Thursday 27 October 2016

LIVING WITH LYME DISEASE - IRISH DOCUMENTARY





Published on Oct 29, 2016
This documentary was aired Tuesday October 11th 2016 on IrishTV.

It is the compelling story of people affected by Lyme disease in Ireland.

Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the Borrelia type.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection typically transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. It is one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the world.

2016 Lyme Conference In May 2016, Ireland's 2nd Lyme conference brought together doctors & patients. European speakers attended & was a great success. This 18 min video captures the atmosphere perfectly (including interviews with speakers & patients). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQmeg...

Living with Lyme Disease - Irish documentary team looking for backers, take a moment to watch the video, it's heart wrenching. https://youtu.be/JpYHF43ZG4I

Check out Tick Talk's survey results, now updated for 2016! http://www.ticktalkireland.org/survey...
In May (Lyme awareness month) Tick Talk volunteer Ann Maher hosted Ireland's 2nd Irish Lyme disease conference, plus talks were held in a ladies group in Galway & a school in Wicklow.

Dublin Inst of Technology student Natalia Marzec set her photographic display to the subject of Lyme disease plus a new article written by Tick Talk, has been published by MyKidsTime. https://www.mykidstime.com/for-parent...

From the Health Protection & Surveillance Centre in Dublin: We are planning to hold Lyme Awareness Week 2016 on the week beginning Monday 2nd May. As usual we will be having HSE Communications alert media outlets about Lyme Awareness Week and will be seeking interviews to raise awareness at this important time.
The Lyme subcommittee task force (on lyme prevention & surveillance) will be publishing their full report during Autumn 2016....

New single released by an Irish Lyme sufferer to help raise funds for her treatment & raise more awareness in Ireland http://elainefightslyme.com/

Read also: Councillor calls for signs highlighting dangers of Lyme disease as former Kerry footballer undergoes treatment http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/...

Read also: Kerry may erect signs amid risk of Lyme disease http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/...

Read also: http://kclr96fm.com/hse-blasted-lack-...

Latest news: December 1st the Matter Hospital will no longer send bloods to labs for testing for the following : Anaplasmosis, #Babesiosis#Bartonella, Brucella, Chlamydia pneumonia, Q Fever or #Rickettsiae. The reason? Why, its budget of course! https://www.facebook.com/niccistgeorg...

Visit also: http://www.ticktalkireland.org/

See more video's and information about Lyme Disease
here on Lyme Channel: http://bit.ly/1VRWk2j

Wednesday 26 October 2016

STIFF PERSON SYNDROME AND LYME DISEASE

Stiff Person Syndrome or Stiff Man Syndrome as it was previously called.

From the National Organization of Rare Disorder NORD :-

'Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is a rare acquired neurological disorder characterized by progressive muscle stiffness (rigidity) and repeated episodes of painful muscle spasms. Muscular rigidity often fluctuates (i.e., grows worse and then improves) and usually occurs along with the muscle spasms. Spasms may occur randomly or be triggered by a variety of different events including a sudden noise or light physical contact. In most cases, other neurological signs or symptoms do not occur. The severity and progression of SPS varies from one person to another. If left untreated, SPS can potentially progress to cause difficulty walking and significantly impact a person's ability to perform routine, daily tasks. Although the exact cause of SPS is unknown, it is believed to be an autoimmune disorder and sometimes occurs along with other autoimmune disorders.
Stiff-person syndrome has been described in the medical literature under many different, confusing names. Originally described as stiff-man syndrome, the name was changed to reflect that the disorder can affect individuals of any age and of either gender. In fact, most individuals with the condition are women. Stiff-person syndrome is considered by many researchers to be a spectrum of disease ranging from the involvement of just one area of the body to a widespread, rapidly progressive form that also includes involvement of the brain stem and spinal cord (progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity and myoclonus).' 


An all body stiffness was one of my many symptoms which lasted years. The worst was that of rigidity on waking with a reduction in symptoms when painfully flexing every joint large and small. Once diagnosed with Lyme Disease and given long term antibiotics this stiffness gradually went away. I had always assumed it was something vascular maybe inflammation but was interested to read information on SPS and see the two studies published which associated Stiff Man Syndrome with Neuroborreliosis,  Lyme Disease. 


[Syndromes of continuous muscular activity: report of a central case (stiff-man) and a peripheral case (neuromyotonia) associated with neuroborreliosis].

[Article in Spanish]

Abstract

We describe two cases of continuous muscular activity: one which is central (the stiff-man syndrome), and another which is peripheral (neuromiotony), the latter in a patient suffering from diabetic neuropathy and with positive Borrellia burgdorferi serology in the bloodstream, as well as CSF. Both cases reacted favourably to medical treatment. In the first case botulinic toxin was used as a simultaneous treatment for focal pseudodystonia in one foot. Response was good. 
  

 1990 Feb;237(1):51-4.

Borrelia burgdorferi myelitis presenting as a partial stiff man syndrome.

Abstract

Eight weeks after a tick bite, a 33-year-old male patient presented with stiffness of one leg together with spasmodic painful jerks resembling stiff man syndrome. Isolated myelitis of lumbosacral segments of the spinal cord, apparently confined to the grey matter, was diagnosed and its spirochaetal aetiology confirmed by serology and CSF findings. Oligoclonal IgG bands in CSF specific for Borrelia burgdorferi were found. Thus, there is evidence that B. burgdorferi ist able to cause a localized myelitis, probably of spinal interneurons, presenting as a partial stiff man syndrome. 

Saturday 22 October 2016

NOT ALL ANTIBIOTICS PULSED DOSED ERADICATE BIOFILM LIKE BORRELIA

Ceftriaxone Pulse Dosing Fails to Eradicate Biofilm-like Microcolony B. burgdorferi Persisters Which Are Sterilized by Daptomycin/Doxycycline/Cefuroxime Drug Combination without Pulse Dosing

Jie Feng1Shuo Zhang1Wanliang Shi1 and Ying Zhang1*
  • 1Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Although the majority of Lyme disease patients can be cured, at least 10-20% of the patients continue to suffer from persisting symptoms such as fatigue, muscular and joint pain, and neurologic impairment after standard 2-4 week antibiotic treatment. While the causes for this post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms are unclear, one possibility is due to B. burgdorferi persisters that are not effectively killed by current antibiotics such as doxycycline or amoxicillin used to treat Lyme disease. A previous study showed that four rounds of ceftriaxone pulse dosing treatment eradicated B. burgdorferi persisters in vitro using a relatively young late log phase culture (5 day old). In this study, we investigated if ceftriaxone pulse dosing could also eradicate B. burgdorferi persisters in older stationary phase cultures (10 day old) enriched with more resistant microcolony form of persisters. We found that ceftriaxone pulse dosing could only eradicate planktonic log phase B. burgdorferi spirochetal forms and round body forms but not more resistant aggregated biofilm-like microcolony persisters enriched in stationary phase cultures. Moreover, we found that not all drugs are suitable for pulse dosing, with bactericidal drugs ceftriaxone and cefuroxime being more appropriate for pulse dosing than bacteriostatic drug doxycycline and persister drug daptomycin. We also showed that drug combination pulse dosing treatment was more effective than single drug pulse dosing. Importantly, we demonstrate that pulse dosing treatment impaired the activity of the persister drug daptomycin and its drug combination against B. burgdorferi persisters and that the most effective way to kill the more resistant biofilm-like microcolonies is the daptomycin/doxycycline/ceftriaxone triple drug combination without pulse dosing. Our findings indicate pulse dosing may not always work as a general principle but rather depends on the specific drugs used, with cidal drugs being more appropriate for pulse dosing than static or persister drugs, and that drug combination approach with persister drugs is more effective at killing the more resistant microcolony form of persisters than pulse dosing. These observations may have implications for more effective treatment of Lyme disease. Future studies are required to validate these findings in animal models of B. burgdorferi persistence.

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01744/abstract

Tuesday 18 October 2016

'LIVING WITH LYME DISEASE' DOCUMENTARY FROM IRELAND

An excellent documentary shown on IrishTV recently on Lyme disease


Published on Aug 31, 2016
Nicci St.George Smith met James and Brian at the 2016 Irish Lyme Disease Conference organised by Ann Maher in conjunction with Tick Talk Ireland

Here they tell her about their journey toward completing their documentary LIVING WITH LYME






Published on Oct 29, 2016
This documentary was aired Tuesday October 11th 2016 on IrishTV.

It is the compelling story of people affected by Lyme disease in Ireland.

Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the Borrelia type.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection typically transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. It is one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the world.

2016 Lyme Conference In May 2016, Ireland's 2nd Lyme conference brought together doctors & patients. European speakers attended & was a great success. This 18 min video captures the atmosphere perfectly (including interviews with speakers & patients). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQmeg...

Living with Lyme Disease - Irish documentary team looking for backers, take a moment to watch the video, it's heart wrenching. https://youtu.be/JpYHF43ZG4I

Check out Tick Talk's survey results, now updated for 2016! http://www.ticktalkireland.org/survey...
In May (Lyme awareness month) Tick Talk volunteer Ann Maher hosted Ireland's 2nd Irish Lyme disease conference, plus talks were held in a ladies group in Galway & a school in Wicklow.

Dublin Inst of Technology student Natalia Marzec set her photographic display to the subject of Lyme disease plus a new article written by Tick Talk, has been published by MyKidsTime. https://www.mykidstime.com/for-parent...

From the Health Protection & Surveillance Centre in Dublin: We are planning to hold Lyme Awareness Week 2016 on the week beginning Monday 2nd May. As usual we will be having HSE Communications alert media outlets about Lyme Awareness Week and will be seeking interviews to raise awareness at this important time.
The Lyme subcommittee task force (on lyme prevention & surveillance) will be publishing their full report during Autumn 2016....

New single released by an Irish Lyme sufferer to help raise funds for her treatment & raise more awareness in Ireland http://elainefightslyme.com/

Read also: Councillor calls for signs highlighting dangers of Lyme disease as former Kerry footballer undergoes treatment http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/...

Read also: Kerry may erect signs amid risk of Lyme disease http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/...

Read also: http://kclr96fm.com/hse-blasted-lack-...

Latest news: December 1st the Matter Hospital will no longer send bloods to labs for testing for the following : Anaplasmosis, #Babesiosis#Bartonella, Brucella, Chlamydia pneumonia, Q Fever or #Rickettsiae. The reason? Why, its budget of course! https://www.facebook.com/niccistgeorg...

Visit also: http://www.ticktalkireland.org/

See more video's and information about Lyme Disease
here on Lyme Channel: http://bit.ly/1VRWk2j






Saturday 15 October 2016

SWISS AGENT - RICKETTSIA HELVETICA FOUND IN UK TICKS

The Internet has been a buzz recently with the news that Willy Burgdorfer found patients with Lyme disease their blood showed a strong reaction for the Swiss Agent ( Rickettsia Helvetica)


The ‘Swiss Agent’: Long-forgotten research unearths new mystery about Lyme disease

'At a government lab in Montana, Willy Burgdorfer typed a letter to a colleague, reporting that blood from Lyme patients showed “very strong reactions” on a test for an obscure, tick-borne bacterium. He called it the “Swiss Agent.”
Now STAT has obtained those documents, including some discovered in boxes of Burgdorfer’s personal papers found in his garage after his death in 2014. The papers — including letters to collaborators, lab records, and blood test results — indicate that the Swiss Agent was infecting people in Connecticut and Long Island in the late 1970s.'
'On the top of a stack of documents in his garage was a mysterious note, penned boldly in red ink in the scientist’s unmistakable handwriting. “I wondered why somebody didn’t do something,” it said. “Then I realized that I am somebody.”'
The STAT article can be read at this link:-
'The STAT article reports that both Jorge Benach and Allen Steere now say it is time to take a closer look at Rickettsia helvetica’s role in Lyme disease. Benach says the research “should be done” because public health concerns warrant a closer look.
For patients, looking into pathogenic factors related to persistence in tick-borne disease is long overdue. The failure to note the existence of the Swiss agent along with Borrelia burgdorferi is bacteria in the initial publication about Lyme disease may have set back progress in understanding the pathogenicity of Lyme disease decades.' From Lyme Policy Wonk :-

An interesting angle is that from Lyme MD 
http://lymemd.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/the-swiss-agent.html?spref=fb&m=1

In 2011 this was published:-

First detection of spotted fever group rickettsiae in Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in the UK. 

Tijsse-Klasen EJameson LJFonville MLeach SSprong HMedlock JM.


Abstract

A preliminary study was conducted to determine the presence of spotted fever rickettsiae in two species of British tick (Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus). The 16S rRNA gene of Rickettsia spp. was detected in 39/401 (9·7%) of ticks tested, including 22/338 (6·5%) I. ricinus and 17/63 (27%) D. reticulatus. Some positive I. ricinus samples showed 100% homology with Rickettsia helvetica (10/22), and most positive D. reticulatus showed 100% homology with R. raoultii (13/17). Five other Rickettsia spp. were detected exhibiting 96-99% homology. Ticks positive for rickettsiae were collected from various hosts and from vegetation from eight counties across Great Britain. The distribution of R. helvetica in various engorged and unfed stages of I. ricinus suggests that R. helvetica is widespread. R. raoultii was found in questing adult D. reticulatus in Wales and England. This is the first evidence of potentially pathogenic spotted fever rickettsiae in British ticks.

This study suggests the Swiss Agent ( Rickettsia Helvetica ) is widespread in the UK. More research is required to find out what role this infection is having on people sick in the UK following a tick bite.