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Historical Syphilis is Lyme Disease (and TBRF) History of Syphilis An Update on the Global Epidemiology of Syphilis Stages of Syphilis Lyme Disease Mimicking Secondary Syphilis Tick-borne relapsing fever: a fever syndrome mimic Ötzi’s Lyme Disease in Context Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and BiRead more

Stigma

New Study! Classification and Staging of Morgellons Disease The new paper, Classification and Staging of Morgellons Disease: Lessons from Syphilis, introduces a structure for physicians to distinguish the condition in their patient population. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7012249/ …read more on Steemit!— Send in a voice mRead more

Special Interview with Lyme Expert, Dr. Robert C. Bransfield On Friday evening, July 31st, we were fortunate to interview prominent psychiatrist Dr. Robert C. Bransfield. Here is the recording of that session. What is the deal with COVID19, should people be wearing masks and how is the situation where you live?Does COVID19 cause psychological manifestations?What is Morgellons Disease?What is the most concerning aspect of Morgellons, in your experience?Why is it hard for many people to accept that infections can result in concerning behavior?How can someone tell if they are suffering psychological issues because of infection or other reasons like emotional trauma?Can specific conditions like bi-polar disorder be caused by infections and what other reasons would someone suffer from BPD?When you suspect Lyme, do you treat the patient or would you refer them out to an infectious disease specialist?How soon do patients see remediation of their condition if the cause is infection and how is their infection typically treated?Can psychotropic drugs be harmful to Lyme patients?Are benzos safe?Can cannabis be used to treat psychological disturbances?What is the association of Lyme disease with violence?Is ADD and ADHD associated with Lyme disease?Is syphilis still a prevalent infection or has Lyme overtaken it in incidence?Is it harder for Lyme patients to cope with emotional distress?How can someone tell if they are neurotic or if that is simply their personality?Can Lyme disease alter a persons personality, dramatically?How important is a support network for recovery, can someone make it without any help?What can Lyme patients do themselves to aid the healing process?Are there markers which indicate nominal behavioral health?How common are hallucinations with Lyme disease and what causes them?Are there sexual behavior implications of Lyme disease?Does Lyme disease promote narcissism, likeRead more

Microbiologist Marianne Middelveen LIVE Marianne Middelveen is a microbiologist and a medical mycologist in Calgary, Alberta, Canada currently working in the field of Veterinary Microbiology and specializing in bovine mastitis. She received post-graduate degrees in Microbial and Biochemical Science and in Environmental Science from Georgia State University and University of Calgary, respectively. She has been involved in research projects at the Centro Amazonico para Investigacion y Control de Enfermedades Tropicales, Puerto Ayacucho, Territorio Federal Amazonas (Edo. Amazonas), Venezuela; Instituto de Medicina Tropical, Universidad Central de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela; Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia; Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Gerogia; University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Calgary, Alberta. She became interested in Lyme disease after discovering she had the disease in 2011. As a volunteer, she has been involved in research related to Lyme disease on behalf of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation. 0:00 Live interview with Marianne Middelveen 2:46 What are #Morgellons fibers and how are they made? 3:23 What pathogens are typically involved in Morgellons disease? 4:29 What is a follicular cast and how is that different from a Morgellons fiber? 6:06 Do different pathogens cause follicular casts and Morgellons? 6:55 Is it true that one symptom of Morgellons patients is that their hairs will grow in reverse and how far down do they grow? 12:10 Some Morgellons fibers react to Borrelia staining.15:43 Is it true that some Morgellons patients do not have any sores at all? 18:37 Other species of Borrelia21:12 Is T. Denticola any different from T. Pallidum? 21:49 Do treponemes cross-react with Borrelia? 24:27 Besides PCR and immunostaining do you employ other methods to elicit Borrelia? 27:07 Is Morgellons caused by a fungal infection? 27:47 Is #Lyme disease demonstrated to cause ulcerations like syphilis? 28:38 What has your research shown you about Morgellons in dogs, is it different from what is in people? 32:30 Objectively looking at the research.36:57 A person can have Lyme and syphilis at the same time.40:26 What are the “white worm” “plugs”? 43:30 What is the difference between BDD and Morgellons? 48:04 There were early reports of Morgellons fibers being discovered inside organs, theoretically in light of what we know about Morgellons could such a phenomenon occur? 50:39 Is Morgellons a condition or a disease? 54:32 How does classification and staging work? 56:25 Do physicians have to meet requirements to start using the Morgellons staging and classification system? 57:53 What are biofilms and how are they involved with Morgellons? 1:00:19 The CDC recently updated their website to warn about congenital Lyme transmission, but not regarding sexual transmission. Can Lyme infect patients in the same manner as syphilis? 1:03:14 Does PCR analysis simply amplify which agents you want to be associated with what you are researching, does it give you the easy answer you want? 1:05:11 If you could direct a Morgellons study with unlimited funding, what would you intend to discover? 1:08:37Read more

Interview with Skin Deep Star, Dr. Steve Feldman MD, PHD Skin Deep: https://www.morgellonsmovie.org For acne: topical benzoyl peroxide. Also topical adapalene (brand name is Differin). Psoriasis: http://www.psoriasis.org American Academy of Dermatology: https://www.aad.org/public New Zealand dermatology info: https://dermnetnz.org/ Dr. Score http://www.DrScore.com “Thank you for tuning in to #Morgellons Disease Discussion, and Microscopy videos. I’m your host Jeremy Murphree and today we will discuss a variety of skin conditions with a dermatologist who was rated by ExpertScape.com as the #1 expert in the world on both #psoriasis and #dermatology. He is the founder of the doctor rating website http://www.DrScore.com. Much of his research is on how well patients use their medication. He was also one of the stars in Skin Deep: The Battle Over Morgellons – Dr. Steve Feldman! Hey Dr. Feldman, how are you doing today?” Why did you start a doctor rating website and what was your experience with it? Can my diet affect how my skin looks and are there better foods to eat and others to avoid? What are the risks of sun exposure, especially on prescription medications? What is psoriasis and what causes it? What got you into research on how well patients take medication? If I have a pimple should I pop it, or see you about it? Are there any treatments that are effective for varicose veins? What is Keratosis Pilaris and how is that condition treated? What is the strangest skin condition you’ve seen? What is the most common fungal infection you treat? The health agencies are sounding the alarm about an uptick in syphilis cases, do you see that translate into more cases walking in to your office? What is a skin condition that is common to the South East, that Southerners should look out for? Is Cannabidiol oil beneficial for skin care? What are the concerns of being on amphetamine prescriptions, when should someone taking them consider coming off? Have you had bad experiences with patients, have you ever felt endangered? Is ringworm an actual worm and if not anti-parasitic medication, how is it treated? Can emotional stress affect how my skin looks? What’s the best therapy for cracked heel? Are there any recommended methods of prevention? Is there any sure way to distinguish between lacerations and ulcerations? Was speaking at the Morgellons conference that was documented in Skin Deep challenging forRead more

Morgellons Expert Interview, Dr. Ginger Savely Dr. Savely joins us for a special interview about what we now know regarding Morgellons Disease. http://gingersavely.com/morgellons-book/ Have your doctor email Dr. #GingerSavely: lymedc@gmail.com Please donate to help fund future #Morgellons research: https://thecehf.org/donate/ 1) Could you give us a summary of who you are, how you became involved with Morgellons and how you assist the Charles E. Holman MD Foundation? 2) The CDC recently reported 115,000 new cases of syphilis in the U.S., is Morgellons really syphilis as some may assume? 3) Many patients are very afraid of utilizing antibiotics in their treatment because of the resulting side-effects. Are these potentially damaging side-effects limited to fluoroquinolones, and are there ways to mitigate these reactions? 4) In what ways can Medical Marijuana help Morgellons patients? 5) You state on your website that your patients must cease cigarette smoking before engaging in treatment, can you explain why patients will not improve unless they quit? What about vaping or dipping tobacco? 6) Many people present with what they often describe as “white worms”, “seeds”, “shrimp”, “cocoons” which have been described by researchers as “collagen projections” and “follicular casts”. How do we know these aren’t worms? 7) If digging these artifacts out isn’t responsible what is the appropriate manner of treating them? 8) Is it the case that Morgellons patients develop sores independent of excision, is it true that their skin spontaneously ulcerates? 9) Why do some Morgellons patients shave their heads? 10) Is Morgellons the same thing as Hair Tourniquet syndrome or are the two related? (not asked) 11) How much does stress and trauma really affect Morgellons patients? Can it impair the immune system and make symptoms worse? 12) Patients often become desperate and hopeless after repeated attempts to seek help end in failure and rejection. What can a Morgellons patient do when they feel nobody listens and nobody cares and it’s never going to get any better? Is there a way out of the darkness into a brighter tomorrow? 13) Is misinformation and sensationalism really harmlesRead more

Positive Lyme Test Could Mean Syphilis Several peer-reviewed scientific studies demonstrate that a positive Lyme test could mean Syphilis instead of, or in addition to, Lyme. False positive Lyme serology due to syphilis: report of 6 cases and review of the literature. A 44-year-old man presented with visual field defects. Ophthalmoscopy revealed papilloedema of the left eye. Neuroborreliosis was suspected and serum was positively being tested using VIDAS* Lyme screen II (bioMerieux Vitek Inc). However, confirmatory testing using the Borrelia VlsE C6 titre was negative. Western Blotting on serum and cerebrospinal fluid could not confirm the possible diagnosis of neuroborreliosis. VDRL and TPPA testing was positive, and finally, the diagnosis of neurosyphilis was established. We subsequently screened our database on patients with positive VIDAS Lyme screening and negative confirmatory testing by Western blot, and found another 5 cases in which Lyme screening was false positive due to cross-reactivity with Treponema pallidum antibodies. Our data show that in patients with positive Lyme screening and negative confirmatory testing, performance of lues serology should be considered. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21485767 The Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Lyme/syphilis survey. Serologic screening of patients for Lyme borreliosis began at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (BPEI) in September 1987. This report reviews the data on 641 sera from that date up to January 1, 1990. Initially only immunofluorescent (IFA) IgG and IgM titers were obtained. Because of increasing numbers of borderline and positive IFA tests, a Lyme enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was added in April 1988. Also, because of significant serologic cross reactivity in patients exposed to Treponema pallidum, rapid plasma reagin (RPR) and fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) tests were added to the serologic screening panel. Of all sera tested, 10% showed reactive RPR tests and 22% showed reactive FTA-ABS tests. Lyme IFA IgG titers were greater than or equal to 1:64 in 17% of the sera, and Lyme ELISA tests were greater than 1.25 in 15% of the sera. Our experience agrees with reports that serum RPR or VDRL tests are nonreactive in Lyme borreliosis, and that false positive FTA-ABS tests can occur in Lyme borreliosis. The importance of getting all four tests–RPR, FTA-ABS, Lyme IFA IgG and IgM, and Lyme ELISA–in all patients suspected of spirochetal disease is emphasized. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2150843 Some research even demonstrates how those with a positive syphilis test actually have Lyme disease instead. [Suspected syphilis during pregnancy due to cross reactions in Borrelia infection]. A weakly positive titre (1:20) in the Treponema pallidum haemagglutination test and a highly positive titre (1:1280) in the fluorescence Treponema antibody absorption test, but negative result for IgM antibodies, were found in the serum of a 23-year-old pregnant woman. The cardiolipin microflocculation test was at first borderline positive, but negative on repeat. In the absence of a history of syphilis tests for Borrelia antibodies were performed. Those for antibodies against B. burgdorferi were highly positive in the ELISA test (550 units), in the indirect Borrelia immunofluorescence test 1:1280 for IgG antibodies and 1:160 for IgM antibodies. In the Borrelia-specific indirect haemagglutination test, which measures both IgG and IgM antibodies, the titres were 1:640 to 1:1280. These results confirmed the presence of an infection with B. burgdorferi and not with Treponema pallidum. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3048959 It seems as if the tests for each of these infections are all over the map. Cross-reactivity between Lyme and syphilis screening assays: Lyme disease does not cause false-positive syphilis screens. Increased rates of Lyme disease and syphilis in the same geographic area prompted an assessment of screening test cross-reactivity. This study supports the previously described cross-reactivity of Lyme screening among syphilis-positive sera and reports evidence against the possibility of false-positive syphilis screening tests resulting from previous Borrelia burgdorferi infection.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26707064 VDRL test The screening test is most likely to be positive in the secondary and latent stages of syphilis. This test may give a false-negative result during early- and late-stage syphilis. https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/tests/vdrl-test Resolving the Common Clinical Dilemmas of Syphilis Serologic tests can be negative if they are performed at the stage when lesions are present, and the VDRL test can be negative in patients with late syphilis.  https://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/0415/p2233.html Apparently the problem isn’t limited to just syphilis and Lyme either. Cross-reactivity in serological tests for Lyme disease and other spirochetal infections. Serum specimens from 163 persons with Lyme disease, tick-borne or louse-borne relapsing fever, yaws, syphilis, leptospirosis, or Rocky Mountain spotted fever were analyzed to assess the specificity of indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) tests, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and microscopic agglutination (MA) procedures. Strong cross-reactivity occurred when sera from individuals with Lyme disease, tick-borne relapsing fever, and louse-borne relapsing fever were tested against heterologous Borrelia antigens. Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi bound to Treponema pallidum in immunofluorescence tests for syphilis. Sera from subjects with syphilis cross-reacted in IFA tests and the ELISA for Lyme disease. Immunoglobulin antibodies to Borrelia or Treponema spirochetes, however, did not react with serovars of Leptospira interrogans in MA or IFA tests, and the prevalence of false-positive results in the reciprocal analyses was negligible. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3298452 A Positive Lyme Test Could Mean Syphilis If you think this is a lot to digest you’re not alone! So where do we go from here? It sRead more

Borreliosis (Lyme Disease) and its known involvement in Mental Health Scientists and physicians across the world have discovered that the growing numbers of people with mental illness and diseases of the nervous system are being cured or improved by treatment with antibiotics. In other words, it is now known that bacteria can make you mentally ill as well as physically ill! From Croatia to California, from Sweden to Sicily, conditions such as Schizophrenia and Multiple Sclerosis, even Alzheimer’s disease and Stroke, are being found to have common to all one of the most insidiously infective bacteria on the planet, namely Borrelia. This organism is similar to the bacterium that causes Syphilis, which was once the major cause of mental ill health before the days of penicillin. Both bacteria are large and spiral in shape, but Borrelia is turning out to be far worse than its cousin. Syphilis could be detected fairly easily and then killed with antibiotics, but Borrelia is harder to find, and then it is even more difficult to eradicate. Because it causes such a wide range of symptoms, from mild ‘flu-like fever to a rapid onset of psychosis, or from strange rashes to sudden heart-block, this nasty bacterium has spread without most of us realising it, around the world, in what is now being called a pandemic. Perhaps its most miserable victims are those with hallucinations, panic disorders, manic depressive illness and ADHD, as well as those with the labels of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis; for although the latter two conditions are recognised to be of a bacterial / viral cause by the World Health Organisation, the British medical establishment employs predominantly psychological intervention alone. Imagine being confined to a secure mental hospital, or treated with powerful antipsychotic drugs, or living for decades struggling to maintain normal memory and behaviour patterns, when all along there has been an infection secretly living in your brain and nerves. This bacterium may sometimes be the cause of anorexia, while in some of its victims it has been known to cause episodes of uncontrollable rage. Other bacteria and viruses can wreak similar havoc: some of the ones that live harmlessly in our throats and on our skin are also able to invade our brains. Doctors and scientists are quite ready to acknowledge and search for things like HIV, Streptococcus and Herpes. But it is only recently that they are becoming aware that the Borrelia bug, one of the hardest to positively identify because of its so-called “stealth ” behaviour, must be high on the list for diagnosis. European countries such as Austria, Germany, Holland and France, have alerted their GPs and specialists to the growing problem of Borrelia. Germany has twice polled every doctor in the country to determine the probable infection rate, and has found that it has doubled in the last 10 years. The Dutch have carried out similar surveys. In Austria, every GP’s waiting room has warning signs about Borreliosis. The disease is being spread by ticks that are carried on birds, on wild animals and on pets such as cats and dogs, even on horses. It has been found inside the stomachs of biting flies such as horse flies and cleggs and also in mosquitos and mites. We present here several medical studies published in recent literature, which link mental illness and brain disease to known Borreliosis infection. There were few to be found that had been carried out in Britain; those quoted here are from the rest of Europe and the United States. a) In a controlled study undertaken at Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, 20 children were examined following known infection of Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), and were found to have significantly more psychiatric and cognitive difficulties. Their cognitive abilities were found to be below that of 20 matched healthy control subjects, even taking into account any effects due to anxiety, depression and fatigue during education. The study also discussed the long-term effects of the children’s infection with Borrelia, which had brought about neuropsychiatric disturbances and caused significant psychosocial and academic impairment. b) An elderly lady treated at the Emperor Franz Josef hospital, Vienna, was initially admitted with suspected Motor Neuron Disease. Testing of fluid from her spinal column indicated the presence of Bb. Following antibiotic treatment, improvement was seen in the patient’s clinical symptoms, and further testing of spinal fluid demonstrated a positive response to the antibiotic treatment. The preliminary diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was revised to one of chronic neuroborreliosis, the term given to infection of the central nervous system (CNS) by Bb. c) A 64-year old woman was admitted to the psychiatric ward of the Sophia Ziekenhuis at Zwolle, in Holland. She was suffering from psychosis, with visual hallucinations, disorientation in time and space, and associative thinking. Psychotropic drugs failed to produce any improvement in her condition and further, neurological, symptoms developed. A lumbar puncture revealed the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi and after treatment with penicillin all of her psychiatric and neurological symptoms were resolved. From the history, which the woman was then able to communicate, it appeared she had been bitten by ticks. Her husband, aged 66, passed through a similar episode of disease. d) In a comparative study carried out at the Prague Psychiatric Center, the blood of 926 psychiatric patients and that of 884 healthy control subjects was screened for four different types of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi. Of 499 matched pairs (meaning of similar age and gender but from patient and control group respectively) 166 (33%) of the psychiatric patients and 94 (19%) of the healthy comparison subjects were seropositive in at least one of the four test assays for Bb. This study supports the hypothesis that there is an association between an infection of Borrelia burgdorferi and psychiatric morbidity. e) It has been well documented in numerous published medical studies of Borrelia’s ability to cause many recognized personality disorders and forms of depression; such as anxiety, depression, confusion, aggressive behaviour, mild to moderate cognitive deficits, fatigue, memory loss, and irritability. As such, the American Psychiatric Associations recommends that specialist doctors and councillors alike should seek to rule out Borreliosis as a possible differential diagnosis before commencing with any form of psychological intervention. f) At the University of Rostock in Germany, a 42-year old female patient presented with schizophrenia-like symptoms but a complete lack of neurological signs. A brain scan and investigation of the spinal fluid led to the diagnosis of Lyme disease. There was complete relief of symptoms after antimicrobial therapy. g) In a study of patients at a Boston, MA, hospital, scientists looked at patients with a history of Lyme disease who had been treated with short courses of antibiotics. As well as many physical symptoms, such as musculoskeletal impairment, the Lyme sufferers were found to have highly significant deficits in concentration and memory. Those who had received treatment early in the course of the illness had less long-term impairment. h) At the Kanazawa University School of Medicine in Japan, a 36-year old woman with severe chronic Encephalomyelopathy was shown to have a very high level of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi. She showed severe cerebellar ataxia (walking and balance difficulties due to disease in the cerebellum) and profound mental deterioration. The disease had probably been acquired while she had been in the USA. The autopsy 4 years later showed the presence of spirochaetes throughout the brain and spinal cord, which together with the antibody evidence, demonstrated that the Lyme bacteria had caused this encephalitic form of neuroborreliosis. i) Dr B. A. Fallon and his team at Columbia University Medical Centre in New York have done extensive studies on both adults and children with Lyme disease. They describe numerous psychiatric and neurological presentations of the disease, and show that it can mimic attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression and multiple sclerosis. In another study, the same team found panic disorder and mania could be caused by Borrelial infection. j) Scientists from Vancouver, Canada, and Lausanne, Switzerland, recently looked at post-mortem brain tissue samples from 14 patients who had had Alzheimer’s disease and compared them with 13 controls. All of the Alzheimer’s brains had infection with Borrelia-type organisms, compared to none of the controls. From 3 of the Alzheimer’s cases, they were able to carry out genetic and molecular analyses of these spirochaetes to prove beyond a doubt that they were Borrelia. k) Following the detailed statistical analysis of all published literature on schizophrenia, (with the criterion that each study had to have detailed histories for at least 3000 patients), Swiss scientist Dr Mark Fritzsche was able to demonstrate that: “globally there is a striking correlation between seasonal and geographical clusters of both Multiple Sclerosis and Schizophrenia with the worldwide distribution of the Lyme bacteria.” Yearly birth-excesses of such illnesses were found to mirror, with an intervening nine-month period, both the geographical and seasonal patterns of various types of Ixodes tick. He also went on to further state “In addition to known acute infections, no other disease exhibits equally marked epidemiological clusters by season and locality, nurturing the hope that prevention might ultimately be attainable.” l) Chronic fatigue syndrome has been found to be associated with infection by Borrelia. A study by the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital of Saarland in Homburg, Germany, investigated blood samples from 1,156 healthy young males, without knowing which ones were suffering from CFS. They saw a significant number with CFS sufferers who had Borrelia antibodies even though there were no other signs of borreliosis symptoms. They state that antibiotic therapy should be considered in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome who show positive Borrelia serology. m) Dr R. C. Bransfield in New Jersey, has found a significant number of Lyme patients exhibit aggression. Patients were described with decreased frustration tolerance, irritability, and some episodes of explosive anger which he terms “Lyme rage”. In relatively rare cases, there was uncontrollable rage, decreased empathy, suicidal tendencies, suicide, homicidal tendencies, interpersonal aggressiveness, homicide and predatory aggression. The World Health Organisation has warned that mental illness appears to be increasing globally, and that depression will soon become the second biggest cause of disease on the planet. In Britain, it is estimated that new-onset psychoses have reached the annual level of 30 per 100,000 of the population. According to recent announcements, although there are at present about 900 consultant psychiatrists employed in the UK, with 400 posts vacant, there are plans to recruit 7,500 new psychiatrists in the next 5 years, a massive 5-fold increase. The European Committee for Action on Lyme Borreliosis (EUCALB) has published epidemiological studies showing that there is a serious problem with tick-borne Borreliosis in Europe. For example, the UK’s nearest neighbour, Holland, has found 73 cases per 100,000 of the population per year, with an unknown number of missed diagnoses. The published figures for England, Ireland and Wales appear to be nearly 2 orders of magnitude lower than this, with only 0.3 cases per 100,000. Are cases of Lyme disease / Borreliosis not being found in Britain because it is still regarded as a rare disease in this country? Or do we genuinely have the lowest incidence in the world? Diagnosis of borreliosis is difficult, with tests for antibodies to the bacteria being the subject of great controversy at present. If a consultant has to look at a suspected case of the disease and believes it to be rare, and blood tests are unreliable, then the diagnosis will be biased, quite understandably, towards the patient having some other condition. It is hoped that health professionals at all levels, and in all disciplines, will come to realise that Human Borreliosis is the fastest-growing, most prevalent zoonotic disease in the world, and has been called a modern pandemic by several authors, including epidemiologists, rheumatologists, neurologists and infectious disease experts. There seems to be little awareness in the UK at present about this situation, but we urge that it be recognised sooner rather than later, in the hope that both mental and physical illnesses due to Borrelia are successfully diagnosed and treated.   References a)         A Controlled Study of Cognitive Deficits in Children with Chronic Lyme disease. Tager, F.A., Fallon, B.A., Keilp,  J., Rissenberg, M., Jones, C.R., Liebowitz, M.R. J Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2001;  Fall; 13(4): 500-7. b)         ALS- Like  Sequelae in Chronic Neuroborreliosis. Hansel, Y., Ackerl, M., Stanek, G. Wien. Med. Wochenschr. 1995; 145(7-8): 186-8. c)         Lyme Psychosis. van den Bergen, H.A., Smith, J.P., van der Zwan, A. Ned. Tijdschr. Geneeskd. 1993; 137(41): 2098-100. d)         Higher Prevalence of Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in Psychiatric Patients than in Healthy Subjects. Hajek, T.,  Paskova, B., Janovska, D., Bahbouh, R., Hajek, P., Libiger, J., Hoschl, C. Am. J. Psychiatry 2002; 159(2): 297-301. e)            Highlights of the 2000 Institute on Psychiatric Services. Guardiano, J.J., von Brook, P. Jan. 2001, 52(1): 37-42. f)          Borrelia burgdorferi Central Nervous System Infection Presenting as Organic Psychiatric Disorder. Hess, A., Buchmann, J., Zettel, U.K., et al. Biol. Psychiatry 1999; 45(6): 795. g)         The Long-term Clinical Outcomes of Lyme disease. A Population-based Retrospective Cohort Study. Shadick, N.A., Phillips, C.B., Logigian, E.L., Steere, A.C. et al. Ann. Intern. Med. 1994; 121(8): 560-7. h)         Borrelia burgdorferi Seropositive Chronic Encephalomyelopathy: Lyme Neuroborreliosis? An Autopsied Report. Kobayashi, K., Mizukoshi, C., Aoki, T., Muramori, F.et al. Dement. Geriatr. Cogn. Disord. 1997; 8(6): 384-90. i)    (1) Late Stage Neuropsychiatric Lyme Borreliosis. Fallon, B.A., Schwartzburg, M., Bransfield, R., Zimmerman, B. et al. Psychosomatics 1995; 36(3): 295-300      (2) Functional Brain Imaging and Neuropsychological Testing in Lyme Disease. Fallon, B.A., Das, S., Plutchok, J.J., Tager, F. et al. Clin. Infect. Dis. 1997; Suppl.1: 557-63. j)          Borrelia burgdorferi Persists in the Brain in Chronic Lyme Neuroborreliosis and may be associated with Alzheimer disease. Miklossy, J., Khalili, K., Gern, L.,  Ericson, R.L., et al. J. Alzheimer’s Dis. 2004; 6(6): 639-649.  k)   (1) Chronic Lyme Borreliosis at the root of Multiple Sclerosis – is a cure with Antibiotics attainable? Fritzsche, M. Med Hypotheses 2005; 64(3): 438-48.       (2) Geographical and Seasonal Correlation of Multiple Sclerosis to Sporadic Schizophrenia. Fritzsche, M. Int. J. Health Geog. 2002; 1: 5. l)          Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Patients with Lyme Borreliosis. Treib, J., Grauer, M.T., Haas, A., Langenbach, J. et al. Eur. Neurol. 2000;  43(2): 107-9.  m)            Aggression & Lyme disease. Bransfield, R.C. 14th International Scientific ConfRead more

The Role of Infections in Mental Illness by Frank Strick, Clinical Research Director THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR INFECTIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS (The Research Institute for Infectious Mental Illness is no longer open.). In considering an infectious etiology to any chronic mental illness there are at least four categories to consider. First are those infections already recognized to induce psychiatric symptoms. These include pneumonia, urinary tract infection, sepsis, malaria, Legionnaire’s disease, syphilis, typhoid, diphtheria, HIV, rheumatic fever and herpes. (Ref: Chuang) While the psychiatric effects of these infections are known to the medical field, they are rarely screened for if the initial presentation is made to a mental health professional. Moreover, the significance of some of these infections may date back to prenatal development. Research done at the John Hopkins Children’s Center and published in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 2001 found that mothers with evidence of Herpes Simplex Type 2 infection at the time of pregnancy had children almost six times more likely to later develop schizophrenia. And in the US, Europe and Japan, birth clusters of individuals who develop schizophrenia later in life closely mirror the seasonal distribution of Ixodes ticks at the time of conception (Lyme disease). Second are those parasitic infections such as neurocysticercosis where the brain is directly invaded by the infective agent through a well-established, imageable (visible on brain scan) mechanism (cysts, lesions, cerebral swelling etc.) Signs of psychiatric disease (depression and psychosis) were found in over 65% of neurocysticercosis cases (caused by a tapeworm whose incidence in the US is rising due to demographic increases in foreign immigrant populations.) [Ref: Forlenza] While the mechanisms for psychiatric manifestations are easy to demonstrate when brain tissue is directly affected, there are also multiple documented reports in the literature of psychiatric symptoms associated with other parasites like giardiasis, ascaris (roundworm), trichinae (cause of trichinosis), and Lyme borrelia and viruses like borna virus. Documentation also exists of these psychiatric symptoms resolving when the underlying hidden infection is treated. Dr. J. Packman of Yale University wrote over ten years ago that “Patients with parasitic loads are more likely to exhibit mental status changes and there is an improvement in mental status of a subset of psychiatric patients following treatment for parasites.” In fact, a review of 1300 human cases of trichinosis in Germany found CNS (central nervous system) involvement in up to 24% of the cases (Menningeal inflamation or encephalitis). [Ref: Froscher] Clinically, in cases like neurocysticercosis, the problem is not the lack of a well-defined mechanism but the lack of mental health practitioners qualified to make such a diagnosis or even suspect it. Even infectious disease specialists tend to underestimate the scope of the problem, in part due to underreporting (neurocysticercosis is not a reportable condition in most states and the incidence of trichinosis is, we believe, vastly underestimated according to newly developed antibody assays only made available in 2003). Next are those parasitic, bacterial and viral infections like toxoplasmosis and strep where a strong statistical link to mental illness has been demonstrated but research is underway to establish a causal connection. In humans acute infection with toxoplasmosis gondii can cause brain lesions, changes in personality and symptoms of psychosis including delusions and auditory hallucinations. Researchers at Rockefeller University and NIMH have suggested that after streptococcal infection some children may be at increased risk for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Toxoplasma gondii can alter behavior and neurotransmitter function. Since 1953, eighteen out of nineteen studies of T. gondii antibodies in persons with schizophrenia and other severe psychiatric disorders have reported a higher percentage of T. gondii antibodies in the affected persons. (For example, in one large study toxoplasmosis infection was twice as common in mentally handicapped patients as in healthy controls and in a recent German study of “individuals with first episode schizophrenia compared to matched controls, 42% of the former compared to just 11% of the latter had antibodies to toxoplasma”). Two other studies found that exposure to cats (the primary carrier for toxoplasmosis transmission) in childhood is a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. Furthermore, certain antipsychotic and mood-stabilizer drugs such as Halperidol and Valproic acid inhibited this parasite in vitro at a concentration below that found in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of individuals being treated with this medication, suggesting that some medications used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may actually work by inhibiting the replication of toxoplasmosis gondii. (Ref: Jones-Brando, Torrey, Yolken) Other studies have shown that antipsychotic drugs like Thorazine, Haldol and Clozapine inhibit viral replication and that the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with recent-onset schizophrenia shows a significant increase in reverse transcriptase (an enzyme) activity – which is an important component of infectious retroviruses (a type of virus). Furthermore, when the CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) from these patients was used to inoculate a New World monkey cell line there was a tenfold increase in reverse transcriptase activity which suggests the presence of a replicating virus. Malhotra has demonstrated the absence of CCR5-32 homozygotes (specific matching genetic codes) in over 200 schizophrenic patients – which dramatically increases susceptibility to retroviral infection. (Ref: F.Yee). It is research like this that has led Johns Hopkins virologist Robert Yolken and psychiatry professor and former special assistant to the Director of the National Institute for Mental Health Dr. E. Fuller Torrey to believe that toxoplasmosis is one of several infectious agents that causes most cases of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The idea is not new. In fact, as far back as 1922 the famous psychiatrist Karl Menninger hypothesized that schizophrenia was “in most instances the byproduct of viral encephalitis.” Torrey notes that in the late nineteenth century schizophrenia and bipolar disorder went from being rare diseases to relatively common ones at the same time that cat ownership became popular. And Yolken designed a retrospective study of twenty-five hundred families showing that mothers of children who later developed psychoses were 4.5 times more likely to have antibodies to toxoplasmosis than the mothers of healthy controls. Due to the frequency of cat ownership, a large percentage of the US population (up to 50%) has been exposed to toxoplasmosis but most immunocompetent carriers remain asymptomatic until another immunological burden such as HIV or a separate parasite weakens the host defenses and precipitates pathogenic expression. That is what makes interpretation of the chronic state so tricky and at the Research Institute for Infectious Mental Illness we make sure to try to identify any parasitic coinfections before deciding on an appropriate course of treatment. Finally, while toxoplasmosis gets a lot of attention due to Torrey’s and Yolken’s pioneering studies and the known mechanism of brain lesions, there are many other infective agents that may not target the brain specifically but can severely affect mental function through the cumulative downstream consequences of chronic infection. While the importance of this link in the etiopathogenesis of mental illness is rarely recognized, these focal and systemic infections are very common and their psychiatric effects often severe. (Parasites are the most common causes of mortality and morbidity in the world.) In this nonspecific category are scores of parasites, protozoa, helminths, bacteria, fungi and viruses which, if not directly invading and disabling brain tissue and neurotransmitter function, do so indirectly by depleting the host of essential nutrients, interfering with enzyme functions, and releasing a massive load of waste products – enteric poisons and toxins which disrupt brain metabolism. (A single mature adult tapeworm can lay a million eggs a day and roundworms, which infect about twenty-five per cent of the world’s population, lay 200,000 daily). Remember, the brain is your body’s most energy-intensive organ. It represents only three percent of your body weight but utilizes twenty-five percent of your body’s oxygen, nutrients and circulating glucose. Therefore any significant metabolic disruptions can impact brain function first. This link is borne out statistically. Mental patients have much higher rates of parasitic infection than the general population. Between 1995 and 1996 researchers at the University of Ancona did stool tests on 238 residents of four Italian psychiatric institutions and found parasites in 53.8 percent of the residents including all of those residents with behavioral aberrations(Ref: Giacometti). In our experience parasites are often implicated in cognitive dysfunction and chronic emotional stress disorders and, to the untrained eye, classic symptoms like apathy, exhaustion, confusion, appetite and memory loss, “nervous stomach,” social withdrawal, lethargy and loss of sex drive and motivation are frequently assumed to signal a depressive disorder without an adequate differential diagnosis being made or even attempted. Adding to the confusion, classic indicators of acute infection such as fever or elevated antibodies often reverse themselves in chronic cases due to secondary hypothyroidism and immunodepression. Unfortunately, until Western psychiatry further recognizes that the mind/body connection goes in both directions patients will continue to suffer from a de facto lack of differential diagnostic criteria in clinically identical syndromes. Even for those clinicians who recognize the devastating psychological effects that chronic intestinal, focal and even dental infections can have on normal brain function, accurate diagnosis presents formidable challenges. In fact some standard parasite stool test procedures identify less than ten percent of active infections and even the “politically correct” holistic specialty labs miss many infections that are nondetectable in fecal specimens, have inconsistent shedding patterns, are extra intestinal or otherwise hard to identify. For example, according to the World Health Organization, over two billion people are infected with worms, yet rarely will they show up in stool assays. (These numbers are not surprising once you realize that the exposure vectors are potentially everything you eat, drink, breathe and touch. If you think you have to leave the country to be exposed to exotic parasites, think again. In fact, try walking into the kitchen of your favorite restaurant and see if the cook speaks English.) At the Research Institute for Infectious Mental Illness we use multiple labs with complementary strengths and a combination of advanced scientific diagnostic procedures including O & P microscopy, multifluid antigen and antibody detection, stool cultures, enzyme immunoassay, mucosal markers, inflammation assays, imaging techniques and other indirect laboratory indicators combined with extensive historical and clinical evaluations to identify chronic infectious stressors. (Patients previously diagnosed with “Chronic Candidiasis” often find that Candida was merely a cofactor or consequence of more significant infections and infestations which created obstacles to long-term cure.) “Mental” symptoms often improve dramatically when hidden neuroimmune infections are treated successfully and normal brain metabolism resumes, especially in “sudden-onset” syndromes. After identifying and treating the primary infections we focus on rebuilding the host’s immunological defenses and mucosal integrity to prevent relapse. Premature nutritional supplementation, even in frank anemia, can be counterproductive since some vitamins and minerals (e.g., iron) can be growth factors for microorganisms which the body intentionally downregulates the uptake of during active infection. But individually formulated subsequent nutritional supplementation is usually essential for full recovery. We also screen patients for heavy metals, environmental chemicals, molds and electromagnetic stressors, “Brain allergies,” food sensitivities, hormone disorders, diet and numerous other variables which can influence cognitive and affective function. To speed recovery, our evidence-based Integral Medicine approach may include appropriate treatments from consulting nutritionists, homeopaths, acupuncturists, herbalists and bodyworkers. The erosion or loss of brain function is arguably the most frightening and disabling experience a person can have. Almost by definition, standard psychological or psychiatric intervention postulates a dichotomy between disorders of the body and those of the mind and has a long way to go in recognizing the importance of infectious etiologies in mental health care. The Research Institute for Infectious Mental Illness provides testing, clinical and consulting services to clients from all over the world and educates professionals in this critical area. Long distance phone consultations are also available. This article may be reprinted by anyone if the RIIMI clinic contact info is listed. ConRead more

Post Treatment Lyme Syndrome Debunked A new scientific research paper questions the legitimacy of “Post Treatment Lyme Syndrome” also known as PTLS “In summary, in this pilot study we demonstrated persistent infection despite antibiotic therapy in 12 North American patients with ongoing symptoms of LD. Cultures were positive in all 12 patients in our study, indicating that the Borrelia spirochetes were replicating and therefore alive. The spirochetes were genetically identified as Bb in a blinded fashion using PCR and gene sequencing in three separate laboratories. In contrast, cultures from control subjects without Lyme disease were negative for Borrelia spirochetes. Our findings provide evidence that persistent infection rather than spirochetal “debris” was at least in part responsible for ongoing symptoms in these cases of Lyme disease, and the results mirror recent observations in a non-human primate model of treated Lyme disease [37]. Larger clinical studies using corroborative techniques are needed to confirm the findings in this pilot study.” http://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/6/2/33/htm This is frightening considering the alarming pace of the disease as illustrated in some projections. “1 million people are predicted to get infected with Lyme disease in the USA in 2018. Given the same incidence rate of Lyme disease in Europe as in the USA, then 2.4 million people will get infected with Lyme disease in Europe in 2018. In the USA by 2050, 55.7 million people (12% of the population) will have been infected with Lyme disease. In Europe by 2050, 134.9 million people (17% of the population) will have been infected with Lyme disease. Most of these infections will, unfortunately, become chronic.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29438352 Another question arises concerning the data demonstrating sexual transmission of the bacteria which commonly occurs in syphilis, also a spirochetal infection. If the standard 8 weeks of antibiotics treatment does not clear out the infection, how likely is it the infection can then be sexually transfered to other individuals? “As expected, all of the control subjects tested negative for Borrelia burgdorferi in cultures of semen samples or vaginal secretions. In contrast, twelve of thirteen patients with Lyme disease had positive cultures for Borrelia burgdorferi in their genital secretions. Furthermore, two of the couples with Lyme disease showed identical strains of the Lyme spirochete in their semen and vaginal secretions, while a third couple showed identical strains of a related Borrelia spirochete in their genital secretions. “The presence of live spirochetes in genital secretions and identical strains in sexually active couples strongly suggests that sexual transmission of Lyme disease occurs,” said Dr. Mayne, who recently published the first comprehensive study of Lyme disease in Australia. “We need to do more research to determine the risk of sexual transmission of this syphilis-like organism.”” https://www.morgellonssurvey.org/news/expanded-study-confirms-lyme-disease-may-sexually-transmitted/ Will this evidence be taken seriously and will the projections decline as a result of action taken? We’re not holding our breath but it would be refreshing.Read more

Expanded Study Confirms that Lyme Disease May Be Sexually Transmitted Content Curated from: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/12/prweb12403459.htm An expanded study confirms that Lyme disease may be sexually transmitted.  Lyme disease is a tickborne infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a type of corkscrew-shaped bacteria known as a spirochete (pronounced spiro’keet). The Lyme spirochete resembles the agent of syphilis, long recognized as the epitome of sexually transmitted diseases. In 2013 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that Lyme disease is much more common than previously thought, with over 300,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States. That makes Lyme disease almost twice as common as breast cancer and six times more common than HIV/AIDS. “Our findings will change the way Lyme disease is viewed by doctors and patients,” said Marianne Middelveen, lead author of the published study. “It explains why the disease is more common than one would think if only ticks were involved in transmission.” The current study, which confirms and expands a preliminary report published in The Journal of Investigative Medicine, was a collaborative effort by an international team of scientists. In addition to Middelveen, a veterinary microbiologist from Canada, researchers included molecular biologists Jennie Burke, Agustin Franco and Yean Wang and dermatologist Peter Mayne from Australia working with molecular biologists Eva Sapi, Cheryl Bandoski, Katherine Filush and Arun Timmaraju, nurse-midwife Hilary Schlinger and internist Raphael Stricker from the United States. In the study, researchers tested semen samples and vaginal secretions from three groups of people: control subjects without evidence of Lyme disease, individual patients who tested positive for Lyme disease, and couples engaging in unprotected sex who tested positive for the disease. As expected, all of the control subjects tested negative for Borrelia burgdorferi in cultures of semen samples or vaginal secretions. In contrast, twelve of thirteen patients with Lyme disease had positive cultures for Borrelia burgdorferi in their genital secretions. Furthermore, two of the couples with Lyme disease showed identical strains of the Lyme spirochete in their semen and vaginal secretions, while a third couple showed identical strains of a related Borrelia spirochete in their genital secretions. “The presence of live spirochetes in genital secretions and identical strains in sexually active couples strongly suggests that sexual transmission of Lyme disease occurs,” said Dr. Mayne, who recently published the first comprehensive study of Lyme disease in Australia. “We need to do more research to determine the risk of sexual transmission of this syphilis-like organism.” Dr. Stricker pointed to the implications for Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment raised by the study. “We have taken Lyme disease out of the woods and into the bedroom,” he said. “We need to start fighting this runaway epidemic just like HIV/AIDS.” Reference: F1000Research 2014;3:309 (http://f1000research.com/articles/3-309/v1). Contact information: Jesus Walker Salas, Union Square MedicaRead more

Morgellons Test Is Fool Proof To begin with, have you ever heard that you can tell if a person has Morgellons or not by having them swish wine around in their mouth and spitting it into a bowl? Is it factual or fictional? Will the Red Wine Test determine if someone has Morgellons, or not? You and your doctor should be able to save time by avoiding the dead-ends discussed in this short article. Why Not The Spit Test? Initially, some people on the internet proposed the “red wine spit test” as a method of eliciting Morgellons. While this test might reveal evidence of oral biofilms in the mouth, the red wine spit test does not demonstrate if filaments are embedded in skin tissue. Morgellons is a skin condition, and the associated filaments do not appear in teeth. For this reason, the red wine spit test will not demonstrate if someone is actually afflicted with Morgellons or not. Since the spit test is not accurate, what is the Gold Standard Morgellons Test in 2021? Accurate Testing In reality, the characteristic subsurface fibers define Morgellons. The fibers themselves are distinguishable, and always much smaller than a human hair from on top of the head. Knowing what these fibers look like, where do we look for them and what do we use? The Fool Proof Morgellons Test Method will have us looking directly in lesions. Although Morgellons patients can be asymptomatic, usually Morgellons becomes problematic during times when ulcerations are present. For the purpose of looking for fibers, here is a how-to guide for photographing Morgellons fibers. Subsurface Fibers Notice that in the following videos you can see the fibers are obviously growing from under the surface of the skin. At times you will see the gleam of the light passing above fibers, demonstrating they are under the skin. Also, in this video you can again see how the subsurface fibers are revealed with this simple and accurate Morgellons Test. Here’s a guide on how to photograph Morgellons which may help. For certain, the red wine Morgellons test is not an effective way to rule out or diagnose Morgellons disease. Tested Positive, What’s Next? Above all, recent research has allowed us to better understand Morgellons. Watch the following conference presentation, Morgellons Demystified to learn more about what we now know. Finally, finding a good doctor who hasn’t been dissuaded from treating Morgellons is a bit of a process. Additionally, one of the best resources to aid in your healing journey is Dr. Ginger Savely’s “Morgellons: The Legitimization of a Disease”. The information contained in this book allows for a better understanding of the facts versus misinformation. Indeed, at just under ten dollars for the Kindle version, how could you afford not to own such a valuable resource? Listen below to an audio excerpt from that Dr. Ginger Savely’s “Morgellons: The Legitimization of a Disease”. Home | Learn | Find a Doctor | Home Testing | Petitions | Shop |Read more

Find A Morgellons Doctor To begin with, life can be frustrating without a Morgellons doctor on your team. Not knowing what medicine to take or how well it’s working is one benefit you’ll miss without a doctor’s expertise. Though it may seem like no doctors know how to treat Morgellons, the fact is more are learning about the condition every day. This article will help you find a knowledgeable physician in your battle against Morgellons. Don’t Go In Alone Many patients reject the notion of seeing a doctor after several bad experiences. But the fact is, things have gotten better recently! Now that we have a good idea of what Morgellons is, more and more doctors are starting to learn how to treat it. Lyme Disease Training Indeed, it’s often the doctors we currently see and trust that will benefit the most from the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation’s ILADEF PHYSICIAN TRAINING PROGRAM. The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, or ILADS, has developed a foundation of understanding through years of experience. With their training materials, your current physician can become knowledgeable about the complexities of tick-borne infections and the current methods of treating them. Lyme Doctor Referral Do you want to see a doctor already practicing the ILADS guidelines? Register on this page to get an email containing a list of ILADS certified physicians in a close radius. Global Lyme Alliance also provides a form for patients to find Lyme literate physicians near your location. Be aware that many Lyme and Morgellons patients travel great distances to see a good doctor they can trust for a positive experience. Functional Medicine Functional Medicine is a new way of practicing healthcare. This form will allow you to find a Functional Medicine Practitioner in your area. Be sure to call the office of the doctors you find and ask them if they are familiar with Morgellons disease specifically. Letter to Psychiatrists and Dermatologists This example letter to Psychiatrists and Dermatologists may help you work with your current team of physicians to either rule out or diagnose and treat and get your life back altogether! Financial Assistance Affording responsible treatment can be difficult, especially without health insurance or with an insurer who will not cover the costs. Fortunately, financial assistance is available for those suffering with Lyme disease. Financial Assistance – Global Lyme Alliance. Here are 7 Organizations That Help You Pay for Lyme Treatment & Testing. Morgellons Doctor Several doctors and scientists researching Morgellons work directly with the ILADS organization. Because of this, Morgellons patients will likely have access to the latest information and study results. It is always recommended to have a trained physician on your team rather than fighting alone. Hopefully, this information will help you build the team you need to succeed in your fight against Morgellons. Home | Learn | Find a Doctor | Home Testing | Petitions | Shop | LinksRead more

Morgellons Disease In Dogs This article curated from PRWEB showcases the findings of a recent scientific study proving Morgellons Disease in Dogs. AUSTIN, TX (PRWEB) OCTOBER XX, 2016 (PRWEB) (PRWEB) DECEMBER 07, 2016 Man’s best friend may help solve another mystery. A new study entitled “Canine Filamentous Dermatitis Associated with Borrelia Infection” reveals that a condition similar to human Morgellons disease can occur in dogs. The study was published in the prestigious Journal of Veterinary Science & Medical Diagnosis. Morgellons disease is an unusual skin condition associated with Lyme disease in humans. It is characterized by skin lesions containing unusual multicolored fibers and symptoms such as fatigue, joint and muscle pain and neurological problems that are typical of Lyme disease. Similar skin lesions have previously been reported in bovine digital dermatitis, an infectious disease of cattle. The dog study was partially funded by the Charles E. Holman Morgellons Disease Foundation (CEHMDF) and was conducted by an international team of researchers, including Calgary microbiologist Marianne Middelveen, San Francisco Internist Dr. Raphael Stricker, molecular biologists Dr. Eva Sapi and Dr. Jennie Burke, and Calgary veterinarians Dr. Gheorghe Rotaru and Dr. Jody McMurray. The dogs in the study presented with unusual fiber-containing skin lesions that lacked other explanations and that failed to respond to non-antibiotic treatments. “Generally-speaking, the fibers we have seen are teal and pink,” explains Dr. Rotaru.“Dogs are hairy, so fibers can be hard to see. Fortunately the fibers fluoresce under UV light, so we have used that diagnostic tool to identify dogs with the skin condition.” Analysis performed by five different laboratories detected the corkscrew-shaped agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, in canine skin tissue by special staining and DNA analysis. Culture studies showed that the Lyme bacteria in skin were alive. Further analysis of the canine skin fibers showed that they were made of the same proteins as human Morgellons disease fibers. Most of the owners of the study dogs were healthy and were not familiar with Morgellons disease or Lyme disease; however, two of the owners also had Morgellons disease. “In those cases, we do not have evidence of contact transmission from human to animal or animal to human,” says Dr. Stricker, “it may be that both owner and dog were exposed to the same disease vector.” “The finding of skin lesions similar to Morgellons disease, first in cattle and now in dogs, confirms that the skin disease is not a delusion, as some have maintained,” said Ms. Middelveen. “We need to learn much more about this mysterious skin condition.” About the Charles E. Holman Morgellons Disease Foundation:The Charles E. Holman Morgellons Disease Foundation based in Austin, TX, is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization committed to advocacy and philanthropy in the battle against Morgellons. Director, Cindy Casey-Holman, RN, leads the foundation, named for her husband, Charles E. Holman, a pioneer in the fight against MD. The CEHMDF is the recognized authority and primary funding source for Morgellons Disease medical-scientific research. There are neither grants, nor any other public or private funding to support research for Morgellons. Donations are tax deductible in the US. To learn more about Morgellons disease go to httpRead more