Archive for November, 2010

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20977545&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

In this study, we enrolled within 1 year 122 patients with
suspected chronic LNB. One hundred and fourteen patients had
previously tested positive for BB.
All patients had previously received antibiotic treatment. Each
patient received a clinical examination and measurement of
BB-specific antibodies. The diagnosis of neuroborreliosis was
made according to the national guidelines of the German Society
of Neurology. Nine patients had acute borreliosis. One of the
nine met the criteria of acute LNB. Of the remaining 113
patients, 85 patients underwent a lumbar puncture. Ten
seronegative subjects without lumbar puncture were also
considered. In 61.8% of these 95 patients the quality of life, of
sleep, mood, and anxiety were assessed. 
Results:  Of 95 patients, 25.3% had symptoms without a somatic
cause or evidence of borreliosis, 38.9% had a well-defined
illness unrelated to BB infection, and 29.5% suffered from
symptoms without a detectable somatic cause, displaying
antibodies against BB. Six patients were grouped as post-LNB
syndrome. Most common symptoms in all categories were arthralgia,
myalgia, dysaesthesia, depressive mood and chronic fatigue. 
Conclusion: 
Patients with persistent symptoms with elevated serum antibodies
against BB but without signs of cerebrospinal fluid inflammation
require further diagnostic examinations to exclude ongoing
infection and to avoid co-infections and other treatable
conditions (e.g. autoimmune diseases). One patient with acute
LNB, who was treated with ceftriaxone for 3 weeks suffered from
LNB with new headaches and persistent symptoms 6 months later.
These data should encourage further studies with new experimental
parameters. (c) 2010 The Author(s) European Journal of Neurology
(c) 2010 EFNS.

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20979609&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

RESULTS: We identified general principles governing landscape
epidemiology in these diverse disease systems and geographic
regions.
We formulated ten propositions that are related to landscape
attributes, spatial patterns and habitat connectivity, pathways
of pathogen transmission between vectors and hosts, scale issues,
land use and ownership, and human behaviour associated with
transmission cycles. 
CONCLUSIONS: A static view of the
“pathogenecity” of landscapes overlays maps of the spatial
distribution of vectors and their habitats, animal hosts carrying
specific pathogens and their habitat, and susceptible human hosts
and their land use. A more dynamic view emphasizing the spatial
and temporal interactions between these agents at multiple scales
is more appropriate. We also highlight the complementarity of the
modelling approaches used in our case studies. Integrated
analyses at the landscape scale allows a better understanding of
interactions between changes in ecosystems and climate, land use
and human behaviour, and the ecology of vectors and animal hosts
of infectious agents.

NOTE:  If you have Lyme disease DO NOT DONATE…..

 Members and Friends
The courage the Jemsek family has shown facing life’s hurdles has given us a example of how to deal with our own adversities.  As they face renewed challenges, it is time for us all to reach out and do what we can to support them in their hour of need.
 
Please read this letter from Dr. Jemsek to the Lyme Community.  While Lyme patients cannot be direct donors, we can ask our healthy friends, family members and neighbors to consider this humanitarian request for a fine family that needs our support.  Please recirculate this message widely and as quickly as possible. 
 
Thank you,
NatCapLyme
 
Dear patients, friends, and family,

          My wife Kay and I are writing to you today to make a somber request on behalf of our six year old daughter, Jordan.  As most of you may already know, last September 2009 Jordan was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). She received outstanding  care during several rounds of extended chemotherapy while hospitalized for 6 ½ months at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte at the Hemby Cancer center.  When Jordan was declared in remission  we were finally able to bring  her home on Easter day this Spring.  After several joyful months at home with Jordan, this past week we were devastated to learn that Jordan has relapsed. In the upcoming weeks, she will begin receiving chemotherapy in preparation for a bone marrow transplant that she will have later this winter.

          Last year, after much research aided by the excellent support of the Hemby physicians in Charlotte and the Pediatric Oncology Department at Children’s Hospital in Washington, DC,  we were already exploring the option for Jordan to have a bone marrow transplant in the event that the chemotherapy was ineffective.  Unfortunately, neither members of her family, nor those in the national donor registry provided a satisfactory match.  Unfortunately, at this time we are left without another option and must proceed with a bone marrow transplant for Jordan to survive.  We anticipate that the transplant will occur in March/April 2011 at Children’s Hospital in DC after Jordan undergoes an estimated 3 months of induction chemotherapy at the Hemby Center; she is on her way to the hospital with us today.   In order to increase the likelihood that we find a better match for Jordan, we are asking friends and family to participate in joining the National Marrow Donor Program. Because patients are most likely to match someone of their own race or ethnicity, please be aware that Jordan comes from a Scottish, Irish, and Ukrainian background. We have outlined the simple steps below in how one can get signed up to be part of this registry.

          For all of our patients and others suffering from  Lyme Borreliosis Complex, the highly disturbing irony is that the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) does recognize chronic Lyme disease while the general community does not. As part of the NMDP medical guidelines, patients with  ‘chronic Lyme disease ‘ may not register (details on the linked site below).  However, we would humbly request that those individuals struggling with Lyme Borreliosis encourage other family members and friends to consider joining the registry.

          As for those of you wanting to be tested specifically as a match for Jordan, i.e. a designated donation, due to the complicated process and cost of being tested privately, we instead recommend and request that you enter the general registry. We greatly appreciate all of the prayers and overwhelming support that our family has received, and we ask for you all to continue to pray as we continue on our journey towards Jordan’s recovery from this devastating disease. If you have questions, please contact Elizabeth Ballas at mailto:eballas@jemsekspecialty.com?subject=Jordan Jemsek.   As before, regular updates will be posted to http://www.caringbridge.org/ under keyword jordanjemsek.
 
God Bless,

Dr. and Mrs. Joseph G. Jemsek 
 
From the National Marrow Donor Program website:
 
In order to get signed up in the Be the Match Registry, please follow these easy steps.
 
1. To get signed up now, you can register online and have a test kit sent to your home!
    • Go to this website and follow the instructions: http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html
 
              o Confirm you meet basic registry guidelines. (Must be between the ages of 18 and 60. Please pay special attention to the medical guidelines)
              o Complete the online form and order your registration kit, which should arrive in 7-10 days. It is free to join and get tested, but please also consider making a financial contribution.
              o Follow your instructions in your kit to collect a swab of cheek cells and return the kit in the mail.

2. If you’d like to get tested in person, please use the following link to locate a nearby donor drive or recruitment center.
 •  http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_in_Person/index.html
 
For more information, please visit: http://www.marrow.org.

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20933140&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

In the time since canine ehrlichiosis due to Ehrlichia canis was
first described in 1935 and first recognized in the United States
in 1962, many key advances have been made in our understanding of
the diversity of the rickettsial organisms responsible for
ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis in dogs and, occasionally, cats,
the vectors capable of transmitting these agents, and the role
these organisms play as both important veterinary pathogens and
zoonotic disease agents. Despite considerable progress in the
field, much remains to be learned regarding mechanisms
contributing to pathogenesis, effective treatment modalities, and
prevention strategies that best protect pet health. This article
highlights current understanding of the transmission, diagnosis,
and management of ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis in dogs and cats.
Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20805550&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Lyme disease is most prevalent in the northeast and upper Midwest
regions of the United States. While early symptoms may be mild
(eg, rash, flu-like symptoms, joint pain), late or persistent
infection can cause chronic neurologic impairments. Because of
this range of symptoms, physicians can have difficulty diagnosing
Lyme disease, especially in the absence of erythema chronicum
migrans. We report a case of a woman who initially presented with
severe vertigo and vomiting and later with fever, headache, and
facial droop. After more than 3 weeks of misdiagnosis, the
patient tested positive for Lyme disease and was diagnosed as
having neuroborreliosis presenting as Bell palsy and meningitis.
The authors review the history, diagnosis, and management of Lyme
disease. 

The cover of last week’s Time magazine is a pregnant woman and the cover story is about newly recognized facts about Epigenetics that reveals the lifelong influence on health of everyone from the 9 month intrauterine environment.

They report that the influence on heart disease, obesity, mental illness, IQ, etc is far greater than has ever been appreciated before. Now if you then go to Google and type in the words Ten Americans you will see a video paid for by concerned citizens atwww.ewg.org that measured and levels of neurotoxins, carcinogens and endocrine disruptors in ten babies selected at random for across the USA. There were none that were clean.  Everyone averages 6 times the levels of these toxins that are present in the parents. This should make you really want to study what is optimal nutritional support for your pregnant patients and that to my thinking today that must include Beyond Chelation-Improved and Beyond B12, as you really want all three forms of folic acid if you want really healthy babies, as well as the DHA/EPA found in BC-I. We all need continual detoxification today to deal with the lead and mercury found in everything tested today.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Full article: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2020815,00.html

Excerpt:

Time Magazine: “Fetal Origins: How the First Nine Months Shape the Rest of Your Life”, By Annie Murphy Paul Wednesday, Sep. 22, 2010 

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2020815,00.html

Of course, no woman who is pregnant today can escape hearing the message that what she does affects her fetus. She hears it at doctor’s appointments, sees it in the pregnancy guidebooks: Do eat this, don’t drink that, be vigilant but never stressed. Expectant mothers could be forgiven for feeling that pregnancy is just a nine-month slog, full of guilt and devoid of pleasure, and this research threatened to add to the burden. 

But the scientists I met weren’t full of dire warnings but of the excitement of discovery — and the hope that their discoveries would make a positive difference. Research on fetal origins is prompting a revolutionary shift in thinking about where human qualities come from and when they begin to develop. It’s turning pregnancy into a scientific frontier: the National Institutes of Health embarked last year on a multidecade study that will examine its subjects before they’re born. And it makes the womb a promising target for prevention, raising hopes of conquering public-health scourges like obesity and heart disease through interventions before birth. 

Folic acid/inositol combo may be better at preventing birth defects
By Richard Clarke
September 27, 2010

http://www.functionalingredientsmag.com/article/Europe/folic-acid-and-inositol-prevent-birth-defects.aspx

Folic acid supplements alone may not be the optimum way to prevent neural tube defects in babies, according to doctors in the U.K.

Since I like topical Progesterone, I thought this rather balanced review might be interesting to all. 

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H) 
President, Gordon Research Institute 
www.gordonresearch.com 

Excerpt:

Can Progesterone Cream Work? 

By ROBERT J. DAVIS 
Special to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 
August 30, 2005; Page D5 

Concerns about the safety of hormone-replacement therapy have prompted many women to seek alternatives. One option, “natural” progesterone cream sold over the counter, is gaining in popularity among women looking for relief from symptoms of menopause or PMS. While some doctors recommend the creams, many others question their effectiveness and worry that unsupervised use could pose long-term risks. 
Most of the creams contain progesterone derived from soybeans or Mexican yams. In contrast, the most commonly prescribed hormone-replacement medications, which are taken orally, contain synthetic progesterone, known as progestin. Because progesterone in creams comes from plants and is structurally identical to the human hormone, it is often called “natural.” But like progestin, it is synthesized in a lab. 
The creams, which are sold in health-food stores and over the Internet, are classified by the Food and Drug Administration as cosmetics, not drugs. Therefore, manufacturers aren’t permitted to claim their products can treat or prevent conditions. But some do anyway. Most, however, make vague promises to promote “healthy hormone balance” or “balance and harmony within the female body.” 

The leading proponent of natural progesterone, the late physician John Lee, argued that in premenopausal women, too much estrogen relative to progesterone can lead to weight gain, bloating, irritability, fatigue, uterine fibroids, endometriosis and lumpy and tender breasts. Correcting the imbalance with progesterone cream, he said, can alleviate such problems. Likewise, he claimed creams reduce symptoms associated with menopause, such as hot flashes, mood swings, memory loss and decreased bone density. 

It is very important to know that this field was open for studying in 2010 again for because it was closed such a long time:
as it was quoted in my different presentations and letters to the Editors:
” Protection of B.b.s.l. became known

Fibroblasts protected B. burgdorferi s.l. for at least 14 days of  exposure to ceftriaxone. …  several eukaryotic cell types provide the Lyme disease spirochete with a protective environment  contributing to its long-term survival.  by Klempner et al., J-Infect-Dis. 1992

Borrelia b.s.l. persisted inside synovial cells for at least 8 weeks.

  _Girschick-HJ et al., 1996

and

Intracellular(!) or unit membrane coated Borrelia b.s.l. for being destroyed it needs  as much antibiotics as

TWENTY QUANTITY of MIC(!) at least! see Garon’s group at RMLab: Dorward DW, Schwan TG, Garon CF. et al. presented for example in the Intl.Congress of Lyme Borreliosis Foundation, Hungary 2000!”

The Development goes with big striding steps…
                                                        but people are suffering day 

Full article: http://www.pjm.microbiology.pl/archive/vol5932010157.pdf

Excerpt:

Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes are an infectious agent of Lyme borreliosis. The aim of our studies was to investigate the fate of engulfed B. burgdorferi cells in L-929 mouse fibroblasts and to observe development of intracellular infection in vitro after 2 and 48 h. Electron microscopic studies reveal consecutive stages of B. burgdorferi spirochetes penetration to mouse fibroblasts in vitro. It has been observed, as a first step attachment and engulfment of spirochetes followed by formation of vacuoles. After 48 hours of infection, vacuoles of fibroblastic cells have been seen full of B. burgdorferi bacteria and latter they have been released from infected cells to extracellular space. It can be the evidence that B. burgdorferi multiply intracellulary.

It will still take another decade or more before mainstream medicine will start to take detoxification of heavy metals seriously but I hope you are getting your daily detox with something. I, of course, use ZeoGold, Beyond Fiber, Organic Greens and BioEn’R-G’y C and also I never go without the Essential Daily Defense, the chelating portion of the nine pills called Beyond Chelation Improved. I know what I have spent attending medical conferences around the world and at age 75 I cannot afford to lose any of the information I have acquired at great expense.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Link: http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=10425&Section=AGING&source=DHB_101116&key=Body+ContinueReading

Excerpt:

Life Extension
Research Shows Mercury is a Likely Cause for Alzheimer’s Disease
Business Wire 
11-15-10 

In an article to be published in the November 15th issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers have found that mercury is likely to be one of the multiple causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Mercury is one of the most toxic natural substances. It poses a danger to humans and may lead to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. After a systematic review of existing experimental and clinical research literature, researchers associated with the Viadrina European University, the Samueli Institute (Virginia, USA), Northeastern University (Boston, MA, USA) and the University Hospital Freiburg found that the symptoms and features of Alzheimer’s disease were reproduced or accelerated when mercury was introduced. 

Mercury binds tightly to selenium, a naturally occurring metal found in our diet that is important for good health. Proteins associated with selenium form a class of molecules that help prevent damage due to oxidative stress, which is the stress that occurs when metabolism takes place. Oxidative stress leads to cell death and thus aging. When mercury binds to selenium, this process may be accelerated, as are other degenerative processes in the brain. 

Our toxicity concerns during pregnancy will start to be of interest to many and there is no affordable answer that beats things like Total Body Detox, Beyond Fiber, BioEnrG-Y C, Organic Green powder and Beyond Chelation-Improved.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Excerpt:

NY Times

At Risk From the Womb
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: October 2, 2010

Some people think we’re shaped primarily by genes. Others believe that the environment we grow up in is most important. But now evidence is mounting that a third factor is also critical: our uterine environment before we’re even born. 

Researchers are finding indications that obesity, diabetes and mental illness among adults are all related in part to what happened in the womb decades earlier. 

One of the first careful studies in this field found that birth weight (a proxy for nutrition in the womb) helped predict whether an adult would suffer from heart disease half a century later. Scrawny babies were much more likely to suffer heart problems in middle age. 

That study, published in 1989, provoked skepticism at first. But now an array of research confirms that the fetal period is a crucial stage of development that affects physiology decades later. 

Perhaps the most striking finding is that a stressful uterine environment may be a mechanism that allows poverty to replicate itself generation after generation. Pregnant women in low-income areas tend to be more exposed to anxiety, depression, chemicals and toxins from car exhaust to pesticides, and they’re more likely to drink or smoke and less likely to take vitamin supplements, eat healthy food and get meticulous pre-natal care. 

The result is children who start life at a disadvantage — for kids facing stresses before birth appear to have lower educational attainment, lower incomes and worse health throughout their lives. If that’s true, then even early childhood education may be a bit late as a way to break the cycles of poverty.