I am pleased to let you know that there is now an online interactive map displaying the prevalence of Lyme disease vectors In different geographical regions within California.
Look under the heading Interactive Maps.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Preliminary Agenda for Lyme Disease Advisory Committee Meeting
I am currently attending this meeting today. Anyone can call in and join.
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/services/boards/ldac/Documents/LDACAgenda11-13-14.pdf
-Bob
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/services/boards/ldac/Documents/LDACAgenda11-13-14.pdf
-Bob
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
The Mayday Project Responds to Dr. Paul Auwaerter's Defense of IDSA Guidelines for Lyme Disease
Washington, DC
November 07, 2014
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=192558
The Mayday Project welcomes the response by Dr. Paul Auwaerter to our concerns about the IDSA guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, which were discussed in a recent Medscape article about Mayday's outreach to IDSA members at the IDWeek medical conference in October 2014.
Dr. Auwaerter's statement that there can be "productive collaboration among advocacy groups" was especially encouraging.
Mayday also appreciates the open-mindedness of the doctors and researchers who spoke with us at IDWeek, and those who read our open letter to IDSA members (http://tinyurl.com/IDSAletter). We gained valuable insight into the complications of battling emerging diseases, such as Lyme, and a better understanding about the dangers related to overuse of antibiotics.
The Mayday Project welcomes the response by Dr. Paul Auwaerter to our concerns about the IDSA guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, which were discussed in a recent Medscape article about Mayday's outreach to IDSA members at the IDWeek medical conference in October 2014.
Dr. Auwaerter's statement that there can be "productive collaboration among advocacy groups" was especially encouraging.
Mayday also appreciates the open-mindedness of the doctors and researchers who spoke with us at IDWeek, and those who read our open letter to IDSA members (http://tinyurl.com/IDSAletter). We gained valuable insight into the complications of battling emerging diseases, such as Lyme, and a better understanding about the dangers related to overuse of antibiotics.
Monday, November 10, 2014
High-fat diet postpones brain aging in mice
November 6, 2014
Kerala coconuts (credit: Dan Iserman CC)
A new Danish-led research suggests that signs of brain aging can be postponed in mice if they are placed on a high-fat diet. The finding may one day allow for developing treatments for children suffering from premature aging and patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Lyme is the most misunderstood disease since AIDS
Sat Nov 8, 2014
Valley View: Lyme is the most misunderstood disease since AIDS
Gov. Andrew Cuomo should sign the Patients' Rights/Doctor Protection bill.
Holly Ahern, for The Poughkeepsie Journal (opinion page), Poughkeepsie, New York
With the possible exception of HIV/AIDS, no infectious disease in recent history has been as misunderstood, maligned or politicized as Lyme disease.
After more than two decades of controversy and government neglect, Lyme disease has become too large an issue to ignore any longer. A year ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that only 1 in 10 cases of Lyme disease were properly reported to public health agencies and increased the likely incidence to more than 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. per year. As a highly endemic state, a significant proportion of those cases are in New York.
Read the complete article:
http://tinyurl.com/mc6euzkhttp://tinyurl.com/mc6euzk
Letters:letterstoeditor@poughkeepsiejournal.com
or http://tinyurl.com/nbma5g3http://tinyurl.com/nbma5g3The mission of LymeInfo is to keep you informed of issues that might be of interest to Lyme disease patients. Postings are not meant to imply that we agree with the content of all items we distribute.
For Lyme information, see:
http://www.LymeInfo.net
Gov. Andrew Cuomo should sign the Patients' Rights/Doctor Protection bill.
Holly Ahern, for The Poughkeepsie Journal (opinion page), Poughkeepsie, New York
With the possible exception of HIV/AIDS, no infectious disease in recent history has been as misunderstood, maligned or politicized as Lyme disease.
After more than two decades of controversy and government neglect, Lyme disease has become too large an issue to ignore any longer. A year ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that only 1 in 10 cases of Lyme disease were properly reported to public health agencies and increased the likely incidence to more than 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. per year. As a highly endemic state, a significant proportion of those cases are in New York.
Read the complete article:
http://tinyurl.com/mc6euzkhttp://tinyurl.com/mc6euzk
Letters:letterstoeditor@poughkeepsiejournal.com
or http://tinyurl.com/nbma5g3http://tinyurl.com/nbma5g3The mission of LymeInfo is to keep you informed of issues that might be of interest to Lyme disease patients. Postings are not meant to imply that we agree with the content of all items we distribute.
For Lyme information, see:
http://www.LymeInfo.net
A possible alternative to antibiotics
 | |
| Credit: Eric Erbe, Christopher Pooley, Wikipedia |
Scientists from the University of Bern have developed a novel substance for the treatment of severe bacterial infections without antibiotics, which would prevent the development of antibiotic resistance.
Ever since the development of penicillin almost 90 years ago, antibiotics have remained the gold standard in the treatment of bacterial infections. However, the WHO has repeatedly warned of a growing emergence of bacteria that develop antibiotic resistance. Once antibiotics do no longer protect from bacterial infection, a mere pneumonia might be fatal.
Alternative therapeutic concepts which lead to the elimination of bacteria, but do not promote resistance are still lacking.
A team of international scientists has tested a novel substance, which has been developed by Eduard Babiychuk and Annette Draeger from the Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern in Switzerland. This compound constitutes a novel approach for the treatment of bacterial infections: the scientists engineered artificial nanoparticles made of lipids, "liposomes" that closely resemble the membrane of host cells. These liposomes act as decoys for bacterial toxins and so are able to sequester and neutralize them. Without toxins, the bacteria are rendered defenseless and can be eliminated by the cells of the host's own immune system. The study will be published in Nature Biotechnology Nov 2.
Artificial bait for bacterial toxins
In clinical medicine, liposomes are used to deliver specific medication into the body of patients. Here, the Bernese scientists have created liposomes which attract bacterial toxins and so protect host cells from a dangerous toxin attack.
"We have made an irresistible bait for bacterial toxins. The toxins are fatally attracted to the liposomes, and once they are attached, they can be eliminated easily without danger for the host cells", says Eduard Babiychuk who directed the study.
"Since the bacteria are not targeted directly, the liposomes do not promote the development of bacterial resistance", adds Annette Draeger. Mice which were treated with the liposomes after experimental, fatal septicemia survived without additional antibiotic therapy.
Ever since the development of penicillin almost 90 years ago, antibiotics have remained the gold standard in the treatment of bacterial infections. However, the WHO has repeatedly warned of a growing emergence of bacteria that develop antibiotic resistance. Once antibiotics do no longer protect from bacterial infection, a mere pneumonia might be fatal.
Alternative therapeutic concepts which lead to the elimination of bacteria, but do not promote resistance are still lacking.
A team of international scientists has tested a novel substance, which has been developed by Eduard Babiychuk and Annette Draeger from the Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern in Switzerland. This compound constitutes a novel approach for the treatment of bacterial infections: the scientists engineered artificial nanoparticles made of lipids, "liposomes" that closely resemble the membrane of host cells. These liposomes act as decoys for bacterial toxins and so are able to sequester and neutralize them. Without toxins, the bacteria are rendered defenseless and can be eliminated by the cells of the host's own immune system. The study will be published in Nature Biotechnology Nov 2.
Artificial bait for bacterial toxins
In clinical medicine, liposomes are used to deliver specific medication into the body of patients. Here, the Bernese scientists have created liposomes which attract bacterial toxins and so protect host cells from a dangerous toxin attack.
"We have made an irresistible bait for bacterial toxins. The toxins are fatally attracted to the liposomes, and once they are attached, they can be eliminated easily without danger for the host cells", says Eduard Babiychuk who directed the study.
"Since the bacteria are not targeted directly, the liposomes do not promote the development of bacterial resistance", adds Annette Draeger. Mice which were treated with the liposomes after experimental, fatal septicemia survived without additional antibiotic therapy.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
New Lyme and confections testing technology
An Optimized SYBR Green I/PI Assay for Rapid Viability Assessment and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing for Borrelia burgdorferi
Abstract
Lyme disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi is the most common tick-borne disease in the US and Europe. Unlike most bacteria, measurements of growth and viability of B. burgdorferi are challenging. The current B. burgdorferi viability assays based on microscopic counting and PCR are cumbersome and tedious and cannot be used in a high throughput format. Here, we evaluated several commonly used viability assays including MTT and XTT assays, fluorescein diacetate assay, Sytox Green/Hoechst 33342 assay, the commercially available LIVE/DEAD BacLight assay, and SYBR Green I/PI assay by microscopic counting and by automated 96-well plate reader for rapid viability assessment of B. burgdorferi. We found that the optimized SYBR Green I/PI assay based on green to red fluorescence ratio is superior to all the other assays for measuring the viability of B. burgdorferi in terms of sensitivity, accuracy, reliability, and speed in automated 96-well plate format and in comparison with microscopic counting. The BSK-H medium which produced a high background for the LIVE/DEAD BacLight assay did not affect the SYBR Green I/PI assay, and the viability of B. burgdorferi culture could be directly measured using a microtiter plate reader. The SYBR Green I/PI assay was found to reliably assess the viability of planktonic as well as biofilm B. burgdorferi and could be used as a rapid antibiotic susceptibility test. Thus, the SYBR Green I/PI assay provides a more sensitive, rapid and convenient method for evaluating viability and antibiotic susceptibility of B. burgdorferi and can be used for high-throughput drug screens.
Rest of the study here:
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
The influence of inflammatory cytokines in physiopathology of suicidal behavior
Volume 172, 1 February 2015, Pages 219–230
Review
The influence of inflammatory cytokines in physiopathology of suicidal behavior
· V.A.L. Mináa, , ,
· A.O.A. Reisc,
Abstract
Background
Based on the urgent need for reliable biomarkers in relation to suicide risk both for more accurate prediction as well as for new therapeutic opportunities, several researchers have been studying evidence of the potential participation of inflammatory processes in the brain, in particular cytokines, in suicide. The purpose of this review was to analyze the associations between inflammation markers and suicide.
Methods
To achieve this goal, a systematic review of literature was conducted via electronic database Scopus using the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms: "cytokines", "suicide" and "inflammation". Through this search it was found 54 articles. After analyzing them 15 met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final sample.
Results
One of the most mentioned inflammatory markers was Interferon-α (IFN-α), a pro-inflammatory cytokine which has been shown to increase serum concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF- α) and IFN-ϒ, which are factors increased suicide victims and attempters. In this line, IL-6 is not only found to be elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid of suicide attempters, even its levels in the peripheral blood have been proposed as a biological suicide marker. Another study stated that increased levels of IL-4 and IL-13 transcription in the orbitofrontal cortex of suicides suggest that these cytokines may affect neurobehavioral processes relevant to suicide.
Limitations
A lack of studies and great amount of cross-sectional studies.
Conclusion
Inflammation may play an important role in the pathophysiology of suicide, especially levels of some specific inflammatory cytokines.
Full article:
Lyme physician in Sweden needs support
This came across my desk this morning. I cleaned up the translation a bit and decided to post it here as another data point, contextualizing the treatment of patients and the censure of Lyme physicians in the EU. Here in the States, we assume that diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and coinfections in the EU is more progressive and more widely available than in the US. This doesn't seem to be the case in Sweden, at least. If you know otherwise, please leave a comment.
-Bob
We have a doctor in Sweden who has saved many lives, and is now risking losing his medical license. The reason is that he treated some severe cases of tick infection, and prescribed more advanced treatment than current practice in Sweden permits. We need help to organize support for Dr. Kenneth Sandström.
A doctor's primary mission is to alleviate suffering and cure, which Dr. Sandstrom did, whereas other doctors for years failed to make the diagnosis and to give proper treatment because of carelessness and ignorance. He is a doctor, who with great empathy and expertise, has dedicated a lot of time helping his patients. He achieves additionally a result that the conventional health care does not come close to. Swedish doctors spends the least time in Europe on their patients, partly because our health care system is built around economicinterests rather than patient need.
He is a member of ILADS and has learned from the best specialists in the world, with extensive knowledge of the complex Borrelia bacterium and its co-infections. He has participated in conferences around the world to gain a unique insight. In Sweden skills among doctors and other health professionals is often lower than should be, in large part because there is no requirement for continuing education, as there is in most other countries.
Tick-borne disease treatment in Sweden has low priority, even though there are around 40,000 patients a year who contract Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections (according Scand Tick). The big problem is that about 5 to 10% of those affected by Lyme disease develop long-term, chronic symptoms, and these patients are in most cases without any help from health care. There are some doctors in Sweden who recognize this issue. Although they may recognize the most difficult and characteristic symptoms and can see the patient's suffering, they do not dare to treat, for fear of being reported and potentially lose their licenses. If Dr. Sandstrom loses his license, other doctors will have additional reason to avoid effective and agressive treatments for desperately-needy and suffering patients.
Lyme disease is a rapidly progressive disease worldwide and, due to global warming, the spread is likely to increase even moreso in the future. Anyone can contract this disease, receive misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment. This can lead to unnecessary suffering and long term illness and incapacitation. ILADS recommendations for treatment therapy regarding persistent Lyme disease has been proven in studies. Over 90% get better or completely well.
It is important that Swedish doctors treat and cure their patients without fear of any reprisals. The US now has in place some laws designed to protect those doctors under similar conditions. Our support for Dr. Sandstrom provides guidance and our hope is that it will encourage other doctors to learn more about tick-borne diseases, and to treat according to ILADS recommendations. Punishing Dr. Sandstrom because he has chosen to continue his education in the field and let the knowledge be of benefit to the patients is totally unacceptable!
It is therefore important that as many people as possible add their names to this petition!
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
New Lyme conference videos available online
Dear blog readers:
I just received this message this morning from a Lyme disease group on the east coast of the US, in the Delaware/Maryland/Virginia area (abbreviated "Delmarva") and I want to pass it on. Here is what the news release said:
This past May, our group hosted a "Symposium on Tick-borne Diseases" - a full day conference with an incredible line-up of speakers. The conference was well-attended by medical and counseling professionals from several different states. The problem was, that we were mostly shut out by the medical community in our own backyard. So one woman who is friends with many doctors practicing on the mid-Delmarva area started asking why her friends weren't attending the conference. The answers were varied, but one that kept being repeated was that the doctors didn't want to be seen at the conference, because of peer pressure.
And thus, a YouTube channel was born which will eventually have all of the videos from our conference available. Right now, there are just two: Dr. Burrascano's presentation on Lyme disease; and Dr. Horowitz's presentation on tick-borne co-infections. In the coming days, the other four videos will be uploaded and made available. These include a presentation by Dr. Bransfield on the neuropsychiatric manifestations of tick-borne diseases; a presentation by Dr. Sunjya Schweig on the Lyme and gut connection; and another presentation by Dr. Horowitz on the Lyme-MSIDS Map which explains contributing factors preventing healing. We also filmed the question and answer session which will also be uploaded. During this session, Dr. Burrascano successfully enticed Dr. Horowitz to sing his now-famous Lyme song. It was a great day filled with excellent presentations and we're very happy to be able to provide the presentations on YouTube.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/105098768885957940064/105098768885957940064/videos
The channel's name is "Lyme Association of Delmarva" to reflect our upcoming name change.
Marilyn Williams
Lyme Disease Association of the Eastern Shore of Maryland
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