Small Vessel Ischemic Disease
Small vessel ischemic disease is a cousin of stroke, says Conway. Its basically injury that occurs to areas of the brain because of hardenings of the small arteries, he says.
Also called cerebral small vessel disease, this condition can cause disability, abnormal gait, urinary incontinence, and cognitive decline. On an MRI, the changes that small vessel ischemic disease causes can look like spots that could be mistaken for MS spots, says Conway.
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How To Remove A Tick
If you find a tick attached to you or your pet you should remove it quickly.
If you have trouble removing the tick you can try using a piece of dental floss or a credit card. For small or stubborn ticks you may need to contact your doctor. Dont rip the tick off or the head will remain and you will then need to dig it out like a splinter.
Dont use a hot match, it can cause the tick to secrete saliva increasing your risk of disease. Once youve removed the tick dispose of it properly like flushing it down the toilet. You could also save the tick in a jar with rubbing alcohol for identification later if you get sick.
Symptoms of Lyme disease:
- Swollen lymph nodes
Lyme disease usually appears with a bulls eye rash up to two weeks after being bit. But not everyone shows noticeable symptoms. It is hard to diagnose since blood tests can often give a false result. Normally, doctors prescribe antibiotics in the early stages. If its been more than three weeks the odds of recovery are less likely.
Unfortunately, antibiotics kill the good bacteria in your gut. Patients with multiple sclerosis have a poor balance of gut bacteria. The imbalanced gut microbiome can lead to:
- Antibiotic resistance
- Chronic immune dysfunction
- Yeast overgrowth
Can Lyme Disease Be Sexually Transmitted
First of all, if you have been treated for Lyme disease, even if your Western blot is positive, it is very unlikely that there are any spirochetes still circulating in your bodily fluids. Second, there is no good documentation that Lyme disease can be contracted by sexual contact. Given the number of cases of Lyme disease that have been diagnosed over the last 20 years and the fact that there are have been instances where people with active infection are having sexual intercourse but have not yet been treated, one would expect there to be many well documented cases of suspect partner to partner transmission this is not the case. Therefore, for all these reasons, it is highly unlikely that a person could acquire Lyme disease through unprotected intercourse or other sexual contact.
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What Is The Significance Of Band 41 On The Igm And Igg Western Blot It Is Not Lyme Specific And The Cdc Requires More Bands To Be Present Before A Diagnosis However It Is A Band For Bacteria So What Else Could Cause That To Be Positive If Not Lyme
The 41 kd band is often found on the Western blot. We did a study where we looked at the banding patterns of patients with chronic Lyme disease and healthy controls from the inner city of NY who have never had Lyme disease. We found that a large percentage of the healthy controls tested positive on the 41kd band. For that reason, we dont feel the 41kd band has much clinical signfiicance in guiding us as to whether a person has been exposed to the agent of Lyme disease. One reason a positive 41 kd band might emerge is that our mouths contain non-pathogenic spirochetes it is conceivable that some may seed the blood stream periodically and lead to the positive 41kd immune responses.
Can Parasites Cause Pain
A parasite may invade a specific organ or migrate through several organs. One common cause that leads to physical pain, especially in the abdominal region, is when patients present with acute abdominal pain due to inflammation in the bowels, bile ducts, and/or intestine. A parasite infestation may also induce a cyst formation that could be complicated with rupture, superinfection, or mass effect, each causing extreme levels of pain in patients.
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Is Multiple Sclerosis A Symptom Of Lyme Disease
. and why is there no current ongoing aggressive human pathology being done in Canada specific to looking for Lyme in patients diagnosed with MS considering that Canada has some of the highest per capita rates of MS in the world?
Lyme on the Brain Lecture Notes of Tom Grier
MS and SpirochetesIn every Lyme disease support group in this country , there have always been at least one multiple sclerosis, MS, patient who turned out to have Lyme disease, and was recovering on antibiotics. But if this is true why is there is no documented connection between spirochetes and M.S.? As it turns out there are more than 50 such MS-spirochete references prior to World War II and going back to as far as 1911, and published in such prestigious journals as the Lancet.
1911 Buzzard Spirochetes in MS Lancet
1913 Bullock MS Agent in Rabbits Lancet
1917 Steiner Spirochetes The Cause of MS Med Kiln
1918 Simmering Spirochetes in MS by Darkfield Micro
1918 Steiner G. Guinea Pig Inoculation with MS infectious agent from Human
1919 Steiner MS Agent Inoculation into Monkeys
1921 Gye F. MS Agent In Rabbits Brain 14:213
1922 Kaberlah MS Agent In Rabbits Deutch Med Works
1922 Sicard MS Spirochetes in Animal Model Rev Neurol
1922 Stepanopoulo Spirochetes in the CSF of MS Patients
1923 Shhlossman MS Agent in Animal Model Rev Neuro
1924 Blacklock MS Agent in Animals J. of Path and Bac
1927 Wilson The Rat as A Carrier of MS British Med Journal
1927 Steiner G Understanding the Pathogenesis of MS
At What Point Do I Stop Antibiotics For The Psychological Symptoms Of Lyme Disease And Conclude That These Symptoms Will Not Go Away
The cause of the psychological symptoms in Lyme disease is unclear. It is clear that patients with acute Lyme disease who develop new onset depressive symptoms or irritability or cognitive disturbances often show a remarkable improvement when given antibiotic therapy. If the psychological symptoms persist or if the initial symptoms are severe, it is very important to consult with a psychiatrist to evaluate how best to treat these symptoms apart from the antibiotic therapy. When symptoms continue even after a repeated course of antibiotic therapy, this could be due to the fact that an activated immune system results in a change in neurotransmitter functioning. As a result, the altered neurotransmitter function may contribute to ongoing depressive symptoms, even after the immune system is no longer activated. Treatment of the psychiatric symptoms at that point would require anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medications or psychotherapy.
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Lyme Disease: Questions & Answers
What is Lyme Disease?Lyme disease is caused by bacteria spread by infected deer ticks. Both people and animals can be infected with Lyme disease. Lyme disease can be serious if untreated, but it is not fatal. If you have possibly been exposed to ticks between May and early autumn, and you develop Lyme disease symptoms, especially a bullseye or doughnut-shaped rash, see a doctor right away. Early treatment can prevent later problems.
What are the symptoms of Lyme Disease? Early stage: An early symptom of Lyme disease is usually, but not always, a rash where the tick was attached. Often the tick isn’t even noticed, and it drops off before the rash appears. The rash first appears anywhere from three days to a month after the bite. It starts as a small red area then spreads, often clearing in the center to look like a doughnut or ring. Other skin signs can include burning or itching, hives, redness of the cheeks and under the eyes,and swollen eyelids with bloodshot eyes. Flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscles aches, fatigue and swollen glands are also common. The symptoms often go away by themselves after a few weeks, but the person remains infected. Without medical treatment, the rash returns in about half of infected people, appearing in other places on their bodies, followed by more serious problems later. Treatment with antibiotics clears up the rash within days and often prevents later problems.
Parasites And Multiple Sclerosis: Whats The Connection
Researchers and physicians have observed an increase in autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis , over the last several decades. In fact, MS is the most common non-traumatic cause of neurological disability in young adults in developed countries. As the cause of MS is still unknown and there is no cure, an emerging body of evidence points to a causal link between parasitic infestations and multiple sclerosis.
MS is considered an autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system the brain and spinal cord. It is thought that the immune system mistakenly attacks myelin, a fatty tissue that surrounds and protects nerves. This impacts the nerves ability to send and receive messages to and from the brain, spinal cord and the rest of the body. MS is unpredictable, disabling, and degenerative.
Current evidence continues to build and validate that parasites are the cause of multiple sclerosis. Though the specific infections have yet to be fully researched and accepted by health authorities, the evidence is growing too loud to ignore.
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Medical Research Hidden From The Public
It’s a familiar fate of innovators in medical science – victims of the Semmelweis reflex, an expression of mob behavior amongst primates. Ignace Philipp Semmelweis met a similar fate, as well as many others before and after him. The problem with medicine is the fact that it’s based on dogma’s, adhered to by people of mostly barely above-average intelligence.
Here is recent research showing that MS is in fact Lyme disease – download them, print them and show them to your “expert” – likely to no avail:
1986 : Relapsing fever/Lyme disease – Multiple sclerosis. Medical Hypotheses, volume 21, issue 3, pages 335-343
2000 : Lyme borreliosis and Multiple sclerosis: Any Connection? A Seroepidemic study. Ann Agric Environ Med. issue 7, 141-143
Synopsis: 10 out of 26 MS patients tested positive for Lyme borreliosis. Notes how it is virtually impossible to make a distinction between late stage Lyme disease and Multiple sclerosis, not even with MRI. Diagnosis of MS vs. late stage neuroborreliosis are guesswork – there are no reliable tests for either. Conclusion: Multiple sclerosis may often be associated with Borrelia infection.
2001 : Association between Multiple sclerosis and Cystic Structures in Cerebrospinal Fluid. Infect 29:315
2004 : Chronic Lyme borreliosis at the root of Multiple sclerosis – is a cure with antibiotics attainable?
2009 : Controversies in late Neuroborreliosis and Multiple sclerosis – case series
Lyme Disease Misdiagnosed As Multiple Sclerosis
The following articles compiled by LymeInfo provide information about Lyme disease being misdiagnosed as Multiple Sclerosis. The differential diagnosis can be tricky, as Lyme tests can be falsely negative. Disseminated Lyme disease is also very complicated to treat. Therefore, it is important for those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis to be thoroughly evaluated by a physician skilled at diagnosing Lyme disease. After reviewing the below articles, please browse around the Lyme Info website to learn more about Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Be sure to visit our Lyme Disease Diagnosis & Treatmentpage. The list below is merely an introduction and does not cover all articles on this topic.
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What Is Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is a condition transmitted from the bite of a black-legged or deer tick. When a tick attaches to you, it can transfer a spirochete bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. The longer the tick is on you, the more likely you are to get Lyme disease.
Ticks live in areas lush with tall grasses and woods. Theyre most common in the Northeast and upper Midwest of the United States. Anyone is susceptible to Lyme disease. There are at least
Lyme Disease And Ms Can Overlap
Canadian researchers found that a small percentage of MS patients tested positive for Lyme disease.
Lyme disease can cause neurological symptoms, some of which overlap with clinical and radiological findings in multiple sclerosis.
Reporting at the ACTRIMS Forum in New Orleans, LA, Peggy Cook of Saint John Regional Hospital in New Brunswick, Canada and colleagues set out to see how many of the regions MS patients had Lyme disease.
Since serological testing for Lyme is problematic in that Borrelia species and strains are regionally specific and have different neurotropism they performed a single-center epidemiological study.
The tested for Borrelia using a both a C6 ELISA and Western Blot test in both the MS patients and a healthy control group.
The MS patients were 90 people, mean age 51, of whom 73% were women. Overall, 21 of the 90 patients reported tick exposure. Lyme is spread in Atlantic Canada by ticks called lxodes scapularis, or black-legged ticks.
Of the 90 patients, 7.8% were positive for Lyme.
Among this MS cohort in Atlantic Canada, a low percentage of patients had a reactive Lyme EIA and all Western blots were negative, the team concluded.
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Lyme Disease Vs Multiple Sclerosis : Differences In Symptoms Causes And Treatment
Its important to do a comparison of Lyme disease vs. multiple sclerosis as the two do have much in common. At the same time, they both have their own unique differences that distinguish one from another.
Lyme disease is caused by a bite from a deer tick or black-legged tick, which transfer Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. The longer a tick is attached to you, the higher your risk of developing Lyme disease is.
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder in which the bodys immune system attacks the myelin, a protective coating around the nerves and spinal cord. As myelin deteriorates, it damages the nerves and spinal cord, thus causing the MS symptoms.
Lyme disease may present itself like multiple sclerosis, but there are distinctive differences, which we will outline to help you decipher between the two.
Lyme Disease Vs Ms: Risk Factors
One of the risk factors for Lyme disease is being in wooded, grassy areas for prolonged periods of time, especially in the Northeast and Midwest parts of America where deer ticks are more prevalent. Other risk factors include exposing skin in such environments and not removing a tick properly once one has latched onto you. As mentioned, the longer the tick is attached, the greater the risk of Lyme disease.
Risk factors for multiple sclerosis include age, being female, having a family history of multiple sclerosis, having certain infections like Epstein-Barr, being white or of Northern European descent, living in temperate climates, already having another autoimmune disease, and smoking.
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Lyme Disease And Ms: Often Confused
In order to get a definite diagnosis of either Lyme disease or multiple sclerosis, doctors will have to conduct several tests, including blood tests, to confirm diagnosis of either one. Symptoms alone may be quite confusing.
Although it is unlikely that a patient has both Lyme disease and MS, the possibility is still there. Lyme disease symptoms may appear like multiple sclerosis, causing confusion at first. It is only with an MRI scan and spinal tap that the doctors can confirm or deny a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
What Does The Research Tell Us
There is an obvious overlap in symptoms with both MS and Lyme disease. The MS-Lyme disease connection has been studied as far back as 1911. In 1957 Time Magazine published a story on a Philadelphia-based bacteriologist who reported success in cultivating an obscure microbe, a spirochete, which she found in the spinal fluid of MS victims. She believed multiple sclerosis could be caused by the spirochete and early treatment could lead to cure or alleviation. Make sure to check our big article What Causes Multiple Sclerosis ?.
In the documentary Under Our Skin Dr. Klinghardt states, We never hadin the last five years a single MS patientwho did not test positive for Borrelia burgdorferi. Not a single one.
Please watch the video I created below for a closer look at the infections involved with Lyme disease, and how theyre related to multiple sclerosis. And please share with anyone who could benefit from this information!
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Conversion And Psychogenic Disorders
Conversion and psychogenic disorders are conditions in which psychological stress is converted into a physical problem such as blindness or paralysis for which no medical cause can be found. In a study published in September 2016 in the journal Neurology, 11 percent of subjects definitely or probably misdiagnosed with MS actually had a conversion or psychogenic disorder.
Although this misdiagnosis can be made, generally these disorders dont have MRI changes associated with them, so that would argue against MS, says Conway. Some of these patients might have incidental MRI changes that are not really consistent with MS, but they have the spots and they have the symptoms, and so they can get misdiagnosed.
Lyme Disease Vs Ms: Causes And Transmission
Lyme disease is caused by a bite from the Ixodes scapularis, or deer tick. These ticks are not inherently infected with Lyme disease, but rather they get it from feeding on an affected animal. These ticks can be found in wooded lands and prefer damp areas underneath trees. Because ticks are so tiny, it is difficult to notice that they are on you, let alone that they bite you, so its important that you cover your body and check yourself every so often if you are going out for a hike.
Tick populations are higher in the East, Midwest, and West coast, but can be found all across the U.S.
There is some debate about how long it takes a tick to infect a person. Some experts suggest its up to 24 hours from attachment, and others believe its even less than that. Essentially, the longer a tick is attached to you, the higher your risk of developing Lyme disease is.
The cause for multiple sclerosis is largely unknown, but what is known is that it is an autoimmune disease in which the bodys own immune system begins to wrongfully attack itself. In multiple sclerosis, the target for attack is the myelin, which is the protective coating around nerve fibers and the spinal cord. Genetic and environmental factors have been credited as possible causes for multiple sclerosis.
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