNA sequence in any organism. The resulting mice will be engineered to be immune (to either Lyme or tick bites or both), but will be 100 percent mouse with respect to their DNA. Any of their offspring that inherits a copy will be similarly protected, so adding multiple copies means that each mouse counts for several when it comes to protecting future generations.”

The project would take tens or hundreds of thousands of GE mice to be released over a period of years in a small area.  The only way it would work in large areas is if they used foreign non-mouse DNA.  

Anyone feel like they are in a bad Syfy flick yet?  And I have a feeling that “foreign non-mouse DNA” sounds much nicer than it is.

Even the European union has ruled that CRISPR plants are GMO’s and should be regulated as strictly:   https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/611716/in-blow-to-new-tech-europe-court-decides-crispr-plants-are-gmos/

“It means for all the new inventions … you would need to go through the lengthy approval process of the European Union,” Kai Purnhagen, an expert at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, told Nature.

Questioning the practice, University of British Columbia infectious disease expert Jan Hajek, states:

“I wonder how much the scientific interest of the researcher to be innovative and advance our knowledge and ability to manipulate mouse genetics on both an individual and population level is driving this research and how much is the desire to reduce the impact of Lyme disease. It is an important question to ask — especially if public funds and hundreds of thousands of mice are to be used.I am not against bioengineering. I acknowledge the value of innovation and advancing basic science knowledge. However, I also recognize that both Lyme disease and animal welfare are pressing and important concerns.”

Hajek doesn’t support the project at this point and states:

“We have ways to tackle Lyme disease we are not using. We make excuses for needing more animal experimentation and research for the sake of human health — when we do not even use the means already available to us.”

Hajek says distributing vaccine-laden bait to mice has already been shown to reduce the rates of B. burgdorferi infection in ticks.

Why do I get the distinct feeling that what is driving all of this is money with enormous projects involving tons of manufacturing, animals, insects,  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/12/28/frankinbugs/, vaccines, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/03/08/fixation-on-zikapolio/ and patents?

I guess going through hell on steroids for over ten years and coughing up about $150K for MSIDS treatment (multi systemic infectious disease syndrome or Lyme with friends), for my husband and I has turned me into a skeptic.

I continue to be baffled by the lack of research on things that will help patients today such as better testing and diagnostics, better treatments, insurance coverage, and practical help on deterring ticks from our yards and bodies.

Could someone please suggest something that doesn’t have to destroy the immune system and the ecosystem?

 

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks, Uncategorized

Have Test – Can Travel

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Lyme disease is under-reported and increasing in the United States, with as many as 300,000 new cases a year. But did you know that Lyme disease is not just here in the United States? With 68 million Americans traveling abroad last year alone, business travelers, vacationers, and people in the military should be aware of the facts: Over 80 countries of Europe and Asia have reported cases of Lyme, with more than 360,000 cases reported over the last two decades. Mexico reports cases of patients being infected when visiting the forested areas. Canada describes the increasing numbers of infected black-legged ticks. Not all countries have mandatory reporting, so these statistics do not account for all of the cases of disease. At least three species of Borrelia may be responsible:
*Borrelia burgdorferi
*Borrelia garinii
*Borrelia afzelii

Because of this, travelers returning to the U.S. showing symptoms of a tick-borne illness should be tested for more than Borrelia burgdorferi.

Coppe Laboratories is the only commercial reference laboratory testing for multiple genospecies including these European strains.

Using selective antigens (VlsE and OspC), Coppe’s Lyme panel is highly sensitive, which increases the likelihood of detection of antibodies from multiple strains of the Borrelia bacteria. Densitometry software is used to read the immunoblots, rather than relying on visual identification. Indeterminate results are less than 1% providing clear interpretation and actionable results.

In addition to the high–quality testing of Borrelia, Coppe Laboratories provides testing for Babesia and exclusive testing for Powassan virus. As a courtesy, Coppe will file insurance on behalf of the patient.

For more information, please visit our website at www.coppelabs.com.

Category:

Educational handouts, Lyme, Ticks, Uncategorized

Tiny Tick Big Controversy ABC Special Report

  Published on Feb 4, 2016 WMDT-TV Channel 47 Documentary on Lyme.  Approx. 25 minutes

See local Lyme patients, hear interviews with specialists, as well as medical professionals who don’t necessarily believe in chronic Lyme disease. Emily Lampa, senior reporter for WMDT-TV, courageously took on this challenge and created the documentary, “Tiny Tick Big Controversy”.

The prevention of tick-borne illnesses is much more complicated than just avoiding ticks. One of the major reasons is that the diagnosis and treatment of the most common vector-borne infection, Lyme Disease, is still such a mystery and so often clouded by controversy.

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks, Uncategorized

Great Lyme Video

Published on Jul 22, 2014
Excellent movie on the international problem of lyme – Approx. 50 min.

Category:

Lyme, Ticks