NEWS: Blumenthal hearing gives voice to Lyme patients’ frustrations

NEWS: Blumenthal hearing gives voice to Lyme patients’ frustrations

31st August 2012

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“What more needs to happen before this illness is taken seriously?” asked one speaker at the Connecticut hearing

Press release from Lyme Research Alliance (formerly Time for Lyme):
Stamford, CT August 31, 2012
At a crowded U.S. Senate field hearing chaired yesterday by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, Lyme disease patients, researchers, and health care providers expressed frustration about the lack of progress in preventing, diagnosing and combating Lyme, the fastest-growing vector-borne infectious disease in the U.S.
“What more needs to happen before this illness is taken seriously?” asked Katy Reid, of Ridgefield, one of three Lyme sufferers who spoke at the hearing. Reid, the facilitator of a support group for chronically ill young adults with tick-borne diseases, said she had first testified at a Lyme disease hearing in 2004 with then-Attorney General Blumenthal. Now, eight years later, she said she wonders “how many times we can document the pain of constituents without change.”
Reid and the others who spoke at the hearing held at the University of Connecticut, Stamford told Blumenthal that there is an urgent need for a reliable diagnostic test for Lyme and research into new treatments. Mark Hopwood, of Trumbull, said that over 18 months, he went to 10 different doctors before receiving the proper diagnosis. “I was erroneously diagnosed with everything from a sinus infection to a tumor that required brain surgery,” he said. Dwight Harris, of Burlington, said it took him 14 years before he was finally diagnosed by a Lyme literate doctor. During that period, his condition “deteriorated to the point that I did not want to live,” he said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, there were 30,000 cases of Lyme in 2009, but the CDC acknowledges the actual number may be over ten times as high due to underreporting. In May, a study published in the Journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the number of Lyme disease cases continues to increase across the Northeast and Midwest even though the deer population, the dominant host for disease-carrying ticks, has stayed fairly flat.
Last year Sen. Blumenthal introduced the bipartisan Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act, that would establish a federal advisory committee on Lyme issues, increase educational and research efforts and provide more resources to fight the illness. The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) who also testified at yesterday’s hearing. She said the lack of a reliable test for tick-borne diseases has led to a “crisis that has gone ignored for far too long.”
Blumenthal said he hoped yesterday’s hearing would “galvanize” Congressional support for the legislation, but moving it forward during the current session is unlikely. “Lyme disease is a pervasive and pernicious public health disaster,” he said. “Inadequate diagnosis and reporting cause devastating damage to countless individuals every day. This hearing further underscored the urgent need for a strong national initiative to combat Lyme disease.”
After the hearing, Lyme Research Alliance (formerly Time for Lyme) co-president Diane Blanchard said she was pleased that the Senate held the hearing to provide legislators with a more in-depth understanding of the issues. “We look forward to the day when we have a reliable diagnostic tool and can save hundreds of thousands of people from needless suffering,” she said. “In the meantime, the work of the private sector in raising funds to better understand and tackle this complex disease becomes more important than ever.”
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Bruce Alexander: More must be done to combat Lyme disease

Deer ticks - also known as a sheep ticks - can cause Lyme disease in humans. Picture: PA

Published on Friday 31 August 2012 00:00

HAVING spent most of my working life developing methods for controlling serious insect-borne diseases in tropical countries, I’ve been surprised to return to find Scotland grappling with its own home-grown tick-borne threat.

Ticks are found throughout Scotland, living in wooded or bushy areas or among heather and bracken. They attach themselves to the skin and feed on blood. During feeding, ticks can transmit a range of infectious agents including the one causing Lyme disease or “borreliosis”, which, without prompt treatment with antibiotics, can cause debilitating long-term health problems.
Confirmed cases of Lyme disease are rising rapidly, with Scotland’s chief medical officer reporting an elevenfold increase in the past decade. Unfortunately, it’s notoriously difficult to diagnose and the symptoms are often mistaken for other conditions. Consequently, many sufferers are not tested so the true number of Scots affected is potentially far higher than the 304 cases recorded in 2010.
A recent audit of patients at a Perthshire Medical Practice found a ratio of confirmed cases equivalent to 125 per 100,000 people. Applying this ratio across Scotland, there could be around 6,500 people contracting Lyme disease each year, the vast majority going undiagnosed and untreated.
Our own public survey has found almost two in three Scots think the information currently available about ticks and Lyme disease is “inadequate” or “non-existent”. I could also recount many horror stories of people who have spent years coping with this disease and struggling to access effective diagnosis and treatment.
More and more Scots actively enjoy healthy outdoor pursuits. The key to staying safe is to have the equipment to remove ticks properly and to seek a rapid diagnosis if you think you’ve been bitten by an infected tick. Meanwhile, Scottish ministers must do more to inform the public about the dangers and how to stay safe. That way, we can all continue enjoying Scotland’s great outdoors while avoiding the growing threat of Lyme disease.

• Dr Bruce Alexander is a research entomologist and managing director of life sciences company Xeroshield.

anonymous

4:40 PM on 31/08/2012

Thank you Sctosman for an excellent article. This problem is not unique to Scotland here in Surrey there are an increasing number of ticks particularly noticeable in recent years.
When I was infected in 2003 I had never read or heard that we could get Lyme disease here in the UK and Authorities need to raise awareness.
It took 4 years of chronic arthritis and muscle weakness before my doctor realised it could be Lyme Disease and many months of antibiotics to recover my health and my life. There are a number of patients in my locality Guildford diagnosed with Lyme Disease.

As early as 1990 Steere recognised that 10% of patients even with early treatment went on to develop on going symptoms.
The controversy over those ongoing symptoms remains polarised nearly 30 years later with reknown researchers with 25 years experience with this spirochetal infection Borrelia still not able to decide when ongoing symptoms is Persisient infection ( Borrelia has many mechanisms to evade the immune system and antibiotics), Auto Immune reaction to remaining spirochetal debris, complications due to other co infections untreated, or repeated infections.

Sadly though despite considerable research in this field our Infectious Diseases experts in UK and various other Consultants stick rigidly to current NHS restricted guidance, completely oblivious to the emerging science on this disease. So patients are likely to get a maximum of two weeks antibiotics and then dismissed as the remaining symptoms are now magically something else or all in your head.

When these consultants start using the brains they needed to qualify they will realise how silly they are being ignoring the science. However when those Consultants and Doctors find themselves or their loved ones infected and not cured on a couple of weeks antibiotics they turn their back on NHS treatment and travel abroad to see specialist doctors privately who are prepared to treat them on long courses of antibiotics. Do their colleagues listen and learn sadly no.

So until doctors start doing their research and listening to their colleagues with personal experience of Lyme Disease then the best we have is awareness so that people can protect themselves, remove the tick promptly and correctly and seek early medical attention from a doctor who knows more than most about this nasty disease.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Blumenthal Chairs Senate Hearing In State On Lyme Disease Prevention, Hears From Senate Colleague, Patients And Experts

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Read the testimony from our panel of patients and experts here.

(Hartford, Conn.) – Today, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) chaired a U.S. Senate field hearing on the federal response to Lyme disease in his capacity as a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. This hearing, which was widely attended by patients, researchers, and health care providers from the northeast, explored next steps the federal government must take to combat Lyme disease, and how the patient perspective can assist in this effort.

“Today’s field hearing emphasized the importance of putting politics aside and bringing all stakeholders together in the fight against Lyme,” said Blumenthal who has been a leader in the fight against Lyme disease throughout his career and a strong advocate for patients with the disease. He introduced the bipartisan Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act (S. 1381) during his first year as a U.S. Senator, legislation that would raise awareness about Lyme disease, support diagnostic research, and provide more resources to fight the illness

Blumenthal added, “Lyme disease is a pervasive and pernicious public health disaster that is aggressively spreading to other regions of the country. This hearing further underscored the urgent need for a strong national initiative to combat Lyme disease. Today there was strong consensus that the nation must improve reporting of Lyme cases and develop better diagnostic tools. Inadequate diagnosis and reporting cause devastating damage to countless individuals every day. The disease has reached epidemic proportions, and a national advisory body that gives patients a voice and a seat at the table with policymakers, scientists, researchers and others is imperative to better prevent and treat this disease. I will continue to fight for a bill that will establish such a body, along with other reforms.”

The hearing included three panels. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) – a powerful voice in the fight against Lyme disease –testified on the first panel. Senator Gillibrand provided her perspective on the actions that are needed to fight Lyme disease as a legislator representing the state of New York – a state that has one of the highest incidences of Lyme disease in the country.

“Summer is in full swing, and there is nothing better than enjoying the weather outside with friends and family. But the joy of a summer day can too easily turn deadly from Lyme disease that's taken too many of our loved ones,” said Gillibrand. “It's time once and for all to take the right steps to prevent this horrible disease. We need to do more than check our kids for ticks when they come in from playing. We must invest in better research, educate families on the risks and emphasize prevention, and improve treatment strategies. This bill would develop better tools for diagnosing and reporting Lyme disease, and ensure doctors are better equipped to diagnose and treat those who become infected.”

Three patients testified on the second panel – Mark Hopwood of Trumbull, Dwight Harris of Burlington, and Katy Reid of Ridgefield. They discussed their experience as Lyme disease patients and the need for a patient voice in the prevention, research, and treatment discussion.

Three Lyme disease experts testified on the third panel – Dr. Kirby Stafford, a medical-veterinary entomologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station who is an expert on controlling the blacklegged tick that transmit the agents of Lyme disease, Dr. Amiram Katz, an assistant clinical professor of neurology at the Yale University School of Medicine who specializes in the treatment of Lyme disease, and Dr. Joann Petrini, the Director of Clinical Outcomes and Health Services Research in the Department of Medical Education and Research at Western Connecticut Health Network and an integral member of the Lyme Disease Registry Team.

Dr. Stafford spoke about the prevalence of tick-borne illness and the need for better prevention efforts. Dr. Katz spoke about different clinical manifestations of Lyme, the challenges posed by long-term Lyme symptoms, and the need to remain open-minded in considering how to treat the disease. And finally, Dr. Petrini spoke about ongoing research efforts and the need for patient-centered, comprehensive investigations into Lyme disease.

http://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/lymedisease

British Government Transfers all Lyme Disease testing to Biowarfare Centre

an article in two parts
by Elena Cook

Part I

This year, 2012, will go down in the history of Lyme Disease as the Year of Hope. Why? Let me explain.

Most of us in the patient community are aware that Lyme Disease has been the subject of a disinformation campaign for many decades. Ever since the day in 1975 when an officer of the Epidemic Intelligence Service [1] called Allen C. Steere, MD walked into an outbreak of an unknown disease in the small town of Lyme, Connecticut, ignored the detailed evidence of Polly Murray and other local victims and subsequently proclaimed Lyme Disease a self-limiting viral illness, the world has had nothing but dishonesty and deceit from those entrusted with protecting public health.

From the Eighties onwards, it became obvious that increasing numbers of people were suffering a severe and chronic form of the illness, far removed from the dismissive description of Steere. It became known that Lyme was bacterial, not viral (and therefore potentially treatable with antibiotics).

The Steere camp and American public health authorities responded by downplaying the amount of treatment needed, and ignored peer-reviewed evidence of a growing epidemic. Instead, CDC [2] declared that Lyme Disease was confined to just a few regions of the US, whilst in other countries, such as Britain, nothing was said at all.

Severe, crippling neurological borreliosis, as experienced by so many Lyme victims even after the 'adequate' doses of antibiotics they had received, was declared rare. Finally, following the publication by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) of its guidelines in 2006, US public health agencies, with Europe in tow, announced that chronic Lyme Disease actually did not exist at all.

Those who believed they had it were either imagining their symptoms, or had other psychological problems, or perhaps had another illness altogether. Even if the symptoms were identical to those they had suffered when diagnosed with Lyme under Steere camp protocols.

Why on earth would the public health apparatus of modern technologically-advanced countries ignore hard, peer-reviewed evidence of persistent infection, of brain-disabling pathology? In some cases Steere camp doctors ignored their own published findings of a few years before, writing new articles which contradicted the old, though never explaining their sudden about-face.

Doctors and scientists who raised the issue of persistence, of chronic Lyme infection of the central nervous system were at best ignored. At worst they were vilified, persecuted, driven out of their professions. A few committed suicide.

In the mid-Nineties, with American cases spiralling out of control, CDC devised so-called 'surveillance criteria' (where the parameters are deliberately set so as to exclude all but the most absolutely definite cases, at the cost of generating many false negatives) . Immediately afterward these blood testing criteria, far from being restricted to 'surveillance' purposes, came to be imposed on all Lyme patients in the US and abroad. The CDC's two-tier testing protocol relies on a 'screening' ELISA test followed by a 'confirmatory' Western Blot for those with a positive ELISA only - a system so insensitive that experienced clinicians from ILADS [3] estimate it misses half of cases. Antigens (the proteins which elicit an immune response) on the Western Blot, which were considered so specific to Lyme Disease that they were the basis of vaccine research, suddenly disappeared off the strip altogether. The multitude of evidence showing why, in chronic Lyme patients, the immune system might not react to the antigens present was ignored.

Why was the testing protocol so suddenly changed by the US public health authorities, with a knock-on effect in Europe and elsewhere?

Suddenly chronic Lyme victims were dropping out of the statistics, their disease now 'ruled out' by the negative test. And with it, treatment, care, indeed hope itself seemed to be 'ruled out'. Persistence was a myth, proclaimed the Steere camp, whilst their manipulated testing protocols appeared to prove it.

Not long after the 2006 IDSA guidelines sealed the fate of Lyme patients around the world, a California-based film crew arrived at the home of Willy Burgdorfer, the 'grandfather' of Lyme credited with discovering its cause. The interview had been pre-arranged with Burgdorfer, who had retired from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) years previously. Nevertheless when the 'Under Our Skin' film crew arrived they found their way blocked by an NIH scientist, who told them they could not go in without him. 'You cannot discuss just anything with him,' the scientist said. 'This comes from the highest levels.' And specifically: 'You cannot discuss persistence.'

Lyme patients, some bed-ridden, nearly all pain-ridden, fatigue-ridden, brain-fogged from a complex and virulent disease which turned young into old almost overnight, struggled to understand what was going on. Why were these government-backed 'experts' so intransigent, so close-minded? Why so arrogantly pig-headed in their denial of the truth? A truth that was so painfully obvious to the patients themselves, as well as the ILADS doctors and professionals involved in their day-to-day care.

Was it egotism? The Flat Earth Syndrome? Scientists simply refusing to accept that they had got it wrong, because it was just too embarrassing to say so?

Was it financial skulduggery? It was not hard to see that the mighty insurance industry had a massive stake in falsifying the facts, or that it often called on the services of doctors such as Allen Steere and Eugene Shapiro to justify their refusal to pay for long-term treatment.

Further, as the film 'Under Our Skin' made clear, there were others with motives too: financial stake-holders in vaccines; patent-holders; the real estate industry who might lose millions if it were known that the lovely woodlands surrounding some of their properties were actually hotbeds of eight-legged vermin harbouring a nasty, brain-tunnelling infectious disease.

Armed with reams of evidence gathered by patients, Connecticut Attorney-General Richard Blumenthal demanded an enquiry into the hated IDSA guidelines, used round the world. It was an unprecedented move. The IDSA agreed to review the recommendations drawn up in 2006. They had been written by a Lyme committee composed entirely of Steerites, some with glaring financial conflicts of interest. This time, IDSA promised, a new, independent review panel would be convened,and would even submit to vetting by a leading Professor of Ethics to ensure no one was chosen who had a potential monetary incentive to lie.

Both sides were invited to submit their case, and the new panel, apparently impartial, settled down to many long months of deliberating. The Lyme world held its breath.

At the time, I wrote a piece warning that the decision would not be in our favour. Nevertheless, many in the Lyme community were shocked when the news came in. The impartial panel had reached its verdict. We were wrong. The Denialists were right. The Denialists had always been right.

It is impossible to fight a battle if you do not understand just who, or what, your enemy is. Yes, the insurance and biotechnology industries and others with a massive financial stake in the issue have sought to pervert Lyme medicine. Certainly, there are Lyme scientists with inflated egos. There are in every field. But that is not the whole story...nor even half of it.

For many years now, I and others in the Lyme community have been trying to get a message out. The message is this: there is another, more fundamental reason why Lyme Disease patients are denied diagnosis and treatment, and basically left to rot.

There is another reason for the misinforming of the medical profession by government 'experts', who have been told not to diagnose Lyme in anyone outside of the few areas in which its presence is acknowledged, even in a patient with ragingly-positive serology.

What is this reason?

It is simply this: Lyme Disease is a militarily-sensitive, biowarfare issue.

And now, finally, after decades of hiding this truth, it is official, admitted this spring by the government of the United Kingdom, in the shape of announcements from the Health Protection Agency (HPA), our leading public health agency. [4]

Eight years ago author Michael C. Carroll pointed out, in his book 'Lab 257', the fact that the town of Lyme, Connecticut sits right across the water from Plum Island, a biological warfare facility which was disguised for decades as a civilian 'animal diseases' lab.

Carroll noted that:

You can pinpoint cases of Lyme Disease on a map of the United States by drawing a circle around the area of largest infection. Now you can tighten that circle until a single point is reached. That point? Plum Island. Spokes radiate outward from this point and pass through neighbourhoods boasting the highest rates of Lyme Disease contamination in the nation. [5]

Years ago, researchers proved that migratory birds can carry Lyme ticks 'trans-hemispherically'. In other words, from the North Pole to the South... around the entire planet.

Further, the same monumental sloppiness, the stunning breaches in bio-containment described to Carroll by eyewitnesses at Plum Island, have undoubtedly occurred in similar labs in other countries too. Is it a coincidence that the most notorious Lyme hotspot in Britain, the New Forest, lies so near her premier biowar lab, Porton Down, and that the surrounding area is riddled with disabled and fatigued 'M.E./Chronic Fatigue Syndrome' patients, when recent evidence suggests that perhaps 50% or more of people given that diagnosis have chronic Lyme?

It is a fact that if you examine the backgrounds of the leading proponents of the Denialist camp in the US, a fantastic proportion of them have a history as biological weapons researchers, or are members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (created in the Fifties for the purposes of then-legal offensive biowarfare), or both.

Mark Klempner [8], for example runs a biowarfare mega-lab. So does Alan Barbour, co-discoverer of Lyme (and the source of information from which all current Lyme blood testing is ultimately derived). Allen Steere, David Dennis of CDC, the former NIH Lyme Programme Officers Phillip Baker and Edward McSweegan, and even Willy Burgdorfer himself: all are biowarfare scientists and/or EIS officers.

Over the years, there have been several leaks of information demonstrating, for example, that far from the relatively low Biosafety Level 2 officially recommended for handling Lyme borrelia germs, at least some Lyme is studied in BSL-4. This is the maximum bio-containment level, reserved only for the most dangerous pathogens on earth, transmissible by the airborne route.

I and others publicised these leaks widely in the Lyme community. For example, we distributed documents attesting to Lyme research in a BSL-4 lab in San Antonio, Texas (news leaked from CDC which eventually found its way to the website of MSNBC), or 'biodefence' research on Lyme at Porton Down, England. In each case, the governments concerned denied it, even resorting to claiming that accidentally published material was 'printing mistakes', or, Orwellian-style, attempting to 'disappear' documents from the internet. [7]

Certain prominent individuals, such as ILADS Dr. Virginia Sherr, the Countess of Mar and Professor Malcolm Hooper in England, Michael Carroll and others showed great courage in speaking out publicly about the issue. They did not speak of 'conspiracy theories', but of hard facts, such as the facts contained in the Lyme-related patents and publications of researchers like JJ Dunn and Raymond Dattwyler. These are documents clearly and unequivocally related to biological warfare. [8]

Many ordinary victims of the Lyme Disease cover-up have spoken out for years too, highlighting the evidence, trying very hard to persuade that the Denialism was indeed an official cover-up at the highest levels of our governments, due to the nature of Lyme as a biowarfare issue.

We do not need to persuade people any longer. For the British government health agency, the HPA, in an unprecedented show of openness, has now revealed it itself.

They have announced that the British Lyme Reference Unit Laboratory at Southampton, formerly directed by the widely-hated Dr Susan OConnell, is now to be re-housed in the biowarfare lab at Porton Down, the centre of British bioweapons and chemical weapons research since the Second World War.

The 'Special Pathogens Research Unit' (SPRU) which will now house the Lyme lab, was recently euphemistically re-named 'Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory ' or RIPL. But names notwithstanding, the purpose of the lab is abundantly clear from the nature of the 'dangerous pathogens' it studies: 'bio-threat agents' such as 'viral haemorrhagic fevers'...'anthrax, tularaemia' etc.. In short, the most dangerous germs on earth, favourites of developers of biological WMD the world over.

So much for Lyme as the 'self-limiting', or 'hard-to-catch, easy-to-cure' illness.

According to documents released by the British government, the Lyme lab has already re-located:

'The Lyme disease specialist unit is scheduled to be a part of RIPD from 1 April 2012.' (See ref 10)

It is remarkable that the British government has decided, unilaterally, to reveal this information, while the US, whose lead they normally follow in military matters, is still clinging to denial of the biowarfare issue. Indeed, it is only a few months ago that our government here in Britain was still denying it themselves. When, in January, the Countess of Mar raised the question, in Parliament, of Lyme being studied at the Porton Down biowar labs in the past, she received a scornfully dismissive reply from our government. Now British Lyme testing has moved, lock, stock and barrel, to Porton: it is official.

So where do we go from here? In Part Two, I will discuss some options. It is a great step forward that the truth of Lyme as a dangerous biowarfare-related disease, not a self-limited easily-cured one, is finally, finally out. This opens the door to Hope.

But we must not for a moment imagine that we can co-operate with the biowarfaremen, the very authors of the decades of our suffering. They must be held to account. And we must demand an end to the lies; genuine prevention and protection for the uninfected public, and true medical aid and justice for the countless victims, young and old, of Lyme Disease.

References

Allen Steere has always downplayed his involvement in the EIS, claiming it was just something he joined to avoid being drafted to Vietnam. Yet, more than 25 years after Vietnam, he was still attending EIS gatherings.
Centres for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia
International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society www.ilads.org
Originally announced in a somewhat low-key manner, this is now available to read on the HPA website (see ref. 10)
'Lab 257:the Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory', Michael Carroll, Pub. Harper Collins 2004 ISBN 0-06-001141-6
The Klempner 2001 paper supposedly disproving the need for long-term antibiotics in Lyme sealed the fates of thousands of patients round the world. The results of a parallel study, which showed persistent infection in rhesus monkeys despite a Klempner-identical antibiotic protocol, were covered up for more than a decade, only recently having been released.
The MSNBC article, for example, was pulled from the website within days of me publicising it. Traces of such leaks remain, however, on the internet, and on the hard drives of people who recorded it at the time.
See http://profiles.bumc.bu.edu/ProfileDetails.aspx?Person=625
Letter to the Editor, for publication regarding rapid response Re: The Lancet 2005; 366:1771, DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67721-5 Lyme disease: scratching the surface Steven E Phillips, Nick S Harris, Richard Horowitz, Lorraine Johnson and Raphael B Stricker Hitting the Bulls Eye By Virginia T. Sherr, MD
http://www.hpa.org.uk/ProductsServices/InfectiousDiseases/LaboratoriesAndReferenceFacilities/RareAndImportedPathogensDepartment/

Elena Cook May 2012

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France Lyme

RENCONTRE EN SAVOIE- Une rencontre aura lieu à Champagny-le-haut en Savoie le samedi 29 septembre 2012 à midi. Rencontre ouverte à tous, adhérents France Lyme ou non. Ce sera un déjeuner au refuge du Bois (www.gitedubois.com) suivi d'une randonnée. Possibilité de logement sur place et de transport depuis la gare de Moutiers. Inscriptions et renseignements : section.savoie@francelyme.fr

http://www.gitedubois.com/

Thursday, 23 August 2012

MS Cure?

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3572695.htm video

download segment mp4| wmv (average size 10 MB)

Some doctors contend that Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is triggered by an infection, which could be cured with antibiotics.

TRANSCRIPT

Comments

Narration
Is it possible that Multiple Sclerosis can be cured? According to these medical mavericks, the answer is yes.

Dr Paul Thibault
This is a paradigm shift in the way we understand the disease.

Narration
They argue that an infection is what triggers the disease.

Dr David Wheldon
The immune system sort of knows it’s there but can't do much about it.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
Incredibly, the treatment has been right under our noses. Here, I explore an unpopular medical theory that has been flying under the radar until now.

Narration
At this home in London lives a man who believes he’s cured his wife of an incurable disease.

Dr David Wheldon
I don’t like using the word ‘cure’ because it’s sort of tempting providence, but I feel in my heart of hearts that the disease has gone.

Sarah Longlands
If it wasn’t for David I would be probably dead or curled up in a corner of a nursing home, useless to the world.

Dr David Wheldon
Well, meet the artist, Sarah.

Sarah Longlands
Hello.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
Hi Sarah, how are you doing?

Narration
Sarah, a talented artist, was diagnosed with MS in her twenties.

Sarah Longlands
My right arm started to go numb and I couldn't use it at all, it was just hanging in front of me.

Dr David Wheldon
Sarah was told that there was absolutely nothing that medicine could do for her. I, I was filled with fear. Here was a person I’d married – an alert, intelligent, bright, creative person, who, to be quite blunt, was, was losing her mind.

Narration
It’s widely accepted that MS is an auto-immune disease. The body’s immune system destroys the myelin sheath around nerve fibres. Patients develop lesions in the brain and spinal cord, and eventually lose their ability to think and move.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
So this is, this is essentially damage in the brain?

Dr David Wheldon
It’s damage, yes.

Narration
David, an expert in infectious diseases who used to treat MS patients, drew on all his experience to formulate a revolutionary theory. He believed that Sarah’s MS was triggered by an infection. The bacterium he honed in on was called Chlamydia Pneumoniae.

Dr David Wheldon
When one thinks of Chlamydia, one automatically thinks of venerally transmitted Chlamydia. Chlamydia Pneumoniae is a respiratory pathogen. It’s spread by droplet infection – coughing and sneezing.

Narration
Infection is so common that it’s likely you’ve been exposed by the age of twenty. The bacteria finds shelter inside blood vessels and nerves, causing low-grade infection over decades. Convinced that Sarah’s body was under attack from this bacterium, David worked tirelessly to find a solution. Together with a colleague in the US, he formulated a cocktail of antibiotics to eradicate this insidious bacterium.

Dr David Wheldon
It’s been shown that a single antibiotic doesn’t eradicate the organism, and these three antibiotics work together in a very specific way.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
How long does the treatment go for?

Dr David Wheldon
I think the treatment should be for a minimum of a year.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
A year?

Dr David Wheldon
Yes.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
That’s a long time on antibiotics.

Dr David Wheldon
It, it is a long time, but it’s a very, very difficult organism to eradicate.

Narration
Sarah’s neurologist insisted she would never regain her function. But David showed me the lesions on Sarah’s MRI scans before and after treatment. The results were nothing short of miraculous.

Dr David Wheldon
I’ve never seen anything like it before. Some lesions have quite literally vanished. Sarah had been numb from the waist down and literally couldn't feel her legs. Sensation came back fairly quickly, in, in, in five or six months.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
Did this shock the neurologists?

Dr David Wheldon
Ah, the neurologist wouldn't see the scan. He says, he says, ‘I’m not looking.’

Dr Maryanne Demasi
So did this, did this surprise you?

Dr David Wheldon
It absolutely shocked me. I think very few people know about the possibility of a chlamydial causation of MS, and therefore very few people will understand the possibility of treatment. The ignorance about this organism is immense.

Narration
The problem is, this bacterium is notoriously difficult to detect in patients. Only a few labs in the world have the expertise.

Dr David Wheldon
Technique is a limiting factor, and to say you don’t isolate something as difficult as this is, like I say, if you search a haystack for ten minutes and say, ‘I see no needle’, really you’re not telling anyone very much.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
This kind of paradigm change in the way we understand and treat disease often causes dissention among the ranks. And this wouldn't be the first time that a radical theory was dismissed by mainstream medicine.

Narration
Australian scientists, Warren and Marshall, went to extraordinary lengths to prove that stomach ulcers were not caused by stress, but by a bacterial infection. Marshall took the ultimate leap of faith and infected himself with the bug.

Barry Marshall
I said to my wife, ‘I took the bacteria, I’ve got the illness.’ And she said, ‘You did what?’

Narration
Fortunately a simple course of antibiotics cured him. The pair won a Nobel Prize in 2005.

Similarly in 2008, Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni was ridiculed when he proposed a whole new approach to MS. He claimed that instead of treating nerve damage, doctors should be focused on blood vessels. He believed that MS was due to a narrowing of the veins in the neck. Zamboni’s theory gave hope to millions of MS sufferers, but many neurologists scoffed at the idea – including Vicki’s.

Vicki Robinson
He was very dismissive, just didn’t feel that it had anything to do with MS, and that was the end of the conversation.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
How did that make you feel?

Vicki Robinson
I was really angry, actually.

Dr Paul Thibault
The good news is that the flow on the right side is still very good.

Narration
So Vicki turned to Australian vein specialist Dr Paul Thibault, who says in his experience with MS patients, Zamboni’s theory has credibility.

Dr Paul Thibault
The veins have been known to be involved in Multiple Sclerosis since the disease was first described in the nineteenth century. But this fact has really been ignored by the neurologists in particular.

Narration
Dr Thibault encouraged Vicki to have the controversial procedure called ‘venoplasty’ to correct the narrowing in her neck veins. The results were virtually instantaneous.

Vicki Robinson
The first thing that I noticed was my eyesight – amazing, just incredible. From pre-procedure in the waiting bay, couldn't read the signs on the wall, to coming out and being placed in the same bay and wow, there they were. Everything clear as a bell.

This is my mobility scooter that I used to have to use to go out anywhere – shopping, any of those sorts of things, before I had the venoplasty. Happily sitting here gathering dust now.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
So your neurologist doesn’t know you’ve had a venoplasty done?

Vicki Robinson
No, no.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
So what does he attribute this miraculous improvement to?

Vicki Robinson
Oh, some patients for some reason just do better than others, and I just happened to be one of those, perhaps.

Narration
It has to be said that not all patients have had the same success as Vicki, and there’s a fifty per cent chance that her veins will narrow again. Dr Thibault agrees with Zamboni that MS is a vascular condition. But he also believes that narrowed veins are caused by a chronic infection, and like David Wheldon, his focus is on Chlamydia Pneumoniae.

Dr Paul Thibault
CPN is on my hit list because it is the bacteria that fits all the requirements. It is known to affect the lining of blood vessels and in particular, veins. It is known to involve the nervous system, is able to cause immune effects. So it fits all the features that we actually see in the symptomatology of MS.

Narration
If you want epidemiological proof that MS is caused by an infection, you only have to look at the isolated population on the Faroe Islands.

Dr Paul Thibault
Prior to World War Two, there was no instance of MS in those islands. In 1940 the islands were occupied by British troops, and by 1945 there was a small epidemic of MS in the islands.

Narration
From this it was postulated that British troops brought MS to the island, but if infection with Chlamydia Pneumoniae is so common, why doesn’t everyone develop MS?

Dr Paul Thibault
Some other factor, like it could be low vitamin D levels, or genetic predisposition, makes them develop the secondary or persistent form of the disease, which affects the neurological tissues and the veins. I don't know why the neurologists aren’t offering them at least Minocycline which has been shown in a number of studies to benefit MS.

Dr Maryanne Demasi
Why, why are neurologists turning their back on this?

Dr Paul Thibault
I think the neurologists have gone down this track for many years and they would have trouble admitting that they may have gone the wrong way. And therefore they continue on with the same line of thought.

Narration
For a neurologist’s perspective, I visited respected MS researcher Associate Professor Robert Heard.

Assoc Prof Robert Heard
We’d love to see more data about it but …

Narration
In a candid moment he did admit that Dr Thibault’s theory was plausible.

Assoc Prof Robert Heard
In an unguarded moment, maybe after a drink or two, a couple of neurologists might say to each other, ‘You know, it just has to be an infection, doesn’t it?’ And in fact I’ve had that exact conversation with well-known MS specialists. But we just can't put our finger on it.

Narration
But despite the anecdotal evidence, Dr Heard warns that responsible treatment is all about evidence-based medicine.

Assoc Prof Robert Heard
If we’re going to do experiments in patients, we’re going to use them as guinea-pigs, we need to have that clinical trial informed by some solid science.

Narration
But clinical trials to obtain solid science requires funding, and getting it is virtually impossible. Why haven’t the clinical trials been done?

Dr Paul Thibault
The problem is that the antibiotics used have been around for many, many years. They’re all off patent, they are inexpensive, and there is no profit in it.

Narration
So as the debate rages on, what hope is there for MS sufferers?

Dr Paul Thibault
We’re looking at treating the cause of the disease, and therefore, if we can get patients early enough, we could cure MS.

Narration
But it’s this sort of statement that worries neurologists.

Assoc Prof Robert Heard
I think people have used the C-word and talked about cures for as long as MS has existed. And I think to use the word ‘cure’ at this stage of our scientific understanding is highly irresponsible.

Narration
Dr Thibault has decided to put Vicki on antibiotics to see if she makes further progress. Like Vicki, David Wheldon knows that clinical trials will take time, and it’s time that MS patients can't afford.

Dr David Wheldon
The clinical trials are not there. It’s … that has to be said, it’s, um, and I wasn’t going to wait for them either, you know. I’d be a widower now if I was waiting for, for clinical trials. Sorry.

Narration
It may be too early to tell if we stand before a cure for MS, but if we do, these men will be remembered as the pioneers.

Topics: Health

Reporter: Dr Maryanne Demasi
Producer: Dr Maryanne Demasi
Researcher: Dr Maryanne Demasi
Camera: Kevin May
Greg Heap
Sound: Stephen Ravich
Adam Toole
Editor: Andrew Glover

Graphics
Toby Goulding
TimeLapse Vision Inc

Story Contacts

Ass Prof Robert Heard
Neurologist
Gosford, NSW
David Wheldon
Microbiologist
Bedford, UK
Dr Paul Thibault
Phlebologist
Central Vein & Cosmetic Medical Centre
Broadmeadow, NSW

Multiple Sclerosis Australia
Chlamydia Pneumoniae – more info
Westmead Millenium Institute

^ top

YOUR COMMENTS

>> Add a Comment

Tracey Fritz - 30 Aug 2012 7:50:46am

Will chlamydia pneumonia show up in a chest x-ray? If not, how do you know you have it?
>> Reply

kim worthington - 28 Aug 2012 12:49:29pm

My name is Kim Worthington and i have had M.S. For about 21yrs now and for myself i would be open to being a test project i am open to drs trying anything on me, anything that could possibly help me and others! I can still walk but its not easy and is very shaky and painfull..
>> Reply

Moderator: Sorry but we can't publish personal details like phone numbers and email addresses on our website.

Debra Jones - 28 Aug 2012 10:50:28am

I was diagnosed with MS ten years ago i have always thought an infection is causing my symptons.I am surpose to start my fith and final treatment for MS and am willing to try your treatment for Clamydia Pneumonia.Due to surviere side effects non off the treatments worked for me.Im willing to prove Dr David Wheldons treatment will work for me.Please.Regards Debra Jones
>> Reply

Debra Jones - 28 Aug 2012 10:38:41am

I was diagnosed with MS ten years ago.After using Avonex,Copaxone,Betaferon and Tysabri im now surpose to start Gilenya.Due to side effects my body doesnt tollerate these treatments.I have always told my husband that i must have an infection that causes all my symptons.
>> Reply

Jennifer - 28 Aug 2012 4:59:26am

Interesting case but let's see this hypothesis tested in the lab. Until it's been proven via multiple clinical trials it's important not to get the patient's hopes up.
>> Reply

Janie Cameron - 28 Aug 2012 4:03:37pm

What a stupid thing to say, don't get patients hopes up.
We have no hope. Forget about the Lab, am sure many MS people are willing to be a test case.
Give me the Anti Binotics I'll test them. I'm desperate.
Please give me a go, regards Janie.
>> Reply

George - 28 Aug 2012 6:18:41pm

Jennifer, if you're a sufferer (of MS or other diseases) there's no time to wait for clinical trials that may never happen. Sometimes a "clinical trial" of one, if researched well, with good base-lines, can yield measurable results.
>> Reply

William - 28 Aug 2012 10:57:51pm

Jennifer,

Many people with MS have expressed their thanks & gratitude for the information presented on this Catalyst episode because it offers HOPE. Your comments suggest that you prefer to take that hope away. Why would you want to do that?

Perhaps you missed the interview with Dr David Wheldon when he explained...."I'd be a widower now if I was waiting for clinical trials."

Here are some words about 'Hope' that might be valuable to you someday;

"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

(Emily Dickinson 1830 - 1886)
>> Reply

Cris Kerr - 27 Aug 2012 4:36:17pm

re Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) Research:

You'll find a collection of 51 LDN detailed case studies, self-reported by patients achieving success, in my free ebook research publication hosted by the LDN Research Trust in the UK. Included are interviews with 19 health professionals and all the research/clinicial trial links to 2010.

(1) 'Those Who Suffer Much, Know Much', 5th edition, 2010
http://www.ldnresearchtrustfiles.co.uk/docs/2010.pdf

Another publication that may be of interest is the LDN Research Trust's free ebook containing 201 patient testimonies:

(2) 201 Reasons Why... You Should Know About LDN, 2010
http://www.ldnresearchtrustfiles.co.uk/docs/ebook.pdf

Research & Clinical trials since 2010:

(3) 'Single cohort study of the effect of low dose naltrexone on the evolution of immunological, virological and clinical state of HIV+ adults in Mali'
http://www.academicjournals.org/JAHR/abstracts/abstracts/abstracts2011/October/Traore%20et%20al%20(1).htm

(4) 'Impact of low dose naltrexone (LDN) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) treated HIV+ adults in Mali: A single blind randomized clinical trial'
http://www.academicjournals.org/JAHR/abstracts/abstracts/abstracts2011/October/Traore%20et%20al%20(2).htm

(5) 'Low-dose naltrexone targets the opioid growth factor-opioid growth factor receptor pathway to inhibit cell proliferation: mechanistic evidence from a tissue culture model'
http://ebm.rsmjournals.com/content/236/9/1036

(6) 'Opioid growth factor improves clinical benefit and survival in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer'
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2947031

(7) 'Low Dose Naltrexone: Harnessing the Body's Own Chemistry to Treat Human Ovarian Cancer'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110712143012.htm

(8) 'Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN): Tricking the Body to Heal Itself'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110902133047.htm

###

Pharmaceutical companies cannot afford to spend millions on clinical trials for out-of-patent drugs, but the solution is really very simple and could be implemented within 6 months if the govt supported it as proposed.

That is, provide capacity for patients to self-report their health outcomes in structured ways within their own ehealth records, such that patients self-reported outcomes can become an aspect of evidence, that combined with their other medical information provides all the evidence needed for efficacy and safety of older drugs, without the need for a clinical trial.

This is the crux of a recent submission to the current Strategic Review into National Health and Medical Research (Submission No. 296 - http://mckeonreview.org.au/sub/296_Cris_Kerr_Case_Health.pdf) as well as previous submissions on Australia's new ehealth system.

>> Reply

xena - 26 Aug 2012 7:54:58pm

i think its great news and makes allot of sense and will be getting some antibotics and as for the beta interferon or avonex and the other injections i wouldnt be wasting my time thats for sure the amount of pain associated with all the after effects of the injection which is worse than symptoms from disease ive had the disease since i was 14 and got sick when i went on a holiday so thank you for making this discovery and sharing it with us so at least we can try something else
>> Reply

Loretta Forshaw - 26 Aug 2012 6:08:10pm

I have tried numerous medications, the latest fingolimod which was absolutely horrendous, I would be more than willing to try the antibiotic approach. Please contact me if I can be of any help.
>> Reply

Dr. Lee. A. Looby - 26 Aug 2012 5:41:13pm

Am sharing this on my Facebook page!
>> Reply

Don - 26 Aug 2012 7:48:34am

Professor Tom Borody published a medical paper in 2011 about complete resolution of symptoms of multiple sclerosis up to 15 years as at the time of the paper in three patients who were being treated for constipation by fecal microbiota transplant. http://www.fecalmicrobiotatransplant.com
>> Reply

AJ - 26 Aug 2012 4:32:12am

Thank you to all involved in this Catalyst story.

For the sceptics, including the MS Societies of the world, who claim that there is no research evidence to implicate C. pneumoniae in MS, I provide for you the abstract of the original research of Sriram and Stratton et al. (1999):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10401775

The following excerpt surely contains information that any transparent and ethically sound organisation could not ignore.

"Our identification of Chlamydia pneumoniae in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a patient with multiple sclerosis (MS) led us to examine the incidence of this organism in the CSF from 17 patients with relapsing-remitting MS, 20 patients with progressive MS, and 27 patients with other neurological diseases (OND)." ... "C. pneumoniae was isolated by tissue culture from the CSF in 64% of MS patients versus 11% of the controls. PCR assays demonstrated the presence of C. pneumoniae major outer membrane protein (MOMP) gene in the CSF of 97% of MS patients and 18% of the controls. Finally, 86% of the MS patients had increased CSF antibodies to C. pneumoniae EB antigens, as demonstrated by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay adsorbance values that were 3 standard deviations greater than those seen in the controls."

How, I ask, can this evidence be ignored? What is the harm in investigating it further? Perhaps only multi-billion dollar drug company losses. The antibiotics I take for C. pneumoniae/MS cost just over $1000 per year. Had I been led up the garden-path by neurologists, Australian Taxpayers would be helping pay a pharmaceutical company somewhere between $25,000 - $48,000 per year for my supply of a patented MS drug. Make no mistake, corporate greed is deeply entrenched within the resistance to investigate C. pneumoniae.

Research evidence exists. What doesn't exist are the overly revered 'double-blind randomised controlled trials'. They don't exist because with 2.5 million people affected by MS worldwide, each year drug companies could bring in between $60 - 130 billion for the worldwide supply of patented MS drugs. Even if only half that sum is profit, can we not now see why there is resistance to a hypothesis that a $1000 ($2.5 billion globally) per year treatment might be the long searched for answer?

A commonly cited study that did investigate antibiotic use in MS used a totally ineffective protocol for chronic C. pneumoniae infection - it therefore bears no meaning.

Perhaps as a starting point we could stop testing MS patients cerebrospinal fluid only for oligoclonal bands and general protein levels, and add in C. pneumoniae. No one's profits would be at risk there, and we'd start to build data on infection rates.

Thank you again to all involved in the production of this story. I look forward to follow-ups.

>> Reply

Peter - 25 Aug 2012 7:18:15pm

Regarding diet and MS, you should also look at /www.terrywahls.com which is the site for a medical practitioner who was in a wheelchair with MS but through diet changes has recovered and her dietary regime focuses less on saturated fat as the culprit and rather follows a Paleo diet.
>> Reply

Tony Bifulco - 25 Aug 2012 10:31:30am

Bravo,
Thanks for coming forward with this wonderful video. My wife has had MS since 1980 and she had Pneumonia prior to the onset of MS. She constantly fights infections with the medications mentioned with her urologist and gynecologist. She is unable to move anything but her neck and she has had CCSVI twice with little to no improvement. I hope she could benefit from this cocktail of medication and now the search for a doctor to administer the recepie.
>> Reply

Peter - 25 Aug 2012 9:37:25am

The Catalyst program was remiss in the way it handled this alleged cure. This was an experiment of one with no statistical validity at all. The response attributed to antibiotics could be regarded as a case for further investigation but to give MS sufferers the impression that here was a new you beaut cure was reprehensible. Antibiotics and antivirals of many types have all been tried from time to time. Antibiotics as well as killing unwanted organisms, have effects in their own right on body tissues, who knows how this may influence the disease. We should note also that MS is more prevalent in temperate climates rather than tropical, suggesting that vitamin D has an influence. The incidence is less in less developed countries where the diet is different particularly in relation to fats, it is less in Japan where the diet is much more fish related. In the face of known facts, to suggest that antibiotic treatment is an answer to this multifactorial disease is just too simplistic.
>> Reply

William - 27 Aug 2012 3:22:07pm

Hi Peter,

It appears that you've totally missed the most important message of the presentation...so here is a polite reminder of that message in the words of Dr David Wheldon;

"The clinical trials are not there...that has to be said...and I wasnâ€™t going to wait for them either, you know. Iâ€™d be a widower now if I was waiting for clinical trials. Sorry."

Some of the words in the 'Hippocratic Oath' might also be helpful to you in the future;

"I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug."

" I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick."
>> Reply

Tessa McCall - 28 Aug 2012 11:20:44pm

It appears to me that Catalyst gave accurate information that was give to them by Dr. Wheldon. I did not see anything but possibility. Its sometimes the obvious that is the simple answer. Not being open inhibits are growth forward
>> Reply

J Pashley - 24 Aug 2012 7:12:36pm

On 29 feb 1992 I gave birth to my third child. The next day I was running a fever. I had developed an infection somewhere. Three months later I began having my first early sensory symptoms but it took doctors until 2004 to diagnose MS. I knew I had the disease when my first symptoms started. I will never know what triggered my fever after the birth of my youngest child. I felt hot but didn't feel sick. Could it be that I had the bacteria talked about here. There is no history of MS anywhere in my family. I have benign MS and I only experience sensory symptoms. My lesions are deep in my brain and none on my spine. My only battle is with fatigue and heat fatigue. I believe this finding has credibility given my experience.
>> Reply

George - 24 Aug 2012 6:41:46pm

Minocycline is a common, well understood and tolerated, inexpensive and out-of-patent antibiotic.
Read on...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3127230/?tool=pmcentrez

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21565409
>> Reply

George - 24 Aug 2012 6:31:59pm

Here is the comment from MSRA about the Catalyst story:

http://www.msra.org.au/statement-research-theories-multiple-sclerosis
>> Reply

George - 24 Aug 2012 6:29:15pm

Worth looking at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2924524/

http://www.springerlink.com/content/gh5u4k7118274q46/

>> Reply

William - 24 Aug 2012 5:44:51pm

It was heartwarming to hear Dr David Wheldon express his feelings about his wife & the motives for his research;

"Sarah was told that there was absolutely nothing that medicine could do for her. I was filled with fear. Here was a person I'd married, an alert, intelligent, bright, creative person..."

I also enjoyed hearing Sarah express her feelings about her husband;

"If it wasn't for David, I would probably be dead or curled up in a nursing home, useless to the world."

Just goes to show how empathy & love can really bring amazing medical results with lots of happiness.

Thanks for your presentation Catalyst.
>> Reply

Steve McArthur - 24 Aug 2012 5:22:18pm

Hey I've been injecting for 11 years with Beta Ferron as I was diagnosed in early 2oo1. I am sick of inje4cting and am so interested in other options. But I am sceptical as I don't want t6o go backwards, cause I am in a good place now, in my life...If I can help please contact me. Cheers to all out there. There is hope
>> Reply

Fiona - 24 Aug 2012 4:43:56pm

Your MS story was particularly interesting. Medical professionals have long been confusing MS and Lyme disease, which share many symptoms. Now there is the suggestion that, like Lyme disease, MS may result from bacterial infection. Would be great to see more research on this.
>> Reply

Narelle - 24 Aug 2012 4:01:39pm

http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/ms-treatment.pdf
>> Reply

George - 24 Aug 2012 6:19:55pm

Thanks!
>> Reply

Kara - 24 Aug 2012 2:59:15pm

I was diagnosed with MS last week and start treatment tomorrow and this information makes a lot of sense to me. I have a long history of respiratory problems and severe vitamin d deficiency. But at the moment I don't see any choice other than to trust my neurologist and take Gilenya.
>> Reply

Marion - 24 Aug 2012 2:25:42pm

Could this MS infection theory also apply to sproradic MND for which the cause remains unknown? A very fit and generally healthy friend, other than for bronchiectasis (lung disease), experienced a couple of years of bad chest infections leading up to developing MND. She also had pneumonia early in life. She was found to be low in Vitamin D also. She passed away within 18 months aged 56. I hope they pursue this infection/antibiotic theory with some clinical trials as there is too much at stake to not properly investigate infection as a possible trigger/cause in relation to MS...and possibly MND too?
>> Reply

Nadia - 25 Aug 2012 9:43:43pm

Dear Marion, my mother has been diagnosed with MS back in 1995. However we recently heard of this story on abc so I started researching again and came across something called "Chlamydia Pneumoniae" a respiratory pathogen which is spread by droplet infection eg: coughing and sneezing. Anyway this can also cause another illness "GUILLAN-BARRE SYNDROME" (GBS), I was reading your comment above about your friend which I am very sorry to hear about his/her passin. and it sounds quite familiar to one of the subtypes of GBS. Just use Wikipedia and maybe compare your friend to the information as MND PLUS pneumonia PLUS you said started as an infection sound so familiar to this specific illness. Hope this helps and I send my condolences.
>> Reply

Claudia - 28 Aug 2012 11:10:01am

Marion, thanks for your post. My Dad has recently been diagnosed with MND and I'm off to see his doctor this Friday to discuss Dr David Wheldon findings regarding bacterial cause & effect of diet. I know I'm probably "clutching at straws" but current neurologists are not offering anything other than his eventual death. Are you able to share any findings you come across. Love to hear from you.
>> Reply

Pete - 24 Aug 2012 2:19:26pm

Nick,

All the info you need about what to take is summarised right here:

http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/ms-treatment.pdf

For more detail (a complete online book in fact) look here:

http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/ms-treatment.html

A great website put together mostly by patients using the treatment:

http://www.cpnhelp.org/home

Another recommendation by an Australian professor (George Jelinek, who himself has MS) is a very low fat diet:

http://www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org/

This diet has worked for hundreds of people (a study was just published in a scientific journal by George himself).

Lastly, naltrexone taken in low dosages (LDN) helps many people recover:

http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/

Rory,

Yes, metronidazole is very strong. Dosage is pulsed (5 days every 3 weeks) rather than constant, to minimise side effects.

I have just come down with MS myself and the above 3 strategies (diet, antibiotics, LDN) give us a very VERY good chance of beating the disease. Mainstream medicine offers little, especially for aggressive forms.

All 3 strategies are researched and supported by eminent scientists who have vested interests in halting the disease. They are not 'snake oil' treatments (although you will find plenty of those on the internet too).

Currently I'm on the diet and LDN. Depending on what happens I will be starting antibiotics very soon.

MS is being beaten every day. There is real hope for a normal life for everyone with MS. Read all the above info and it will be clear.

Pete

>> Reply

Cris Kerr, Case Health - 25 Aug 2012 1:26:28pm

re Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) Research:

You'll find a collection of 51 LDN detailed case studies, self-reported by patients achieving success, in my free ebook research publication hosted by the LDN Research Trust in the UK. Included are interviews with 19 health professionals and all the research/clinicial trial links to 2010.

(1) 'Those Who Suffer Much, Know Much', 5th edition, 2010
http://www.ldnresearchtrustfiles.co.uk/docs/2010.pdf

Another publication that may be of interest is the LDN Research Trust's free ebook containing 201 patient testimonies:
(2) 201 Reasons Why... You Should Know About LDN, 2010
http://www.ldnresearchtrustfiles.co.uk/docs/ebook.pdf

Research & Clinical trials since 2010:

(3) 'Single cohort study of the effect of low dose naltrexone on the evolution of immunological, virological and clinical state of HIV+ adults in Mali'
http://www.academicjournals.org/JAHR/abstracts/abstracts/abstracts2011/October/Traore%20et%20al%20(1).htm

(4) 'Impact of low dose naltrexone (LDN) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) treated HIV+ adults in Mali: A single blind randomized clinical trial'
http://www.academicjournals.org/JAHR/abstracts/abstracts/abstracts2011/October/Traore%20et%20al%20(2).htm

(5) â€˜Low-dose naltrexone targets the opioid growth factor-opioid growth factor receptor pathway to inhibit cell proliferation: mechanistic evidence from a tissue culture modelâ€™
http://ebm.rsmjournals.com/content/236/9/1036

(6) â€˜Opioid growth factor improves clinical benefit and survival in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer'
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2947031

(7) â€˜Low Dose Naltrexone: Harnessing the Body's Own Chemistry to Treat Human Ovarian Cancerâ€™
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110712143012.htm

(8) â€˜Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN): Tricking the Body to Heal Itselfâ€™
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110902133047.htm

###

Pharmaceutical companies cannot afford to spend millions on clinical trials for out-of-patent drugs, but the solution is really very simple and could be implemented within 6 months if the govt supported it as proposed.

That is, provide capacity for patients to self-report their health outcomes in structured ways within their own ehealth records, such that patients self-reported outcomes can become an aspect of evidence, that combined with their other medical information provides all the evidence needed for efficacy and safety of older drugs, without the need for a clinical trial.

This is the crux of my most recent submission to the current Strategic Review into National Health and Medical Research (Submission No. 296 - Cris Kerr, Case Health http://mckeonreview.org.au/sub/296_Cris_Kerr_Case_Health.pdf) as well as previous submissions on Australia's new ehealth system.

Cris Kerr
>> Reply

Cris - 27 Aug 2012 7:36:25am

re Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) Research:

You'll find a collection of 51 LDN detailed case studies, self-reported by patients achieving success, in my free ebook
research publication hosted by the LDN Research Trust in the UK. Included are interviews with 19 health professionals
and all the research/clinicial trial links to 2010.

(1) 'Those Who Suffer Much, Know Much', 5th edition, 2010
http://www.ldnresearchtrustfiles.co.uk/docs/2010.pdf

Another publication that may be of interest is the LDN Research Trust's free ebook containing 201 patient testimonies:
(2) 201 Reasons Why... You Should Know About LDN, 2010
http://www.ldnresearchtrustfiles.co.uk/docs/ebook.pdf

Research & Clinical trials since 2010:

(3) 'Single cohort study of the effect of low dose naltrexone on the evolution of immunological, virological and
clinical state of HIV+ adults in Mali'
http://www.academicjournals.org/JAHR/abstracts/abstracts/abstracts2011/October/Traore%20et%20al%20(1).htm

(4) 'Impact of low dose naltrexone (LDN) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) treated HIV+ adults in Mali: A single blind
randomized clinical trial'
http://www.academicjournals.org/JAHR/abstracts/abstracts/abstracts2011/October/Traore%20et%20al%20(2).htm

(5) 'Low-dose naltrexone targets the opioid growth factor-opioid growth factor receptor pathway to inhibit cell
proliferation: mechanistic evidence from a tissue culture model'
http://ebm.rsmjournals.com/content/236/9/1036

(6) 'Opioid growth factor improves clinical benefit and survival in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer'
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2947031

(7) 'Low Dose Naltrexone: Harnessing the Body's Own Chemistry to Treat Human Ovarian Cancer'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110712143012.htm

(8) 'Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN): Tricking the Body to Heal Itself'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110902133047.htm

###

Pharmaceutical companies cannot afford to spend millions on clinical trials for out-of-patent drugs, but the solution is
really very simple and could be implemented within 6 months if the govt supported it as proposed.

That is, provide capacity for patients to self-report their health outcomes in structured ways within their own ehealth
records, such that patients self-reported outcomes can become an aspect of evidence, that combined with their other
medical information provides all the evidence needed for efficacy and safety of older drugs, without the need for a
clinical trial.

This is the crux of a recent submission to the current Strategic Review into National Health and Medical Research
(Submission No. 296 - http://mckeonreview.org.au/sub/296_Cris_Kerr_Case_Health.pdf) as well as
previous submissions on Australia's new ehealth
>> Reply

Julie Morcom - 24 Aug 2012 1:59:38pm

Thank you Catalyst! What an extremely interesting program. I was diagnosed with MS 19 years ago and spent 11.5 years injecting myself with interferon (Betaferon) and the last 4 years having Tysabri infused into me every 4 weeks. I can now see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, and it doesn't involve a needle- yay!
>> Reply

Richard - 24 Aug 2012 1:09:05pm

I always thought(MS) it was an infection. My Mom, when she had me had Encepholitis, Flabitis, and the Mumps. When I was born they isolated me for 2 weeks, no breast feeding. And I've had many many an infection since I was a kid. The sinusitis is the longest lasting. I've printed the CPN handbook and will ask my doc to read it. She wasn't that keen on LDN(Low dose Naltraxone) because she has never prescribed it before. The antibiotics route she is more familiar with.
>> Reply

Dr ivan Hooper - 24 Aug 2012 12:37:24pm

Regarding MS being associated with infection.
MS is known to be an "inflammatory disease".
Many (if not all diseases) are associated with inflammation.
Therefore, there is a malfunction of the immune system in diseases. This immune disfunction results in the loss of the ability to fight infections.
One test for compromised immunity is the nagalase assay. This assay is not currently done in Australia.
Subsequent to a high nagalase level which indicates compromised immunity, the use of GcMAF is being used to rectify immunity and restore good health.
This is being used overseas to treat an increasing number of diseases, including cancer, AIDS, CFS, lyme and I believe MS.
It is also being used with very impressive results with autism.
I have submitted to the McKeon Health report regarding this.
This issue is so important that it would deserve at least a one hour programme.
The situation with doctors is gereal knowledge.
Sincerely Dr Ivan Hooper.
>> Reply

Sue Sherratt - 25 Aug 2012 5:14:55pm

I have been on antibiotic therapy for Sarcoidosis with great results. Everyone wants proof before they will prescribe these drugs. Thankfully I have a great GP who believes also that may of these inflammatory diseases are caused by bugs.
>> Reply

Richard - 24 Aug 2012 12:31:01pm

Hmmm....interesting...but I was pretty unhappy with this program. It seemed to follow
all the classic alternative medicine arguments. The program suggested there was no
research being done on these hypotheses and the only reason the neurologists are ignoring them
is because pharmaceutical companies cannot make a profit from the treatment. The program only
presented evidence in favour of these 'maverick' ideas and none against.

I thought there must be more to it than that and went online and immediately found this blog post
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/yet-another-nail-in-the-ccsvi-coffin/
taking about Zamboni's hypothesis. Despite scepticism there is research being done on it but the evidence is stacking up against it.
Surely Catalyst being a science program could have discussed some of the scientific debate and presented some of the counter evidence.
It could have also mentioned that a lot of other cures have been proposed but haven't worked out.

By the way Barry Marshall cured himself with Bismuth and Metronidazole which are generics. He won the
Nobel Prize because his maverick idea and findings were quickly replicated and backed up by lots of solid evidence
that completely overwhelmed the initial resistance and conventional thinking.

>> Reply

George - 24 Aug 2012 11:07:05pm

I have read your link and have 2 issues.
1. Using rodents - we have no idea what causes MS, so cannot actually give rodents MS. They can give MS like lesions but NOT MS. therefore any research using this as a basis is flawed. I would guess a mouse vascular system is also very different to human especially the way a jugular vein drains.
2. The report comes from Neurology, the same group who are doing there very best to shut this down. I know for a fact they are lying to their patients. One telling patients that none of their patients have had a good outcome with CCSVI whereas I know of at least two who have had life changing success.

I want research, but balanced and fair.
>> Reply

Cris Kerr - 28 Aug 2012 7:42:35am

Yes George, I agree.

We need population health data that is secure, balanced, has and maintains integrity and raises transparency.

The best way to do that is to design a secure population health research framework and ensure the widest possible range of data is collected and wisely employed in the best interests of us all.

You may or may not be aware that Australia has developed a central electronic health record known as the Personally Controlled eHealth Record (PCEHR).

It will be available to any Australian who opts in.

Doctors will have capacity to upload a medical history to the record and will be able to update the record with each subsequent health event.

Patients who opt in to having a PCEHR will be able to see this data, as will their other treating doctors.

Patients will also be able to add information to their record, eg; allergies, advance care directives, organ donor status.

They will also have capacity to write freestyle diary notes in their own ehealth record.

But there is a problem... and that is that the record was not designed as part of a long term population health record or to support secondary research use.

For a complete patient health profile, you need more than medical tests, diagnoses and prescribing history... you need to record the actual health outcomes they experienced.

The person best-placed to report on actual health outcomes experienced is clearly the patient, the person who is at the centre of all health activity at all times and is intimately familiar with 'what worked' and 'what didn't work' for them.

Historically, patients have been discouraged from self-reporting their health outcomes because if they do, their testimony is denigrated as 'patient anecdote' that has no value as an aspect of scientific evidence.

But patient testimony does have potential scientific value. It's just that no-one has been particularly interested in creating a framework that would release that value.

There is a path forward that would raise the value of patient testimony to that of an aspect of reliable scientific evidence.

Rather than offer only freestyle diary entries (as has been proposed), patients could instead be self-reporting their health outcomes in structured ways (through drop down lists, eg; symptoms, medication side effects, quality of life scales, etc.

Over time, structured feedback from patients on treatments and their short and long-term outcomes would build into a valuable public health research dataset in its own right.

And where health success is being achieved through out-of-patent drugs with good safety profiles, the data captured could validate efficacy and safety and potentially, negate the need for expensive double-blind clinical trials (where pharmaceutical companies have no interest due to lack of pote
>> Reply

Stephen - 24 Aug 2012 12:00:59pm

I found the programme and information very interesting and positive. I will be discussing this with my Specialist. I too would like to be cured and time is running out if trials are not commenced immediately.
>> Reply

joel - 24 Aug 2012 12:00:00pm

l'm so.... glad the way this story was told,well done. THE real truth is hard to believe for people that don't think outside the box. It Even fixed her eye sight there needs more work done in that area!! love it thx one story i'd like you to work on is chemtrails aerosol Spraying
>> Reply

Alena Almassy - 24 Aug 2012 11:16:20am

it never ceases to amaze me to learn that the medical profession can be so arrogant and indifferent to new ideas ... think outside the box should be the new motto for Australian specialists in regards to the new stream of viral infections entering our shores

>> Reply

Pmarcus - 24 Aug 2012 10:53:47am

My sister has stage two MS and is now a quadrapalegic ,I wonder if there is any hope for her.
I would hope that someone will step up and prove this new therapy, even though Big Pharma won't be able to make hundreds of millions off a new drug. Big Pharma has no interest in curing any disease that won't make them piles of money.
So it will be up to the independents to prove this theory and hopefully make it work. My fear is that the cure will come to late for my sister and that Big Pharma will do everything they can to either squash it or control it either way we all lose.
>> Reply

Nick - 24 Aug 2012 10:12:17am

I'm an MS patient. Who knows the 3 anti-biotics involved? I will try anything at this point!
>> Reply

Moderator: We can't provide medical advice but suggest that you consult your treating medical practitioner for further information and advice.
Many viewers have posted that http://www.cpnhelp.org/ also has helpful information

Rory - 24 Aug 2012 11:20:49am

Gday.... I saw one on the antibiotics is Metronidazole ..,l it's on of the strongest antibiotics known I have had it 4 times and the sideffects after 2 weeks horrendous ... If you read the info on it very very dangerous t take fr any period ( max is usually 14 days not a year!! ) Long term can cause lesions in the brain and cancer. I have MS and I would want to see a hell of a lot more science before doing this, is far from proof and the so called cure might prove far worse
>> Reply

Jen O'Brien - 24 Aug 2012 12:02:30pm

The metro is taken five days out of every month. It is rough. There are some patients that take it everyday and manage just fine. The higher you're bacterial load, the sicker you're going to be. An alternate is Tinidiazole. I'm taking it now and its easier on the system than the metro.
>> Reply

Danielle - 24 Aug 2012 11:51:12am

Get all metals removed from your body, especially any type of metal fillings as I have done. Then use chelation to remove the metals from your brain and blood. Use Chlorella and coriander to do this. Then you will be cured like I have.
>> Reply

Moderator: The information provided on this website provides a forum for people to express and exchange their views on our story. It's intended solely for the general information of the reader. You should consult your treating medical practitioner for specific medical advice and treatment.

Jen O'Brien - 24 Aug 2012 11:59:20am

There are more than 3 antibiotics and many possible combinations you could try depending on your condition. Go to www.cpnhelp.org
Info on the protocals is there.
>> Reply

Cecily - 24 Aug 2012 1:18:24pm

Check out http://cpnhelp.org/
>> Reply

Kara - 24 Aug 2012 1:43:53pm

http://www.cpnhelp.org/ has more info
>> Reply

Rammir - 24 Aug 2012 4:20:40pm

Hello Nick, you can find the answer in the "ThisisMs" forum: http://www.thisisms.com/forum/
>> Reply

Rory - 24 Aug 2012 9:48:55am

Very interesting indeed... But on a very cautious note.. Till we know exactly what MS how can we be sure we have a cure, it has been discussed that it is an umbrellas of several conditions with wildly varying outcome and causes maybe. One critical feature with MS is remission this can be as long as decades. A great deal of longitudinal study over a large study group has to take place before a miraculous blanket cure can be proclaimed, to ensure remission is not confused with cure or treatment. Being a person with MS myself I would love nothing better, but coming from a family of medical research scientists I realize that proving these things consistently is not easy. You can't "test" to see if you have MS like a virus, only look for signs of its damage or activity. When I was diagnosed 9 yrs ago the Neurologists were certain I was headed for quadriplegia, but things have improved in a miraculous way, seemingly spontaneously. I am uncertain what is means only time will tell
>> Reply

Kerrie Jolly - 24 Aug 2012 9:13:50am

In his book entitled "Trace your Genes to Health" (1984), Australian Dr Chris Reading states: "Chlamydia pneumonia titre: This bacteria is associated with pneumonia, recurrent chest infections, pleurisy, asthma, pericarditis, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, and is commonly seen also in Multiple Sclerosis". If Dr Reading (I think he still lives in Sydney)knew this back in the 1980s, why has it not been researched and why is a doctor from England being credited for linking the bacteria to MS? Show was great, but there are so many questions not being answered.
>> Reply

Jen O'Brien - 24 Aug 2012 12:04:39pm

Dr. Stratton in America first found the connection. For more info, go to www.cpnhelp.org
>> Reply

jan kurzman - 24 Aug 2012 8:50:22am

i was diagnosed with m s (refuse to put it in capital letters) in 2007. i am still high functioning but i have noticed deteriation on my right side as in weak legs and drop foot to my right foot. i trip over a lot and have fractured my left radius recently. i will be seeing my neurologist on 3rd of sept. 12 to discuss my last mri results. your report will be high on my agenda and i can already feel his response but i will pursue the treatments of thibault,wheldon and zamboni with hope and an open mind. i think it extreme folly not to try or to wait years for proof while i deteriate more.
>> Reply

Brett johns - 24 Aug 2012 10:46:18am

I was diagnosed In 2000 &have invented a legassist for my left leg as I have drop foot &heavyness of leg after tripping over many times dislocating shoulder . I thought my only option was wheelchair or leg assist which kept me mobile &independent Simply it's a Bungay cord belted around my waist Hooked to my
Left shoe. It has kept me walking &mobile . I really just want people to know there is alt to wheel chair Hope this can be of some hope
>> Reply

Rosemary - 24 Aug 2012 2:55:20pm

There is an excellent book available with a change in a diagnosed ms person's diet
I'm on the new diet with positive improvement in strength & balance
Book titled "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" by Professor George Jelinek published in November 2010
>> Reply

Holly Bird - 24 Aug 2012 2:05:51am

I want to try this! Is the antibotics available in the US and will they release the info?
>> Reply

Moderator: Thanks for your question. As Dr Paul Thibault states in the story, the antibiotics that are used have been around for many, many years and are all off patent.
We can't provide medical advice but suggest that you consult your treating medical practitioner for further information and advice.

Jen O'Brien - 24 Aug 2012 12:05:45pm

go to www.cpnhelp.org.
>> Reply

Shirley Green - 24 Aug 2012 12:18:38am

A really interesting programme. There is a desperate need for doctors to take more notice of these successes. Why can't governments be more generous in funding research? It should be mandatory that funds and grants are provided on an annual basis for research into conditions like MS.
>> Reply

Lois MacCullagh - 23 Aug 2012 11:50:40pm

Go Catalyst!! Well done for tackling this controversial topic. After a year-long battle with the medical system, I'm currently recovering from Lyme disease, rather than dying slowly and painfully from 'atypical MS'. Thank you for shedding some light on this topic!
>> Reply

Lloyd Finch - 23 Aug 2012 11:24:32pm

Drs Wheldon and Thibault may be interested in this publication.

Proal, A.D., Albert, P.J., Blaney, G.P., Lindseth, I.A., Benediktsson, C. and Marshall, T.G. (2011) Immunostimulation in the era of the metagenome. Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 8 (3). pp. 213-225.
Link to Published Version: http://www.nature.com/cmi/journal/v8/n3/full/cmi201077a.html*

Microbes are increasingly being implicated in autoimmune disease. This calls for a re-evaluation of how these chronic inflammatory illnesses are routinely treated. The standard of care for autoimmune disease remains the use of medications that slow the immune response, while treatments aimed at eradicating microbes seek the exact opposite-stimulation of the innate immune response. Immunostimulation is complicated by a cascade of sequelae, including exacerbated inflammation, which occurs in response to microbial death. Over the past 8 years, we have collaborated with American and international clinical professionals to research a model-based treatment for inflammatory disease. This intervention, designed to stimulate the innate immune response, has required a reevaluation of disease progression and amelioration. Paramount is the inherent conflict between palliation and microbicidal efficacy. Increased microbicidal activity was experienced as immunopathology-a temporary worsening of symptoms. Further studies are needed, but they will require careful planning to manage this immunopathology.

>> Reply

Greg Johnston - 23 Aug 2012 10:27:46pm

The real disease here is conventional thinking and it hasn't just infected medicine. It infects business, education, government and almost every aspect of our society. Conventional thinking often kills projects before there can possibly be sufficient evidence to provide wide acceptance. I support evidence based medicine, policy, etc. but sometimes we need open minds to recognise when that evidence should be collected.
>> Reply

joel - 24 Aug 2012 12:10:10pm

well said m8
>> Reply

Kerri - 23 Aug 2012 10:12:20pm

This story raises a vital issue of the need for transparency in research for MS. Neurologists and researchers who direct the funding must lay bare their conflicts of interests. Research should not be skewed to profit-making treatments as this will never derive a cure only life long customers. So great to see a new paradigm being considered but adequate, unbiased clinical trials are imperative.
>> Reply

Kara - 24 Aug 2012 2:13:19pm

Well put.
I begin treatment on Gilenya tomorrow. I found it disconcerting to be given a Gilenya pamphlet that seemed more like an advertisement with a happy family playing at the beach on the cover.
>> Reply

Amalia Weis - 25 Aug 2012 8:51:24pm

I am on Galinia for 6 month after trying all the drugs eve label till now I am fed up and I am going to see dr Paul thibault in New castel on the 14.1 2013
I am hopping to finde some good in this
Amalia weis
>> Reply

Christine White - 24 Aug 2012 4:43:42pm

I have never met the lady but thank you Kerri Cassidy for your tenacity in pushing for transparency in MS research. I too face a future living with all the uncertainty that MS brings and live in eternal hope that a cure is found regardless of who profits by it. Whilst I passionately welcome the NDIS, I see even more merit in preventative research! Don't give up on us. Please keep pushing Kerri. Thank you thank you thank you :-)
>> Reply

Lawrence Bennett - 23 Aug 2012 9:52:41pm

That's what happened to me, a neglected recurring bronchitis with the damp canals of Amsterdam, which led to MS in 1992. Dismissed by prof. Spira as being "esoteric", when I mentioned it in 2005 at the Sydney POW.
>> Reply

Darlene Brownrigg - 23 Aug 2012 9:47:24pm

Hi i have MS i've had it since March 2008. I watched the video & was amazed as 6 months b4 i got Ms i got a very bad flu i was down for 2 weeks with it i was also travelling at the time, i've always believed that caused my Ms.
So i this is the cause of MS would love too no more as i too have lost so much cause of my MS thank you. Miss D Brownrigg Australia
>> Reply

Pat O'Dwyer - 23 Aug 2012 9:42:31pm

Thank god for medicos like doctor P T who can listen think and reason
>> Reply

Glenn - 23 Aug 2012 9:34:17pm

Additional comment:
A great resource on CCSVI is www.ccsvi.org.au
>> Reply

Glenn - 23 Aug 2012 9:31:08pm

Thanks for the story on MS. I think you have raised awareness of new research. I think there needs to be greater investigation to break open the stranglehold that neurology and pharmaceutical companies have on MS and new research ideas.

>> Reply

fiona3012 - 23 Aug 2012 9:15:14pm

Whether it be infection by virus or bacteria, I heartily welcome this debate. In my day, it was the Orkney Islands rather than the Faroes, with 1/11 having MS. One theory then was the residence of American troops. (Along with other theories relating to scrapie in sheep).
Thank you for your balanced report.
Fiona Hall
(PWMS 31 years)

>> Reply

P. Southern - 23 Aug 2012 8:54:05pm

Not sure why Australia's Professor George Jelinek's research on MS using mind-body, lifestyle protocols was not discussed in this program??

His research was published in March/April this year in the international neurological science journal.

>> Reply

D. Comoli - 28 Aug 2012 5:57:36pm

Absolutely..I know first hand of people who are in total remission from their MS since doing a residential program and following his regime. This is facilitated by Prof George Jelinek at The Gawler Foundation in the Yarra Valley in Victoria.

www@gawler.org

Recommended reading "Overcoming MS" by George Jelinek.

>> Reply

Lauren - 23 Aug 2012 8:28:21pm

This just makes so much sense!! Can anyone else see the pieces all falling into place? I was assessed for the CCSVI and i have it but am being assessed for a HSCT which may be a more aggressive way of killing the bacteria with the same effect!
>> Reply

Inge Danaher - 23 Aug 2012 8:27:33pm

Finally someone willing to listen and think outside the box!!
Interesting that lack of potential profits can keep us in the dark ages. Something seriously wrong with our health system.
>> Reply

Brenda McManus - 23 Aug 2012 8:18:29pm

It would be very advantageous for the experts to also have a look at Dr Terry Wahls and her research and treatment of her own progressive Multiple Sclerosis. she has gone from being dependent on a reclining wheelchair to cycling and a very active life.Her website is www.terrywahls.com/
Dr. Wahls is the lead scientist in a clinical trial testing her protocol in others with progressive MS.
>> Reply

Ella Harvey - 23 Aug 2012 8:13:58pm

Thank you for having the courage to look beyond conventional thinking. I am a sufferer of Lyme disease which I am unable to have diagnosed in Tasmania as clinical diagnosis is the way given the nature of the bacteria. I was struck by the similarities regarding the behaviour of bacteria and the difficulty in detecting it. Do you think there are parallels? I have got to the point where I can no longer work. I am just hoping that there is someone like you who can help Lyme disease sufferers.

Again, thank you for your courage and tenacity and all the best to your wife and family.

Llewella Harvey

>> Reply

Moderator: Thanks very much for your comments. Just a reminder not to post any personal information about yourself or anyone else on this message board (for example telephone numbers, home addresses, email addresses, MSN or ICQ details).

Pim Scheelings - 24 Aug 2012 10:00:01pm

dear Ella Harvey i have been cured from Lyme disease by my family doctor with a long treatment of antibiotics (7 years) I took doxycycline for one year and minocycline for six years (both 200 mg a day). I've been totally free of symptoms for 8 months now. greetz Pim Scheelings (Holland)
>> Reply

Moderator: Please don't post any personal information about yourself or anyone else on this message board (for example telephone numbers, home addresses, email addresses, MSN or ICQ details).

Fiona Short - 25 Aug 2012 3:42:29pm

Chlamydia pneumoniae is not only implicated in MS but in many other chronic illnesses. I fell ill in 2000 and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2005. I suffered dreadful pain and cognitive dysfunction. After finding Cpnhelp and undergoing antibiotic treatment targeting Chlamydia pneumoniae, I am now leading a pain-free existence.
>> Reply

Julie - 28 Aug 2012 3:17:16pm

Does anyone know where in Adelaide you can be tested
>> Reply

Moxie Williams - 27 Aug 2012 8:44:35am

This is just another example of people suffering with chronic pain and debilitating illness know more than their health care providers.
We have time to do the research but go unheard by conservative medicos who are still stuck in their cookbook medicine treatments.
www.watershedmedicine.com has heaps of information to learn more about this NOT RADICAL treatment. Heaps of people are going from bedbound to future bound using these treatments.
>> Reply

Andrew Lecky - 27 Aug 2012 9:03:19pm

Watch this episode on possible connection between bacteria and MS and Monday night 4 Corners (27th) on the possible connection between bacteria and Autism. Make your own connections but it seems we should be looking in this area - anti-biotics, food, environment all the hard issues. Now maybe there is a connection with epilepsy and these issues? Please more research into these areas and less vested interest.
>> Reply

collecte section Bourgogne

Blumenthal hearing gives voice to Lyme patients’ frustrations 31st August 2012

NEWS: Blumenthal hearing gives voice to Lyme patients’ frustrations

Scotland grappling with its own home-grown tick-borne threat.

Bruce Alexander: More must be done to combat Lyme disease

anonymous

Lyme Disease Prevention widely attended by patients, researchers, and health care providers from the northeast : Lyme disease is a pervasive and pernicious public health disaster

Blumenthal Chairs Senate Hearing In State On Lyme Disease Prevention, Hears From Senate Colleague, Patients And Experts

British Government Transfers all Lyme Disease testing to Biowarfare Centre

British Government Transfers all Lyme Disease testing to Biowarfare Centre

References

France Lyme : rencontre en Savoie

France Lyme

Lyme disease awareness : no more lies

Multiple Sclerosis = infection ?

MS Cure?

TRANSCRIPT

Story Contacts

YOUR COMMENTS

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collecte section Bourgogne

NEWS: Blumenthal hearing gives voice to Lyme patients’ frustrations

Bruce Alexander: More must be done to combat Lyme disease

anonymous

British Government Transfers all Lyme Disease testing to Biowarfare Centre

References

MS Cure?

TRANSCRIPT

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