Gut Microbes and the Brain: Paradigm Shift in Neuroscience

Abstract

The discovery of the size and complexity of the human microbiome has resulted in an ongoing reevaluation of many concepts of health and disease, including diseases affecting the CNS. A growing body of preclinical literature has demonstrated bidirectional signaling between the brain and the gut microbiome, involving multiple neurocrine and endocrine signaling mechanisms. While psychological and physical stressors can affect the composition and metabolic activity of the gut microbiota, experimental changes to the gut microbiome can affect emotional behavior and related brain systems. These findings have resulted in speculation that alterations in the gut microbiome may play a pathophysiological role in human brain diseases, including autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. Ongoing large-scale population-based studies of the gut….

See the study:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4228144/

Laser Therapy a New Hope for PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Aggregates of alpha-synuclein in brain cells of people with Parkinson's disease have long been the target of research hoping to cure or at least alleviate the symptoms of dementias often associated with Parkionson's.  Newly publicized research from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden together with Wroclaw University of Technology in Warsaw, Poland found that it is possible to use a laser driven technology to distinguish the formations of alpha-synuclein proteins from the formations of other functionally beneficial and necessary proteins in the brain.  The same technique, called "multi-photon laser technique" could also be used to eliminate those aggregated proteins…

Read the rest of the story here:

http://parkinsonhope.org/laser-therapy-a-new-hope-for-parkinsons-disease/

Lyme Advocates Petition CDC

Washington, DC – WEBWIRE – Monday, August 8, 2016

Preferential treatment provided by CDC to IDSA violates the federal law that governs the conduct of Executive Branch employees.

 

Because of CDC policy failures, mismanagement and violations of federal law, hundreds of thousands of Lyme patients experience a greatly diminished quality of life—a tragedy compounded by financial hardships from out-of-pocket costs and lost income. The burden on individuals as well as on our economy is enormous, the suffering is widespread and much of this is preventable.

A D.C. based citizens action group wants the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta to change its stance on the treatment of Lyme disease in the United States.

The Patient Centered Care Advocacy Group filed a "citizen petition" with the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention calling on it to end the preferential treatment it extends to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. The petition was filed in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which governs the conduct of the federal government.

According to the petition, the CDC....

Read the rest of the story here:

Lyme Advocates Petition CDC to End Preferential Treatment of IDSA Guidelines

Tracking ticks in Vermont

Tracking Vt. ticks to study Lyme disease

Lyme in mosquitos in Germany

http://www.shoutoutaboutme.com/tick-borne-illness/german-study-finds-borrelia-in-mosquitoes/

Lyme/Alzheimer’s connection:

Letter to the NJ Courier Post announcing progress identifying Lyme/Alzheimer's connection:

http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/07/20/letter-alzheimers-researchers-making-progress/87347532/

Stevia kills Borrelia - in all three forms

Dr. Richard Horowitz, LLMD and author of "Why Can't I Get Better?" says,

Borrelia burgdorferi has been shown to be able to persist in the body. Prior work on Stevia had shown it to be effective against Borrelia biofilms, and in this paper by researchers at the University of New Haven, Stevia was shown to be effective against different morphological forms, as per the three-antibiotic combination (doxy, cefoperazone and daptomycin) shown to be effective by Johns Hopkins researchers. "J. Feng et al.also showed that the three-antibiotic combination (doxycycline, cefoperazone, and daptomycin) was very potent in eliminating the stationary phase rich persisters of Borrelia. In this study, we provided evidence that Stevia A, as an individual agent, was capable of eliminating the spirochetes and the persisters of Borrelia similar to the reported three-drug combination treatment. Our data also showed that the antibiotics in combination on the persisters of Borrelia was indeed consistent with the previous study". 

http://www.akademiai.com/doi/pdf/10.1556/1886.2015.00031

https://m.facebook.com/drrichardhorowitz/posts/926372540784878

Co-infection of Ticks: The Rule Rather Than the Exception

More evidence that a tick bite can leave several pathogens behind, so calling everything delivered by a tick bite Lyme is inaccurate.

Prevalence of five pathogenic agents in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks from western France.

(The above paper is attached, as a PDF)

Here is another study to consider, also from France.

Co-infection of Ticks: The Rule Rather Than the Exception

First case of Lyme arthritis involving a prosthetic knee joint

First   case of Lyme arthritis involving a   prosthetic knee joint 

http://ofid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/05/11/ofid.ofw096.full.pdf

 

Amazingly complete list of Lyme disease symptoms

If you're a Lyme patient (or doctor) and want to see an exhaustive list of Lyme-related symptoms, look no further. This is quite inclusive (and a bit amazing):

https://sites.google.com/site/marylandlyme/symptoms-information/chronic-lyme-symptom-list