Article on CFIDS, CFS, Lyme Disease Available

Written for the general population, this article outlines with footnotes, the stunning information about the connection between Lyme and CFIDS and the top medical professionals who have uncovered the facts about the government approved tests that determine its diagnosis. The following is an introduction for style and sections for examples of content.

(PRWEB) October 3, 2004

This is a test, By Matthew Chute

“So what do you have?” “OH you’re feeling a bit tired and run down huh?” “How about taking some vitamin C?” “Chronic Fatigue? Oh ya, I take naps every Friday after work, I know what its like, I’m tired too…”

10+ years of having CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome) has been a test in patients. Being a patient of many Doctors, being patient with my friends (the ones I have left), being patient with the inpatients of my family, patiently waiting to amass enough strength, mental clarity and motivational energy to do what I have to do, and most of all, waiting for a discovery that will lift the fog forever…and patiently waiting for a good explanation that makes the politics of our illness make sense.

Things are getting better for the CFIDS diagnosis. In that, when you tell someone you have CFIDS, many more understand. Unfortunately, so many of us either have it or know someone who does. I haven’t run into the dismissive “it’s-all-in-your-head” for a while. The tireless efforts of organizations like the CFIDS Association are working.

Since nobody ever told me exactly what was affecting me I never stopped searching for a better answer to the diagnosis question. Who wants an illness with no cause, treatment or cure? I also wanted an answer so others would understand me too. I wanted more compassion because my life was ruined, but; to others, I looked fine and could act fine for periods of time. But most of all I wanted my life back and knew that if I had a good diagnosis I could beat this thing. I kept looking for the best answer to the question: What happened to my life?

When asked, now I answer, “I have CFIDS/Lyme disease.” My particular symptoms are known as CFIDS: brain fog-mental confusion, fatigue unabated by rest, motivational, emotional problems, non-refreshing sleep, and chemical sensitivities among others, I can say that with confidence because I have traced the cause of those symptoms to Lyme through an exhaustive search for good tests.

Lyme disease is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi spirochete. Spirochetes are some of the most difficult microorganisms for our immune systems to deal with. They live inside cells and tissue (intracellular). They are zoonotic (crosses species barriers). They are able to change phase (pleomorphic) from the normal cell wall, to cell wall deficient and to cystic forms that can lay dormant for years. Another world-wide spirochete problem was (is?) syphilis, a disease known as the great imitator. Like Lyme, its symptoms are varied. So many medical symptoms seemed unrelated but were all caused by the same infectious agent (sound familiar?). The big question is: What would you and your Doctor do to rule out Lyme disease? It should always be one of the first things ruled out because just about every single symptom of CFIDS is found in the Lyme community.

The CFIDS Association/Chronicle and the rest of the CFS patient community is under no threat if it’s discovered that many of us have Lyme Disease. Another term “Borelleosis” is used as well. Diagnosing CFIDS has always been a diagnosis of exclusion. There are so many other things that you can catch or that can happen to you that cause CFIDS symptoms including chemical exposure, frontal brain injury, Brucellosis mycoplasma and a host of other medical conditions. The fact is that we have a constellation of symptoms that we call “CFIDS” and until each patient has a definitive cause, it is still just a constellation of symptoms, There is a growing consensus that many other illnesses are caused or related to Lyme including: Fibromyalgia, ALS, Lupis. MS, Autism, Parkinson’s, mental and sexual health issues, the Borrelia is diverse and a “smart” microorganism.

Did you, your doctor or insurance company pay for blood tests? Was one of them the Western Blot and/or Elisa test for Lyme? Well, guess what, even if your Doctor tested you negative for Lyme using the officially approved and sanctioned tests from the National Institutes of Health, you still may have Lyme Disease/Borelleosis. One underreported issue in the medical world is that the approved tests that detect Borrelia are suspect. To quote Charles Lind Crist, M.D: “…I believe the screening tests are practically worthless.” This Doctor isn’t the only one who feels this way. One of the reasons why they are so unreliable is what those tests actually look for. They look for antibodies not the actual agent. If Tuberculosis tests were done the same way as the Lyme tests, we would have an epidemic of TB because the antibodies are tied up in infected tissue not blood plasma. Research indicates that the microorganisms are living inside red blood cells therefore antibiotics and your immune system can’t get to them as well.

Bowen Research and Training in Florida has developed a test that quantitatively determines if you have Borrelia Spirochetes, and proportionally, how many of them there are in your system. Your insurance company won’t pay for the test because it is not approved by the National Institutes of Health. They are operating as a research organization but you will need a Doctor’s prescription to order one. This status means that the Bowen staff cannot diagnose you, but what you get is pictures of the spirochetes in your blood! Pictures of spirochetes in your blood…there they are, it looks an awful lot like Lyme, but Bowen Research and Training is not allowed to say that.

Bowen is owned and operated by Dr. Joanne Whitaker. Her good friend and research associate is Dr. Lyda Mattman, the internationally known microbiologist and expert in pleomorphic cells. Her textbook is in its third edition and is filled information on how fascinating these microorganisms are. Dr. Mattman’s credibility and knowledge are considered to be the gold standard for this subject. She developed a test as well and published her work in Germany because no body wanted to publish it in the USA. It was her test that showed me the ”bugs” in my blood. She ran a research lab in Michigan, not unlike Dr. Whitaker’s lab, where she was finding Lyme spirochetes in interesting places. Places like mosquitoes, other insects, saliva, semen, vaginal secretions and tears. One has to wonder why she was shut down by regulators and told that she cannot consult with patients or doctors about Lyme disease. I interviewed both of these women for this article and their competition, Dr. Harris of Igenex Labs in Palo Alto California

Dr. Harris’s licensed lab is home to a number of tests including more than one for Lyme Disease. He sees many samples from PWC from all over the world. Researching his lab I found an article titled “Reliability of Blood and Urine Tests for Lyme Disease.” The article discussed testing the Western Blot against Igenex’s LUAT. The conclusions were not complementary of the LUAT. Dr. Harris disputed these findings and is adamant about the reliability of his tests. The issues of testing sensitivity and test method become more and more complex as one delves deeper into them but the main issues are what those tests look for: either antibodies or the actual agent. In the end all the new tests are finding more positives in more people. In addition to this increase in positive results is the fact that ticksare carrying much more than Lyme. The issues raised about the extent of the infection bring with it the apparent reality that there are many more ways infection can be transmitted than the tick.

One of the biggest concerns voiced by all associated with the Lyme testing issue is the fact that the Bowen test and the Mattman test do not have many negatives, so few, in fact that it could be said that these tests prove Borrelia to be endemic. Dr. Harris makes a valid point when he says that the Bowen test isn’t a test unless it finds more people who don’t have it. Yet Dr. Whitaker and Dr. Mattman respond by saying that the science of growing the samples sent to them, staining the spirochetes to see them, and then quantifying the amount seen by microscope stands on its own. The reason why they are finding Borrelia is because they are there. Look at the pictures yourself. Both arguments have merit and I’ve seen the process and pictures at the Bowen lab. They aren’t making things up, they are finding the bugs in blood sample after blood sample. What is going on?

All of the Doctors I interviewed were compassionate, smart and accomplished. They were well aware of the politics in healthcare but were working hard to help as many as they could. I asked them what they thought was going in the political universe. Why were the CFIDS people and Lyme people treated they way they were. What was going on with all the dismissive press about sick people? Most had ideas but none wanted to be on record with anything. They knew that a good test is as good as they could do but I wanted more. I wanted a reason why after 10 years of a ruined life nobody has said what actually happened to me and all the others like me.

After learning of a new book entitled “Lab 257” and talking to a man named Donald Scott, learning what happened isn’t pretty. This is pill that I, and all of us for that matter, have to swallow to move on to a more enlightened political awareness. Biological weapons exist. Come out of denial now, watch the NOVA program on Biological Warfare, pay particular attention to the segment on “disabling agents.” Now that you are out of denial start learning about Mycoplasma and the Doctors who work(ed) with it through the years. Look at the documentation obtained from the Freedom of Information Act and see what governments are up to. Behind the headlines of AIDS, Lyme, ALS, Mad Cow, Alzheimer’s, Cancer, NIH, CDC and war on Iraq are some very interesting and uncomfortable facts. Its all very scary but so well researched that Mr. Donald Scott should be a Nobel Prize winner.

That brings us full circle to Lyme and CFIDS and the tests that are showing again and again that just about all of us have borrelia spirochetes in our blood. Donald W. Scott keeps talking about the crimes of epidemic proportions, where the mistakes of the few and the misguided ramblings of misdirected population and health policies have left millions suffering in their wake. Leaving us with the unsettling conclusion that the Bowen test may have so few negatives because that’s the way it is. When I asked Dr. Mattman to comment on this she spoke in a quiet voice and said: “It wasn’t always this way….it has gotten worse now.”

In a conversation with Dr. Garth Nicholson concerning the existence of borrelia in all the blood samples he’s not denying their existence but wonders if those seen are pathogenic (disease causing.) “…Live cell microscopy sees things but doesn’t identify the exact genetic species or type...” Adding to that the fact that so many CFIDS cases are complex/multiple infections from many intracellular organisms (living inside cells not in easily detectable fluids, blood etc) making the process of detection, and treatment, more complex and difficult. Dr. Nicholson’s testing recommendations are far broader encompassing another half dozen or so infectious agents because, like Dr. Whitaker, he sees a correlation of amount (or variety) of the detected agents and the severity of symptoms.

There appears to be many more modes of transmission for borrelia then the popular tick. The tick is also carrying many more infectious agents than borrelia. And it appears that borrelia can stay in some peoples systems for years without any symptoms surfacing but it is still there. This could explain why it is so wide spread…someone could be giving it to others without symptoms like health care workers or infected blood supplies. There are also many genetic strains of Borrelia as well. Many things point to co-factors like Mycoplasma, chemical and stress triggers for onset. If you have the right combination of genetics and circumstance you get the symptoms of CFIDS (or Fibro, GWS, or MS, or ALS, or –list all “unknown” diseases here-) more research into the relationship of these conditions to Lyme is needed.

It is clear that the infectious factors that respond to anti-microbial drugs are an important treatment consideration for CFIDS sufferers. The process of determining what those infectious factors are is wholly dependant upon the quality of the tests for them. Dr. Nicholson said it best when he noted that the perfect test has yet to be delivered. But based upon the research I’ve done for this article this is what the test would look like: It would see the infectious agents directly, it would genetically subtype what it sees, it would get what’s inside a cell out of the cell, it would look for a whole host of differing agents all at once AND it would cost nothing for all the folks who have no insurance.

Matthew Chute is unemployed, uninsured, sick but strong enough to write articles like this. He can be elected, hired, donated to, helped and cured by anyone wanting to. Contact him: pmchute@knology.net.

The CFIDS Chronicle, Winter 2004 P5, “Big Picture of CFIDS Emerges.” See a movie called “I remember Me” to learn about CFIDS compassion. For a better explanation of the Punta Gorda outbreak ask Donald Scott. A full list of symptoms are on the http://cfids.org/about-cfids/default.asp For those of us unfamiliar with how it feels to have CFIDS do the following: list everything you do in a day…from getting the mail and brushing your teeth to high functioning tasks at work and play, then just do 5% of all of that, and then; just before you fall asleep, get right up and function at that energy level/consciousness all day long…taa daa!…The CFIDS experience.

The herpes virus is a common virus that lays dormant as well. To learn more about this field of microbiology read: Cell Wall Deficient Forms: Stealth Pathogens, Third Edition

Dr. Lida H. Mattman.

I recommend reading Chemical Exposures, Ashford/Miller, I wrote a book review on it for the CFIDS Chronicle. Read The Brucellosis Triangle, Donald Scott

http://www.drcharlescrist.com/

http://www.ilads.org.

One of the ongoing outrages in the Lyme community revolves around the misconception that Lyme is easily cured with short-term antibiotics. http://ilads.org/gaito.htm

http://www.bowen.org

Dr. Mattman is the author of the most widely used medical college textbook on Cell Wall Deficient Forms (the name of the book) her pictures look even more convincing.

http://www.igenex.com

http://wwwniaid.nih.gov/dmid/lyme/luat.htm

The single insect vector theory of Lyme revolves around the Tick. After a bite a specific type of rash forms called the EM rash, Many researchers dispute this and other official “line(s).” http://www.lymetruth.org/

Mycoplasma, Brucella, Ehrlichia, Bartonella, Babesia, as well as B. Burgdorferi and other microbes are being found together in ticks. Hence Mycoplasma, B. Burdorferi, and other coinfections may be acquired at the same time and need to be tested for as well. http://www.cfsresearch.org/mycoplasma/nicolson/research/27nf.htm

Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition

Professor Donald W. Scott is the author of The Extremely Unfortunate Skull Valley Incident Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Acquire Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Gulf War Illness and American Biological Warfare, and The Brucellosis Triangle another expose’ on Biological Warfare. During my enlightening communiqué from his Universe I was treated to a demonstration of how it should be done. Not only does he say what is going on, he proves what he is saying by producing document after document and names name after name in a continuous stream of uninterrupted brilliance, one can only hope that this 80 year old man hangs on for a few more years to complete his work. The problem is that none of what he has to say is very optimistic. But if you want the truth… IF you can handle the truth, and if you are doing any research about any aspect of CFIDS or practically any other “mystery” illness it is your duty to learn what this man has learned because your research will not be complete without serious consideration of the issues he raises. And he doesn’t believe in aliens, crop circles and anything without a document!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bioterror/

http://www.immed.org/

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