Archive for the ‘Treatment’ Category

Artemisinin from Sweet Wormwood Inhibits SARS-CoV-2

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/01/04/artemisinin-from-sweet-wormwood-inhibits-sars-cov-2.aspx

Artemisinin From Sweet Wormwood Inhibits SARS-CoV-2

Analysis by Dr. Joseph MercolaFact Checked

January 04, 2021

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • An antimalarial treatment made from the plant Artemisia annua (Sweet Wormwood) shows promise as a COVID-19 treatment
  • The drug artesunate — which contains two compounds found in Artemisia annua: artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin — is a first-line treatment for malaria
  • In a recent in vitro study, both pretreatment and treatment with artemisinin extracts, synthetic artemisinin and the drug artesunate were able to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, artesunate was the most potent in terms of treatment, and from a clinical perspective may be the only one worth pursuing
  • Artesunate’s mechanism of action against SARS-CoV-2 is as yet unknown, but artemisinin does have confirmed antiviral activity
  • The World Health Organization has come out in opposition to artemisinin-based products, warning their use can bolster drug-resistant strains of malaria parasites. For this reason, people living in malaria-prone areas should be cautious about using this plant remedy

A second antimalarial treatment is now being seriously considered and evaluated for its efficacy against COVID-19. The treatment is made from the plant Artemisia annua, which most people know as Sweet Wormwood. Other names for this plant include Annual Sagewort and Sweet Annie.

Research over the past few decades has revealed multiple health benefits from this medicinal herb, which has a centuries-long history of use in folk medicine. In 2015, Chinese scientist Tu Youyou received a partial Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin,1 both of which have potent malaria-fighting properties.

As reported by the University of Kentucky,2 “The popular malaria drug artesunate was developed from those compounds and is still used as a first-line treatment for the disease today.”

Artemisinin — A Viable COVID-19 Remedy?

Interestingly, in addition to having a long-standing history of being used as a highly effective antiparasitic, it also has anticancer properties. Additionally, artemisia annua has antiviral activity that might be helpful against SARS-CoV-2.

In an April 8, 2020, press release Mateon Therapeutics reported3 that “Artemisinin is highly potent at inhibiting the ability of the COVID-19 causing virus (SARS-CoV-2) to multiply while also having an excellent safety index.”

After testing the plant’s antiviral effects in a laboratory setting for a couple of years, University of Kentucky researchers are also exploring its use for the treatment of COVID-19,4 as are researchers in Denmark and Germany.5 According to the University of Kentucky:6

“Surprisingly, results showed that the plant’s leaves, when extracted with absolute ethanol or distilled water, provided more antiviral activity than the actual drug itself — meaning that an Artemisia annua-blended coffee or tea could possibly be more effective than taking the drug.”

Based on these findings, researchers have decided to test artemisinin in patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Some of the first human studies, set to investigate both the extract blended into coffee and tea, as well as the drug artesunate, were implemented by UK HealthCare.

University of Kentucky researchers have founded a company called ArtemiFlow to develop and manufacture the drug, in collaboration with the Kentucky Tobacco Research & Development Center.7 A sister company, ArtemiLife, is marketing Artemisia tea and coffee to raise research funds.

Mechanism of Action Remains Unknown

As for its mechanism of action, such details still remain to be discovered. C&EN explains:8

“When countering malaria, artemisinin exploits the parasite’s taste for hemoglobin in its host’s blood. As the parasite digests hemoglobin, it frees the iron-porphyrin heme complex from the protein.

Because this heme is toxic to the parasite, the organism normally converts the complex to a more benign crystalline form. ‘But artemisinin corrupts this heme-detoxification pathway,’ says Paul O’Neill, a medicinal chemist at the University of Liverpool.

If artemisinin does have any effect against SARS-CoV-2, though, it likely relies on a completely different mechanism than the one it uses against the malaria parasite, Harvard’s [malaria researcher Dyann F.] Wirth says.”

In Vitro Study Reports Positive Results

An in vitro study9,10 looking at the efficacy of artemisinin-based treatments against SARS-CoV-2, posted on the prepublication server bioRxiv, October 5, 2020, report promising results.

The study was a collaboration between researchers from Germany, Denmark and Hong Kong, led by Kerry Gilmore, Ph.D., from the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany.

Three artemisinin extracts, as well as pure, synthetic artemisinin, artesunate and artemether were evaluated. During the initial screening for antiviral activity, a German SARS-CoV-2 strain obtained from Munich was used.

Later on, during the concentration-response phase of the trial, they used a Danish SARS-CoV-2 strain from Copenhagen. These two strains are said to be “more closely related to the majority of SARS-CoV-2 strains circulating worldwide than the Wuhan strain.”11,12

In summary, they found that both pretreatment and treatment with artemisinin extracts, synthetic artemisinin and the drug artesunate were able to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection of Vero E6 cells and human hepatoma Huh7.5 cells. That said, artesunate was the most potent in terms of treatment, and from a clinical perspective may be the only one worth pursuing.13,14

World Health Organization Warns Against Its Use

While the world is eager to add another remedy to its COVID-19 treatment list, the World Health Organization has come out in opposition to artemisinin-based products. In a May 27, 2020, article, C&EN reported:15

“One of the most high-profile advocates for using the herbal remedy against the novel coronavirus is Madagascar president Andry Rajoelina, who has been touting Covid-Organics, a tonic containing A. annua that the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research developed …

But health officials are deeply concerned about the promotion and use of these herbal remedies for three principal reasons. First, no evidence exists that A. annua extracts can prevent or cure COVID-19 …

Second, A. annua preparations such as teas, tonics, or herbal capsules also contain a cocktail of bioactive compounds in addition to artemisinin that can have side effects such as dizziness, hearing problems, and vomiting.

Third, and perhaps most worrying of all, widespread use of A. annua herbal extracts could bolster drug-resistant strains of malaria parasites such as Plasmodium falciparum.16

For people living in regions where malaria is endemic, exposure to subtherapeutic doses of artemisinin in A. annua may be enough to kill off some of the parasites in their bodies, but not all of them. Clearing out weakling parasites leaves more room for drug-resistant siblings to proliferate, rendering vital ACTs [artemisinin-based combination therapies] ineffective.”

According to Pascal Ringwald, who heads up the drug resistance and response unit of the WHO Global Malaria Program, artemisinin resistance is a significant problem in Southeast Asia, where Artemisia readily grows and is commonly used.17

That said, this risk is bound to be slight for Americans and people in many other Western countries where malaria is exceedingly rare. According to C&EN,18:

“Scientists interviewed by C&EN agree that although this use is against WHO recommendations, it does not risk accelerating resistance because there are so few cases of malaria in the U.S.”

+ Sources and References
 
 
The antiviral activity of artemisinin, which is normally thought of as an anti-parasitic, is as amazing as the antiviral activity of ivermectin, which is normally thought of as a dewormer.  The very interesting aspect of artemisinin; however, is it’s ability to:
 
‘corrupt the heme-detoxification pathway.’  
 
The reason that this is interesting, is that within this video, Dr. Northrup describes how radiation from 5G (60gh) can adversely affect hemoglobin making it difficult to be oxygenated, and that this actually happened in both NY and China. The first case of COVID-19 occurred 1 month after the 5G rollout in Wuhan, China – people were actually blue from lack of oxygen.
 
Also, if you remember the post from April, a NY doctor describes how ventilators were harming COVID patients who were described as suffering “severe hypoxemia” and that the usual treatments were failing because they:
 
“result in severe hemodynamic impairment and fluid retention.” 
 
These details seem to continue to implicate 5G in this saga:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/25/coronavirus-science-policy-politics-5g/
Excerpt:

RF radiation and COVID-19 cause similar disease. In my last newsletter (“Is the Sky Really Falling?”), I noted some effects of COVID-19 that are similar to effects of radio waves. The list of effects in common has grown, and includes:

  • headaches
  • dizziness
  • nausea
  • digestive problems
  • muscle pain
  • tachycardia
  • hypotension
  • cardiac arrhythmias
  • strokes
  • seizures

As many as two-thirds of people who test positive for COVID-19 have lost their sense of smell, often without any other symptoms. Patients are presenting with mental confusion, without any respiratory symptoms at all. Patients are presenting with diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. When patients with any of these symptoms test positive for the coronavirus, their illnesses are being attributed to that virus. But these are all classic symptoms of radio wave sickness.

WHEN BOTH THE VIRUS AND RF RADIATION ARE PRESENT, THE DISEASE SHOULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO BOTH.

And RF radiation and COVID-19 both cause hypoxia. COVID-19 impairs oxygen absorption by the blood, and RF radiation impairs oxygen use by the cells. COVID-19 would not be so severe were it not for the radiation.

Recently, there is a new symptom that is being attributed to the virus that is exactly what one would expect to see from millimeter waves: a “fizzing” sensation throughout the body. It is being described as a “buzzing sensation,” “a burning feeling,” and “an electric sensation in the skin.” It is probably wrongly being attributed to the virus, and is due instead to 5G.

 

Category:

Herbs, Malaria, Treatment, Viruses

4 Distinct Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndromes?

https://danielcameronmd.com/4-distinct-post-treatment-lyme-disease-syndromes/

4 DISTINCT POST-TREATMENT LYME DISEASE SYNDROMES?

Man holding head, looking tired from post treatment lyme disease

In a recent editorial, Dr. Allen Steere describes the clinical features and proposed mechanisms triggering what he believes are 4 distinct post-treatment Lyme disease syndromes (PTLDS) in patients who fail antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease. [1]

By

Individuals who suffer from persistent symptoms may be diagnosed with post-treatment Lyme disease or ‘chronic Lyme disease.’  Studies estimate that between 34% and 62% of patients continue to have ongoing, chronic symptoms even after standard antibiotic therapy. Many remain ill for months to years. In fact, according to one study, 34% of a population-based, retrospective cohort were still ill an average of 6.2 years after antibiotic treatment.

Additionally, four clinical trials, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), demonstrated the potential seriousness of Lyme disease. According to the findings, the quality of life for chronically ill patients “was equivalent to that of patients with congestive heart failure; pain levels were similar to those of post-surgical patients and fatigue was on par with that seen in multiple sclerosis.”

In his editorial, “Post-treatment Lyme disease syndromes: distinct pathogenesis caused by maladaptive host responses,” Steere concedes that patients can remain seriously ill. “These patients may have severe pain around joints (tender points), headache, brain fog, sleep disorder, and incapacitating fatigue, which have a major impact on the quality of life.”

“Physicians are often in a quandary regarding whether these patients still have active infection or postinfectious phenomena,” he writes.

Unfortunately, Steere dismisses the hypothesis that a persistent and active infection could be causing ongoing illness in patients with ‘chronic Lyme disease’ or post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, as he claims, there is a “current lack of evidence of persistent infection or antibiotic efficacy in human patients with PTLDS.” (A statement which I dispute.)

Instead, he has developed and proposes that patients suffer from various post-infectious syndromes, which include:

Post-infectious Lyme arthritis

“Massive inflammatory, synovial proliferation usually affecting a knee, emerging from Lyme arthritis.”

  • Pathogenesis: Excessive pro-inflammatory immune response with high IFN-γ levels persistent in the post-infectious period, blocking appropriate wound repair processes.

Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome

“Pain, neurocognitive, and fatigue symptoms emerging after any LD [Lyme disease] manifestation.”

Autoimmune joint disease

“Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or peripheral spondyloarthropathy emerging after any LD [Lyme disease] manifestation.”

  • Pathogenesis: Adjuvant effect of infection activating latent autoimmune disease.

Autoimmune neurologic disease

“Chronic idiopathic demyelinating polyneuropathy emerging from Lyme radiculoneuropathy.”

  • Pathogenesis: Unknown.

Steere points out, that individuals with systemic autoimmune diseases following Lyme disease may benefit from immunosuppressive or anti-inflammatory therapy.

He concludes, “disabling posttreatment syndromes may still develop, which appear to result primarily from disadvantageous or maladaptive host responses to the infection that persist after spirochetal killing with antibiotics.”

Editor’s note: I do not agree with Dr. Steere’s position. And for transparency purposes, I’m an author of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) guidelines, which does not dismiss the persistent infection hypothesis but supports ongoing antimicrobial treatment until Lyme disease symptoms resolve.
Related Articles:

Case report: Persistent pain and fatigue following treatment for Lyme disease

Borrelia spirochete are masters at evading the immune system

Will late stage Lyme disease treatment include azlocillin?

References:
  1. Steere AC. Posttreatment Lyme disease syndromes: distinct pathogenesis caused by maladaptive host responses. J Clin Invest. 2020;130(5):2148-2151.

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**Comment**

This would almost be humorous if it wasn’t so serious.  

Having just read Polly Murray’s “The Widing Circle,” and revisiting the beginning of it all from the woman who contacted health authorities to report on a mysterious illness afflicting her entire household and a majority of her neighbors, I realize that very little has changed.

40 years ago, Murray was frustrated with Steere’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the persistent infection that seemed to affect so many patients.

I was also shocked anew at these authorities who often preferred sitting back to observe suffering patients – rather than treat them.  Nearly all responded that were able to receive continuing treatment.  I wrote about our experience here:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/06/the-proof-is-in-the-pudding-my-letter-to-the-tbdwg/

I hesitate to think where we would be now without this life-saving treatment that took over 5 years.

For more:  

I highly recommend bypassing mainstream medicine completely and heading directly to a Lyme literate doctor:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/25/what-makes-a-doctor-lyme-literate/

The Lyme War continues unabated.

Category:

Lyme, research, Treatment

Management of Tick Bites & Lyme Disease During Pregnancy

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32414479/

Practice Guideline
J Obstet Gynaecol Can

. 2020 May;42(5):644-653.

doi: 10.1016/j.jogc.2020.01.001.

Committee Opinion No. 399: Management of Tick Bites and Lyme Disease During Pregnancy

Graeme N Smith 1, Kieran M Moore 1, Todd F Hatchette 2, Jennifer Nicholson 3, William Bowie 4, Joanne M Langley 2

Abstract

Objective: Lyme disease is an emerging infection in Canada caused by the bacterium belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species complex, which is transmitted via the bite of an infected blacklegged tick. Populations of blacklegged ticks continue to expand and are now established in different regions in Canada. It usually takes more than 24 hours of tick attachment to transfer B. burgdorferi to a human. The diagnosis of early localized Lyme disease is made by clinical assessment, as laboratory tests are not reliable at this stage. Most patients with early localized Lyme disease will present with a skin lesion (i.e., erythema migrans) expanding from the tick bite site and/or non-specific “influenza-like” symptoms (e.g., arthralgia, myalgia, and fever). Signs and symptoms may occur from between 3 and 30 days following the tick bite. The care of pregnant patients with a tick bite or suspected Lyme disease should be managed similarly to non-pregnant adults, including the consideration of antibiotics for prophylaxis and treatment. The primary objective of this committee opinion is to inform practitioners about Lyme disease and provide an approach to managing the care of pregnant women who may have been infected via a blacklegged tick bite.

_____________________

**Comment**

Payment is required to see the full article.

A few points:

  • I’m glad they acknowledge that ticks are expanding everywhere – and that goes for ALL ticks.
  • In my opinion, as these ticks expand, biting animals/people outside of their typical range, more transmission studies need to be done to determine if they are also picking up new pathogens not common to them previously.  This would help explain the expansion of pathogens as well as ticks. Unfortunately, researchers are content with 35+ year old studies with an inch of dust on them.
  • It DOES NOT take 24 hours to become infected and a minimum time has never been established:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/04/14/transmission-time-for-lymemsids-infection/
  • I’m glad they acknowledge that Lyme/MSIDS is a clinical assessment.  Unfortunately, due to top down education from the CDC/IDSA, doctors are woefully unprepared to make this assessment.  There needs to be an overhaul on this aspect of medical training and they should listen to Lyme literate doctors with decades of experience rather than vilify them:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/25/what-makes-a-doctor-lyme-literate/
  • Most patients will NOT present with a skin lesion:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/22/why-mainstream-lyme-msids-research-remains-in-the-dark-ages/
  • I’m extremely grateful they recommend considering prophylactic treatment.  Unfortunately, again due to top down education from the CDC/IDSA, doctors are scared to death to use antibiotics for this, further revealing the need for education on the severe nature of this disease(s) and the potential for congenital transmission affecting the life of the newborn forever. This detail makes it clear any risk is worth the benefit, but only if you are knowledgable about the severity of the disease(s).
  • No mention of coinfections is given, and this is another important issue mainstream medicine is clueless about. Patients that are coinfected are sicker for longer and require far more than the typical mono treatment.

For more:  

Category:

Lyme, Pregnancy, research, Treatment

Diagnosing and Treating Lyme: Podcast

https://canlyme.com/2020/09/02/new-podcast-dr-ralph-hawkins-shares-his-medical-expertise-and-hands-on-experience-diagnosing-and-treating-lyme-disease/

New Podcast: Dr. Ralph Hawkins shares his medical expertise and hands on experience diagnosing and treating Lyme disease

https://www.lookingatlyme.ca/2020/09/dr-ralph-hawkins-explains-the-challenges-of-detecting-lyme-disease-through-testing/  Podcast here

September 1st, 2020

In this episode of Looking at Lyme, Sarah speaks with Internal Medicine Specialist and Canadian Lyme expert, Dr. Ralph Hawkins. Dr. Hawkins has been treating Lyme patients in Canada for many years, gaining a wealth of knowledge about the disease. He recounts his introduction to the shortcomings of Lyme disease testing in Canada while treating a patient with a history of multiple previous tick bites, many common symptoms of Lyme disease, but a negative Canadian Lyme test. Dr. Hawkins had the patient’s blood tested at a University Lab in New York, revealing test band patterns consistent with Lyme disease. He referred this patient to Infectious Diseases colleagues for treatment, but quickly found out that the diagnosis of late stage Lyme disease is not generally recognized by the Infectious Diseases community. He was advised to not only drop this case, but to avoid other similar cases. The recommendation to avoid such patients sparked Dr. Hawkins’ curiosity and interest, inspiring him to dive deeply into the research and history of Lyme disease.

Dr. Hawkins walks us through the current testing protocols for Lyme disease in Canada, explaining why some patients with Lyme disease receive a negative test result. He explains the difference between current testing in Canada and tests done in other parts of the world, highlighting a test done in Germany that he often relies on when diagnosing patients, and touching on the approval process for such tests by Health Canada. Without better testing, Canadians with Lyme disease continue to fall through the cracks of the healthcare system. Dr. Hawkins refers to a recent analysis of Lyme diagnosis in Canada in which researchers speculate that in some areas, two thirds of Lyme cases go unreported. With this in mind he points out that, in light of the severity of untreated Lyme disease, a trial period of treatment for Lyme disease would be valid for certain patients with negative Canadian serology. Thank you Dr. Hawkins for walking with us down the bumpy road of Lyme disease testing and treatment in Canada!

Resources and notes

For more:  

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks, Treatment

Evaluation of Disulfiram Drug Combinations & Identification of Other More Effective Combinations against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/9/9/542

Evaluation of Disulfiram Drug Combinations and Identification of Other More Effective Combinations against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi

by Hector S. Alvarez-Manzo, Yumin Zhang, Wanliang Shi and Ying Zhang 

Antibiotics2020, 9(9), 542; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9090542 (registering DOI)Received: 7 August 2020 / Revised: 21 August 2020 / Accepted: 25 August 2020 / Published: 26 August 2020View Full-TextDownload PDFBrowse Figures

Abstract

Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common vector-borne disease in USA, and 10–20% of patients will develop persistent symptoms despite treatment (“post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome”). B. burgdorferi persisters, which are not killed by the current antibiotics for Lyme disease, are considered one possible cause. Disulfiram has shown to be active against B. burgdorferi, but its activity against persistent forms is not well characterized. We assessed disulfiram as single drug and in combinations against stationary-phase B. burgdorferi culture enriched with persisters.

  • Disulfiram was not very effective in the drug exposure experiment (survival rate (SR) 46.3%) or in combinations.
  • Clarithromycin (SR 41.1%) and nitroxoline (SR 37.5%) were equally effective when compared to the current Lyme antibiotic cefuroxime (SR 36.8%) and more active than disulfiram.
  • Cefuroxime + clarithromycin (SR 25.9%) and cefuroxime + nitroxoline (SR 27.5%) were significantly more active than cefuroxime + disulfiram (SR 41.7%).
  • When replacing disulfiram with clarithromycin or nitroxoline in three-drug combinations, bacterial viability decreased significantly and subculture studies showed that combinations with these two drugs (cefuroxime + clarithromycin/nitroxoline + furazolidone/nitazoxanide) inhibited the regrowth, while disulfiram combinations did not (cefuroxime + disulfiram + furazolidone/nitazoxanide).

Thus, clarithromycin and nitroxoline should be further assessed to determine their role as potential treatment alternatives in the future.View Full-Text

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For more:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/07/repurposing-disulfiram-in-the-treatment-of-lyme-disease-and-babesiosis-retrospective-review-of-first-3-years-experience-in-one-medical-practice/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/30/patients-can-respond-very-differently-to-disulfiram-be-cautious/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/10/01/study-shows-dsm-works-for-lyme-reduces-inflammatory-markers-antibody-titers/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/11/19/if-disulfiram-is-the-cure-for-lyme-disease-should-it-be-prescribed-to-all-lyme-disease-patients/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/06/26/new-treatments-for-lyme-disease-on-the-horizon/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/13/lyme-disease-treatment/

Category:

Lyme, research, Treatment