But then it seems he changes jobs about as often as some folks change their socks... so someone else is noticing a problem with him... ya think?

Look at the date on the article.. NEXT month!!

Why even bother to write this trash?

I guess the LACK of patients gives people extra time on their hands?

Curr Treat Options Neurol. 2005 Mar;7(2):167-170. Related Articles, Links

The Therapy of Lyme Neuroborreliosis.

Pachner AR.

Department of Neurology, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Avenue, Newark, NJ 07103, USA. [email protected].

The challenge for the neurologist in the treatment of Lyme neuroborreliosis is not in the treatment per se, but in the diagnosis.

Neurological manifestations of Lyme disease can present in many forms, and diagnostic techniques which detect the spirochete directly; the culture or polymerase chain reaction of the spirochete in cerebrospinal fluid, are of disappointingly low yield.

Therefore, the diagnosis is frequently not easy. After the diagnosis is made, antibiotic therapy is straightforward; Lyme neuroborreliosis should be treated with at least 2 weeks of antibiotics.

In the United States, intravenous therapy with ceftriaxone or penicillin for 2 weeks is the standard, whereas in Europe oral doxycycline therapy is commonly administered.

Either is effective, and my choice of therapy generally depends on the patient.

Many patients have symptoms which continue after antibiotic therapy referable to persistent inflammation, and, for those patients, I will commonly prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications.

Anybody?

Hello?

I've been swallowing those things since I was 14 with hardly any relief. I had such awful pain in my knee as a teenager, and all they'd give me was some ibuprofen and an ace bandage.

In MY opinion, it is all part of one big racket.

Oh, and didn't Pachner do studies on monkeys. Off the top, I thought that in the past he leaned more in favor of ongoing infection...but I may be wrong esp based on this junk pseudoscience he managed to publish.

I'm unclear what your point is about the date of this paper. Those of us who publish in academic journals know the date of publication usually about 6 months ahead of time as does the publisher and databases. That's because we do the research about 3-4 years ahead of publication, submit, revise, and then its usually 9-12 months from final acceptance to publication date.

Also, Pachner's been at two places (Georgetown and UMDNJ), again, not at all uncommon for academics plus when you do research while on sabbatical at another institution, you use their affiliation to publish. My published articles are with affiliations from at least 5 different academic institutions that I can recall off the top of my head (which is typical). Doesn't mean I'm a "bad" researcher...

Like you, I am surprised at this abstract given his previous research in non-human primates (to develop a model of Lyme in the central nervous system). That prior work was quite nice really, and here's a link and abstract that states that neuroborreliosis is a "persistant infection" according to his data.
http://tinyurl.com/3ntux

So, what I wonder when seeing this abstract is (a) what are the political pressures that exist in this institution that yield an article about humans that is inconsistent with findings in his own non-human primate model (i.e., persistent infection) and (b)what is the disconnect between persistent infection (seen in his primate models) and treatment (for humans as it appears in this abstract)? And where he states in the current abstract, "at least 2 weeks of antibiotics" how far beyond two weeks will he treat?

So, like you I am taken aback by the abstract (would like to read the paper in full however before making any final assessments) given his own work in nonhuman primates! However, I'm not clear about your insinuations about the date of publication and academic affiliations. Could you elaborate as I don't want to make any assumptions either.

Thanks for chiming in to inform on Pachner's past research. I had thought it was beneficial but I was too lazy to go back and dig through my files and read a bunch of abstracts again. However, when I came across this new study I remember that it threw me because I 'thought' the things I had been reading from his other studies were totally contradictory. It madw me second guess myself, deciding that I had the wrong guy. Guess not.

I wonder how much money it takes to get a researcher to totally change their position these days?...Not that I'd ever imply anything...

As for Tincup, I think she was just frustrated that this trash was published - esp ahead of the date it was designated to appear. I know it irked me. It's bad enough this stuff is making it to print but can we at least wait until the month listed instead of putting it out early? Bummer.

There are doctors, however, who genuinely believe in it and are dismissing any subjective complains such as pain or memory problems opting of symptomatic treatment.

"In the United States, intravenous therapy with ceftriaxone or penicillin for 2 weeks is the standard, whereas in Europe oral doxycycline therapy is commonly administered."
OK, I'll buy that. To a degree.

"Either is effective, and my choice of therapy generally depends on the patient."
Effective? Perhaps on the planet Zarkon but not here on Earth.

"Many patients have symptoms which continue after antibiotic therapy referable to persistent inflammation, and, for those patients, I will commonly prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications."
And then when you come back to him because you feel worse, you'll be told it's all in your head and to go see a shrink!

Can't believe they even allow this to be published!

Linda

So if you prescribe abx for only two weeks, you're admitting that you're rather IGNORANT! If the abx is not taken for a minimum of 6 wks, then you can forget about catching it "early."

Perhaps in an early stage is enough to treat shorter but why taking the risk?
Risk of prolonoged antibiotics is not that high.