Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Lyme Research Alliance Awards Nearly $600,000 in New Grants

Fantastic news! 

LRA receives record number of grant applications to advance Lyme disease research. Funds seven promising studies to find a reliable diagnostic test and effective treatment options for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

September 30, 2014
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/10/prweb12209113.htm

Stamford, CT – Lyme Research Alliance (LRA), the nation's largest private non-profit funder of Lyme disease research at universities, today announced the awarding of seven grants worth $587,000 to researchers focused on the identification, treatment and cure for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. 

LRA noted it had received the most applications in its history—over 20 grant proposals—a 100 percent increase from last year. 

"While we were pleased to receive so many solid applications from talented scientists this year, it underscores the fact that only 17 percent of grant applications receive funding from the government these days," said Harriet Kotsoris, M.D., LRA's Chief Scientific Officer. "Scientific research is severely underfunded by the government and scientists must go to private donors."

The resulting LRA 2014-2015 grant portfolio is "outstanding," she said. "These scientists are at the top of their game. This speaks to the importance of LRA in the Lyme disease research community and the critical role played by private funding." 

The seven grants were awarded to:Armin Alaedini, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, New York; John Aucott, M.D., Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; Nichole Baumgarth, D.V.M, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology, Microbiology Immunology, University of California, Davis, CA; Charles Chiu, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Laboratory Medicine and Medicine, Infectious Diseases at the University of California, San Francisco, CA; A.T. Charlie Johnson Ph.D., Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Kim Lewis, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Director, Antimicrobial Discovery Center, Northeastern University, Boston, MA; Steven Schutzer, M.D., Professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care and Allergy/Immunology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ along with Claire Fraser, Ph.D., University of Maryland.

The grants reflect LRA's scientific agenda: the discovery of an accurate and accessible diagnostic test, and the development of effective treatments for long-term or "chronic" Lyme disease. LRA grantees are also expected to publish their findings in peer-reviewed scientific journals, the forum for knowledge-sharing across the scientific community.

The researchers were selected following a rigorous evaluation process using guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Each proposal was evaluated by Grant Review Committee members of LRA's Scientific Advisory Board and met the same scientific standards that the NIH applies to its own research grant review process. The resulting 2014-2015 grant awards represent projects judged to have exceptional prospects of delivering measurable advances. 

Innovative efforts in the most promising areas of tick-borne disease research are supported by LRA. Together with Bay Area Lyme Foundation, for instance, LRA has funded Dr. Johnson for his work on developing a fast, accurate, affordable diagnostic test via nanotechnology, the multidisciplinary science that looks at how matter can be manipulated at the molecular and atomic level. Dr. Johnson, along with Dr. Dustin Brisson and his University of Pennsylvania team, is focusing on a technique that uses single-layered molecular graphene sheets—attached to antibodies that react with specific proteins carried by the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease. 

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S. with some 300,000 new cases reported in the U.S. each year. The number of Lyme cases reported annually has increased nearly 25-fold since national surveillance began in 1982. There are no accurate diagnostic tests for the tick-borne disease, no tests to prove that Lyme bacteria are eradicated or that an individual is cured. Some 15-20 percent of individuals with Lyme end up with long term health problems. 

In announcing the new grants, Dr. Kotsoris said, "As the number of Lyme and tick-borne disease cases continue to grow, there is a tremendous need to keep science moving forward. LRA is proud to support the advanced research being conducted by some of the best and the brightest men and women in the field today. Through their work, we believe there will be scientific breakthroughs in prevention strategies, diagnosis and treatment, leading to a cure for Lyme."

ABOUT LYME RESEARCH ALLIANCE:
For more than a decade LRA, formerly Time for Lyme, has funded innovative research at universities across the United States, from Northeastern University to Johns Hopkins, Washington University and Texas A&M, just to name a few. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, LRA has raised over $9 million to combat Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.


Lyme Research Alliance, formerly Time for Lyme, is a Connecticut-based, national non-profit that funds cutting-edge research into Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. For more information go to:http://www.LymeResearchAlliance.org.

Source:http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/10/prweb12209113.htm

Monday, September 29, 2014

Lyme Disease Surges North, and Canada Moves Out of Denial

Caught ticks(Image: Caught ticks via Shutterstock)

Monday, 29 September 2014 10:06

By Marianne LavelleThe Daily Climate | Report
Truthout only exists thanks to the support of our readers. Help us continue to publish truly independent journalism by making a tax-deductible donation today!

Vett Lloyd saved the tick that latched onto her while she was gardening outside her home in New Brunswick, Canada in 2011. A biologist who specialized in cancer genetics, she plucked the blood-sucking creature from her skin and sent it to the local public health office to have it tested for the dangerous bacteria she knew it could carry.
But officials told her not to worry, Lloyd said. Lyme disease was exceedingly rare in the forested maritime province northeast of Maine. The tick was tossed untested.
The next year brought agony: Fatigue, fevers that would come and go, aching joints, and finally, trouble lifting her

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Silver 'boost to antibiotic success'


Silver 'boost to antibiotic success'

BacteriaGram-negative bacterial infections can be difficult to treat

Related Stories

Adding silver to antibiotics makes them 10 to 1,000 times more effective at fighting infections, research suggests.

Silver has been used as an antimicrobial for centuries, but little has been known about how it works.

The new research suggests adding it to existing antibiotics could counteract the rise of drug-resistant microbes.

Experiments in mice showed the metal disrupts the biological processes of bacteria, making them more permeable to antibiotics, a US team reports.

Bacteria are adapting and finding ways to survive the effects of antibiotics.

According to England's chief medical officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies, antibiotics are losing their effectiveness at a rate that is both alarming and irreversible.

Silver acts against Gram-negative bacteria - one of the two main types of bacteria - which are particularly difficult pathogens to treat.

The research was led by Jose Ruben Morones-Ramirez of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Boston University.

He told the journal Science Translational Medicine: "This work shows that silver can be used to enhance the action of existing antibiotics against Gram-negative bacteria, thus strengthening the antibiotic arsenal for fighting bacterial infections."

Future studies will focus on testing how silver can be added to antibiotic injections or tablets for use in patients.

Read the source at BBC News:

Thursday, September 25, 2014

New Deer Tick Virus causes permanent brain damage in 50% of cases

"The first clue that deer tick virus could cause human disease came in 2001 when deer tick virus RNA, taken from the brain of a man who died ... in Lyme-endemic areas, many, if not all, cases previously diagnosed as POWV are likely deer tick virus. Furthermore, the number of cases appears to be rising rapidly."

Encephalitis-causing Ticks Emerging in Northeast

Marc El Khoury, MD, with New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York, reported on two related diseases: deer tick virus, which, as its name suggests, is carried by the hard-bodied deer tick, and Powassan virus (POWV), which is carried by a soft-bodied tick that feeds on groundhogs and woodchucks.

But the two diseases share a common ancestor and are difficult to tell apart in standard antibody tests.

Until recently, however, deer tick virus was not considered a threat to human health. The first clue that deer tick virus could cause human disease came in 2001 when deer tick virus RNA, taken from the brain of a man who died in 1997 shortly after a presumed Powassan encephalitis infection, was sequenced.

Now, El Khoury reports that, in Lyme-endemic areas, many, if not all, cases previously diagnosed as POWV are likely deer tick virus. Furthermore, the number of cases appears to be rising rapidly. Between 1958 and 2003 -- a span of 45 years -- only about 40 cases of POWV were reported in the United States and Canada. Then, in four years, from 2008 to 2012, 21 cases were reported from Wisconsin and Minnesota, and 12 cases from New York State.

"Almost all of these cases are in Lyme country, where humans are much more likely to be preyed upon by deer ticks carrying deer tick virus than ticks carrying Powassan virus," El Khoury said. "Now it appears that in Lyme-endemic areas, people can not only get Lyme disease or babesiosis, but also a deer tick virus-related meningoencephalitis."

Many infections are probably mild or asymptomatic. But more severe infections can progress to encephalitis, which can have a case fatality rate of up to 15 percent and cause permanent nerve or brain damage in about 50 percent of diagnosed cases. Powassan virus infections (that may in fact be deer tick virus) have been reported in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Full article here-  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121112135510.htm

How to Prevent Four of Five Heart Attacks

From ABC News:

Excerpt:

According to Akesson's study, men at lowest risk for a heart attack didn't smoke, walked or biked for at least 40 minutes per day, exercised at least one hour per week, consumed one to two glasses of alcohol daily, and followed a diet with fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, reduced-fat dairy products, whole grains and fish. A waist measuring less than 38 inches was also associated with fewer heart attacks.


The full story here:

http://abcn.ws/Y2yEw3

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Two excellent letters on Lyme testing


There are 37 known species of bacteria that cause Lyme disease, but the current Lyme two-tier test inadequately tests even for the one spirochete it is designed for—Borrelia burgdorferi. Because of this we are missing many Borreliosis infections, and our patients are subjected to immeasurable suffering because they aren't receiving timely antimicrobial therapy. Research shows that such patients might go on to receive faulty diagnoses of psychosomatic, psychiatric or neuromuscular illnesses instead of prescriptions for antibiotics that would cure their infections.

A paper co-authored by Barbara Johnson, an expert with the CDC Lyme program, reveals that the current two-tier method is positive in only 31% of those with erythema migrans (the bull's-eye rash associated with Lyme disease) and in only 63% of those with acute neuroborreliosis or carditis due to burgdorferi Lyme disease. This means that out of 100 patients who have Lyme disease, we might misdiagnose 69 of them, leaving their infections untreated.

Recent research out of Johns Hopkins University suggests we likely aren't using the correct antibiotics. The drugs we are using might be contributing to persistent bacteria and may not be fully clearing infections.

Given the current urgent state of affairs, we should be racing to find better testing strategies that will identify all of the Borrelia species and associated co-infections, and to find better antibiotic regimens that will cure our patients. We need to find these infections early—before life-altering manifestations of cranial nerve palsy, meningitis, myocarditis, arthritis, permanent disability and death.

Nevena Zubcevik D.O.
Resident physician and tick-borne illness advisory board member
Harvard Medical School
Boston

Here are the references for Dr Zubcevik’s statements………

Dr Zubcevik’s 1st statement:

“Recent research out of Johns Hopkins University suggests we likely aren't using the correct antibiotics. The drugs we are using might be contributing to persistent bacteria and may not be fully clearing infections.”

Reference link:

Identification of novel activity against Borrelia burgdorferi persisters using an FDA approved drug library

http://www.nature.com/emi/journal/v3/n7/full/emi201453a.html

Excerpt:

“Our findings may have implications for the development of a more effective treatment for Lyme disease and for the relief of long-term symptoms that afflict some Lyme disease patients.”

Dr Zubcevik’s 2nd statement:

“A paper co-authored by Barbara Johnson, an expert with the CDC Lyme program, reveals that the current two-tier method is positive in only 31% of those with erythema migrans (the bull's-eye rash associated with Lyme disease) and in only 63% of those with acute neuroborreliosis or carditis due to burgdorferi Lyme disease.”

Reference link:

2-Tiered Antibody Testing for Early and Late Lyme Disease Using Only an Immunoglobulin G Blot with the Addition of a VlsE Band as the Second-Tier Test

http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/1/20.full

Excerpt:

“Results: With standard 2-tiered IgM and IgG testing, 31% of patients with active erythema migrans (stage 1), 63% of those with acute neuroborreliosis or carditis”

*********

Our son was diagnosed with Lyme disease and babesiosis. The CDC test was negative for Lyme disease. The IGeneX test clearly showed that he had Lyme.

Regarding Dr. Paul Mead's letter about the CDC Lyme test (Letters, Sept. 5), our family is familiar with tick-borne diseases. Our son was diagnosed with Lyme disease and babesiosis. The CDC test was negative for Lyme disease. The IGeneX, Inc. test clearly showed that he had Lyme. My son's life has been changed due to the availability of testing choices. Our son is now fine. We benefited from scientists and innovators who developed reliable tests that allowed us to receive an accurate diagnosis. There are two groups that will benefit from the regulation of independent laboratories: the government, which will further consolidate its power, and the existing owners of FDA-approved tests, who will benefit from new barriers placed on competitors. Individual patients will be harmed.

Jessica Devers
San Rafael, Calif.

Is a New Transdermal Anti-Depressant the Best in the World?

(PRWEB) September 23, 2014

Dr. James Schaller of Naples Florida shares a scientific breakthrough which could change the lives of millions who suffer from depression and arthritis.

This antidepressant has very little in common with any of the current medications approved by the FDA, and represents an effective, unique, and natural approach to depression.

Current synthetic antidepressants share problems that include weight gain, sexual dysfunction, serious withdrawal symptoms, ulcers, heart rhythm changes and seizure risks. (1) Suicide risks may also exist, possibly due to slow effects or to the initial high dosing that is common. (2)

Today Dr. James Schaller announced the patent for a new and unique antidepressant treatment. This antidepressant has very little in common with any of the current medications currently approved by the FDA, and represents a unique type of medication. The patent can be seen at: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2006/0069059.html

The patent is the creation of transdermal SAM-e which is a natural substance occurring in the body; it is one of the most important cell chemicals for humans. This new dose delivery design avoids the stomach and intestinal side effects of oral SAM-e, and avoids the large number of expensive and inconvenient pills required for mood recovery. It also allows the B-vitamins that SAM-e uses to work to be part of the formula in a simple patch.

This antidepressant has very little in common with any of the current medications approved by the FDA, and represents an effective, unique, and natural approach to depression.

Oral or injectable SAM-e has existed in medical science for many decades and the oral form is now in the majority of American pharmacies. Research exists to support its use to prevent routine arthritis (3, 4), to decrease liver cancer, and to decrease inflammatory chemicals. In contrast to routine antidepressants, transdermal SAM-e works more quickly and is not associated with allergic reactions, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, or withdrawal symptoms. It also does not cause ulcers or other intestinal damage, nor does it increase seizures, harm bone marrow or cause heart rhythm changes. (5, 6, 7)

Transdermal SAM-e has many modes of action, such as fighting depression in three neurotransmitter systems: serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine.

This patented treatment was created by research physician James Schaller, who specializes in treatment-resistant medical or psychiatric patients, in collaboration with research pharmacists, who designed this formulation over the span of ten years.

Dr. Schaller is an internationally renowned author, research physician, theologian, and part-time clinician specializing in non-surgical, non-cancer treatment failure patients. He has written over two dozen books and top journal papers in diverse areas of medicine, including tick, flea and other infections which cause chronic illness and fatigue. He has 13 books discussing tick, flea and pet infections such as Bartonella and dangerous Babesia. He was also the first to publish a practical cancer breakthrough, now a standard treatment internationally. Dr. Schaller treats people nationally and internationally and tailors his treatment to their unique biochemistry and healing preferences. To learn more, visit http://www.personalconsult.com.

Those with a serious financial interest in purchasing the patent should contact:

James Schaller, MD, MAR, PA 
Community Bank Tower 
Suite 305 
5150 Tamiami Trial N. 
Naples, Florida 34103 
USA 
Phone: 239.263.0133

REFERENCES:

1. What are the real risks of antidepressants? Harvard Mental Health Letter. May 2005. 
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/What_are_the_real_risks_of_antidepressants.htm

2. Brent DA, Gibbons R. Initial dose of antidepressant and suicidal behavior in youth: start low, go slow. JAMA Intern Med. 2014 Jun;174(6):909-11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24781493

3. De Silva V, El-Metwally A, Ernst E, Lewith G, Macfarlane GJ; Arthritis Research UK Working Group on Complementary and Alternative Medicines. Evidence for the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicines in the management of osteoarthritis: a systematic review. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2011 May;50(5):911-20. 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21169345

4. Kim J, Lee EY, Koh EM, Cha HS, Yoo B, Lee CK, Lee YJ,K Ryu H, Lee KH, Song YW. Comparative clinical trial of S-adenosylmethionine versus nabumetone for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: an 8-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, Phase IV study in Korean patients. Clin Ther. 2009 Dec;31(12):2860-72.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20110025

5. Green T, Steingart L, Frisch A, Zarchi O, Weizman A, Gothelf D. The feasibility and safety of S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe) for the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. J Neural Transm. 2012 Nov;119(11):1417-23. 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22678699

6. Papakostas GI. Evidence for S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM-e) for the treatment of major depressive disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2009;70 Suppl 5:18-22. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19909689

The source of the story:

Friday, September 19, 2014

Why your generic drugs might be costing you more under Obama-care

This story was co-published with The New York Times' The Upshot.
Health insurance companies are no longer allowed to turn away patients because of their pre-existing conditions or charge them more because of those conditions. But some health policy experts say insurers may be doing so in a more subtle way: by forcing people with a variety of illnesses - including Parkinson's disease, diabetes and epilepsy - to pay more for their drugs.
Insurers have long tried to steer their members away from more expensive brand name drugs, labeling them as "non-preferred" and charging higher co-payments. But according to an editorial published Wednesday in the American Journal of Managed Care, several prominent health plans have taken it a step further, applying that same concept even to generic drugs.
The Affordable Care Act bans insurance companies from discriminating against patients with health problems, but that hasn't stopped them from seeking new and creative ways to shift costs to consumers. In the process, the plans effectively may be rendering a variety of ailments "non-preferred," according to the editorial.
The rest of the story

Here's the bad news about antibiotic control by the govt.....

I fear this will make it even more difficult for Lyme pts to get their abx. As if we needed more hurdles. Sigh.....
-Bob

WASHINGTON -- Antibiotic stewardship programs can improve patient care, reduce the use of the medications, and save money, researchers reported here.

And in some cases they might be associated with a reduction in antibiotic resistance, investigators said during a media event at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

But the key benefit is improved patient care, according to Fredrik Resman, MD, of Lund University in Malmo, Sweden.

"You have to keep that in mind all the time," Resman told MedPage Today, conceding stewardship programs are a balancing act between the needs of patients and the need to use antibiotics rationally.


"You have to keep that in mind all the time," Resman told MedPage Today, conceding stewardship programs are a balancing act between the needs of patients and the need to use antibiotics rationally.

In a case-control study among geriatric patients, Resman and colleagues were able to cut the duration of antibiotic use by instituting a stewardship program markedly with no impact on mortality.


Read the rest of the story:

Lyme videos - the even bigger collection!!

 I posted a master list of Lyme videos and movies a few weeks ago. Since then, the list has grown, as people have added to it. Here's the latest accumulated, aggregated list. You could spend a week watching them. As you are watching, chances are good that someone or some team is shooting or editing another one. It's kind of amazing how many videos there are, yet how little new research is being done by the powers that be (Federal US bucks, anyway. Other countries are doing better work.) Don't forget to take a break and watch some comedies once in a while. As Dr Joe Burrascano says, the people who get better are the people who don't make their lives all about Lyme disease. Remember to do the things you love, have social time however you can get it, even if it's via phone/Skype calls, having friends visit you, etc. And don't talk about your physical problems all the time, if friends and family do come over, alright?

-Bob

Under Our Skin, Under Our Skin 2: Emergence:

Lymelife:

Invisible Illness: Lyme disease, TED:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPWiCGSYtlw

Lyme Disease a Silent Epidemic Produced by France 5 Public Network and Grand Angle Directed by Chantal Perrin

Maladie de Lyme diffusé sur France 5 le 20/5/14 (in French)

The Voices of Lyme Disease- Breaking the Silence created by Victoria Wilcox, a 16 year old girl and her friend, Sara Lynch:

Documentary Film on Lyme Disease and Stealth Infections, Invisibly Ill, Australia:

Lyme Awareness Video

Under the Eight Ball:

Under Our Skin Panel Discussion                                                                                                                               

Cartoons:
Lyme Disease Parody
YouTube Lyme Cartoons   01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08 

Celebrity Videos:
Yolanda Foster's Experience With Lyme: LRA Gala

Daryl Hall Speaks About Persistent Lyme Disease Infection

Dorothy Leland (Lymedisease.org) shared this story:

Debbie Gibson Reveals Drastic Weight Loss Caused by Lyme Disease

Amy Tan with Ray Stricker:

Ben Stiller on David Letterman discusses Lyme disease:

Multiple Celebrities with Lyme Disease:

Lyme in Australia:
(These videos are also at www.beyondthebandaid.com.au)


Treating Lyme Disease In Australia: Naturopath Amina Eastham-Hillier- Bec Mills


Dr Nicola McFadzean: Treatment for Chronic Lyme and Co Infections UNCUT (Sneak Peak with Bec Mills)


Lyme is Here in Australia: With Bare Bones Medicine Co (Bec Mills)


Lyme Disease Is In Australia- A Hallmark Highlight with Sydney GP Dr Schloeffel- Bec Mills


Recovering from MS, FM and CFS: Brisbane Physiotherapist Kate Stossel chats to Prof. Garth Nicolson


Educating the Educated, Kate Stossel Chats to Prof Nicolson- Bec Mills


Young Australian family living with Lyme, Morgellons, Bartonella, Babesia and Mycoplasma


Lyme Disease in Australia - Beyond the Bandaid Interview Belinda Campbell Adelaide, SA October 2012


Invisibly ILL - A Stealth Reality - PREVIEW- Bec Mills


Scientific:
Alan MacDonald videos:

Brian Fallon: Antibiotics Don't Always Kill:

Lyme Disease - Seasons On The Fly, Dr Jason West:

Scientific-Lyme/Tick-Borne Diseases and Autism:
Lyme Induced Autism – One Family's Incredible Story

Dr. Charles Ray Jones

Pr Luc Montagnier on Lyme disease, autism and chronic infections

Lyme Induced Autism part 1:

Treating Autism With Antibiotics (France 3 19/20, Feb 17, 2012):

Lyme Autism Talk 1-5:

Tick-Borne Infections & Lyme Disease Contributing to ASD:

Scientific Support for the Effectiveness of Treating Children Comorbid with Lyme Disease and Autism Spectrum Disorder:

Dr. Robert Bransfield interview:

Lyme-induced-autisme (en anglais):

Political:
Dr Horowitz Presentation to the Belgium Senate:

Rep. Mario Scavello poses some questions at the House Appropriations Committee budget hearing with the Department of Health.

Dr Smith Testimony in Pennsylvania:

Dr Bransfield testifies at PA Lyme hearing:


QLD's FIRST LYME DISEASE PROTEST - NOV 2012- BRISBANE- BEC MILLS


Some ILADS videos:


Other:
PJ Langhoff Videos (179):

200 Videos about Lyme disease:

Also, do an Internet or YouTube search of Lyme or Lyme + video + the names of the doctors involved with Lyme disease to find many additional videos. 

When I did this with my name I was surprised to find 8 videos.

The following review is by Scott Forsgren from his BetterHealthGuy blog
 
The Lyme Altar is a new documentary with a focus on the struggles of Lyme disease.  The film was released in August 2014 and is available on Amazon.com.  A trailer of the film can be viewed on YouTube.com (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNfBkIsW9Uk).  It is a collaboration between Gordon Medical Associates (GMA) and Touchable Stories Productions.  I personally enjoyed the powerhouse healers that shared their insights in the film.  They included Joseph Burrascano MD, Eric Gordon MD, Neil Nathan MD, Wayne Anderson ND, Elizabeth Large ND and more.  

The complexities of diagnosing and treating Lyme disease are described in the film including a review of some of the newest laboratory tests available.  Given that only 17% of patients remember a tick bite and as low as 36% may have a classic bull's-eye rash, newer diagnostic tools are critically needed.  Patients are clearly not losing their minds, depressed, or lying, and yet, without definitive testing, this is often what they are told.  Fortunately, we have practitioners and healers like those at GMA that view things very differently, believe patients, and recognize that it is the "richness of the story that sometimes gives us the clues". 

Dr. Eric Gordon eloquently defined chronic Lyme disease as a "bizarre interaction between a very complex microorganism and a very complex human being".  Dr. Elizabeth Large reminded patients that we often measure ourselves by how much we do and that it is often important to "surrender to whatever your body needs at that time and not judge it."  I was fortunate to have been interviewed for the film and shared my thoughts by saying, "It's a really tough journey; it's a lot of work, and I think part of the recovery has to be about not so much looking at what you've lost but at what you've gained and the positive things that have come out of it."  

Dr. Neil Nathan shared, "Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, the epidemic of Autism, and Lyme disease all kind of showed up about the same time.  I am quite sure that means something.  I have attributed it to a combination of growing environmental toxicities and the growing thoughtless use of electromagnetic energies."  Both Dr. Nathan and Dr. Gordon highlighted the significance of environmental chemicals in chronic illness.  

For many with chronic Lyme disease, it can often be a lonely journey.  The Lyme Altar shares the struggles of patients in their attempts to get diagnosed and to recover their health.  While there are no magic bullets, there is much power in understanding that there is a community of people with shared experiences.  We are not alone.  Not only are we not alone, but there is great hope in knowing that open-minded practitioners and healers are working hard to advance treatment options and to improve the quality of life in those recovering from chronic illness.  Here's to your health....
 

Inferior Lyme tests are to be based on a single band.

This email was posted today on a listserv. It was written by Alan Mcdonald the noted and highly-experienced pathologist in the field of Lyme disease diagnosis and testing.

-Bob

Hello,

the question about B31 As the "Borrelia of choice( sic) " continues to be asked of me by many correspondents.

The answer follows - and the flawed science behind the selection of B31 blood test kits is Revealed below.

The decision to use ONLY B31 Borrelia for the manufacture of All ELISA AND ALL WESTERN BLOT TEST KITS IN THE USA was a decision made early in the history of Lyme testing by highly placed Authorities in the USA.

Today it is clear that  B31 has a limited library of proteins and a constant DNA signature
BUT BORRELIA IN THE WILD FROM REAL VECTORS ARE A FAMILY OF STRAINS AND GENOTYPE VARIANTS WITHIN EACH NAMED STRAIN. DIVERSE BORRELIA DNA SIGNATURES  EQUAL THE SYNTHESIS OF DIVERSE BORRELIA PROTEINS
- PROTEINS WHICH DO MATCH THE B31 Protein repertoire.

So, we live in a Borrelia universe of ongoing DNA changes within strains and with newly discovered strains unknown to Dr. Burgdorfer.

Any patient whose infection is due to a Borrelia in the wider group of NEW STRAINS and from Genovars within each of the named strains will run the risk of getting a false negative B31 based blood test kit. 

"if the new strain proteins don't fit, your health care provider will acquit" and you will be dismissed from further Borrelia care. 

Sad But true

Best,
Alan MacDonald MD. FCAP FASCP

Federal Lyme legislation up for vote — Please write your Congressperson


 
Political Action Alert 
Federal Lyme bill up for House vote this week--please ask your Congressperson to vote "Yes"

H.R. 4701, the Vector-Borne Disease Research Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014, will go up for a vote between Tuesday, Sept. 9 and Thursday, Sept. 11. 

Click here for details about the bill and info on how to contact your Congressperson. Please do this now.
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