Re: RS and Chlamydia ?

[Guest guest]

Hi, -

Chlamydia is indeed a common cause of Reiter's syndome. My doctor

says it can stay in the body as a sub-clinical infection that can be

difficult to detect. The good news is that doctors have had

considerable success in treating Chlamydia related reactive arthritis

and some people go into remission and get rid of their pain. To find

out if you have this type of infection, you need a blood test with

titers and maybe a test of your semen. I haven't read all the posts

here and find this site very difficult to navigate. My rheumatologist

tested me for a huge group of infections until she found that I had

been exposed to five kinds of salmonella. She required that I have

gallbladder surgery because I am symptomatic, and salmonella can hide

in the GB. Then she started me on amoxicillan at 500 mg a day. That

was a month ago, and prior to then I was on doxycline at 200 mg per

day. I now alternate between painful flares that can last 3 to 5

days and then remissions that can last about 3 days. For the first

time in nearly three years, I am experiencing days when I am nearly

pain free. When we started this process, I was nearly bedridden but

now am becoming more active. Another common cause of reactive

arthritis is actually a hidden strep infection. My doctor keeps

testing me for strep as I think she believes I am infected. Similar

to chlamydia, the prognosis seems good. With antibiotic treatment,

the pain goes away. I hope you find a rheumatologist on the cutting

edge. Mine is in Northern Virginia but I don't know where you live.

>

>

> From what I've read, chlamydia seems to be very closely tied to

> Reiter's Syndrome.

>

> But - again from what I have read (CDC reports, etc.)chlamydia

> infections are one the simplest STDs to cure (10 days of doxy, 1

tab

> of Zithromax).

>

> How on earth could such a bacterial infection that's so easy to

cure

> cause such long-term disease/conditions like Reiter's Syndrome? I

> find it amazing. Any scientist out there?

>

> Also, would anyone have a clue on the how frequently chlamydia

> infections cause RS... how many of those cases turn into chronic

> RS? I thought it would be a long shot ..... but from what I've

read

> it seems more common than what I thought.

>

> Thanks,

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the research. It may be the simplest thing to cure but when you

are 10 years old like I was and it was 1957, doctors didn't suspect that you

had chlamydia. Even more so when your father is a preacher. My life has

been hell; mentally and physically. Sorry to let it show how badly I feel

but that man did so much damage to me

Jane

From: " joeyjoey1231232002 "

Subject: RS and Chlamydia ?

>

>

> But - again from what I have read (CDC reports, etc.)chlamydia

> infections are one the simplest STDs to cure (10 days of doxy, 1 tab

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

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>

>

>

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>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

You must be seeing Dr. Zachrison. She was my doctor before I moved to south

central Virginia. She's a real life saver, isn't she?

evelynsasser <evelynsasser@...> wrote:

Hi, -

Chlamydia is indeed a common cause of Reiter's syndome.

[Guest guest]

Chlamydia is easy to cure in early stages of infection. But, what happens is

this: A young person gets infected and in up to 75% of the cases it is

asymptomatic and it is allowed to spread through the body and then pass into

inside the cells where in a young woman it damages her female organs and with a

man it causes problems as well such as prostitis. Later Arthrits sets in. If it

is the cause of our Arthritis and it probably is, we should fund studies on

different combos of antibiotcs to eradicate it from the tissue at the late

stages we are probably in. We are the only ones that can help ourselves. There

is more than one type of Chlamydia.....

[Guest guest]

Dear Jane,

You have my utmost sympathies. I, too, am an incest survivor. In our family, it

was our maternal grandfather who was the pedophile. Altho' I have had years of

therapy and done a lot of spiritual work around the issue, it still affect me.

Thankfully, it is no longer a the deep and open wound it once was but the scars

are still there.

Just today, I was cleaning out my garage and I found our old family spaghetti

colander which my grandfather had repaired once (with dental floss.) It finally

broke a few months ago and my sister (and fellow survivor) gave me a lovely new

colendar, so today I just tossed that old, sad thing in the trash. It felt good.

Symbolically, I let go of one more little reminder of him and the harm it caused

all of us.

Please do not apologize for " letting it show. " You are just telling your truth

and it would be abnormal not to feel anger and sad about such violations and the

loss of your childhood. And in your case you were hurt even more by getting this

awful disease! Honestly, it infuriates me just thinking about it. Please

remember that telling the truth and feeling the feelings is essential to the

recovery process. Messy and painful? Yes. But necessary. I guess I just want you

to know you are not alone, Jane. Thanks for sharing. I'll keep you in my

prayers.

Love,

in CA

[Guest guest]

OK folks, I have let the discussion go on about differing views in treatment.

Would that it be that all Arthritis was caused by Chlamydia. Things would be a

lot simpler. , most of us are not negative, just that we have all gone

through the ringer of the diagnosis and cure of the month club. Some of us in

spades. Some so much as the " treatments " were and are worse than the disease.

As I have mentioned before, when they lumped Ankylosing Spondylitis, Reiter's

Syndrome, Sjrogren's, Psoriatic Arthritis and the other spondies in with general

Arthritis, folks just never go to the trouble of finding out that they are far

from Arthritis which is caused by the natural wear and tear on the body. There

is a doctor in Calgary that has been on about this for years. Did anyone read

Connie's last message?????????

, I think you are very unfair when you lump what we have in with AIDS. The

last I heard AIDS is totally preventable, or at least it is in adults.

Unfortunately, in this world when we all can do what we like, AIDS and other

diseases become very common. AIDS has been around a lot longer than anyone

thinks. I have known cases well back in the 60's and before. It just was not

called AIDS and there were not tests available then like there are today. One

reason the Hollywood crowd got around to the AIDS epidemic is because it was

killing a lot of their comrades. Some of them could care less about a starving,

aids ravaged child in Africa.

I grew up in a different era, I grew up with bombs dropping around me, swimming

in bomb craters for fun. I grew up when Syphillis and Gonnorhea were prevalent

and believe me, some folks died some terrible deaths from the ravages of those

diseases. I grew up in an era that gave us Agent Orange, Agent Purple, Dioxins,

and many other poisons in the air, yet they were not labelled harmful. Science

at the time gave us all these wonderful chemicals so that we could alter the

environment around us. Lets get rid of those pesky flies, mosquitoes, etc., not

to mention all the insects and bacteria that damaged crops of different types.

But if we listened to the naysayers all those years ago we would have said they

were all negative thinkers but many more would be alive now.

I have watched many new drugs for our diseases come on line too quickly and then

one of the main side effects of them has been death, why, because no one could

wait. I know, I was one of them.

If a treatment works for you, great, we celebrate with you, I guess those of us

that have tried the same treatment, antibiotics and diet, and it did not work,

in fact made us sicker, don't count. Only solid double blind studies are valid,

and even then I question some of them. We even find out some years down the

road that a scientist or two were on the payroll of the company testing the

drugs. So who are we to believe?????????

I think I had better close this as I feel a real rant coming on.

Fr. Dave

[Guest guest]

Hi to all. Why should AIDS be considered differently. As is clamydia, it

is transmitted sexually. I know that not all ReA and AS are caused by

clamydia but a lot is. The same choices exist. Just something to ponder.

Jane

OK folks, I have let the discussion go on about differing views in

treatment. Would that it be that all Arthritis was caused by Chlamydia.

[Guest guest]

>we should fund studies on different combos of antibiotcs to eradicate it

from the tissue >at the late stages we are probably in.

I'm in a study on this at USF in Florida and there are 4 other hospitals

looking for people to enter the study.

If anyone would like to be a part of the study please get in touch with me

and I will pass your names along to the doctors doing the study. (They pay,

but only enough for about 1 tank of gas)

" Reactive Arthritis for 42 years "

fred

[Guest guest]

Jane: Couldn't of said it more clearly. If it starts with one germ weather

sexually or some other way the result in our case is Reiters right? My point was

this: AIDS is a horrible disease with a very adaptable virus right? When enough

people opened their mouths and pushed on the government to do something that did

correct? AIDS would have seemed much more a challenge would it not? If our

disease is caused by a bug such as Chlamydia that acts like a virus by living in

our cells and stealing energy and causing inflammation as our immune system

tries to eradicate it. Should we not be studying ways to eradicate it from the

host (US)? We all know all ReA and AS are not caused by Chlamydia but the

disease mechanism seems like it would be the same with other bugs as well

correct?

B

[Guest guest]

Kev/Rick/Fred:

I've had swab test, urine test over and over again for Chlamydia.

I never tested positive. I have tested positive for: H. Pylori

(which may have been caused by what ever bug I picke up),

Enterococcus Faecalis(previously known as Streptococcus E), HSV1,

and Epstein Barr. Could any of these bacteria or viruses

triggered Reiter's Sydrome?

I've always suspected Chlamydia. I've never tested positive for

it. Interestingly enough, I did show anti-bodies for Chlamydia

Pnuemonia. Could this have caused my RS?

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

:

Very very very interesting. During one of my MANY infectious disease exams, a

doctor said I had antibiodies to " Chlamydia Pneumonia " . So I asked him is

this what's causing my UTI, stomach pain, dry eyes, etc. He said no. I was

never treated for Chlamydia Pneumonia. He said it goes away by itself. Can

you please tell me what tests were used to ID Clamydia Pneumonia. What were

your symptoms? How did you treat? Up until 10 months ago, I trained at a

sweaty, hot, dirty, poorly ventilated 750sqft martial arts school. More than

half of members came down w/ H. Plyori, 70% w/ ringworm, some members

respiratory disorders. I quit. No more for me. I'm just wondering if that's

what caused this all. Can you PLEASE tell me which tests ID the disease.

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Kev/Rick/Fred/All:

I went to the NY HSS today. Same old routine nothing new. Doc

review prior labs. Made me bend down.. stretch...turn my head

left.. turn my head right.. bend knees to chest. Done. I waited

like 6 months for this????

I was told it may be Reiter's Syndrome but could not label what was

going on for sure. I was prescribed anti-inflammatory pills and may

go for a MRI / CT Scan on spine. That's it.

Not happy.

[Guest guest]

a couple thoughts on the chlamydial discussion:

1. there are actually three different (major) kinds of chlamydial

infections. they seem to be getting used interchangeably on this

discussion but they are different entities.

a. chlamydia trachomatis.. the std one. (also can cause eye

infections)

b. chlamydia pneumonia.. causes a " cold-like " upper respiratory

infection which can turn into pneumonia... one of the common causes

of " walking pneumoina " . this isnt sexually transmitted.

c. chlamydia psitticosis. im not sure about this one. i think its

found in birds. pretty rare. i think it causes am upper respiratoty

infection too.

so its definitely posssible to have a " chlamydial infection " without

having a sexually ttransmitted disease (chlamydia pneumonia).

as far as tests go:

1. trachomatis: most commonly used are urine tests, or swabs of

personal parts.

2. chlamydia pneumonia. for acute disease usually chest xray. there

are also blood tests. the most commonly used do not look for the

disase in your blood. they look for antibodies to the disease. there

are 5 kinds of antibodies. the 2 most commonly tested are IgG and

IgM. Igm's occur about 1-5 weeks after an infection. IgG's start

about 4 weeks afterwards and can last years. A positive IgM

generally means you have a current infection going on. A positive

IgG with a negetive IgM means you had a previous infection at some

point.

(ps i think some docs believe that in some chronic infections

a " very high IgG with a negetive IgM " is sometimes seen... but its

gonna take somebody at a higher pay grade than me to know about this.

hth,

cfsguy.

to joey:

1. if you have or had chamydial pneumonia.. this most likely wouldnt

be the cause of a uti. like other upper respiratory infections

(colds etc) they commonly are passsed when folks are in close

proximity indoors to one another (thats why they are real common

when everyone heads back indoors at the end of summer or goes back

to school...if you ever had a low/mediuim grade " cold that just

wouldnt go away " (lasted about 3-4 weeks) this may have been the

chlamdial pneumonia episode.

[Guest guest]

a couple thoughts on the chlamydial discussion:

1. there are actually three different (major) kinds of chlamydial

infections. they seem to be getting used interchangeably on this

discussion but they are different entities.

a. chlamydia trachomatis.. the std one. (also can cause eye

infections)

b. chlamydia pneumonia.. causes a " cold-like " upper respiratory

infection which can turn into pneumonia... one of the common causes

of " walking pneumoina " . this isnt sexually transmitted.

c. chlamydia psitticosis. im not sure about this one. i think its

found in birds. pretty rare. i think it causes am upper respiratoty

infection too.

so its definitely posssible to have a " chlamydial infection " without

having a sexually ttransmitted disease (chlamydia pneumonia).

as far as tests go:

1. trachomatis: most commonly used are urine tests, or swabs of

personal parts.

2. chlamydia pneumonia. for acute disease usually chest xray. there

are also blood tests. the most commonly used do not look for the

disase in your blood. they look for antibodies to the disease. there

are 5 kinds of antibodies. the 2 most commonly tested are IgG and

IgM. Igm's occur about 1-5 weeks after an infection. IgG's start

about 4 weeks afterwards and can last years. A positive IgM

generally means you have a current infection going on. A positive

IgG with a negetive IgM means you had a previous infection at some

point.

(ps i think some docs believe that in some chronic infections

a " very high IgG with a negetive IgM " is sometimes seen... but its

gonna take somebody at a higher pay grade than me to know about this.

hth,

cfsguy.

to joey:

1. if you have or had chamydial pneumonia.. this most likely wouldnt

be the cause of a uti. like other upper respiratory infections

(colds etc) they commonly are passsed when folks are in close

proximity indoors to one another (thats why they are real common

when everyone heads back indoors at the end of summer or goes back

to school...if you ever had a low/mediuim grade " cold that just

wouldnt go away " (lasted about 3-4 weeks) this may have been the

chlamdial pneumonia episode.

>

> :

>

> Very very very interesting. During one of my MANY infectious

disease exams, a doctor said I had antibiodies to " Chlamydia

Pneumonia " . So I asked him is this what's causing my UTI, stomach

pain, dry eyes, etc. He said no. I was never treated for

Chlamydia Pneumonia. He said it goes away by itself. Can you

please tell me what tests were used to ID Clamydia Pneumonia. What

were your symptoms? How did you treat? Up until 10 months ago, I

trained at a sweaty, hot, dirty, poorly ventilated 750sqft martial

arts school. More than half of members came down w/ H. Plyori, 70%

w/ ringworm, some members respiratory disorders. I quit. No more

for me. I'm just wondering if that's what caused this all. Can

you PLEASE tell me which tests ID the disease.

>

> Thanks!

>

[Guest guest]

>

>

> a couple thoughts on the chlamydial discussion:

>

> 1. there are actually three different (major) kinds of chlamydial

> infections. they seem to be getting used interchangeably on this

> discussion but they are different entities.

>

> a. chlamydia trachomatis.. the std one. (also can cause eye

> infections)

Sorry to interrupt here...your analysis of 3 different types of

chlamydial infections was interesting and educcational.

But I'm wondering if you or anyone for that matter would have a good

estimation of the % of Reactive Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis

cases that are triggered by Chlamydia Trachomatis??? I have

searched high and

low and even emailed the question to my Rheumy (no ans yet) in an

effort to try putting the venereal causes, specifically Chlanmydia

triggered ones, into some sort of perspective. I think the

estimated numbers of Chlamydia-triggered-cases of Reiter's and AS

is way high leaving an overall impression that most everybody who

has these Spondy disorders, induced them by unprotected sex...

I've read some posts in last several weeks that appear to equate

Reiter's with HIV and i don't think that is really acccurate or fair

in some ways.. I would very much like to know, just how prevalent is

the impression that if you have RS (or any Spondy for that matter)

that it's just another venereal disease of sorts..And if anybody can

add some accurate statistics to the factual per centages of post

venereal

(spec Chlamydia) Reiter's and AS as opposed to those cases caused

by Enteric triggers, I would be very grateful to know..

Jeff Lanneau

[Guest guest]

To ,

We've talked a little bit about this off line, but thought I'd make the

observation that if the original trigger was chlamydia pneumonia, it's not

likely you'd have had a UTI at the time. However, once you developed Reiter's

then UTIs could be part of your syndrome. I would guess that's what cfsguy

meant also. Interesting insight on the blood tests.

cfsguy@...> wrote:

ato joey:

1. if you have or had chamydial pneumonia.. this most likely wouldnt

be the cause of a uti.

[Guest guest]

CFSGUY:

I took up Brazilian JuJitsu ... was working out in a small 750sqft studio on

mats which were always dirty / sweaty. The instructor would always keep the

windows and doors closed to keep the room / studio warm and hot. Many guys

came down w/ ringworm and h.pylori. The instructor always had this nagging dry

cough. Interesting.

[Guest guest]

Jeff, Chlamydia related spondy is usually classified with Reiter's.

Ankylosing spondylitis, from what I understand, is usually triggered by other

things.

A Reiter's Dx usually involves the urinary tract infections and has

different set of symptoms than AS. Reiter's is typically on just one side of the

body

(the arthritis symptoms), where as AS is bilateral (both sides). If it goes

into spinal fusion (rarely), it is limited to one side of the SI joint.

Ankylosing spondylitis, has fusion on both sides of the SI joint. Our first

symptoms is lower back pain, where the first symptoms in Reiter's is usually

Urinary tract infections, etc. Those of us who have AS...don't have the bladder

problems, the rashes, or the mouth ulcers, etc. that come with Reiter's

Syndrome. The eye problems with Reiter's is " usually " conjunctivitis. In AS, it

is

usually irititis. Notice, I say " usually. " There can be overlapping symptoms.

This is why it is sometimes very hard to give a definite Dx. Xrays and MRI

help. There are differences on Xray and MRI. The following link shows the

difference between RS and AS:

_Entrez PubMed_

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=\

8228701 & dopt=Abstract)

From what I have seen, there seems to be more Chlamydia related Reiter's

than from the enteric infections like Salmonella or Shigella. These triggers

can

cause Reiter's symptoms, but usually are the triggers for AS.

As for HIV and Reiter's. <<Recently it has been recognized that Reiter's

syndrome/psoriatic arthritis occur with an increased frequency in patients with

HIV infection. This may be due to the various enteric infections that occur

or to CD8 T cell activity.>>

_Reiter's syndrome - Continuing Medical Education: Spondyloarthropathies._

(http://www.orthop.washington.edu/uw/arthritis/tabID__3376/ItemID__130/PageID__2

48/Articles/Default.aspx)

_Ankylosing spondylitis - Continuing Medical Education:

Spondyloarthropathies._

(http://www.orthop.washington.edu/uw/arthritis/tabID__3376/ItemID__130/PageID__2\

46/Articles/Default.aspx)

I hope these web links help with your questions. Best regards, Connie

[Guest guest]

_http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uid

s=10371278 & dopt=Abstract_

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=\

10371278 & dopt=Abstract)

Chlamydia pneumoniae has different symptoms from the sexually acquired

Chlamydia trachomatis. It starts with an upper respiratory infection. Each can

trigger ReA. Chlamydia pneumoniae is the cause in 10% of ReA. Half of those

studied in this study had previous infections from Salmonella, Yersinia,

Campylobacter or Chlamydia trachomatis. Salmonella/Yersinia/Campylobacter

starts in

the gut. Chlamydia trachomatis starts in urinary tract.

[Guest guest]

Jeff, in the link I sent...it mentioned 3 STD diseases and said they,

together, make up 30% of the group of 60 patients. 10% were infected with the 3

STD. This is really a small group and isn't conclusive, but gives a rough idea

where most Reiter's comes from. You might want to go back over that link...as

I'm getting ready for beddie bye. teehee. I don't think too well after taking

an ambien.

I did want to mention something to . I went back over his beginning

posts and he had mentioned his symptoms and some of the bugs that he had gotten

over the last few years. Balanitis, epididmyites, Enterococcus Faecalis and

the ureathritis....all go hand in hand and it is usually because of a STD. I

know you said that you had been tested many times...but these types of

conditions can become chronic and even after many antibiotic treatments, you

could

still be dealing with this chronic condition. It just may not have anything to

do with Reiter's. So your doctors (all 60) could be correct. Bronchitis,

sinus, dry eyes, sound like something you have besides the prostate problems.

Prostate problems, especially the problems you mentioned in your first

posts....can all give pain. Stomach, too, not anything to do with Reiter's, but

the

antibiotics you were taking. You mentioned you don't have any

arthritis....this is a biggy. It is usually in with the triad of symptoms for

Reiter's...especially after a few years...You mentioned things started in 2002,

I believe.

These other problems coming in the last two years. The arthritis should have

shown up by this time. Sometimes, when you have long standing symptoms...of

prostatitis/ureathritis...it is hard to pick up anything in the urine and you

may have just a bad chronic prostatitis where there is neg labs. When you

take antibiotics...that could also alter any tests for the bugs, etc.

Just trying to help you, . It isn't fun to be laid up without a DX. It's

just my guess that you were being treated with the antibiotics...but they

were either given too late...or didn't do the trick...and you now have chronic

prostatitis. A good Urologist maybe? I know you are getting tired of doctors,

but seems he might help you more than Rheumy at this point. They all seem to

agree that you don't have Reiter's. Drink a lot of cranberry juice. That will

help you urine. Stay away from liquor, orange juice and other citrus drinks.

Caffeine isn't good for urine either. Hope this may help you. Connie

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/16/2006 11:27:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

cfsguy@... writes:

evidence of Chlamydia

trachomatis infection is frequent in male and female patients with

ankylosing spondylitis, (2) patients with genitourinary infection

tend to have HLA-B27, and (3) furthermore, presence of genitourinary

infection was not significantly associated with chronic illness.

This was interesting to me...as I hadn't seen the association of Chlamydia

with AS. It could be that this Chlamydia is ever more common in the last

generation...or it also could be that they didn't know about it while us older

folks were around. It stands to reason that the same bugs might be involved, but

I've always associated AS with more of the gut diseases. Live and

learn...that's what its all about. Interesting. Best regards, Connie (do have

to get to

bed).Nighty night, all.

[Guest guest]

Connie, As usual i read everything you write, whether it's addressed

to me in this case or whether it is meant for others in the Group..

I'll be the first one to admit my question rambled a bit and as a

result it was hard to get an accurate fix on what the he-- I was

talking about. I read the Pub Med abstracts and what i came up with

is

important to know..Namely " Chlamydia pneumoniae " is a triggering

factor in approximately 10% of patients with acute ReA.

To wrawp this up would you know where i could find comparable

statistic for % of ReA, or just plain Reiter's, caused by Chlamydia

trachomatis?

And is it possible to find an accurate breakdown of the % of

Reiter's

caused by Post-venereal as opposed to post -Enteric triggers..?

I can't locate that breakdown nor can i find the number of Chlamydia

trachomatis triggers responsible for Reiter's..and it's not for lack

of

trying..It is possible i suppose that there just aren't any such

statistics available...Regards, Jeff

p.s. i do have a reason for these questions....maybe not a

particularly good reason but one, nevertheless...

[Guest guest]

actually i dont know the answer (% RS and AS triggered by chlamydia)

so i did a quik search thru the medical research at www.pubmed.com.

first i searched " reiters and chlamydia " i found 2 articles. then i

searched " AS and chlamydia " and found one. (so im sure there are

others .. these were just the ones i found)(first is the link, then

the abstract for the three). i found several articles pertaining to

reactive arthritis... the percents are even higher.

hope this isnt too long,

cfsguy

--------------------------------

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

db=pubmed & cmd=Retrieve & dopt=AbstractPlus & list_uids=8351887 & query_hl=1

& itool=pubmed_docsum

1: Vojnosanit Pregl. 1993 Mar-Apr;50(2):149-52. Links

" Chlamydia trachomatis and Reiter's syndrome "

Results of the study of incidence of chlamydia trachomatis infection

in patients with Reiters syndrome are presented. Chlamydia

trachomatic was isolated from the uretral smear in 12 (34.28%) of 35

patients with Reiter's syndrome. In the group of patients with other

rheumatologic diseases Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated in 2

(5.13%) of 39 patients. In all patients with negative isolation,

infection was confirmed serologically also and in some patients with

negative isolation it was also proved.

PMID: 8351887 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

----------------------------------

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

db=pubmed & cmd=Retrieve & dopt=AbstractPlus & list_uids=1567554 & query_hl=1

& itool=pubmed_docsum

2: DNA Cell Biol. 1992 Apr;11(3):215-9. Links

" Inapparent genital infection with Chlamydia trachomatis and its

potential role in the genesis of Reiters syndrome. "

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19129.

An infectious etiology has been suggested for Reiter's syndrome (RS)

because the disease has often been observed to follow episodes of

urethritis or dysentery. Despite demonstrations of bacterial

antigens in the synovial tissues of RS patients, it is not clear

whether viable organisms are present in the synovium in any

particular stage of this disease. Furthermore, it is not clear how

either viable organisms or their product(s) might reach the joints.

Infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis is the most

common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, and as

such this organism has emerged as a primary pathogen associated with

RS. Previous work from our group has shown that synovial biopsy

tissues from a majority of RS patients studied show significant

levels of apparently intact chlamydial RNA, even when synovial or

urethral cultures from the same patients are unequivocally negative

for the organism. We show here that inapparent urethral infection

with chlamydia occurs with high prevalence in men, and that

inapparent cervical infection with the organism occurs at high

prevalence in women. These data provide an important link in the

relationship between initial chlamydial infection and possible

subsequent genesis of RS, and they may give useful insight into

mechanisms by which chlamydial infection can lead to development of

this disease. Our data argue further that inapparent infection may

be a significant factor in pathogenesis for all chlamydia-related

diseases, and they suggest that, contrary to current ideas, C.

trachomatis can generate disseminated infection.

PMID: 1567554 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

db=pubmed & cmd=Retrieve & dopt=AbstractPlus & list_uids=9892567 & query_hl=6

& itool=pubmed_DocSum

3: Eur J Med Res. 1999 Jan 26;4(1):1-7. Links

" Ankylosing spondylitis and genitourinary infection. "

Department of Rheumatology, University Giessen, Ludwigstr. 37-39, D-

61231 Bad Nauheim, Germany.EurJMedRes@...

One hundred and thirty-four male and 32 female patients with

ankylosing spondylitis and 33 women with pure ileitis terminalis

Crohn were examined. The study protocol included a medical-

rheumatological examination and thorough investigation for

genitourinary infection. Urethroadnexitis was found in 37/134 male

patients (2 patients suffered from balanitis, 17 patients from

urethritis, 18 patients from prostatitis, and 2 patients from

epididymitis), 15/32 female patients (11 of them had urethritis and

in 4 cases urethritis associated with vaginitis) and 5/33 women with

ileitis terminalis (every case with urethritis). The microorganism

isolated most frequently from patients with genitourinary infection

was Chlamydia trachomatis. The majority of patients with

genitourinary infection were HLA-B27 positive. Nevertheless, the

following conclusions can be reached: (1) evidence of Chlamydia

trachomatis infection is frequent in male and female patients with

ankylosing spondylitis, (2) patients with genitourinary infection

tend to have HLA-B27, and (3) furthermore, presence of genitourinary

infection was not significantly associated with chronic illness.

PMID: 9892567 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

------------- original post ---------------

> But I'm wondering if you or anyone for that matter would have a

good estimation of the % of Reactive Arthritis and Ankylosing

Spondylitis cases that are triggered by Chlamydia Trachomatis???

I think the estimated number is way high leaving an overall

impression that most everybody induced them by unprotected sex...

>

> Jeff Lanneau

>

[Guest guest]

Granny of 9 wrote:

I've always associated AS with more of the gut diseases. Live and

learn...that's what its all about. Interesting. Best regards, Connie (do have to

get to

bed).Nighty night, all.

Two very valid points Connie. Our generation was definately not a generation of

epidemic proportions of Sexually Transmitted Disease. Most played it smart and

waited, others used condoms, yes we had them way back then, and there were

always some that took their chances.

But the rates of infection were much lower when folks did take a chance. I

remember reports from physicians that were sent to Canada Health and Welfare

were correllated and names were sent out to the Armed Forces Bases I was

stationed at the time and we had the pyramid of infection statistics especially

when it involved a service man or officer. It was my job then to go to the

family of a diseased member and ask very pointed questions of his wife.

Needless to say, the divorce rate went up when the wife was negative and the

hubby positive or vice versa. I sometimes think that the TV Program Desperate

Housewive, was written by servicemen and their wives.

But I ramble. What I think I am saying is that there are many more STD triggers

today than over the past decades, and we are only coming to grips with many of

them now. It looks like I could get my first Great Grandchild in the next year

or two and I pray for the that generation. We live in a sick and twisted world.

Fr. Dave

,_

Two very ._,___

[Guest guest]

Fr. Dave said " What I think I am saying is that there are many more STD

triggers today than over the past decades, and we are only coming to grips

with many of them now. It looks like I could get my first Great Grandchild

in the next year or two and I pray for that generation. We live in a sick

and twisted world. "

I personally don't agree that we live in a " sick and twisted world " .

Previous generations and centuries had STDs too, including some (like

syphilis) that are now happily uncommon. I don't believe that human kind

has probably changed much at all over the centuries, perhaps instead people

don't tend to hide 'shameful' illnesses as much these days, which I think is

a good thing.

I got my ReA from campylobacter, but I wouldn't feel ashamed if it had been

triggered by an STD - we are all flawed human beings after all.