quote:

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Originally posted by lou:
Several who are going promised to give us a report afterwards.

On Fallon's research, it will only help us if he can get published. My guess is that he will have a hard time with this.

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well, I think he said in Mass. that it was "in press" or something to that effect. (I could be wrong)

he very well could have trouble publishing, for political reasons, in journals like JAMA and of course the corrupt NEJM is out of the question.

however, he wouldn't run into these problems (which are primarily with IDSA types) publishing in a psychiatric or neurologic journal. let's not get caught up in worrying about what journal it appears in...it really doesn't matter as long as it's published.

however, if he couldn't get it published, I think that, in the long run, would help us even more than if it was published immediately.

not being able to publish his paper, the main result of a $5 million NIH study, because of politics - that would add, immeasurably, to the body of evidence which can be presented to our political leaders and medical authorities outside of the IDSA/EIS cabal which points toward conspiracy and coverup with respect to NIAID's butchering of lyme policy.

after all, this is science, where censorship of ideas is supposedly abhorrent. the advancement of science depends on a free exchange of ideas and research results - most scientists and even many politicians, educated people in general - are aware of this (outside of IDSA) and would recoil in disgust at the thought of an important paper being blocked for political reasons. it really does remind one of the repression of galileo by the catholic church.

I'm wondering if IDSA and fauci etc. are really stupid enough to try and block fallon publishing. nothing could be better for us, really. they would end up looking like a bunch of stupid, corrupt ingrates who are trying desperately to hide evidence of their malfeasance.

which, by the way, is exactly what they are.
 

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Posted by trails (Member # 1620) on :
 
you said it Aligondo!

trails

 

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Posted by CA quest (Member # 6827) on :
 
Unfortunately it DOES matter in which journal it is published:

If the goal is to educate doctors they need to read it: but it won't be read in an obscure journal.

However....if the goal is to be cited by other authors then it is might not matter quite as much.

Citation is everything in the medical world. Everyone wants their articles cited. If noone cites your article it falls by the wayside.
 

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Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
 
Well, they could do like they did with the bartonella article, the one that made it official bart was in the same ticks that give us lyme, babs, etc. And patients tested positive for bart, without exposure to cats. What the journal did was publish it but get Wormser and Halperin to write a rebuttal in the same journal issue, basically ridiculing the idea that people with other tickborne diseases could also get bart from ticks.

It is astonishing how corrupt the world of medical science can be.

Here is the article about bart, note that free full text available:

http://tinyurl.com/ayy8t

And here is the first part of the idiotic rebuttal:

http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/58/9/1345

[ 30. October 2005, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: lou ]
 

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Posted by Aligondo Bruce (Member # 6219) on :
 
[QUOTE]Originally posted by CA quest:
[QB] Unfortunately it DOES matter in which journal it is published:

If the goal is to educate doctors they need to read it: but it won't be read in an obscure journal.

However....if the goal is to be cited by other authors then it is might not matter quite as much.


................................................

well, that's a good point.

however, the way I look at things, after some of the horribly flawed and really not even peer-reviewed articles which have appeared in JAMA and NEJM - and the appointment of klempner as an editor at NEJM - I've given up on these journals as the source of any meaningful information. They're propaganda tools, not sources of meaningful science.

it's better, in the long run, to publish in a more ethical specialty journal. while it's true that the article will not be as widely dessiminated especially outside of psychiatric and neurologic circles, you will reach a certain audience, which includes many academic researchers who have extensive ties with other physicians in other specialties.

and lyme patients can use such an article in the courtroom or show to doctors themselves when battling for long term therapy.

we all have an obligation to help educate physicians.

they're fighting a long battle here. You're not going to suddenly win over everyone at once. what has taken place in LD research is the emergence of divergent streams of research. the disease as viewed from some perspectives is vastly different from that which $teere and others have spent their fraudulent careers imagining and forcing through political manipulation and propaganda on the generally unsuspecting medical profession at large.

it is far better to convince smaller segments at a time. we're not only up against the IDSA and EIS maniacs, we're also up against the medical system in general, of which NEJM and JAMA represent conservative, establishment views which are adverse to drastic changes within the profession.

and they are aware that the lyme disease scandal, fully revealed, including massive corruption and coverup at CDC and NIH, racketeering involving big pharma, would almost by neccessity lead to sweeping changes within not only these agencies, but how medicine, research, medical education, etc. is regulated in the US. they fear the loss of their patriarchal power leading to socialization of health care. and the lyme disease scandal is like a gun pointed at the medical establishment's head.
 

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Posted by Aligondo Bruce (Member # 6219) on :
 
well, it's now halloween and nobody has posted anything.

I guess the results weren't that interesting, or not much was revealed, or something of this nature.

Oh well. Maybe in 50 years when we're all dead Geraldo's son will have a 3-d holo-vision special in which he opens up fallon's secret vault.
 

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Posted by Ann-OH (Member # 2020) on :
 
Here is an article about Dr. Fallon and his work from the LDA Conference in Philly.

Rosemary posted on the Med board. She found it in her local paper in Arkansas. It is from Reuters, the biggest syndicated group in the world, so it should be seen widely.

Hope this eases your jonesing for info, Bruce!
Ann - OH

[quote]
http://news.yahoo.com/i/594

[Reuters]
Fatigue, pain often accompany chronic Lyme disease

By Karla Gale
Mon Oct 31,11:28 PM ET

Because Lyme disease is difficult to diagnose in the absence of the characteristic "bull's eye rash," the illness can become entrenched and difficult to treat.

In such cases, symptoms such as memory loss, irritability and fatigue, may predominate, according to a study presented at the sixth annual Lyme Conference in Philadelphia.

"No one was studying chronic Lyme disease, yet a growing number of patients were suffering with chronic persistent symptoms even after antibiotic treatment," lead investigator Dr. Brian Fallon, from Columbia University in New York, told Reuters Health.

For their study, sponsored by the National Institute of Neurology and Stroke, Fallon's group recruited 37 patients who met strict conditions for having chronic Lyme disease. The team conducted brain-imaging studies and assessed the participants' response to re-treatment.

"Based on objective tests of physical impairment, we found that the patients had levels of functional disability comparable to what you would see with congestive heart failure, as well as pain comparable to what you might expect in patients coming out of surgery, and fatigue comparable to patients with multiple sclerosis," Fallon said.

Moreover, brain-imaging studies showed "that there are widespread deficits in blood flow and metabolism in patients compared to age- and education-matched controls."

"From a strictly objective stance these patients are quite impaired," Fallon maintained. "Chronic Lyme disease clearly exists and represents a major public health problem."

The researcher said that once chronic Lyme disease patients have been treated with a 3-week course of antibiotics, they are often told that any remaining symptoms are of a psychiatric nature.

"So patients are not only are experiencing a disease causing significant disability and pain, they are also experiencing invalidation of their illness by being told they are making it up, that 'it's all in their head'," he said.

One problem is that many of the initial tests for the disease are inadequate, so negative results should be followed by more sophisticated tests. On average, it takes 1.2 years for the correct diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease to be made.

"The reason is that certain patients do not present with classic signs of Lyme disease, such as rash or joint swelling. They might instead present with a chronic fatigue syndrome-like picture or gradual increasing verbal fluency problems or memory problems, or personality change with irritability."

Fallon noted that retreatment with antibiotics can help, but "unfortunately for many patients it's not the final answer, because some will get better and then relapse again months later."

"Perhaps 30 percent of patients will need to be given additional course of antibiotics," he added. However, "the optimal duration and extent of treatment has not yet been fully delineated."

[end quote]
 

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Posted by Ann-OH (Member # 2020) on :
 
Health Scout caught up with Dr. Fallon and Dr. Cameron at the Conference, too!
Ann - OH

http://tinyurl.com/7ss3f
[quote]
Last updated 10/29/2005

Lyme Disease Often Misdiagnosed as Psychiatric Illness

Adults with chronic Lyme disease often display mood swings that can be
misdiagnosed as psychiatric illness, causing delays in treatment for this
debilitating condition, a new study found. On average, researchers say the
average patient with chronic Lyme disease waits more than a year before
receiving a proper diagnosis.

The four-year study, conducted by a team from Columbia University, New York,
also found that over three-quarters of female Lyme disease patients, and
about one-quarter of males, suffer from significant pain and disability
linked to infection with the tick-borne illness.

"While much is known about early Lyme disease, very little is known about
chronic Lyme disease, despite its rising prevalence and disabling effects,"
lead researcher Dr. Brian Fallon said in a prepared statement. The findings
were presented Saturday at the annual Lyme Conference in Philadelphia.

In another study presented at the conference, researcher Dr. Daniel Cameron,
director of First Medical Associates in Mt. Kisco, New York, found that the
average quality of life for patients with chronic Lyme disease falls below
that of patients with other chronic conditions such as heart failure.
Re-treatment with the antibiotic amoxicillin can help ease patients'
symptoms, however.


Copyright � 2005 ScoutNews LLC
[end quote]
 

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Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :
 
Hi All~

I just today, rolled into my hometown, and I have a rip roaring headache as I type, but I did want to let you know that Dr. Fallon did a MAGNIFICENT job of presenting his study.

He was quite clear that this was a well devised study...meaning no one would be able to pick it apart in how it was set up and executed.

He stated in no uncertain terms that people who had been deemed "adequately treated" by some groups (IDSA doctors) and had relapsed, had, indeed improved on further antibiotic treatment.

The patients had improved both cognitively and in other symptoms (not specified) with an additional 10 week course of IV rocephin.

Unfortunately, after discontinuing the treatment, the patients (and I got the impression that all of them, or the majority of them) relapsed cognitively....but not necessarily symptom wise.

What did that mean? he asked. Would a longer course of IV be of benefit? Would following by orals be of benefit?? All issues that needed further study.

He also would use actigall next time, as one patient lost a gall bladder.

BUT...he made it VERY CLEAR, that further IV treatment in patients deemed "adequeately treated previously" by some groups led to definite improvement. SO....the IDSA needed to seriously consider revising their standards and the insurance companies needed to provide care for longer treatment protocols for patients with lyme disease. (Yes, he addressed both the IDSA and the insurance companies).

This was a SLAM DUNK presentation, with much clapping at the end for a well done study to the credit of Dr. Fallon.

You GO Doc!

We are grateful to your work!
 

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