Are biofilms/mucopolysaccharides unique for each organism? If they are, can't a marker be created that will fluoresce or turn red or whatever in the presence of the components of a particular biofilm? In other words, why couldn't you spit on a sputum stick like you do for strep, or pee on a stick like you do for a pregnancy test?
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
no knowledge; on page 2 .... up we go...
Posted by Erica741 (Member # 15186) on :
Interesting question! Up for possible responses.
Where's our resident scientist Marnie this weekend? Posted by gr33nman (Member # 20592) on :
Having read a little wider, it now becomes clear why we don't have a test. There are several possible reasons, perhaps a quorum of which are responsible for the reality.
a. Universities aren't sharing data anymore, because the Big Pharma grants won't allow them to. They each want to be the first to 'patent' their results so they can make a profit off what they've learned.
b. If it got out that Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is really the root cause for the bulk of so many widely diagnosed diseases such as schleroderma, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, ADD, ALS, MS, RLS, COPD, CFS and Fibromyalgia, a lot of pharmaceuticals might become useless.
c. Drugs that become superfluous signify a future expected loss of billions to Big Pharma.
Tell me...
When was the last time you saw an honest-to-goodness cure in one of those commercials with the phrase, "Ask your doctor about..." in it?
Of course any true curative treatment is being stifled. There's not enough money in cures. Keeping people sick and hospital beds full is better for business.
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
I have the impression that biofilms can be composed of different organisms, so maybe it would be hard to find one test that worked for every type of biofilm. Or one treatment.
But perhaps there are common features that represent a place for research to focus on. Presumably this is what they will be looking at in any research on biofilms: what are the component parts; what are the similarities and differences between biofilms.
And I think you are correct about the emphasis on a commercial product instead of finding and dealing with the root cause. When they publish these articles about plaques in Alzheimer's disease and maybe this or that product could work on the plaques, it makes one wonder why they are not looking for the cause of the plaques instead.
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