Blood test looks promising in diagnosing depression

A preliminary study finds certain biological markers in the blood of teens with depression that are absent in healthy counterparts. It could lead to the first diagnostic testing for depression.

By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times

April 17 2012, 6:39 PM PDT

Even among psychiatric disorders, depression is a difficult disease to diagnose. Its causes remain a mystery, its symptoms can't be defined with precision, and treatments are spotty at best.

The complete article can be viewed at:
 http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-depression-blood-test-20120418,0,6787106.story

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

Starting to get spider veins

I am not sure of the reason for this development but I am starting to get spider veins on my legs. They have developed pretty quickly and I can find a new one almost weekly. One LLMD thought it was a sign of Bartonella infection. My dermatologist suggested that I start wearing compression hose.

Oldest evidence of Lyme in humans

By: Wynne Parry, LiveScience Senior Writer 
Published: 02/28/2012 12:40 PM EST on LiveScience

The 5,300-year-old ice mummy dubbed Ötzi, discovered in the Eastern Alps about 20 years ago, appears to have had the oldest known case of Lyme disease, new genetic analysis has revealed.

As part of work on the Iceman's genome — his complete genetic blueprint — scientists found genetic material from the bacterium responsible for the disease, which is spread by ticks and causes a rash and flulike symptoms and can lead to joint, heart and nervous system problems.

PHOTOS BELOW.

The new analysis also indicates the Iceman was lactose intolerant, predisposed to cardiovascular disease, and most likely had brown eyes and blood type O.

Read article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/otzi-the-icemans-genome-reveals_n_1307532.html

Leo Gallard, MD, Huff Post article about surge in Lyme

Posted: 04/18/2012 8:06 am
Lyme Disease: The Perfect Storm Is Headed Our Way

Leo Galland, M.D. Practicing physician, author and leader in integrated medicine.

Blood-sucking ticks coming to a field and forest near you.

That may sound like the latest horror film, but unfortunately it is a reality due to a surge in ticks that spread Lyme disease this spring.

Fortunately, the media interest in Lyme disease appears to be growing with the threat. At the start of the month I was interviewed on Martha Stewart Living Radio about Lyme disease....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leo-galland-md/lyme-disease_b_1429984.html

Berries may reduce Parkinson’s disease risk in men: Study

A new study has found that men who regularly consume foods rich in flavonoids, such as berries, apples, certain vegetables, tea and red wine, may significantly reduce their risk for developing Parkinson's disease. The study was published in the journal Neurology this week. It added that there was no such effect among women. View article...

Lilou's interview - Luc Montagnier - infections leading to autism and PD

Professor Luc Montagnier - infections leading to autism and pd

This video interview with Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier claims a connection is implied between Lyme Disease and PD (Parkinson's disease).

http://www.liloumace.com/Research-updates-on-Lyme-disease-Aids-Autism-Pr-Luc-Montagnier-Nobel-Prize-2008_a1833.html

Lyme radio program on KQED "Forum"

http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R810171000

 The tick-borne illness Lyme disease is on the rise -- but many patients and their advocates say the disease is often underestimated, misdiagnosed and improperly treated. We discuss the effects of Lyme disease and the controversy surrounding its diagnosis and treatment.

Host: Dave Iverson

Guests:

·                                 Dr. Eugene Shapiro, professor in the department of pediatrics at the Yale University School of Medicine

·                                 Kris Newby, senior producer of the documentary "Under Our Skin: An Infectious Film about Microbes, Money and Medicine"

·                                 Pamela Weintraub, author of the book "Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic"-

    

Dykenesia Trial Yields Promising Results for Patients

A note from the Michael J. Fox Foundation:

Today, good news in the search for a treatment for dyskinesia, the uncontrollable movements that are so often a disabling side effect of Parkinson's disease medication.

Swiss biotech and Michael J. Fox Foundation awardee Addex Therapeutics has announced positive results from a phase 2 clinical study of their drug candidate dipraglurant, which is being tested as a therapy to be taken in conjunction with levodopa (the gold standard for treating PD). By targeting the brain's glutamate system, the hope is that the dipraglurant would allow patients taking levodopa to experience better "on" times without dyskinesia.

Dyskinesia is of course, a real roadblock to the long term treatment of PD. Finding a successful treatment to limit this side effect could have major implications for those living with PD today. While such a therapy is still a ways off, the Addex results represent an important next step in driving a potential drug for dyskinesia to market.

To learn more, read the Foundation's News in Context interview with Bill Langston, MD, scientific director and chief executive officer of The Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, California, and staff scientists Audrey Dufour, PhD and Jamie Eberling, PhD. 

Parkinson's Disease Stopped in Animal Model

PRNewswire-USNewswire

03-13-12

KINGSTON, N.J., March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Martin Tuchman, Chairman of the Parkinson's Unity Walk and The Parkinson Alliance, announced today that funds raised through the Parkinson's community helped support the research that led to this breakthrough.

Investigators at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have reported the ability of a novel molecule CLRO1 (called a "molecular tweezer") to inhibit toxicity due to abnormal aggregation of a protein synuclein. Synuclein is widely believed to cause neuron death in human Parkinson's disease due to its tendency to form abnormal aggregations within neurons. The investigators found that CLRO1 both prevented and broke up a-synuclein aggregates.

The research, "A Novel 'Molecular Tweezer' Inhibitor of a-Synuclein Neurotoxicity in Vitro and in Vivo" appears in the current online edition (2012 February 29) of the journal Neurotherapeutics.

A great deal of the money raised by the Parkinson's organizations goes to fund ground breaking research; a level of pride is felt by the community that these dollars helped to fund this extraordinary and most promising research.

Dr. Robert E. Burke, Professor of Neurology and Pathology at Columbia University Medical Center and member of the Board of Directors of the Parkinson's Unity Walk, who did not participate in the research, stated: "This is a highly novel and promising approach aimed directly at a principal culprit in human Parkinson's disease, the protein synuclein."

About The Parkinson Alliance

The Parkinson Alliance is a Kingston, NJ-based national non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to help finance the most promising research to find the cause and cure for Parkinson's disease. It is the umbrella organization for Team Parkinson, and its signature event, the annual Parkinson's Unity Walk, to take place on Saturday, April 28 in New York's Central Park. For more information, visit www.parkinsonalliance.org.

Contact:
Carol Walton, Chief Executive Officer, The Parkinson Alliance
800-579-8440
info@parkinsonalliance.org

Parkinson Alliance

Web site: http://www.parkinsonalliance.org/

Copyright PRNewswire-USNewswire 2012

New Lyme Book by PJ Langhoff

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DISSEMINATE WIDELY
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lyme, AIDS, Morgellon's Caused by GM (genetically modified) toxic wastes?

Nuclear, agricultural, and industrial wastes may have led to human diseases often denied by public health experts

A provocative expose by Midwest author PJ Langhoff suggests that Lyme disease, HIV/AIDS, Morgellon's, and other infections including those with 'no known cause' may have important ties to genetic engineering "accidents" and toxic pollutants. The new book, "The Fourth Monkey: An Untold History of the Lyme Disease Epidemic" describes the hidden history of today's most controversial illnesses, and their likely connections to highly profitable industries.

The book examines disease links to contaminated wastewaters and soils; and the implications of tainted vaccines and genetically modified (GM) microbes, insects, plants, and industrial biocides. Can biotech tools lead to human diseases including the reactivation of sleeping viruses? Are insects transmitting lab-made formulas thought "safe," and widely used by agriculture, nuclear, mining, plastics, or other industries?

Public health officials were tracking important diseases on several continents since the 1950s. However Langhoff's book presents a far less public side to academic and industrial health and science that may be negatively impacting millions of people around the world. Now available in paperback and handheld versions at: www.Amazon.com

Contact: 
Allegory Press, LLC
PO Box 444
Hustisford, Wisconsin, 53034 USA

ph/fax: 920-349-3855

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=pj+langhoff