MS mimics and bartonella: more attention needed?

[kw202]

I've read in a few places that bartonella can cause MS mimics, including some pubmed studies.

Shouldn't this be at least as widely included in the battery of MS exclusion tests as, say, Lyme? Considering that bartonella can be contracted from household pets -- it would seem just as likely, if not moreso, as a tick bite.

This is motivated by my own personal experience -- right around the time I started exhibiting the most troubling of my MS-like symptoms, I took in a foster cat that tested positive for bartonella. I'd forgotten about it until just recently, and have now asked my MS specialist to order a test. My interest really was piqued by this study:

It includes a patient who ended up testing positive for bartonella, but was diagnosed with MS, who ended up improving with a course of antibiotics:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2546763/ (search for patient 5)

It's a little unclear here, or maybe my reading comprehension is just bad today, about what exactly the causality here was. Did he have MS and also some demyelinating condition caused by bartonella? Was it just the bartonella?

Patient 5 had the most severely debilitating neurological abnormalities. This previously healthy 49-year-old veterinarian developed progressive muscle weakness, myoclonus, paresis, and severe fatigue, which followed an acute febrile illness. Initially, a viral infection was diagnosed, and subsequently, multiple sclerosis was diagnosed. Neurological dysfunction resulted in a curtailment of prior athletic activities, such as jogging, and ultimately this individual required assistance during extended walks. Previously, a chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy was reported as a complication of CSD in a 3-year-old boy (29). Six weeks after the onset of classical CSD, the boy developed difficulty in walking, an inability to run or climb stairs, and susceptibility to frequent falling, which became progressively worse during the subsequent 8 weeks (29). Potentially, B. henselae infection in patient 5 in this study induced an immune-mediated demyelinating central nervous system disease that mimicked multiple sclerosis.

[Scott1]

Hi,

Buy a copy of Healing Lyme disease coinfections by Stephen Harrod Buhner. Chapter 6 (pages 267-313) will be of use to you.

Regards,

[TeresaL]

Yes, Bart/Lyne triggered MS issues doe me. Beg igenex testing NOT lab Corp or quest!