Archive for July, 2010

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20618646&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Granulocytic anaplasmosis (GA) and Lyme borreliosis are emerging
tick-borne diseases caused by infection with Anaplasma
phagocytophilum and Borrelia burgdorferi, respectively, and
maintained in rodent-Ixodes spp. tick cycles, including I.
pacificus in the western U.S. Ixodes pacificus has a
multiple-year life cycle and B. burgdorferi and A.
phagocytophilum are transstadially, but not transovarially,
transmitted within ticks, thus ticks function importantly in
maintaining infection in nature. In this study, the survival of
larval and nymphal I. pacificus was determined using ticks placed
in tubes in leaf litter from June 2005 to September 2006 at two
field sites in the California northern coast range mountains and
a laboratory control. In all three sites, nymphal and larval
survival ranged from 90-400 d, with differences in mean survival
among sites. Fewer ticks died in the autumn in the moister field
sites compared with the drier incubator control treatment.

Excerpt:

Background: The clinical value of antibiotic prophylaxis in preventing Lyme disease remains uncertain, owing to a meta-analysis lacking sufficient power to demonstrate efficacy and a more recent trial showing effectiveness but lacking precision. Our objective was to update our prior meta-analysis on antibiotic prophylaxis for the prevention of Lyme disease, to obtain a more precise estimate of treatment effect.

Methods: Clinical trials were identified by searching MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Library and trial registries, and by an assessment of the bibliographies of retrieved articles and reviews. Trials were selected if their patients were randomly allocated to a treatment or placebo group within 72 hours following an Ixodes tick bite and had no clinical evidence of Lyme disease at enrollment. Details of the trial design, patient characteristics, interventions and outcomes were extracted from each article. Study quality was assessed using the Jadad scale.

Results: Four placebo-controlled clinical trials were included for review. Among 1,082 randomized subjects, the risk of Lyme disease in the placebo [fake dose] group was 2.2% [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.2%-3.9%] compared with 0.2% (95% CI, 0.0%-1.0%) in the antibiotic-treated group.

Antibiotic prophylaxis significantly reduced the odds of developing Lyme disease compared with placebo (pooled odds ratio=0.084; 95% CI, 0.0020-0.57; P=0.0037). [Risk of developing Lyme was 10 times greater in those who didn’t get an antibiotic.]

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20631327&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

There is no better example of a relentless attack on
evidence-based biomedical research and the integrity of
outstanding scientists than that associated with the treatment of
a poorly defined condition called “chronic Lyme disease.” Here, a
scientifically naive general population, the lay press, and
legislators, who in most instances are unable to evaluate and
judge scientific evidence properly, have been misled by patient
advocate groups to believe that extended antibiotic therapy is
the best and only solution to this condition. This has resulted
in the unprecedented intrusion of government and the legal
systems into the practice of medicine and scientific research.
Because there is no clinical evidence that this condition is due
to a persistent infection, advocating extended antibiotic therapy
is not justified and has been shown to be harmful and of no
benefit.-Baker, P. J. Chronic Lyme disease: in defense of the
scientific enterprise.

Excerpt:

Sleep and circadian rhythm disruption are frequently observed in patients with psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative disease. The abnormal sleep that is experienced by these patients is largely assumed to be the product of medication or some other influence that is not well defined. However, normal brain function and the generation of sleep are linked by common neurotransmitter systems and regulatory pathways. Disruption of sleep alters sleep–wake timing, destabilizes physiology and promotes a range of pathologies (from cognitive to metabolic defects) that are rarely considered to be associated with abnormal sleep. We propose that brain disorders and abnormal sleep have a common mechanistic origin and that many co-morbid pathologies that are found in brain disease arise from a destabilization of sleep mechanisms. The stabilization of sleep may be a means by which to reduce the symptoms of — and permit early intervention of — psychiatric and neurodegenerative disease,Katharina Wulff, Russell G. Foster,

Linda’s Comment: There is a real thing called Munchausen Syndrome, but it is a sad state when doctors document Munchausen Syndrome, because parents are stepping outside the box to treat their children, EXPECIALLY those of the Autism Sprectrum!! Main stream medical practitioners for the most part will not admit that autism needs to be treating the WHOLE BODY. What is really scary is if you take your child to the ER for a legitimate injury, will that ER doctor see that it is a real injury, OR will they accuse you of abusing your child. My own daughter was a star athlete and one of her sports was racing bicycles, competing nationally. Needless to say, we were in the ER frequently. When I found an ER doctor that was competent, I stuck with that ER. Only once did I have an ER doctor question her injuries. By the time I was through throwing my fit, in his face, he was just anxious to get me out of there. Unfortunately most parents are a wreck when attending their children’s injuries, and are fearful of taking charge of what the doctor is saying and doing.

What is even more SAD and IMHO criminal is we have, right here in Arizona, a mother and father on disability themselves, who are taking care of their (5) children with Autism and a host of other medical conditions. They went to Children’s Hospital with sick children with asthma and the idiot doctor said, “this looks like a case of Munchausen Syndrome”…..Child protective services (which I have little respect for here in Arizona) took all the children and put them in Foster Homes. These child are NOT getting their special diets, supplements or the care for Autism, that they had been receiving….Guess what??? They are sicker, and one was, IMHO, abused, by being put outside in this 115 degree heat, because the foster mom had a guest over!!!

I’m also quiet frankly, sick and tired of the doctors NOT putting these children first. Those with children of the spectrum, MUST step outside of the body from the AMA standard of care, if they are to reach a normal life…The parents only have until the child is 18 to prepare them for an adult with Autism. You wouldn’t believe how many doctors don’t think that diet is important!! I tell these parents to RUN FOREST RUN, as fast as they can from this doctor.

Full article: http://www.causes.com/causes/194098?recruiter_id=79835423

Excerpt:

Dear Members,
Patient Alliance for Neuroendocrineimmune… Disorders Organization for Research & Advocacy, Inc. (this is how you have to search for us if you need.) DBA as P.A.N.D.O.R.A. is holding a very good ranking on Chase Community Giving. We are the only organization from within our overall Neuroendocrineimmune Disorders (NEIDs) Community that has made to the top 200 ranking now at number 114. You can vote at http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/550795076-patient-alliance-neuroendocrineimmu-disorders-org-for-resech-amp-adv-inc

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20628521&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Cat-scratch disease-related neuroretinitis is a relatively
unusual pathology, with suspicious clinical epidemiological and
serological diagnosis. We present a case of an adolescent
suffering from unilateral neuroretinitis associated with
Bartonella henselae infection characterized by abrupt loss of
vision, optic disc swelling, and macular star exudates with
optimal response to antibiotic treatment.

Full article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20487023

Excerpt:

Mycoplasma gallisepticum is a major etiological agent of chronic respiratory disease (CRD) in chickens and sinusitis in turkeys. The pleuromutilin antibiotics tiamulin and valnemulin are currently used in the treatment of M. gallisepticum infection. We studied the in vitro development of pleuromutilin resistance in M. gallisepticum and investigated the molecular mechanisms involved in this process. Pleuromutilin-resistant mutants were selected by serial passages of M. gallisepticum strains PG31 and S6 in broth medium containing subinhibitory concentrations of tiamulin or valnemulin. A portion of the gene encoding 23S rRNA gene (domain V) and the gene encoding ribosome protein L3 were amplified and sequenced. No mutation could be detected in ribosome protein L3. Mutations were found at nucleotide positions 2058, 2059, 2061, 2447 and 2503 of 23S rRNA gene (Escherichia coli numbering). Although a single mutation could cause elevation of tiamulin and valnemulin MICs, combinations of two or three mutations were necessary to produce high-level resistance. All the mutants were cross-resistant to lincomycin, chloramphenicol and florfenicol. Mutants with the A2058G or the A2059G mutation exhibited cross-resistance to macrolide antibiotics erythromycin, tilmicosin and tylosin.

 

Excerpt:

MedWire News: Infection with Helicobacter pylori has a strong negativeassociation with reflux esophagitis, and eradication of infection raises the prevalence of esophagitis to that of non-infected individuals, conclude South Korean investigators.

The association between H. pylori infection and gastroesophageal reflux disease remains a matter of debate, particularly as the majority of studies that have examined the link have been vulnerable to the confounding effect of variables associated with both reflux esophagitis and H. pylori infection.

To adjust for confounding factors, Il Ju Choi, from the National Cancer Center in Goyang, and colleagues enrolled 10,102 individuals from a comprehensive screening cohort, of whom 4007 were followed-up after a median of 2 years.

Overall, 490 of the original 10,102 participants had reflux esophagitis, 76.1% of whom had grade A, 22.7% had grade B, and 1.2% had grade C esophagitis. While there were no age differences between those with and without reflux esophagitis, esophagitis patients had a significantly higher body mass index than those without esophagitis (25.1 vs 23.9 kg/m2).