Web Radio Interviews about Lyme disease

Where have I been? Somehow I have missed all these web-based interviews with Lyme MDs, NDs, homeopaths, herbologists, and others. Enjoy.

http://thedrpatshow.com/searchshowsAll.php?search=katina%20makris&screen=0

IOM Report - Diseases often involve multiple microbes

Microbial Ecology in States of Health and Disease - Workshop Summary Investigations of microbial ecology in a variety of organisms and contexts have begun to illuminate the properties of host-associated microorganisms. These observations have revealed a complex and dynamic network of interactions across the spectrum of host, microbe, and environmental niches that may influence states of health and disease. Alterations in the composition and dynamics of the human microbiome have been associated with a variety of complex diseases. This ecologically-informed view is a paradigm shift away from the conventional "one-microbe, one-disease" perspective of infection and may lead to new insights and approaches to health maintenance, disease prevention, and treatment methods in humans, animals, and plants. The IOM Forum on Microbial Threats held a workshop to explore the scientific and therapeutic implications of microbial ecology in health and disease. "Read the Report >>

‘Housewives’ Star Yolanda Fisher Puts Mansion on Market in Wake of Severe Lyme Disease

ABC News

Feb 12, 2014 12:53pm

ABC News' Cecilia Vega reports:

"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Yolanda Foster is battling a case of chronic Lyme disease so severe, she's put her mansion on the market for a reported $27.5 million to minimize the stress the debilitating illness has caused in order to focus on her recovery.

Study finds common microbes could cause mental decline

Blood tests with increased antibody levels
were associated with mental decline.

 Thursday, February 13, 2014

Exposure to several types of common infections could be associated with memory problems, a new study suggests. The authors caution, however, that further research is needed to draw concrete conclusions.

Scientists from the University of Miami and Columbia University in New York City were scheduled to present their research Thursday at an American Stroke Association meeting in San Diego.

"We are worried about memory decline," said lead author Dr. Clinton Wright, scientific director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Miami. "The findings suggest maybe there is an association with memory decline and exposure to some bacteria and viruses, but we haven't proven it in this study."

For the study, the researchers conducted brain function tests on 588 older participants to assess memory and thinking ability. The investigators also looked for evidence of exposure to the bacteria C. pneumoniae and H. pylori, as well as to cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2.

Read the source:http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/surprising-reason-memory-fades/?xid=aol_eh-senior_3_20140210_&aolcat=HLT&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl15%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D442891

KPFA series of Radio shows on Lyme - updated yet again

Dennis Bernstein (host of Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio Network),  and Jessica Bernstein (no relation, doctor of psychology) have put together a powerful series of radio shows about Lyme disease and the political and health entanglements, implications and current research in the field. The stories are moving, informative, up to date, and alarming. I encourage anyone interested in public health to listen to these, whether you are a health-care provider, researcher, Lyme patient, or healthy citizen. These shows will explain the controversy over Lyme detection, prevention, treatment, insurance coverage, and more.

Here are descriptions and links to the past shows if you'd like to check them out:

1. Dr. Jessica Bernstein and Dr. Marc Conant – who was at the forefront of the AIDS movement – discussed the parallels between the way the federal government handled the AIDS epidemic and how they're handling the Lyme epidemic: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/99148

2. Writer Amy Tan discussed her experience with neurological Lyme disease and Bay Area Lyme expert Dr. Steven Harris explained what Lyme disease is and why it's so difficult to treat. The Amy Tan interview was on of the most powerful in the series to date: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/99376

3. Microbiologist Tom Grier discussed how people with Lyme are being misdiagnosed with MS and Dr. Alan McDonald discussed how they're being misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's:http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/99572

4. Lyme Expert Dr. Ray Stricker (Amy Tan's doctor) and Marianne Middelveen discussed their latest study conducted by an international group of scientists indicating that Lyme disease may be sexually transmitted. Then filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson who directed the Lyme documentary, "Under Our Skin" was interviewed. Andy explained some of politics that are interfering with Lyme patients receiving treatment http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/99786

5. Dr. Richard Horowitz, author of "Why Can't I Get Better?" is an amazingly articulate speaker. His conversation with Dennis is chock-full of statistics and useful information for anyone interested in Lyme disease, whether they have it or not. His estimations of the number of people with Lyme disease is staggering. It's clear from the scientific research that he cites, and from his experience with over 12,000 Lyme disease patients that we are truly looking at an epidemic, with most likely one to two million infected US citizens. This is a must listen, if you have any interest in Lyme disease: https://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/99859

6. Hear Dennis Bernstein interviewing director David France of, "How to Survive a Plague."  David has been deeply entrenched in AIDS activism for the past 30 years but got neurological Lyme during the height of the AIDS crisis so presents a unique perspective about the parallels and differences. check out the amazing interview in the archives: https://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/100253

7. U.C. Berkeley researcher Bob Lane discussed his extensive research on the prevalence of Lyme disease in California that he has been conducting over the past 30 years: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/101114

8. This show covered the recent Lyme disease protest of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Protest organizer Josh Cutler discussed the reason for the protest and the reaction to their efforts:http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/103052. The protest was also covered by Fox 5 news:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctWWTUZcL2c

9. Filmmaker Sini Anderson discussed Lyme from a feminist perspective. After her Lyme diagnosis, she began noticing just how many women have late-stage Lyme disease and in particular women in the feminist community. She discussed her latest film (in production) about feminists with late-stage Lyme disease:http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/103653

10. 

KPFA continues their groundbreaking investigation into the Lyme disease epidemic, with a hard hitting three part series about the failure of government agencies to address this health crisis, the widespread under-reporting of the epidemic and a new kind of activism that’s emerging from sick patients who have been crippled by the disease. Also, we’ll be joined by Barbara Lubin of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, for an update on Gaza and information on an upcoming event.

Click on the link below to listen to the show

http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/106663

Bay Area has ticks, and Lyme disease « Bay Nature

Do you live in the San Francisco Bay area? Do you wonder if there is Lyme disease in the area? I've talked with hundreds of people in the last 10 years about Lyme disease. Those from the bay area almost always say "Isn't that just something that they have back east?"

If that's what you think, or somebody that he knows thinks and you would like them to be brought up to date on the prevalence of Lyme disease in the bay area, then check out this link:

http://baynature.org/articles/bay-area-has-ticks-and-lyme-disease/

The article downplays the danger a bit, by its tone, but read the comments posted by readers, taking issue with the numbers, and recounting their stories.

The take-home message?

• Contrary to popular belief, ticks do not fall from trees.
• Contact with wood is the most dangerous spot to be in. 
• The greatest amount of young ticks live in Oak and Douglas fir woodlands, in leaf litter and on logs
• Sitting on logs is the riskiest behavior when it comes to ticks during this time of year.
• A transitional area from one type of habitat to another, such as the conjunction of woodland and grasslands holds high populations of young ticks.
• Beware especially when clearing brush along a forest's edge.

-Bob

Using computer chips to learn how biofilms form

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140210161114.htm

Chips that listen to bacteria: CMOS technology provides new insights into how biofilms form

Date:

February 10, 2014

Source:

Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science

Summary:

Researchers have shown integrated circuit technology can be used for a most unusual application -- the study of signaling in bacterial colonies. They have developed a chip based on CMOS technology that enables them to electrochemically image the signaling molecules from these colonies spatially and temporally -- they've developed chips that "listen" to bacteria.

---

The development of colony biofilms by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is affected by redox-active compounds called phenazines. A phenazine-null mutant forms a hyperwrinkled colony with prominent spokes, while wild-type colonies are more constrained and smooth.

In a study published today in Nature Communications, a research team led by Ken Shepard, professor of electrical engineering and biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering, and Lars Dietrich, assistant professor of biological sciences at Columbia University, has demonstrated that integrated circuit technology, the basis of modern computers and communications devices, can be used for a most unusual application -- the study of signaling in bacterial colonies. They have developed a chip based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology that enables them to electrochemically image the signaling molecules from these colonies spatially and temporally. In effect, they have developed chips that "listen" to bacteria.

"This is an exciting new application for CMOS technology that will provide new insights into how biofilms form," says Shepard. "Disrupting biofilm formation has important implications in public health in reducing infection rates."

The researchers, who include PhD students Dan Bellin (electrical engineering) and Hassan Sakhtah (biology), say that this is the first time integrated circuits have been used for such an application -- imaging small molecules electrochemically in a multicellular structure. While optical microscopy techniques remain paramount for studying biological systems (using photons allows for relatively non-invasive interaction to the biological system being studied), they cannot directly detect critical components of physiology, such as primary metabolism and signaling factors.

The team thought there might be a better way to directly detect small molecules through techniques that employ direct transduction to electrons, without using photos as an intermediary. They made an integrated circuit, a chip that, Shepard says, is an 'active' glass slide, a slide that not only forms a solid-support for the bacterial colony but also 'listens' to the bacteria as they talk to each other."

Cells, Dietrich explains, mediate their physiological activities using secreted molecules. The team looked specifically at phenazines, which are secreted metabolites that control gene expression. Their study found that the bacterial colonies produced a phenazine gradient that, they say, is likely to be of physiological significance and contribute to colony morphogenesis.

"This is a big step forward," Dietrich continues. "We describe using this chip to 'listen in' on conversations taking place in biofilms, but we are also proposing to use it to interrupt these conversations and thereby disrupt the biofilm. In addition to the pure science implications of these studies, a potential application of this would be to integrate such chips into medical devices that are common sites of biofilm formation, such as catheters, and then use the chips to limit bacterial colonization."

The next step for the team will be to develop a larger chip that will enable larger colonies to be imaged at higher spatial and temporal resolutions.

"This represents a new and exciting way in which solid-state electronics can be used to study biological systems," Shepard adds. "This is one of the many emerging ways integrated circuit technology is having impact in biotechnology and the life sciences."

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

---

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Daniel L. Bellin, Hassan Sakhtah, Jacob K. Rosenstein, Peter M. Levine, Jordan Thimot, Kevin Emmett, Lars E. P. Dietrich, Kenneth L. Shepard. Integrated circuit-based electrochemical sensor for spatially resolved detection of redox-active metabolites in biofilms. Nature Communications, 2014; 5 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4256

Test for Persistent Lyme Infection Using Live Ticks

Test for Persistent Lyme Infection Using Live Ticks Shown to be Safe in Clinical Study

In a first-of-its-kind study for Lyme disease, researchers have used live, disease-free ticks to see if Lyme disease bacteria can be detected in people who continue to experience symptoms such as fatigue or arthritis after completing antibiotic therapy. The technique, called xenodiagnosis, attempts to find evidence of a disease-causing microbe indirectly, through use of the natural disease-carrier—in this case, ticks. It was well tolerated by the volunteers, but investigators could not find evidence of Lyme disease bacteria in most of the cases where enough ticks were collected to make testing possible.

Larger studies are needed, the scientists say, to determine the significance of positive xenodiagnosis results in cases where Lyme disease symptoms persist following antibiotic therapy.
 
Adriana Marques, MD, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Linden Hu, MD, of Tufts Medical Center, Boston, led the pilot study. Findings appear online in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
 
The most common tick-borne illness in the United States, Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria that are transmitted to people by ticks of the Ixodes genus.

"Most cases of Lyme disease are cured by antibiotics, but some patients continue to experience symptoms despite the absence of detectable Lyme bacteria," says NIAID director Anthony S. Fauci, MD. "This poses a mystery that requires continued research into new or improved ways to diagnose Lyme disease and determine the cause of unresolved symptoms."

"Xenodiagnosis using ticks to detect B. burgdorferi has been used previously in animal studies, but this is the first time it has been tried in people," says Marques. "Our primary goals in this initial trial were to develop procedures for tick xenodiagnosis and to determine its safety in humans."

Thirty-six adult volunteers enrolled in the study at locations in Maryland, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Participants included 10 people with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS); 10 who had high levels of an antibody against B. burgdorferi after antibiotic treatment; five who had erythema migrans (a bull's-eye rash) and had received antibiotic treatment in the past; one person with erythema migrans who began antibiotic therapy at the time of tick placement; and 10 healthy volunteers.

Participants consented to have up to 30 laboratory-bred, pathogen-free, larval ticks (each smaller than a poppy seed) placed under a dressing. When possible, the ticks were placed near areas where a rash had been observed or near affected joints. After four to six days, investigators removed the ticks and processed them to detect whether any Lyme disease bacteria were present.

The investigators found that xenodiagnosis was well tolerated. "The most common adverse event experienced by volunteers was mild itching at the site of tick attachment," says Marques.

Not all of the placements yielded enough blood-engorged ticks to perform xenodiagnosis. Twenty-three volunteers with Lyme disease had at least one tick tested; of these, 19 people tested negative. Two people had indeterminate results, thought to be due to laboratory contamination. Xenodiagnosis was positive for B. burgdorferi DNA in the person with erythema migrans who underwent xenodiagnosis early during therapy and in a volunteer with PTLDS.

The researchers note that a limitation of the study is the relatively small number of people on which xenodiagnosis was attempted. "Future studies are necessary to determine the incidence of positive xenodiagnostic results for B. burgdorferi after antibiotic treatment, if these results represent viable organisms or remnants of infection, and whether these results can be related to ongoing symptoms in patients after therapy for Lyme disease," they write.

The study, Searching for Persistence of Infection in Lyme Disease, is continuing to recruit participants. Additional information is available at ClinicalTrials.gov using the identifier NCT01143558.

The research was funded by the NIAID Intramural Research Program and by NIAID grants R21AI082436 and 2R44AI077156.

Reference: Marques A, et al. Xenodiagnosis to detect Borrelia burgdorferi infection: A first-in-human study. Clinical Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.1093/cid/cit939 (2014).

Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Lyme disease vaccine targets mice, not humans

Reservoir Targeted Vaccine Against Borrelia burgdorferi: A New Strategy to Prevent Lyme Disease Transmission

1. Luciana Meirelles Richer1,2,a,
2. Dustin Brisson3,
3. Rita Melo1,
4. Richard S. Ostfeld4,
5. Nordin Zeidner5 and
6. Maria Gomes-Solecki1,2

+ Author Affiliations

1. ¹University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center
2. ²Biopeptides, Memphis, Tennessee
3. ³University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
4. ⁴Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York
5. ⁵Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, One Health Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Dhaka, Bangladesh

1. Correspondence: Maria Gomes-Solecki, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, MIB 301A, Memphis, TN 38163 (mgomesso@uthsc.edu).

1. Presented in part: Tick-Borne Disease Integrated Pest Management Conference, Arlington, Virginia, 5–6 March 2013; 13th International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis and Other Tick-Borne Diseases, Boston, Massachusetts, 18–21 August 2013 [abstract 19].

2. ↵a Present affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee.

Abstract

A high prevalence of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi in ixodid ticks is correlated with a high incidence of Lyme disease. The transmission of B. burgdorferi to humans can be disrupted by targeting 2 key elements in its enzootic cycle: the reservoir host and the tick vector. In a prospective 5-year field trial, we show that oral vaccination of wild white-footed mice resulted in outer surface protein A–specific seropositivity that led to reductions of 23% and 76% in the nymphal infection prevalence in a cumulative, time-dependent manner (2 and 5 years, respectively), whereas the proportion of infected ticks recovered from control plots varied randomly over time. Significant decreases in tick infection prevalence were observed within 3 years of vaccine deployment. Implementation of such a long-term public health measure could substantially reduce the risk of human exposure to Lyme disease.

http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/02/11/infdis.jiu005.abstract

(NOT OPEN ACCESS)

ARTICLE:  http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1734262

"Field Trials Show New Technology Able To Prevent Lyme Disease Transmission"

Candidate Oral Bait Vaccine Targets the Vector, Not Humans, to Interrupt Cycle of Transmission

PR Newswire

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Feb. 12, 2014

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Feb. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A new technology has been shown to reduce the level of tick infection of Borrelia burgdorferi, the cause of Lyme disease. Study details were published online today in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, in advance of print publication.

The oral bait vaccine was distributed to white-footed mice, which account for the majority of the transmission of Borrelia. The mice created antibodies in response to the vaccine. When ticks later fed on the mice, the ingested antibodies killed the Borrelia and prevented the transmission of Lyme disease..."  (CONTINUED)

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1734262#ixzz2tA7cydUZ

Lyme, Alzheimer's and Gin - What is the Connection?

Found on the Web at this blog site: http://www.elenacook.org/

I'm not making a statement here, nor can I vouch for this article's accuracy. However, it does raise some interesting questions.  -Bob

Lyme, Alzheimer's and Gin - what is the Connection?

Now here's a quote for the day.

It comes from the bulletin of PHLS, which was the old name for Britain's leading public health agency, Public Health England (before it was called the Health Protection Agency).

"Borrelia is a spirochete which can cause Lyme Disease in humans, the symptoms of which include fever, rash, arthritis, and meningitis, sometimes with subsequent dementia."