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Thomas, breaking up the long paagraphs for my neuro brain as I always get a kick out of your "work"!

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Originally posted by Thomas Parkman:

Dear Members of the List:

I am seldom satisfied with my writings but for once with the letter I am mailing off today to Dr. Jones I am pleased. I thought you might like to read it. No doubt somebody will find some way to shoot it out of the water!!
Cheers. Thomas Parkman

March 1, 2006

Charles Ray Jones, MD
Madison Towers
111 Park Street, First Floor, Suite F
New Haven, CT 06492


Dear Dr. Jones:

I have learned with great concern and dismay of the actions being taken against you. I have wondered what, if anything, I might do that would be of some use to you at this time.

As I understand certain of the facts in your case, you prescribed antibiotics for a child in another state who was ill with Lyme disease before seeing him.

I submit for your information a short article appearing in a 2005 issue of the ``Lancet'', which I think could provide a succinct description of the current problems in the treatment of Lyme disease and could provide you with a clear response to the criticism made against you.

The plain truth is that conventional medical practice is twenty years out of date in its understanding and treatment of this incredibly insidious and deadly disease.

There is, in the words of the enclosed article: ``...a growing problem with Lyme disease: while what is known about the basic science of this tick-borne illness becomes more complex, the clinical science remains relatively simplistic and uninformed.''

Further, ``... chronic infection that allows the spirochaete's complex pathophysiological mechanisms to unfold can result in tenacious tissue invasion that is extremely difficult to eradicate.''

Doctors simply will not understand, it seems, that Lyme disease cripple; Lyme disease can kill you. Unless caught and treated quickly, it can and will turn your life into a living hell; a life racked by the most appalling suffering.

How many people have I talked to who have expressed the fervent wish: if only it had been caught in time! I am one of those people.

Why the medical profession is in this state of total denial is something nobody can understand.

You are looked upon in the Lyme community with the most profound respect and gratitude. You by your example and practice, are the living embodiment of what the word doctor really means.

The sad truth is that the human race as a whole has a very poor track record. You and people like you redeem the reputation of humanity.

The Centers for Disease Control has repeatedly stated that a diagnosis of Lyme disease is a clinical diagnosis. They have admitted that the statistics on Lyme disease are totally unreliable. Nobody knows how many cases there really are. The testing is unreliable.

You possess a body of knowledge, experience and clinical understanding of Lyme disease, particularly its often unusual or unique manifestations in pediatric Lyme disease, which is irreplaceable and literally beyond price.

With the clinical experience of treating some eight thousand (8,000) children, you posses an extraordinary and extremely rare understanding of this disease.

To revoke the license to practice medicine of such a pre-imminent authority in the treatment of Lyme disease, would be worse than a crime; it would be a heinous blunder.

Were this travesty of justice to succeed, what would then happen to the hundreds, indeed thousands of children who benefit from your care?

There would be no point in returning to that ``standard of care'' medical practice, which has miserably failed them. To do so would not only be a waste of their time and money, but would only add to their suffering.

This whole persecution against you is driven by the worst kind of medical arrogance, ignorance, and folly.

To allow it to succeed would be the height of cruelty.

To permit a doctor who has done the good you have done to be ensnared or caught up in the trivia of scoring points in a child custody case is a disgrace.

Those who are perpetrating this vicious action do not know their shame for the shame that it is.

I hope the information contained in this letter is of help to you. I feel very proud and indeed honored to be able to join so many hundreds of others in supporting you and in contributing to your cause.

So fight the good fight with all thy might! People everywhere are rising up and calling you blessed.

With Respect and Best Wishes,


Thomas M. Parkman
4409 B Trenholm Road
Columbia, SC 29206

enclosure enclosed

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Thomas, you outdid yourself on this one. It touched my heart as well as all lymies, and undoubtedly will touch Dr. Jones too!

It's great having you on the LYME side; go get 'em tiger!

Thomas, I not only broke up the paragraphs but made very minor punctuation changes as well.

Again, thank you sir for a JOB WELL DONE!

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Editing Lancelet article and double spacing. You called me LOL I looked at this and SOB, scrolled on by, so fast; it just hurts my eyes to look at things like this. Enjoy; I learned more by editing & reading it; hope you do too.

Again, Thomas, you are the man of words; thank you my online friend for sharing that special talent of yours.

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Originally posted by Mo:

I am copying the full article here from Thomas' other thread:

The Lancet 2005; 366:1771

DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67721-5

Lyme disease: scratching the surface

Steven E Phillips a, Nick S Harris a, Richard Horowitz a, Lorraine Johnson a and Raphael B Stricker a

The excellent Comment by Ulrike Munderloh and Timothy Kurtti (Sept 17, p 962)1 describes the complex life cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochaetal agent of Lyme disease, as it traffics between tick and mammalian hosts.

The Comment highlights a growing problem with Lyme disease:

. while what is known about the basic science of this tick-borne illness becomes more complex,

. the clinical science remains relatively simplistic and uninformed.2

This divergence has produced a disconnection between the recognition of B burgdorferi as one of the most invasive and elusive bacteria known to man, and the clinical perception that Lyme disease is ``hard to catch and easy to cure''.

The complexity of the Lyme disease spirochaete goes beyond the features described by Munderloh and Kurtti.

With more than 1500 gene sequences, B burgdorferi contains at least 132 functioning genes;

by comparison, the spirochaetal agent of syphilis, Treponema pallidum, contains only 22 such genes.2

Furthermore, the Lyme disease spirochaete contains 21 plasmids (nine circular and 12 linear).2

This is by far the largest number of plasmids found in any known bacterium, and the large number of plasmid genes is thought to provide a rapid response system that allows the spirochaete to cycle efficiently between ticks and mammals.3

Gene exchange and plasmid transfers among Borrelia strains can also increase the pathogenicity of the organism.3

In the mammalian milieu, B burgdorferi uses the host fibrinolytic system to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and gain access to the central nervous system.

The Lyme disease spirochaete contains a secretory mechanism for porin, adhesin, and haemolysin proteins, and these secreted products can contribute to the invasive properties of the organism.4

The spirochaete can enter cells; such as,
fibroblasts, synovial cells, endothelial cells, and macrophages.

In these cells, it becomes functionally resistant to treatment, partly due to ``camouflage'' proteins produced by itself or adsorbed from the cell, and partly due to altered morphology as the spirochaete assumes a non-replicating cyst form.2

The immune evasion strategy used by B burgdorferi is similar to strategies used by the mycobacterial agents that cause chronic infections such as tuberculosis or leprosy.2

These organisms also exist as non-replicating cyst forms that can be ``resuscitated'' by autocrine cytokine-like factors after lying dormant for months.

B burgdorferi has been shown to use luxS, an autoinducer gene used by other bacteria, to regulate replication.5

It is the first time that this autoinducer gene has been identified in a spirochaete.

Thus the combination of genetic complexity, intracellular localisation, immune evasion, and autoregulation makes the Lyme disease spirochaete a formidable infectious agent.2

By contrast with the complex basic science of B burgdorferi outlined above, a popular clinical notion is that Lyme disease can be cured with 2-4 weeks of antibiotics.

Although this might be true of promptly treated acute B burgdorferi infection, chronic infection that allows the spirochaete's complex pathophysiological mechanisms to unfold can result in tenacious tissue invasion that is extremely difficult to eradicate.

Understanding the pathophysiological complexity of this organism should help to improve our clinical approach to Lyme disease.2

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

References
1. Munderloh UG, Kurtti TJ. The ABCs of Lyme disease spirochaetes in ticks. Lancet 2005; 366: 962-964. Full Text | PDF (41 KB) | CrossRef

2. Stricker RB, Lautin A, Burrascano JJ. Lyme disease: point/counterpoint. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther 2005; 3: 155-165.

3. Qiu WG, Schutzer SE, Bruno JF, et al. Genetic exchange and plasmid transfers in Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto revealed by three-way genome comparisons and multilocus sequence typing. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004; 101: 14150-14155. MEDLINE | CrossRef

4. Cluss RG, Silverman DA, Stafford TR. Extracellular secretion of the Borrelia burgdorferi Oms28 porin and Bgp, a glycosaminoglycan binding protein. Infect Immun 2004; 72: 6279-6286. MEDLINE | CrossRef

5. Stevenson B, von Lackum K, Wattier RL, McAlister JD, Miller JC, Babb K. Quorum sensing by the Lyme disease spirochete. Microbes Infect 2003; 5: 991-997. MEDLINE | CrossRef

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