Wow,- they say "strong" link to ALS!!!! It's rare to see that language from researchers.
Determination of systemic infections due to Mycoplasma in patients with clinically defined amyotrophic lateral sclerosis][Article in Spanish] Flores-Rio de la Loza LJ, Ordonez-Lozano G, Pineda-Olvera B. Departamento de Neurologia, Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia MVS, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico. [email protected]
INTRODUCTION: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease of unknown origin which has been linked to chronic infections due to intracellular microorganisms. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to identify species of Mycoplasma in blood samples from patients with clinically defined ALS by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in comparison to healthy control subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a case-control study involving 75 participants, 20 of whom were patients with clinically defined ALS and 55 healthy controls. Venous blood samples were taken and processed in the Neuroimmunology Laboratory, where they were submitted to the PCR test for Mycoplasma sp. RESULTS: The patients with ALS were between 35 and 82 years old (mean: 52.5); the ages of the healthy control subjects ranged from 35 to 60 years (mean: 44.1). After performing the PCR for Mycoplasma sp. the following results were obtained: among the patients with ALS, 10 were found to be positive (50%) and 10 were negative (50%), whereas in the control subjects we found six positives (10.91%) and 49 negatives (89.09%); these results were statistically significant (p = 0.001). On calculating the estimated risk, an odds ratio of 8167 (CI 95%: 2.4-27.6) was obtained. This indicates that the risk of suffering from ALS, if the PCR test for Mycoplasma sp. is positive, is 8:1. CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong link between suffering from a chronic infection due to Mycoplasma and developing ALS. Intracellular pathogenic agents such as Mycoplasma can play a role in the genesis of neurodegenerative diseases.
PMID: 16138281 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
cave, thanks so much for breaking that up beautifully!
mike, so sorry it sounds so bad for your young niece! thoughts and prayers headed to her/extended family!
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
I personally think that "ALS" can have more than one cause. The tests they use to diagnose it really do not identify a cause, they just document the type of damage.
My ALS presentation has a cycle to the symptoms, which I don't think mycoplasma has. Not saying it might not be involved in encouraging lyme persistence, and I did test positive for m. fermentans, but long courses of cycline drugs did not prevent the onset of muscle wasting, which it should have if the wasting was produced by mycoplasma.
Therefore, my conclusion in my own case is that lyme has done this.
(IMO, CFS is also multi-causal.)
Posted by pq (Member # 6886) on :
47%; 9 of 19 men with Lou Gehrig's Disease in a Lyme-endemic area were exposed to borrelia. In other words, they have lyme borreliosis.
Of 19 unselected patients with the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) living in Suffolk County, New York (an area of high Lyme disease prevalence), 9 had serologic evidence of exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi."
Arch Neurol. 1990 May;47(5):586-94. Links Immunologic reactivity against Borrelia burgdorferi in patients with motor neuron disease. * Halperin JJ, * Kaplan GP, * Brazinsky S, * Tsai TF, * Cheng T, * Ironside A, * Wu P, * Delfiner J, * Golightly M, * Brown RH, et al. Department of Neurology, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11794.
Of 19 unselected patients with the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) living in Suffolk County, New York (an area of high Lyme disease prevalence), 9 had serologic evidence of exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi; 4 of 38 matched controls were seropositive. Eight of 9 seropositive patients were male (8 of 12 male patients vs 2 of 24 controls). Rates of seropositivity were lower among patients with ALS from nonendemic areas. All patients had typical ALS; none had typical Lyme disease. Cerebrospinal fluid was examined in 24 ALS patients--3 (all with severe bulbar involvement) appeared to have intrathecal synthesis of anti-B burgdorferi antibody. Following therapy with antibiotics, 3 patients with predominantly lower motor neuron abnormalities appeared to improve, 3 with severe bulbar dysfunction deteriorated rapidly, and all others appeared unaffected. There appears to be a statistically significant association between ALS and immunoreactivity to B burgdorferi, at least among men living in hyperendemic areas. PMID: 2334308
Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :
Yup Lou, I agree- many causes- but definitely TBE & spirochetes can do it!!! **********************************
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Syndrome of Syphilitic Origin. 5 Cases
el Alaoui-Faris M, Medejel A, al Zemmouri K, Yahyaoui M, Chkili T Service de Neurologie, Hopital des specialites Rabat, Maroc.
1: Rev Neurol (Paris) 1990;146(1):41-4
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis syndrome of syphilitic origin. 5 cases.
We studied 5 cases of syphilitic lateral amyotrophic sclerosis. The diagnosis was based on the presence of a lymphocytic reaction in the CSF and positive VDRL and TPHA reactions in both blood and CSF.
Clinically, the disease affected the arms in 3 cases and produced paraplegia in 2 cases. The gradual extension of amyotrophy over several months, the diffusion of electromyographic abnormalities and the finding of spinal cord atrophy at myelography and CT suggested a subacute ischemic mechanism with meningo-myelic arteritis involving the anterior horns.
After treatment with penicillin G in high doses, the outcome was constantly favourable, with improvement of motor deficit in 4 cases and stabilisation in 1 case in a 5 to 13 years' follow-up.
Publication Types: Review Review of reported cases MeSH Terms: Adult Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/physiopathology Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/etiology* Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/drug therapy Cerebrospinal Fluid/analysis Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins/analysis English Abstract Female Follow-Up Studies Human Lymphocytosis/cerebrospinal fluid Male Middle Age Neurosyphilis/complications* Penicillin G/therapeutic use Syndrome Syphilis Serodiagnosis
Substances: Penicillin G Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins
PMID: 2408129, UI: 90176246
In long-term follow-up, 68% of patients with PFTBE display transformation of clinical forms of the disease, with the formation of the lateral amyotrophic sclerosis syndrome in the overwhelming majority of these patients.
1: Zh Nevropatol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 1983;83(8):1173-9
Structure of progressive forms of tick-borne encephalitis
Umanekii KG, Dekonenko EP.
On the basis of long-term follow up (from 2 to 22 years) of 175 patients with various syndromes of progressive forms of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), evaluation criteria of TBE progression are systematized.
Two basic forms of disease progression are identified: amyotrophic and hyperkinetic, each of them breaking down into a series of leading syndromes.
Important for characterizing progressive forms of tick-borne encephalitis (PFTBE) are the time when the disease began to progress and the pattern of progression as well as its stage and severity. PFTBE are correlated with the acute period syndromes.
In long-term follow-up, 68% of patients with PFTBE display transformation of clinical forms of the disease, with the formation of the lateral amyotrophic sclerosis syndrome in the overwhelming majority of these patients.
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