"New Guidelines for Treatment of Neurological Lyme Disease Most cases of Lyme disease can be prevented or cured with prompt antibiotic treatment following a deer tick bite.
However, neurological complications can later develop in some patients.
In 2007, the American Academy of Neurology released new guidelines for the treatment of nervous system Lyme disease. The guidelines recommend that patients with severe disease receive a 2 - 4 week course of intravenous antibiotics (penicillin, ceftriaxone, or cefotaxime).
Patients with milder neurological cases may do well with a 2 - 4 week course of oral doxycycline. No guidelines currently recommend long-term antibiotic treatment for any stage or complication of Lyme disease."
IP: Logged |
Their stuck in some kind of time warp, and can't move on. Possibly the middle ages. No wonder this epidemic is getting out of hand.
Posts: 153 | From England | Registered: Jun 2008
| IP: Logged |
shazdancer
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1436
posted
Check out the authors:
Halperin, Shapiro, Logigian, Belman, Dotevall, Wormser, Krupp, Gronseth, and Bever
In addition, Logigian has partnered with Steere on studies for years. Krupp authored one of the long-term treatment studies where retreatment with IV improved fatigue but not cognition.
CT Attorney General cited the use of the same authors on what should have been independent guidelines as evidence of conflict of interest and possible anti-trust.
-- Shaz
Posts: 1558 | From the Berkshires | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Lets hope these BIRD BRAINS do their next PLACEBO testing on dogs.
When the dogs don't recover, they can be sent to the Shrink.
Problem solved, ''' It's all in the mind'''
Well it will be, when they have convinced the dogs,
that it's all in their mind.
Posts: 153 | From England | Registered: Jun 2008
| IP: Logged |
METALLlC BLUE
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6628
posted
Actually testing has already been done on dogs.
8: Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. [email protected]
In specific-pathogen-free dogs experimentally infected with Borrelia burgdorferi by tick exposure, treatment with high doses of amoxicillin or doxycycline for 30 days diminished but failed to eliminate persistent infection. Although joint disease was prevented or cured in five of five amoxicillin- and five of six doxycycline-treated dogs, skin punch biopsies and multiple tissues from necropsy samples remained PCR positive and B. burgdorferi was isolated from one amoxicillin- and two doxycycline-treated dogs following antibiotic treatment. In contrast, B. burgdorferi was isolated from six of six untreated infected control dogs and joint lesions were found in four of these six dogs. Serum antibody levels to B. burgdorferi in all dogs declined after antibiotic treatment. Negative antibody levels were reached in four of six doxycycline- and four of six amoxicillin-treated dogs. However, in dogs that were kept in isolation for 6 months after antibiotic treatment was discontinued, antibody levels began to rise again, presumably in response to proliferation of the surviving pool of spirochetes. Antibody levels in untreated infected control dogs remained high.
10: J Clin Microbiol. 2000 Jun;386:2191-9. Links PCR-Based quantification of Borrelia burgdorferi organisms in canine tissues over a 500-Day postinfection period.Straubinger RK.James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. [email protected]
Borrelia burgdorferi infection in beagle dogs was studied quantitatively with skin punch biopsy samples and blood samples collected at 4- and 2-week intervals, respectively, over a 500-day period. Thereafter, 25 tissue samples of each dog were collected for further analysis. Starting at day 120 after tick challenge, 12 dogs were treated with antibiotics azithromycin, ceftriaxone, or doxycycline for 30 consecutive days. Four dogs received no antibiotic therapy. Quantification of B. burgdorferi DNA was done with an ABI Prism 7700 Sequence Detection System with oligonucleotide primers and a fluorescence-labeled probe designed to specifically amplify a fragment of the ospA gene of B. burgdorferi strain N40. All 16 dogs became infected with B. burgdorferi after tick challenge. In skin biopsy samples, spirochete numbers peaked at day 60 postinfection <1.5 x 10 6organisms per 100 microgram of extracted DNA, at the same time when clinical signs of arthritis developed in 11 of 16 dogs, and decreased to almost undetectable levels during the following 6 months. The number of B. burgdorferi organisms detected in skin biopsy samples was inversely correlated with the antibody levels measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antibiotic treatment reduced the amount of detectable spirochete DNA[b] in skin tissue by a factor of 1,000 or more. At the end of the experiment, [b]B. burgdorferi DNA was detectable at low levels 10 2 to 10 4 organisms per 100 microgram of extracted DNA in multiple tissue samples regardless of treatment. However, more tissue samples of untreated dogs than of antibiotic-treated dogs were positive, and tissue samples of untreated dogs also were positive by culture. Only 1.6% of 576 blood samples of all dogs were positive for B. burgdorferi by PCR.
PMID: 10834975 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
11: Straubinger RK, Straubinger AF, Summers BA, Jacobson RH, Erb HN. James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, Ithaca, New York, USA. [email protected]
BACKGROUND: Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, infects humans and animals. In humans, the disease primarily affects the skin, large joints, and the nervous system days to months after infection. Data generated with appropriate animal model help to understand the fundamental mechanisms of the disease. OBJECTIVE: 1 More clearly define the clinical manifestation and pathogenetic mechanisms of Lyme disease in dogs; 2 evaluate the effect of antibiotics in dogs infected with B. burgdorferi; 3 describe the effects of corticosteroids on dogs persistently infected with B. burgdorferi. DESIGN: Specific-pathogen-free beagles were infected with B. burgdorferi using ticks collected in an endemic Lyme disease area. Clinical signs were recorded daily. Antibody titers were measured by ELISA at two-week intervals. B. burgdorferi organisms were detected in tissues by culture and PCR. Synovial fluids were evaluated microscopically and with a chemotaxis cell migration assay. Histological sections were examined for pathological lesions. Specific cytokine up-regulation in tissues was detected by RT-PCR. INTERVENTIONS: In three separate experiments, B. burgdorferi-infected dogs received antibiotic treatment amoxicillin; azithromycin; ceftriaxone; doxycycline for 30 consecutive days. Two subclinical persistently infected dogs received oral prednisone for 14 consecutive days starting at day 420 post-infection. RESULTS: Dogs developed acute arthritis in the joints closest to the tick bites after a median incubation period of 68 days. Synovial membranes of lame and non-lame dogs produced the chemokine IL-8 in response to B. burgdorferi. Antibiotic treatment prevented or resolved episodes of acute arthritis, but failed to eliminate the bacterium from infected dogs. Corticosteroid treatment reactivated Lyme disease in persistently infected dogs, which had not received antibiotics previously. CONCLUSIONS: B. burgdorferi disseminates through tissue by migration following tick inoculation, produces episodes of acute arthritis, and establishes persistent infection. The spirochete survives antibiotic treatment and disease can be reactivated in immunosuppressed animals.
81: Journal of Spirochetal & Tick-borne Diseases, Vol. 4, Straubinger RK; 1997 Two lessons from the canine model of Lyme Disease: migration of Borrelia Straubinger AF; burgdorferi in tissues and persistence after antibiotic treatment. No. 1/2 Jacobson RH; Chang Y; Summer BA;
[Persistence:] .In two studies, antibiotic treatment with amoxicillin or doxycycline for 30 days failed to eliminate persistent infection in 11 dogs. Immediately after treatment, borreliae could not be demonstrated, antibody levels declined, and joint lesions were prevented or cured. Live spirochetes, however, persisted in the tissue of at least three dogs as B. burgdorferi DNA was detected in all 11 treated dogs for up to 6 months after treatment, at which time antibody levels again began to rise..
[Diagnostic issues:] .In the dog model, we detected B. burgdorferi reliably in skin but infrequently in blood by culture and polymerase chain reaction PCR. We found the organism in the synovium of joints but not in synovial fluids, and in meninges but not in cerebrospinal fluid..
Department of Dermatology, Lainz Municipal Hospital, Wolkersbergenstrasse 1, A-1130 Vienna, Austria. [email protected]
A 64-year-old woman presented with bullous and ulcerating lichen sclerosus et atrophicus LSA on the neck, trunk, genital and perigenital area and the extremities. Histology of lesional skin showed the typical manifestations of LSA; in one of the biopsies spirochaetes were detected by silver staining. Despite treatment with four courses of ceftriaxone with or without methylprednisone for up to 20 days, progression of LSA was only stopped for a maximum of 1 year. Spirochaetes were isolated from skin cultures obtained from enlarging LSA lesions. These spirochaetes were identified as Borrelia afzelii by sodium dodecyl sulphate--polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and polymerase chain reaction PCR analyses. However, serology for B. burgdorferi sensu lato was repeatedly negative. After one further 28-day course of ceftriaxone the lesions stopped expanding and sclerosis of the skin was diminished. At this time cultures for spirochaetes and PCR of lesional skin for B. afzelii DNA remained negative. These findings suggest a pathogenetic role for B. afzelii in the development of LSA and a beneficial effect of appropriate antibiotic treatment.
[From the article:] .The relapses she repeatedly suffered despite initially successful antibiotic treatment could be related to the observation that Borrelia may possibly be able to remain dormant in certain tissue compartments, thus escaping bactericidal antibiotic activity. This would be consistent with the fact that these relapses were always able to be treated successfully with a course of the same antibiotics as before; this is corroborated by a recent report that Bb may persist in experimentally infected dogs despite antibiotic treatment with doxycycline or amoxycillin.
85: J Infect Dis. 2000 Mar;181 3:1069-81. Links Status of Borrelia burgdorferi infection after antibiotic treatment and the effects of corticosteroids: An experimental study. Straubinger RK, Straubinger AF, Summers BA, Jacobson RH.
James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, 14853, USA. [email protected]
Sixteen specific-pathogen-free beagles were infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. Three groups of 4 dogs were treated with antibiotics for 30 consecutive days starting 120 days after tick exposure; 4 dogs were untreated controls. At day 420 after tick exposure and again before euthanasia, 2 dogs of each group were treated with prednisone for 14 days. All dogs contracted infection and 11 developed acute arthritis 50-120 days after exposure. After day 120, one of 12 antibiotic-treated dogs and 2 of 4 untreated dogs became lame. Antibiotic therapy reduced the frequency of Borrelia-positivity in subsequent skin biopsy samples. After prednisone treatment, both control dogs developed severe polyarthritis. At euthanasia, single tissues of the antibiotic-treated dogs and multiple tissues of all control dogs were Borrelia-positive by polymerase chain reaction. Viable spirochetes were not recovered from antibiotic-treated dogs. Two antibiotic-treated dogs showed histologic evidence of minimal lesions, whereas all control dogs had mild polyarthritis with periarteritis.
16 dogs were infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. 120 days after tick exposure, 12 dogs were treated with antibiotics for 30 days; 4 control dogs were not treated. .At euthanasia, single tissues of the antibiotic-treated dogs and multiple tissues of all control dogs were Borrelia-positive by polymerase chain reaction. [Persistence:] .Do the data indicate an ongoing persistent infection in these animals or only the presence of DNA remnants of dead Borrelia...? From this study and our previous investigations 20, it appears likely that B. burgdorferi maintains a persistent infection with live organisms albeit at a very low level.. p.1079 [Diagnosis:] .As demonstrated by the injection of heat-killed B. burgdorferi organisms into the skin of an uninfected animal, DNA of dead organisms was detectable in our hands only for 3 weeks. These results are in concordance with a study in which persistent experimental infection with Treponema pallidum, the spirochetal agent of syphilis, was identified by PCR 21. Wicher et al. [1998] discovered that DNA of dead Treponema organisms was removed from or degraded within rabbit tissue within 15-30 days after syringe inoculation.. p.1079 Our studies show that at least in the dog, blood is an unreliable tissue to demonstrate B. burgdorferi infection.. p.1080
See, I've been collecting these studies for awhile now, and uh -- I'm not sure where the absurd thought that borrelia burgdorferi is easily eradicated.
-------------------- I am not a physician, so do your own research to confirm any ideas given and then speak with a health care provider you trust.
posted
How would these idiots know anything about treatment when they don't treat patients???!!!
Patients who do happen to get better- they probably never see again and the ones who don't get better go off to see a real physician...one who does actually care.
I just hope they're around long enough to eat crow!!!!
posted
The only thing that will change their minds is if THEY get Lyme themselves, since it seems the majority of the LLMDs out there have Lyme themselves. Give it time...
IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic