From this page on Wikipedia, I saw the following warnings about "MMS" supplement that many people with chronic illness use or have tried. I also recently had my house fumigated with chlorine dioxide gas to kill mold, spores and mycotoxins. It's the same thing as MMS, but applied to an entire house at much higher concentration, not just a few drops taken internally. In any case, chlorine dioxide is a powerful oxidant (which is why it can kill microbes, mold, etc.).
On July 30, 2010, and again on October 1, 2010, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned against the use of the product "Miracle Mineral Supplement", or "MMS", which when made up according to instructions produces chlorine dioxide. MMS has been marketed as a treatment for a variety of conditions, including HIV, cancer, autism, and acne. The FDA warnings informed consumers that MMS can cause serious harm to health and stated that it has received numerous reports of nausea, diarrhea, severe vomiting, and life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration.[37][38]
Here's another interesting link about ClO2 (Chlorine Dioxide) gas. This is a study about low-level ClO2 in the air, given to rats over a long period of time. The authors were attempting to determine whether it was safe for use in settings where killing bacteria, viruses, molds, etc. would be desirable, such as in a hospital.
For first time, study shows HHV-6 virus can infect neurons & possibly cause cognitive disturbances leading to psychiatric disorders: Frontiers in Microbiology
Neurological Lyme disease: 15% of Lyme sufferers have it, but most don't get the right diagnosis or treatment. Learn how to get relief from Dr. Bill Rawls.
Mast Cell Activation May Underlie 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome' Miriam E. Tucker March 13, 2018
SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) may be an overlooked yet potentially treatable contributor to the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), say physicians who specialize in ME/CFS and its manifestations.
The subject was discussed during a 2-day clinician summit held March 2 to 3, 2018, during which 13 panelists met to begin developing expert consensus guidance for primary care and specialist physicians for the management of the complex multisystem illness ME/CFS, and to recommend research priorities.
"ME/CFS is a descriptive diagnosis of a bunch of symptoms, but it says nothing about what's causing the symptoms, which is probably part of the reason it's so hard for it to get recognition. So, the question becomes, What other pathology is driving this illness and making the person feel so ill? I think mast cell activation is one of those drivers, whether cause, effect, or perpetuator, I don't know," internist David Kaufman, MD, who practices in Mountain View, California, told Medscape Medical News.
MCAS is a recently described collection of signs and symptoms involving several different organ systems, that, as with ME/CFS itself, do not typically cause abnormalities in routine laboratory or radiologic testing. Proposed diagnostic criteria were published in 2010 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Kaufman first learned about MCAS about 5 years ago from a patient who introduced him to the published work of mast cell expert Lawrence Afrin, MD. "I spoke to him and then I started looking for it, and the more I looked, the more I found it," Kaufman said, estimating that he has identified MCAS in roughly half his patients who meet ME/CFS criteria.
Indeed, summit panel member Charles W. Lapp, MD, who recently retired from his ME/CFS and fibromyalgia practice in Charlotte, North Carolina, told Medscape Medical News, "I see a lot of this. I think it's one of the many overlap syndromes that we've been missing for years."
Another panel member, New York City ME/CFS specialist Susan M. Levine, MD, also said she sees MCAS frequently. "I suspect 50% to 60% of ME/CFS patients have it. It's a very new concept."
In Levine's experience, MCAS often manifests in patients being unable to tolerate certain foods or medications. "If we can reduce the mast cell problem, we can facilitate taking other drugs to treat ME/CFS," she said. However, she also cautioned, "It's going to be a subset, not all ME/CFS patients."
Clinical Assessment and Laboratory Testing
As discussed at the summit, for patients who meet ME/CFS criteria, the next step is to drill down into individual patients' symptoms and address treatable abnormalities. Investigation for MCAS may yield such findings among those who exhibit episodic symptoms consistent with mast cell mediator release affecting two or more of the following areas:
Symptoms can wax and wane over years and range from mild to severe/debilitating. It is important to ask about triggers, Kaufman advised. "The patient is usually aware of what makes them feel worse."
Routine laboratory assessments include complete blood count with differential, complete metabolic panel, magnesium, and prothrombin time/partial thromboplastin time.
More specific laboratory testing can be tricky, as the samples must be kept cold. These include serum tryptase, chromogranin A, plasma prostaglandin D2, histamine, heparin, a variety of random and 24-hour urinary prostaglandins, and urinary leukotriene E4.
For patients who have had a prior biopsy, the saved sample can be stained for mast cells.
Kaufman said that initially after he learned about MCAS, he would only run the laboratory tests in patients with suggestive clinical history, such as food sensitivities/triggers, rashes, hives, temperature intolerance, or chemical sensitivities. "But ultimately, I had patients [for whom] I couldn't figure out what was going on; I would check, and started finding positives in patients I wasn't suspicious of."
So, now he just tests for it in all his patients with ME/CFS. "It's bigger than allergy," he remarked.
Treatment May Ease Some ME/CFS Symptoms
Treatment of MCAS involves trigger avoidance as possible; H1 receptor antagonists such as loratadine, cetirizine, or fexofenadine (up to double the usual doses); H2 histamine receptor antagonists including famotidine or ranitidine; and mast cell membrane-stabilizers such as cromolyn sodium. Slow-release vitamin C can also help in inhibiting mast cells.
Over-the-counter plant flavonoids such as quercetin also may be helpful, typically at high doses (up to 1000 mg three times daily). "There's a long list of medications that either quiet down mast cell activation or block the receptor," Kaufman noted.
But despite that, without controlled trials, it is difficult to determine the exact clinical effects of blocking mast cells, especially as these patients tend to be taking many other medications. And in the context of ME/CFS, the extent to which suppressing mast cell activity addresses the core symptoms of fatigue, postexertional malaise, orthostatic intolerance, and cognitive dysfunction is unclear.
Kaufman noted, "I think treatment clearly helps with the fatigue because they're not reacting to everything. It improves gastrointestinal symptoms, so they can eat better.... I have seen [postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome] improve, but I have to say I also give meds for dysautonomia, so I can't be sure."
Lapp said that in his experience, "[Patients with ME/CFS] aren't cured, but do get better. [Blocking mast cell activity] gets rid of dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and light sensitivity."
Levine pointed out, "We're just at the beginning of identifying this patient subset and thinking what makes sense to try.... One thing that's sure is that the drugs are pretty safe," she said, adding that when it comes to working up patients with ME/CFS for MCAS, "There only seem to be good things that can happen."
Kaufman, Lapp, and Levine have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
It might be helpful for Lyme patients who are experiencing fatigue and/or depression to know about the CoQ10 deficiency that occurs in patients with these two conditions. I found out about this by reading a book on metabolic cardiology (see link below). It has a dosage rec. for ME/CFS and fibromyalgia patients as follows:
multiviamin/mineral foundation program with 1 gram of fish oil
Technion team also identifies breath signatures of 17 other ailments that could be detected by the handheld breath analysis device, including Alzheimer's and gastric cancer
Illustrative image of a patient with Parkinson's disease (Obencem, iStock by Getty Images)
A team of researchers at Israel's Technion Institute of Technology has developed a device they say can detect the early onset of Parkinson's disease by analyzing the breath of users.
Since antiquity physicians have been evaluating their patients by the odor of their bodily fluids: the stools and urine of noblemen's children were often sniffed daily by their physicians. Of these, exhaled breath is the most accessible and useful source for monitoring health and disorders, the researchers said in a paper, one of several they published on the subject.
Armed with this knowledge, the researchers, led by Prof. Hossam Haick of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute of the Technion, set out on a quest to find out if a breathalyzer could help identify patients who are at the very early stages of Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative condition that affects dopamine-producing neurons in an area of the brain. Dopamine, a chemical, is responsible for coordinating movement. Symptoms of the disease develop gradually over the years, causing patients to experience hand tremors, limb rigidity and gait and balance problems. And although there is no cure, the affliction is treated by dealing with the symptoms by using dopaminergic medications, according to the Parkinson's Foundation.
Prof. Hossam Haick of the Technion holding the breath analyzers that use miniaturized sensors and machine learning algorithms to detect the early onset of Parkinson's disease (Technion)
Because people with Parkinson's start experiencing symptoms only later in the course of the disease, when a substantial number of neurons have already been damaged, scientists are trying to find ways to identify bio-markers that can lead to an earlier diagnosis and hopefully more tailor-made treatments to help slow down its progression.
More than 10 million people worldwide live with Parkinson's, with some 60,000 Americans diagnosed each year and nearly 1 million forecast to have the disease in the United States by 2020. The direct and indirect costs of Parkinson's — which include treatment, social security payments and lost income — is estimated at nearly $25 billion per year in the US alone, the Parkinson's Foundation says on its website.
The breath analyzer developed by the Technion multidisciplinary team, which included electrical and chemical engineers and medical researchers, consists of miniaturized sensors that can help detect the early onset of the disease and help with follow-up treatment, Haick said in a phone interview with The Times of Israel.
The 10x5x5-centimeter (4x2x2-inch) handheld device holds a set of 40 chemical sensors that have been trained via algorithms to detect specific markers in the breath that could flag the onset of the disease.
The researchers collected breath samples of Parkinson's patients and loaded it onto the sensors, which have chemicals that react to molecules in the breath. These reactions are transformed into electrical signals, with the breath of Parkinson's patients marked by the algorithms with their own kind of electrical signal. The sensors in the breathalyzer were then trained to identify those specific breath compositions that indicate Parkinson's, said Haick. So when people are tested with the device, the sensors are able to distinguish the breath of those who have the disease from the breath of those who don't.
Over 80% accuracy
The researchers conducted their studies with the breathalyzer over a number of years on a sample population of up to 500 people, Haick said. In their most recent study, published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience last month, Haick and his team set out to find out if their device could detect differences in the breath of patients with early-stage, not-yet-treated Parkinson's disease.
The researchers tested the device on the exhaled breath of 29 newly diagnosed patients who had not yet begun taking medication for their illness. When comparing the sensor output to that of 19 control subjects of similar age, they found that the breathalyzer managed to detect early Parkinson's disease with over 80 percent accuracy, almost as good an outcome as an ultrasound scan of the brain.
"Just as a dog can be trained to memorize a smell," said Haick, "so we have trained our sensors in the breathalyzer to identify those that are specific to Parkinson's."
Although the device still needs to be improved and validated with larger studies, the researchers say that it has potential as a small, portable system to screen at-risk individuals without the need for big and expensive analytical tools or highly trained specialists.
To commercialize the device, the baton now must be picked up by either pharma companies or startups, Haick said. The Technion has already reached licensing agreements for the technology with seven entities, some of them big international firms and some startups, in the US, Israel, Asia, Germany and Toronto, he said.
"I think it could be a point of care device," Haick said, where doctors can screen patients in their clinics. "The development of the disease can be slowed down, if detected and treated at an early stage."
The researchers have also identified the breath characteristics of 17 diseases. "We have proven that each of these diseases has a signature in breath," he said, so they could use the same technology for those diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, lung cancer and gastric cancer, he said.
We don't yet know how the long-horned tick came to the United States, how it's spreading, or what it's capable of doing. All we know is that it's here.
And just a reminder, I maintain an extensive blog about Lyme Disease. There you can find the latest research, links to scientific studies, political updates regarding Lyme and associated coinfections, discoveries about neurologic degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, MS and ALS. I also post many articles and studies regarding general health, such as stem cell research, sleep research, techniques for healing the gut, articles and about exercise, diet, etc. The blog is free. No advertising. No subscription fee. You can read it and/or subscribe to it at bobcowart@blogspot.com
If you are not familiar yet with the May Area Lyme Foundation, you should check it out. They are doing a lot of great work with Stanford University and commissioning studies, encouraging research, and helping wake up the public to the importance of Lyme prevention and cure. Here's a link to get started. As I said in the Oakland meeting tonight, it feels like we may have reached the tipping point in public awareness of Lyme dangers and the ineffective detection and treatment available today.
Ceres Nanosciences' Point-of-Care Nanotrap® Lyme Antigen Test System Granted Breakthrough Device Designation by U.S. Food and Drug Administration Press Release: Ceres Nanosciences, Inc., Manassas, Virginia
Ceres Nanosciences (Ceres) announced today that is has received Breakthrough Device designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new point-of-care Nanotrap® Lyme Antigen Test System.
Under the Breakthrough Device program, formerly the Expedited Access Pathways program, the FDA works with a test developer to reduce the time and cost from development to approval.
The Ceres' Nanotrap® Lyme Antigen Test System is a powerful diagnostic test that is intended to be available in point-of-care settings, like a physician's office or a walk-in clinic. Requiring only a patient's urine sample, it will deliver results to the physician and patient at the earliest stages of infection, when treatment is most successful.
"We're truly grateful to receive the FDA's Breakthrough Device designation for the Nanotrap® Lyme Antigen Test System," said Ross Dunlap, Chief Executive Officer of Ceres Nanosciences. "This will accelerate our delivery to patients of a much needed test for Lyme disease, a devastating and increasingly common infectious disease that can cause irreparable harm if not detected and treated early on."
To achieve Breakthrough Device designation, a device must demonstrate compelling potential to provide more effective diagnosis for life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases. In addition, the device must meet at least one of the following criteria: represent breakthrough technologies; no approved or cleared alternatives exist; offer clinically meaningful advantages over existing approved or cleared alternatives; or the availability of which is in the best interest of patients.
About Ceres Nanosciences, Inc.
Ceres Nanosciences is a privately held company, located in Prince William County, Virginia, focused on the development of research and diagnostic products using its unique and proprietary Nanotrap® particle technology. The Nanotrap® particle technology provides powerful biomarker capture and biofluid sample processing capabilities for a wide array of diagnostic applications and sample handling needs. The Nanotrap® particle technology was invented at George Mason University and developed under funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). With support from the NIH, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, Ceres is focused on incorporating this technology into a range of innovative diagnostic products. Learn more at www.ceresnano.comhttp://www.ceresnano.com
This is an important study indicating that Lyme disease (infection by Borrelia burgdorferi) can become very established and difficult to eradicate in primates, including humans.
-Bob
Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Version 1 : Received: 7 March 2018 / Approved: 8 March 2018 / Online: 8 March 2018 (07:08:02 CET)
How to cite: Middelveen, M.J.; Sapi, E.; Burke, J.; Filush, K.R.; Franco, A.; Fesler, M.C.; Stricker, R.B. Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease. Preprints2018, 2018030062 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201803.0062.v1). Middelveen, M.J.; Sapi, E.; Burke, J.; Filush, K.R.; Franco, A.; Fesler, M.C.; Stricker, R.B. Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease. Preprints 2018, 2018030062 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201803.0062.v1).
Abstract
Introduction: Lyme disease is a tickborne illness that generates controversy among medical providers and researchers. One of the key topics of debate is the existence of persistent infection with the Lyme spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, in patients who have been treated with recommended doses of antibiotics yet remain symptomatic. Persistent spirochetal infection despite antibiotic therapy has recently been demonstrated in non-human primates. We present evidence of persistent Borrelia infection despite antibiotic therapy in patients with ongoing Lyme disease symptoms.
Materials & Methods: In this pilot study, culture of body fluids and tissues was performed in a randomly selected group of 12 patients with persistent Lyme disease symptoms who had been treated or who were being treated with antibiotics. Cultures were also performed on a group of 10 control subjects without Lyme disease. The cultures were subjected to corroborative microscopic, histopathological and molecular testing for Borrelia organisms in four independent laboratories in a blinded manner. Results: Motile spirochetes identified histopathologically as Borrelia were detected in culture specimens, and these spirochetes were genetically identified as Borrelia burgdorferi by three distinct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. Spirochetes identified as Borrelia burgdorferi were cultured from the blood of seven subjects, from the genital secretions of ten subjects, and from a skin lesion of one subject. Cultures from control subjects without Lyme disease were negative for Borrelia using these methods.
Conclusions: Using multiple corroborative detection methods, we showed that patients with persistent Lyme disease symptoms may have ongoing spirochetal infection despite antibiotic treatment, similar to findings in non-human primates. The optimal treatment for persistent Borrelia infection remains to be determined.
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Here is Willy Burgdorfer's statement about the possibility of immediate transmission of spirochetes in some cases. From a 2001 interview in NIH (National Institute of Health) archives: (BTW, the primary bacterium responsible for Lyme disease is named after Willy - borrelia burgdorferi.)
"Studies done so far suggest that it takes about two days of attachment and feeding before spirochetes are being transmitted to a host animal. This is referred to as the "safety period," during which a person could remove a tick without becoming infected. I personally don't subscribe to this theory, because there are about 5 to 10 percent of infected ticks that have a generalized infection, including salivary glands and saliva at thetime of attachment. In such cases, transmission of spirochetes would and does occur immediately at time of attachment."
We've partnered with the preeminent Laboratory of Medical Zoology (LMZ), to offer a battery of tests to detect disease-causing microbes in ticks. Your tick can be tested for over 20 different disease causing organisms that ticks can carry (like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and newly discovered diseases like Powassan, Heartland, and Colorado Tick Fever Virus). We now share that data as part of Tick-Borne Disease Network passive surveillance that we hope will provide unprecedented insights to who is being bitten by ticks, when they get bitten, and what pathogens those ticks are carrying. We encourage everyone to SAVE THE TICKS! ....for Testing!
LMZ-
Laboratory of Medical Zoology (LMZ) Fernald Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003
Efforts to bring a vaccine for Lyme disease to the market have run aground amid heated debate over the years.
Now, a European company is in the early stages of creating a vaccine for the increasingly common tick-borne disease. Lyme disease patient-advocacy groups—who disagree with the protocols used by most doctors for the diagnosis andtreatment of Lyme disease—are already raising concerns.
Experimental Drug Halts Parkinson's Progression, Study Says; Johns Hopkins University researchers
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An experimental drug developed by Johns Hopkins University researchers appears to slow down the progression of Parkinson's disease and its symptoms in mice,
The researchers said that the drug called NLY01 has been proven in studies to block the degradation of brain cells that is the leading cause of Parkinson's disease. The treatment has been used in the past to treat diabetes, researchers said in the university statement.
The study's results, which were published last month in the journal Nature Medicine, reported that NLY01 works by binding to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptors on the surface of certain cells. Similar drugs are used widely in the treatment of type 2 diabetes to increase insulin levels in the blood, the university statement said.
"NLY01 also prolongs the life and reduces the behavioral deficits and neuropathological abnormalities in the human A53T α-synuclein (hA53T) transgenic mouse model of α-synucleinopathy-induced neurodegeneration,"
Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects about 1 million people in the United States and 10 million worldwide,
"It is amazingly protective of target nerve cells," Ted Dawson, director of the Institute for Cell Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in the university's statement.
The drug is expected to move to clinical trials later this year, the statement said. Dawson added that if planned clinical trials are successful in humans, it could be one of the first treatments to directly target the progression of Parkinson's disease, not just the muscle rigidity, spasmodic movements, fatigue, dizziness, dementia, and other symptoms of the disorder.
Dawson cautioned that NLY01 must still be tested for safety as well as effectiveness in people but based on the safety profile of other similar drugs, he does not anticipate any major hurdles on the way to human trials.
The researcher added that they are hopeful that NLY01 could, in a relatively short period of time, make an impact on the lives of those with Parkinson's, the university statement said.
The Company has successfully concluded the end of Phase 1 process for this candidate with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has obtained alignment with regard to its Phase 2 strategy.
Valneva is now finalizing the detailed Phase 2 protocol and, subject to requisite regulatory approvals, expects to enter Phase 2 clinical development by the end of 2018.
. . . a Lyme Disease patient in Arkansas is raising awareness about the fact that she, and other Lyme Disease patients, can still give blood.
According to the CDC, Lyme disease is one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the United States. The CDC also reports that Lyme disease can live in blood that is stored for donation.
Even still, patients in Arkansas say they can still donate blood, despite the risk of passing it to others.
Then, on Friday, May 18, Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey introduced the National Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Control and Accountability Act of 2018. Read more here.
