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Med Hypotheses. 2005;64(3):438-48. Related Articles, Links


Chronic Lyme borreliosis at the root of multiple sclerosis--is a cure with antibiotics attainable?

Fritzsche M.

Clinic for Internal and Geographical Medicine, Soodstrasse 13, 8134 Adliswil, Switzerland. markus.fritzsche@gmx.ch

Apart from its devastating impact on individuals and their families, multiple sclerosis (MS) creates a huge economic burden for society by mainly afflicting young adults in their most productive years. Although effective strategies for symptom management and disease modifying therapies have evolved, there exists no curative treatment yet. Worldwide, MS prevalence parallels the distribution of the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi, and in America and Europe, the birth excesses of those individuals who later in life develop MS exactly mirror the seasonal distributions of Borrelia transmitting Ixodes ticks. In addition to known acute infections, no other disease exhibits equally marked epidemiological clusters by season and locality, nurturing the hope that prevention might ultimately be attainable. As minocycline, tinidazole and hydroxychloroquine are reportedly capable of destroying both the spirochaetal and cystic L-form of B. burgdorferi found in MS brains, there emerges also new hope for those already afflicted. The immunomodulating anti-inflammatory potential of minocycline and hydroxychloroquine may furthermore reduce the Jarisch Herxheimer reaction triggered by decaying Borrelia at treatment initiation. Even in those cases unrelated to B. burgdorferi, minocycline is known for its beneficial effect on several factors considered to be detrimental in MS. Patients receiving a combination of these pharmaceuticals are thus expected to be cured or to have a longer period of remission compared to untreated controls. Although the goal of this rational, cost-effective and potentially curative treatment seems simple enough, the importance of a scientifically sound approach cannot be overemphasised. A randomised, prospective, double blinded trial is necessary in patients from B. burgdorferi endemic areas with established MS and/or Borrelia L-forms in their cerebrospinal fluid, and to yield reasonable significance within due time, the groups must be large enough and preferably taken together in a multi-centre study.

PMID: 15617845 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Nelly,

A cure with antibiotics is certainly attainable, but I wonder why Markus Fritzche is concentrating so much on borreliosis, and why he seems not to notice all the work going on involving chlamydia pneumoniae, treated with exactly the same antibiotics as used for disseminated lyme disease. He says:

Although effective strategies for symptom management and disease modifying therapies have evolved, there exists no curative treatment yet.

But since about 1997 people at Vanderbilt university have been researching into treating people with ABX. He goes on to say:

Worldwide, MS prevalence parallels the distribution of the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi...............

However, bearing in mind that most people now live in towns and are very unlikely to come into contact with sheep tick from one year to the next, this would seem to indicate that MS should have been far more common in the past, when people lived in close contact with their animals. The closest I have got to a sheep over the last couple of years was in the very fine 'real meat' butchers down the road. I brought one of its back legs back to put in the freezer.

He finishes by saying:

Although the goal of this rational, cost-effective and potentially curative treatment seems simple enough, the importance of a scientifically sound approach cannot be overemphasised. A randomised, prospective, double blinded trial is necessary in patients from B. burgdorferi endemic areas with established MS and/or Borrelia L-forms in their cerebrospinal fluid, and to yield reasonable significance within due time, the groups must be large enough and preferably taken together in a multi-centre study. Vanderbilt know all about the difficulties of putting these trials into operation.

Perhaps he should contact Charles Stratton or Ram Sriram. In the meantime, just carry on taking the antibiotics.

Sarah