HARD SCIENCE ON LYME: Straubinger’s New Study Shows How Lyme Bacteria survives
One of the hot topics in Lyme disease is whether the bacteria that causes Lyme disease persists. There are a lot of factors that go into proving this, but one is whether there is a “plausible biological mechanism for persistence.” What this means is whether there is a mechanism in biology that might allow the bacteria to survive. Simply put, the Infectious Diseases Society of America says there isn’t and other researchers disagree. The most recent article on this subject is from Straubinger, who is best known for his research on persistence in dogs. The highlights of the study after the jump. . .
A recent research paper by Straubinger confirms that the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), is capable of transforming itself from a spirochetal form (that looks like a cork screw shaped worm) to a spherical shape when it encounters unfavorable conditions. The study is important because it confirms earlier work by Brorson on the ability of Bb to convert to a spherical shape under adversity and convert back to a spirochete when conditions for survival improved. This ability to convert is thought to protect Bb from the body’s immune system as well as help protect it from antibiotics. These two mechanisms may be instrumental in the ability of Bb to persist in patients. The study also found that intact RNA, which is essential to reproduction, was able to survive the transformation. This latter finding dispels the argument that the spherical form of Bb is merely an artifact or debris from a dead organism.
Al-Robaiy S., Dihazi H., Kacza J., et al. Metamorphosis of Borrelia burgdorferi organisms–RNA, lipid and protein composition in context with the spirochetes’ shape. J Basic Microbiol, 2010, 50 Suppl 1, S5-17.
You can follow additional comments on Lyme policy at www.lymepolicywonk.org. You can contact Lorraine Johnson, JD, MBA at lbjohnson@lymedisease.org.
It has come to the point where if our opponents claimed that there was no sun, that they would deny its existence when it rose the next morning.
This may turn out to be like urban warfare, where we have to fight house to house, claiming a little bit of territory as the evidence slowly comes forth and losing territory to their propoganda.
I wonder if I'll live to see the resolution of this. Thank God there is only one truth, and though it can be obscured, our opponents can not obliterate it.
If I don't make it, I hope to see the IDSA chastised in the afterlife for the horror they are causing to be wrought.
Having married to a man in law enforcement for 40+ years, they must have documented FACTS…proof…before arrests, convictions are made, etc.
With all this EVIDENCE, why isn't the medical community accepting the FACTS? WHY the REFUSAL?
What needs to be done to bring these facts to the attention of those in the position of making changes?
Every Lyme patient is probably asking the same question but it simply doesn't make sense. I've had doctors 'blinded' by 'reports' rather than giving time to investigate the evidence themselves and changed doctors, which saved my life, literally. It's unbelievable that there seems to be 'cronyism' among doctors who swore an oath to protect those unable to protect themselves.
I have had chronic lyme disease for a long time and can not find a dr. to help me. I live in las vegas and after 1000's of dollars no job or insurance I just don't know what to do anymore. I suffer each and everyday . I pray for help but my prayers are noy being answered. hopeless in las vegas
Gloria, you can get Lyme doctor referrals at the LDA website: http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org
Gloria – Touched by Lyme is absolutely correct about getting in touch with the Lyme Disease Assoc, however, you having or not having insurance doesn't matter much. I have insurance and I just got my final appeal denied (case closed) for IV antibiotics. Fortunately for me, we had equity in our home and some credit cards to pay for my successful treatment. I began oral antibiotics in the summer of'08, got my PICC in Apr'09 and it was removed 8 months later. I just celebrated my 1 year anniv Jan'11 of being PICC free, however, I am still in treatment with oral antibiotics. I just started feeling normal a month ago. It's a long haul. I have spent close to $100,000 and am now tapped out, broke.
My insurance company denied me because of the IDSA guidelines and required me to have a positive serological or CSF test. My Lyme test was negative even w/Igenex. They denied me because of this, because I went out of network, and because my treatment with IV's was experimental & investigational (according to them). They got me three ways saying that they had doctors in network who could help me. I had obviously gone that route with no success. If I didn't have Lyme disease like they think, then why did I respond to treatment and get well. If it was anything else, it wouldn't have worked.
My point is that I am so so sorry about your financial situation and not being able to pay for your treatment. There are unfortunately too many people that are in your situation. It's criminal. I just wanted to let you know that even though you have no insurance, that doesn't matter much anyway. I honestly believe that I would have died by the end of '08 if I didn't begin treatment. We had no idea at the time what we were in for with this diagnosis.
There are fabulous Lyme Literate Medical Doctors out there. Since we are now completely broke and no room to budge, my biggest fear is a relapse. Even if I'm well for several years, if I relapse, we have no funds for further treatment. We will take this medical debt to our grave.
It's terrible that insurance companies act like Big Business instead of a HealthCare Company they claim to be. It's medical neglect, and it's such a dis-service. I wish all of us Lyme sufferers who have been through treatment are are well enough could do some sort of fundraising to help people such as yourself. You deserve to not be in this position and deserve medical help. It's not like we all went out and participated in risky behavior that got us sick. Being bitten by a tick was totally out of our control.
If anyone who reads this has any fundraising ideas or even know how to do it, please comment on who to contact.
I wish you the very best Gloria. Eat as healthy as you can such as no sugar, gluten, simple carbs and add in tons of water, fresh veggies, fruit, and protein. Be kind to yourself and do things that make you happy.
Gloria,
Another thing to look into are various home-based protocols using herbs instead of antibiotics. Many are getting well this way instead of with antibiotics.
Byron White formulas, Dr. J (hansacenter.com)'s formulas, S.H. Buhner's herbs, etc. – all these protocols are helping people. I urge you to consider going outside the box for your treatment…herbal protocols are usually less expensive than the IV antibiotics anyway, and may be more effective at moving you towards long-term healing/recovery.
Take care,
-Razzle
The public library has all sorts of books on this subject. "The top ten lyme diesease treatments" by Bryan Rosner is an excellent source of alternative remedies.
I saw this really great post today! Good share, great article, very usefull for us…thanks.
I keep hearing fellow lymies talk about a sugar connection with lymes. Does anyone know where I could read more on that? Have noticed if I eat more sugar, I get a high pain response. Would just like to know more scientific explanation of this.
Linda, re your sugar question, I believe it causes clumping of white blood cells such that our immune response gets weaker. I watched this happen under a microscope once at a health expo – the booth person added sugar to the blood sample and we watched the immune cells clump.
In a conversation that I had in 2004 in San Francisco wit prof. Lida Mattman she told me how she was the first to develop a culture medium boor the Borrelia spirochete. This enabled her to do some tests. Putting a Bb cyste into this medium in a petri dish, it developed into an adult spirochete. Dosing the spirochetal bacterium with a antibiotic it immediately changed into a cell wall deficient cyst again. This is Bb’s survival technique so as to be able to hide from this substance.
Putting this new Borrelia cyst into a fresh culture medium, several spirochetes developed, each of these immune to the antibiotic that had been used…
Prof Mattman (80+) went on telling me her lab had been shut down after she had discovered with dr. Joanne Whitaker that a 100 patients with diagnoses like MS, ME, ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALL in reality had Lyme! Some time after this shut-down she had been threatened in her office by a guy with a gun telling her that from then on she also was prohibited to help individual doctors defining a Bb infection in their patients.
After her death her Gold Standard borrelia Test, based on DNA of the spirochete, and therefore conclusive, has disappeared. The other DNA based test, the QRibb of dr. Joanne Whitaker, cannot be found either anymore.
So my conclusion is that a diagnosis of Lyme disease should lead to neuroborreliosis phase 3, since the official IDSA condoned tests are leading NOWHERE!
In 1982-1985 only the spiral form of Borrelia burgdorferi or
of any Borrelia species was known.
In 1985, MacDonald reported the idenification of Cystic forms
of borrelia [ also known as Round body forms]
while studying a case of Alzheimer’s disease.
He reported this in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
in year 1988-9 in the now famous Lyme monograph issue [vol 539]
The evidence for the Cystic form of borrelia came from three lines of
evidence:
1. Direct microscopic identification of Cystic borrelia in fresh Alzheimer
brain fingerprint monolayers [ touch preparations] which revealed
the Borrelia Cysts to be immunoreactiive with the Barbour Murine
monoclonal antibody H9724 [Borrelia specific across all borrelia strains
with no cross reation with any other life form bacterial or human}
2. Direct microscopic identification of Cystic borrelia by silver staining
technique in Alzheimer brain tissue [ a first of its kind observation]
3. Direct identification of spiral borrelia forms in Alzheimer brain tissue
using the barbour Murine Monoclonal Antibody H5332 [ absolutely specific
for Burgdorferi type Borrelia and excluding all other strains of borrelia
and also non reactive with any life form – bacterial or human]
Commencing in 1990, Dr Oystein Brorson idenified cystic borrelia by electron
microscopy in a human spinal fluid from a patient with multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Oystein Brorson and his cousin Dr Sverre Henning Brorson over the Next
decade did the ultimate systematic study of the electron microscopic structure
of Cystic borrelia. In his final manuscript with Dr Lynn Margules, Dr. Brorson
acccepted the change in name from “cystic” to “round body” forms of borrelia.
the change in name had no change in the known biology of Cystic forms.
Cystic forms can regenerate spiral forms of borrelia. Cystic forms can divide
just like spiral borrelia can divide. Cystic forms can produce blebs, just like spiral forms can produce blebs. Cystic forms can hibernate and survive adverse conditions in which spiral forms cannot survive. Cystic forms can contain
internal content of large numbers of Granular borrelia.
Granular borrelia are the smallest form of borrelia known to contain the
complete chromosome and 21 plasmids. Granular borrelia can regenerate
spiral motile borrelia. Granular borrelia have been found in ACA skin lesions,
and in biofilms of borrelia. Granular Borrelia exlain the GVB degeneration
characteristic of Alzheime’s disease ,in which the infected nerve cells
are killled from the “inside / Out “.