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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Phillipa on September 26, 2009, at 0:57:44
Fall Issue of Lymes disease newsletter new vaccines on way. Phillipa ps and only two vectors present in most cases.
Fall 2009 Newsletter
Dear Friends of the Columbia Lyme and Tick- Borne Diseases Research Center
A look at the last several months reveals a busy summer in both research & education:
Finding better diagnostic tests. In order to evaluate new tests for Lyme disease, we conducted six community screening clinics in Lyme endemic areas of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The response was overwhelming. Over 450 people provided blood samples and responded to questionnaires about their clinical symptoms related to Lyme disease. Approximately one-third of the patients had a recent case of Lyme disease with the EM rash, while others had been sick a year or more. Some had been sick many years. We are sending these blood samples to laboratories in the United States and Europe with the hope that the results will lead to improved tests both for early and later stages of Lyme disease. We welcome collaboration with scientists from around the world and are happy to share the invaluable resource of blood samples from patients at different stages of Lyme disease.
Word of thanks. The success of the clinics was due in large part to many individuals in the communities who selflessly gave their time and energies to the project. We would to thank Nancy Winch and Steven Speeno from the Columbia County Health Department, NY. The town clerks of Kinderhook, NY-Kim Pinkowski; Livingston, NY-Cynthia Hapeman; and Wappinger Falls, NY-Chris Masterson; and St. Johns Baptist Church of Red Hook generously arranged for the use if their facilities. We are indebted to Jill Auerbach, Mary Belliveau, and Rachel Dilidian in Dutchess County for contacting potential sites, promoting the clinics, and helping us to manage the unexpectedly large turn out. Thanks to Chief McCarthy of the Norwalk CT Fire Department who allowed us to use the firehouse on very short notice. Dr. Andrea Gaito graciously provided us with access to her office in addition to volunteering her time the day of the clinic as did Dorothy Lutz. Thank you Time for Lyme, Inc. for your support of the project. Most of all, we greatly appreciate the time, patience, and cooperation of all participants in the screening clinics. I also wish to thank two members of our Center staff. Dr. Barbara Strobino, Associate Director of Research, and Fawad Viqar, Research Coordinator, went way beyond the call of duty by spending so many long hours of their summer weekends on this project. Thank you all!
New Tick study published. Dr. Rafal Tokarz, who came to Columbia through a research fellowship provided by Time for Lyme, Inc & the Columbia Lyme Center recently published the results of his investigation into the plethora of pathogens carried by ticks. Published in the September 2009 issue of Vector-borne Diseases, he found the following infection rates for ixodes scapularis ticks: Borrelia burgdorferi (64%); Babesia microti (20%), Anaplasma phagocytophilus (20%), Borrelia miyamotoi (2%), and Powassen virus (2%). Given that 30% of the ticks carried at least 2 microbes, it would not be uncommon for a patient then to be at risk of acquiring two infections from a single tick bite! The finding of a 2% rate of Powassen virus is of particular concern as this virus can cause a severe infection of the central nervous system causing encephalitis. Dr. Phyllis Faust, a neuropathologist from the Columbia University Medical Center, co-authored an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 2009 which described the very sad story of patient from New York who contracted a fatal case of tick-borne viral encephalitis. Dr. Tokarzs study was conducted at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia which is directed by Dr. Ian Lipkin.
Education fellowships for medical students. Two medical students from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons joined us this summer for 8 weeks: Jennifer Heinen and Elizabeth Levin. They spent time at Columbia learning about Lyme and tick borne diseases through readings, seminars, and patient consultations. They also visited physicians in the community who see a lot of patients with Lyme disease in order to get a better sense of the diversity of approaches to the evaluation and treatment of patients with Lyme disease. This research fellowship has been supported by the Research Fund for Lyme and Tickborne Diseases, the Turn the Corner Foundation, and the Lyme and Tick borne Diseases Research Center established by Time for Lyme, Inc and the Lyme Disease Association. These two brilliant students did a terrific job and were most grateful at the end of the summer for this opportunity to learn from so many physicians about this complex disease.
Speakers for National Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Conference in Washington DC finalized. Every year I join forces with another research scientist to invite speakers to share their latest findings on L&TBD with a national audience. This year the conference, co-sponsored by Columbia and the Lyme Disease Association, will be co-chaired by Dr. Richard Marconi who is Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical College of Virginia. This conference is very popular and each year there are extraordinary speakers. This year is no exception. Attendees will learn about a new report on IV gammaglobulin treatment for Lyme peripheral neuropathy, the role of cytokines in producing inflammation and sickness behavior, new Lyme vaccines, new national initiatives to control and study Lyme and other tick borne diseases (both in humans and in dogs), Babesia in the blood supply, tick-borne encephalitis, new studies on neuropsychiatric Lyme, tick borne infections in the South, the genetic regulation and immune evasion strategies of the Bb spirochete, and the impact of Lyme on children from experts in neuroimaging, cardiology, and neuropsychology.
To learn more about the conference and to register, please visit our website http://www.columbia-lyme.org/topics/featured_events.html for information on this National Lyme meeting Lyme and other Tick-Borne Diseases: 34 Years-From Lyme Connecticut Across the Nation. The conference will be held on October 23, 2009 in Washington DC.
I wish to close this newsletter with a few words about the internationally renowned clinician and beloved physician and friend, Dr. Ed Masters, who died on June 22, 2009. Dr. Masters, a family medicine physician in Missouri, was for many years the lone voice calling for recognition that there were Lyme-like rashes among patients in his region of the country. Leading academics and public health authorities initially scoffed and did not listen to his calls for an investigation, as the vector of Lyme disease, ixodes scapularis, was not thought to be endemic to his region of the country. Nevertheless, he persisted. Collaborating with the CDC and academics from throughout the country. Dr. Masters finally was heard. This disease, while not caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, produces rashes exactly like the Lyme erythema migrans rash. The disease is named Masters Disease by many in honor of this remarkable man. Dr. Masters, in addition to his clinical acumen, courage, and scientific rigor, will also be missed for the unparalleled warmth and humor that left so many of the attendees at his lectures laughing and smiling and feeling that the world was indeed a wonderful place.
Thank you all for reading this lengthy newsletter! More to say, but that is enough for now.
Brian Fallon, MD
Posted by bleauberry on September 27, 2009, at 7:01:36
In reply to Columbia Lymes Disease Conference Results, posted by Phillipa on September 26, 2009, at 0:57:44
I'm glad to see minds are opening on the issue of infectious diseases such as Lyme.
But when people take a side, it is human nature to be stubborn, even when their side is wrong. There will continue to be highly emotional debates on both sides of the political fence for the indefinite future.
So regardless of any new studies, new information, or new proof, those who are aware of the hidden Lyme epidemic will continue to support it with all their might, at the same those who pound their fists on the table saying it is all quackery and hogwash will continue to do so.
The difference is that the ones who support are seeing bedridden medical disasters regain lives, while those that oppose it lock them in chains to a bed that turns into a premature grave.
Human nature on display.
This is the end of the thread.
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