WE ALL HAVE SOME CHRONIC INFECTIONS; now there is another major breakthrough to prove this.

My Fight program clearly is meant to help us educate our patients that achieving optimal health is a lifetime challenge. With increasing sophistication of lab sciences, we will find many more challenges in every one of my FIGHT categories but with the epidemic of people with chronic fatigue, you now have even more reason to want to learn about Oxidative therapies like OZONE/UVB/SILVER.

However, a unifying approach to enhance our bodies ability to deal with the multifactorial nature of any chronic disease should increase our interest in learning more about Energy medicine. This broad topic includes Homeopathy, Accupunture, Prayer, Microelectric Current therapy, Magnetic Healing, Oxygen, Hyperthermia and much of what is now called Alternative Medicine.

The exerpt below is just one line from the great overview of viral infections and XMRV that is found in Autism and Prostate Cancer and Chronic Fatigue. This area of research is all new this year but we can expect that someone will soon find many more fungi issues or parasites issues. Of course tying impaired health to our toxin load is just beginning to be seriously considered. Do not fail to look for a moment at this article, as when you tell patients they need to deal with the chronic infection component of their current symptom complex, many feel you are off the wall.

Unless they have heard of Candida or Chlamydia, or CMV, or Herpes, or Lyme, they are not attuned to the need to lower their total body burden of pathogens. No one needs to spend the money to chase down which of these infections they have, as no one will test negative for one or more of these infections if adequately tested. So testing for most patients is impractical except to get their attention as to why they must do something about the infection component of my FIGHT program if they are to achieve optimal health.

“XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) is strongly associated with chronic fatigue syndrome/ME. The earlier study published in the journal Science was a joint study by the Cleveland Clinic, the National Cancer Institute, and the Whittemore-Peterson Institute of the University of Nevada with Drs. Vincent Lombardi and Judy Mikovits as lead authors. Here the lead author of the NIH/Harvard/FDA study, Dr. Harvey Alter, noted in a press conference that he considered his study a confirmation of the earlier WPI study, even though they had detected different MLV-related viruses (MRVs), rather than only XMRV. There does seem to be a greater variety of MRVs in chronic fatigue syndrome/ME patients than first understood. The WPI’s original study also showed some evidence of additional MRVs.”
Read more: http://www.ageofautism.com/2010/09/my-wife-my-daughter-and-xmrv.html

Sincerely,

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

Dr. Gordon’s Comments:

A contributor to food allergies/sensitivities has emerged, tick bites. This is a great piece of detective work and seems to not affect B or AB blood groups, as much as Type A or O.

“Scott Commins, an assistant professor of medicine and lead author of the U-Va. Study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, said that in susceptible people such as Newell, a tick bite that causes a significant skin reaction seems to trigger the production of an antibody that binds to a sugar present on meat called alpha-galactosidase, also known as alpha-gal. When a person who has the antibody eats meat, it triggers the release of histamine, which causes the allergic symptoms: hives, itching and, in the worst case,alpha-galactosidase.”

Of course today with our epidemic of autoimmune disease and leaky gut and low level infections like Chlamydia and CMV in almost everyone, these elevated antibodies to something or even auto-antibodies are very common and may be more dangerous than widely appreciated.

I still encourage those of you who are sensitive to so many foods to understand that leaky gut is epidemic today. I am convinced GMO foods are a contributor, as they introduce Bacillus Theringensis into our bodies, which are now detectible in the blood stream of patients! Bt then causes Dysbiosis.

I hope many of you will try my concept of using my Detox Drink (BioEn’R-G’y C, H Minus, ZeoGold) with my Power Drink and acidophilus to have a healthy gut and be better able to handle the toxic mess our Standard American Diet has become. Remember high levels or the wrong fats from corn and soy etc. set the stage for chronic inflammation. I believe that if this patient wanted to one day eat beef or fish without his allergic reaction without any doubt my F.I.G.H.T.E.M with M.I.C.E. program would get him healthy again and he would not have to suffer these life threatening allergic reactions.

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

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101902874.html

Excerpt:

MEDICAL MYSTERIES
Man’s Sudden Food Allergy Was a Medical Mystery for Months
By Sandra G. Boodman Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, October 20, 2009

This cannot be happening again, Hayden Newell thought as the angry, red, ferociously itchy welts encircled his waist and spread up his arms. The 57-year-old metallurgist from tiny Boones Mill, Va., who was attending a business lunch in Florida, knew what would probably happen next: His lips would grow numb, making it hard to speak, he would become short of breath and his blood pressure would plummet: all unmistakable signs of anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal allergic reaction. Newell knew from experience that he had to get to an emergency room — fast.

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

Full article: http://erj.ersjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/3/586

Excerpt:

Screening for active tuberculosis (TB) and latent TB infection (LTBI) is mandatory prior to the initiation of tumour necrosis factor-  inhibitor therapy. However, no agreement exists on the best strategy for detecting LTBI in this population. The aim of the present study was to analyse the performance of the tuberculin skin test (TST) and QuantiFERON®-TB Gold in-tube (QFT-GIT) on LTBI detection in subjects with immunomediated inflammatory diseases (IMID).

The TST and QFT-GIT were prospectively performed in 398 consecutive IMID subjects, 310 (78%) on immunosuppressive therapy and only 16 (4%) had been bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccinated.

Indeterminate results to QFT-GIT were found in five (1.2%) subjects. Overall, 74 (19%) out of 393 subjects were TST-positive and 52 (13%) were QFT-GIT-positive. Concordance between TST and QFT-GIT results was good (87.7%): 13 were QFT-GIT-positive/TST-negative and 35 QFT-GIT-negative/TST-positive. By multivariate analysis both tests were significantly associated with older age. Only the TST was associated with BCG vaccination and radiological lesions of past TB. Use of immunosuppressive drugs differently modulated QFT-GIT or TST scoring.

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

Full article: http://bolenreport.com/feature_articles/feature_article072.htm

Excerpt:

Most people battling chronic Lyme disease think of the illness as an infection caused by a bacterium known commonly as Borrelia Burgdorferi, generally transmitted via the bite of an infected tick.  What many don’t recognize, however, is that recovery from chronic Lyme disease requires a recognition that the disease is truly a much more complex illness.  Recovery often challenges one to consider more than just infection as the single causative agent involved in the disease process.  It is through looking beyond the infectious component of Lyme disease and understanding the equally important aspects of damaging heavy metals and other toxic insults that a more full and lasting recovery may be realized.

Garry F. Gordon MD, DO, MD (H) co-founded the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) and serves as the President of Gordon Research Institute.  Dr. Gordon graciously spent a couple of hours with me sharing his views on chronic Lyme disease and those factors that are important in recovering from chronic illness. 

Dr. Gordon acknowledges Lyme disease as a serious infection which can lead to a wide-variety of health challenges.  He does not, however, hyperfocus on the specific tick-borne pathogens which cause the disease.  He instead believes that a multitude of infections are prevalent in anyone with chronic ill health.  In addition to these numerous infections, our state of health is closely tied to our total body burden of endogenous and exogenous toxins.  When looking at why illness is present, it is important to look at a number of factors including genetics, chronic infections, and total body burden of heavy metals and other toxins.

Peering into one’s genetic makeup can be quite helpful when establishing the proper course of action and considering what factors may have contributed to one’s state of health.  The more precisely a practitioner can understand the genetic contributors, the more accurately a treatment protocol can be outlined to fit a person’s unique needs.  As an example, a specific gene mutation can suggest an inability of the body to remove toxic heavy metals.  Thus, even tests performed to determine whether or not one is heavy metal toxic can be incorrect if the metals are not being released due to this specific genetic profile.  Where many doctors may miss a heavy metal toxicity issue in these patients, a practitioner incorporating a genetic review into their diagnostic workup is much better equipped to evaluate the potential impact of toxic metals on the overall state of health.

Linda’s comment:  Several of us have been trying for years to get the Department of Health to classify Lyme disease as an STD.  Doctors including Lyme Literate Medical Doctors=LLMD’s, are split.  We now know that Lyme can be sexually transmitted.  It makes sense to classify Lyme as STD.  We need to do all we can to help stop the spread of Lyme and Company.  I suggest when talking to your children about their sexual activities, to strongly warn them about the chance of getting sexually transmitted Lyme.

One in Four Teenage Girls Have STDs

Getty Images/Comstock Images

By Deborah Huso

According to a report just released from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), One in four teenage girls has or has had a sexually transmitted disease (STD). The research shows that many of these girls are infected soon after their first sexual encounter, leading to renewed calls for better sexual health education among teens.

The study followed over 800 girls between the ages of 14 and 19. Among the STDs the researchers tracked were gonorrhea, Chlamydia, herpes simplex virus type 2 and human papillomavirus (HPV). Twenty-four percent of study participants were infected with one of more of these STDs. Of that 24 percent, more than 18 percent were infected with HPV, the presence of which can eventually lead to cervical cancer.

Teenage girls also accounted for the greatest number of reported cases of Chlamydia and gonorrhea, outpacing women in their early 20s. The study also showed that African American teens and young women are particularly vulnerable to STDs. Black teenage girls have the highest rates of Chlamydia and gonorrhea infection of any racial or age group.

“We cannot ignore the glaring racial disparities in rates of STDs, particularly when we consider the hard truth that gonorrhea rates among African Americans are 20 times those of whites,” says John M. Douglas, Jr., M.D., director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention. He cites lack of access to quality health care as a major cause of the prevalence of STDs in minority communities.

As for the high rates of STDs among female teens, study authors claim public reluctance to talk about sexual health is largely to blame. “STDs are hidden epidemics of enormous health and economic consequence in the United States,” the study authors claim.

“We know adolescent girls and minorities are most impacted by STDs,” says Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. “So it is up to us as a nation to reach out to them and ensure we are providing the necessary prevention, testing and treatment services.”

Authors of the newly released study strongly advocate that girls between 11 and 12 years of age should get the HPV vaccine, and they also advocate annual testing for Chlamydia, which if left untreated can lead to both infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease, in teenage girls and young women.

The study was published in the May issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/76509746/home).

Led by John D. Carter of theUniversity of South Florida, the study involved blood and synovial tissue analysis from 26 patients who had chronic uSpA or Chlamydia-induced ReA. Synovial tissue samples from 167 osteoarthritis patients were used as controls. Samples were analyzed to assess chlamydial DNA and the 26 subjects were asked if they had any known exposure to Chlamydia trachomatis or Chlamydia pneumoniae and if so, the infection was documented in relation to the onset of their uSpA. They also underwent a physical exam that included evaluation of swollen and tender joints and other symptoms of SpA. The results showed that the rate of Chlamydiainfection was 62 percent in uSpA patients, significantly higher than the 12 percent seen in control subjects.

It is believed that as many as 150,000 cases of Chlamydia trachomatis-induced ReA may appear in the U.S. each year compared to about 125,000 new cases of rheumatoid arthritis. This is a low estimate since it does not include cases resulting from Chlamydia pneumoniae. “Thus, Chlamydia-induced ReA represents a considerable burden on the health care systems of the U.S. and other nations, and its impact on those systems may well be significantly under recognized,” the authors state.

Most women with genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection have no symptoms at the time of the initial infection; this was also true of the patients in the study who had DNA evidence of Chlamydia. For Chlamydia pneumoniae, as many as 70 percent of acute infections are asymptomatic and, even when there are symptoms, definitive identification of the organism is rare. The authors point out that relying on identification of a symptomatic infection may therefore result in routine underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis of Chlamydia-induced ReA.

They add that because ReA is a type of SpA and patients with ReA do not present with the classic combination of symptoms of arthritis, conjunctivitis/iritis and urethritis, it is reasonable to believe that Chlamydia trachomatis plays a role in causing uSpA, which may in fact be ReA. They conclude that although there is no diagnostic test for Chlamydia-induced ReA, testing for chlamydial DNA in the synovial tissue of patients thought to have ReA may be the most accurate way of diagnosing the condition.

Article: “Chlamydiae as Etiologic Agents in Chronic Undifferentiated Spondylarthritis,” John D. Carter, Hervé C. Gérard, Luis R. Espinoza, Louis R. Ricca, Joanne Valeriano, Jessica Snelgrove, Cynthia Oszust, Frank B. Vasey, Alan P. Hudson,Arthritis & Rheumatism, May 2009.