Re: Misdxd with MS, Autoimmune Issues Lida Mattamn

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I am pasting an article that Lida Mattman and her colleagues have written.It

discusses their views on MS. I guess I am inclined to believe what Lida says

since she has lots of experience with the subject. BTW she was nominated for a

Nobel prize for her microbiology work. It is kinda lengthy:

SOURCE--Lida H. Mattman, Ph.D., Cell Wall Deficient Forms--Stealth Pathogens,

2nd Edition, CRC Press (1993), CRC Press, 2000 Corporate Blvd. N.W., Boca Raton,

FL 33431.

Arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis--The Cause May Be in the Blood

Changes in the shape and function of common microorganisms may explain the

origin of certain autoimmune diseases. A live blood analysis provides the

startling evidence--and points the way towards successful treatment.

A new theory may dispel the cloud of uncertainty surrounding both diseases and

the baffling nature of the autoimmune response itself. This theory holds that

the cause may be fairly ordinary bacteria that have changed their body structure

and activity and become what microbiologists now call " stealth pathogens " or

cell wall deficient organisms. These pathogens can be seen through darkfield

microscopy in living blood samples of patients with rheumatoid arthritis or MS.

Many theories are put forward to account for the development of autoimmune

diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, both of which are

marked by the body's strange destruction of its own tissues, as if they were

foreign, even dangerous, matter.

Physicians believe rheumatoid arthritis is caused by, variously, food allergies,

nutritional deficiencies, intestinal permeability, genetic susceptibility, or

microorganisms. For multiple sclerosis (MS), proposed causes range from food

sensitivities, yeasts, environmental toxins, and dental mercury amalgams to

fatty acid deficiencies, stress, and the herpes virus.

A new theory may dispel the cloud of uncertainty surrounding both diseases and

the baffling nature of the autoimmune response itself. This theory holds that

the cause may be fairly ordinary bacteria that have changed their body structure

and activity and become what microbiologists now call " stealth pathogens " or

cell wall deficient organisms. These pathogens can be seen through darkfield

microscopy in living blood samples of patients with rheumatoid arthritis or MS.

However, according to Philip Hoekstra, Ph.D., director of Therma-Scan, Inc., a

blood-imaging and specialty diagnostic company in Huntington Woods, Michigan,

you can only begin to understand the clinical relevance of these pathogens if

you study living blood without any preconceived ideas.

" Most blood testing starts with too many preconceptions, but if you simply

remove your biases and allow the blood to show you what is going on, you can see

a whole story. Every cell has a story to tell. You can physically see these

microorganisms. You may not be able to identify exactly what they are, but you

can tell fairly quickly whether these microorganisms are at a problematic level

and affecting the immune system. " This in turn sheds new light on the process of

autoimmune diseases,

Dr. Hoekstra adds.

Understanding the Autoimmune Response

Dr. Hoekstra disagrees with the prevailing concept of an autoimmune disease;

that is, for a mysterious reason, the immune system starts attacking itself as

if it were suddenly crazy. " I do not believe that in the wisdom of the body the

immune system goes 'nuts' and targets the body's tissues for destruction.

Rather, I see this as collateral, secondary damage while the immune system is

actually seeking out a specific, though somewhat hidden,target. "

To explain his new model of autoimmune activity which is based on extensive

laboratory observation, Dr. Hoekstra relies on a hunting metaphor. Hunters with

torches move through the woods in search of a raccoon. In pursuit of the elusive

raccoon, the hunters accidentally set fire to trees and the hunting dogs damage

much of the undergrowth. In fact, they nearly trash the entire

woods, creating a tremendous amount of collateral damage, says Dr. Hoekstra.

" Let's see the dogs as immune system antibodies (out to digest foreign matter),

the hunters as white blood cells, the woods as the body, and the raccoon as a

specific microorganism, " he comments. " In pondering this analogy, it occurred to

me that in an autoimmune disease, the immune system is probably tracking down a

specific, targeted microbial agent. "

The quest to identify this elusive microbial agent in rheumatoid arthritis has

occupied rheumatologists for over one hundred years, but it has been a quest

marked by numerous false starts and dead ends, partly because it has been based

on misleading animal studies, says Dr. Hoekstra. But when you start looking with

wide-open eyes at the living blood of humans, as a researcher you are brought a

lot closer to an accurate identification of that microbial " raccoon. "

Bacteria in an Altered State

Quite often, when he examines a slide of blood using darkfield microscopy, Dr.

Hoekstra can quickly surmise the patient's entire health history. If the

platelets are " sticky, " or clump together, there is a high probability the

person suffers from headaches. Similarly, variations in shape among red blood

cells tell him a great deal about a person's biochemistry, their nutritional

intake and nutrient levels. " There is no psychic intuition here--it's all there

in the blood for us both to see. With our specially equipped microscopes, we can

look for many things that are commonly missed in routine blood studies. The goal

is to get more than routine information about a patient's condition so that it

might be used in a holistic, preventive way. "

It doesn't take long--watching the blood for 20-40 minutes--to get to the heart

of the problem, says Dr. Hoekstra. " Then I can show the patient different

features in the blood that are probably linked to their health problem. You can

see features of chronic viral infections, such as herpes, cytomegalovirus, and

Epstein-Barr, that cause shape changes in the white blood cells called

lymphocytes. "

In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, Dr. Hoekstra has found that virtually all

the patients he has studied have had significant amounts of a bacteria called

Propioni bacterium acnes. " This is the genus and species of the organism we

believe is responsible for propagating and perpetuating this disease, " says Dr.

Hoekstra. " It is a very common bacteria in an altered state of being--it's cell

wall deficient. "

The bacteria was first identified and described in 1981 by G.A. Denys at Wayne

State University in Detroit, Michigan. " This bacteria is passed

transplacentally, from mother to fetus, and this may be responsible for

rheumatoid arthritis showing up in generations in a single family, " says Dr.

Hoekstra.

Why this bacteria is prevalent in seemingly all cases of rheumatoid arthritis is

not clear; overuse of antibiotics may be a factor encouraging its growth. " The

use of antibiotics is one of the most potent ways of inducing cell wall

deficiency; bacteria seem to do this as a survival mechanism. "

In other words, when a bacteria is transformed into a cell wall deficient form,

it assumes different characteristics from the whole or native type of

microorganism it used to be, Dr. Hoekstra explains. " The organism remains intact

except it loses its cell wall and its antigenic characteristics, enabling it to

function as a cellular chameleon. " When it loses its antigenic signature, the

bacteria is able to mask itself against destruction by the immune system's

antibodies which can no longer recognize it as an antigen (foreign protein).

Dr. Hoekstra's mentor, Lida Holmes Mattman, Ph.D., also of Wayne State (now

professor emeritus of biology), confirmed the causal role of P. acnes in a

laboratory experiment. Dr. Mattman extracted the bacteria from the synovial

fluid (which lubricates joints) of human arthritis patients, and injected it

into chicken embryos. The chicks then exhibited symptoms of rheumatoid

arthritis. When she treated the chicks with antibiotics known to disable P.

acnes, the disease disappeared.

A different bacteria, operating on similar principles, seems to be the organic

cause of multiple sclerosis, says Dr. Hoekstra. It's tentative name--not yet

widely accepted by other microbiologists--is Borrelia mylophora, so named

because its characteristics seem to resemble those of Borrelia burgdorferi, the

bacteria believed responsible for Lyme disease.

In multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath covering nerves gets eaten away by the

immune system, explains Dr. Hoekstra. " That is exactly like the hunters' torches

setting fire to the forest. Most of the destruction of the myelin sheath takes

place from actions of the white blood cells and their antibodies. But their

primary target is not the myelin sheath at all. It's the Borrelia mylophora

bacteria, running around in the nervous system. B. mylophora has an extremely

high affinity for the myelin sheath. It loves it. "

Unfortunately, the myelin sheath sustains a lot of collateral damage as the

immune cells attempt to find and destroy the microbe, Dr. Hoekstra says.

The work on identifying a possible microbial agent in multiple sclerosis has

been under way for many years, since 1913. One of the difficulties is the

microbiologist must be very patient, able to culture a blood specimen and keep

it uncontaminated for as long as nine months before a positive bacterial

identification can be made, explains Dr. Hoekstra.

Both P. acnes and B. mylophora are examples of stealth pathogens, of organisms

with deficient cell walls, capable of acting secretly in the body, creating

disease, and hardly leaving a trace.

Pushing Away Their Wheelchairs

Once you understand the nature of the organism causing an autoimmune disease,

it's much easier to develop an effective strategy against it, says Dr. Hoekstra.

" We have a number of multiple sclerosis patients who have pushed away their

wheelchairs or thrown away their canes and are walking now. And their vision has

been restored, " he adds.

Physicians use different strategies in dealing with the underlying bacteria. Dr.

Hoekstra cites the example of Phoebe, a 36-year-old woman with MS. After B.

mylophora was cultured from her blood, Phoebe's doctor prescribed a heavy dose

(about 100 mg daily) of a standard antibiotic called doxycycline. After four

weeks, she was able to lift both hands in the air, comb her hair without losing

her balance, see clearly again without dizziness, and move about without her

cane; after six months

(four of which involved continuous dosing), Phoebe was free of all symptoms,

says Dr. Hoekstra.

The successful use of this antibiotic against B. mylophora was first verified by

a physician in South Dakota who reasoned that the symptoms of MS (which he had)

were suggestively similar to those of Lyme disease, which responds fairly well

to doxycycline. After dosing himself for three months with the antibiotic, he

was symptom free.

However, the long-term use of antibiotics has many drawbacks, cautions Dr.

Hoekstra. It seriously damages the ecology of intestinal microflora and can lead

to a condition of microbial imbalance called dysbiosis. This in turn can be the

foundation for numerous diseases. As stated above, it can also facilitate the

growth of more cell wall deficient forms. To counteract this, Phoebe's doctor

recommended a product called Probioplex, made from concentrated globulin whey

protein.

" This is a source of passive immunity, like the concentrated antibodies in

colostrum [breast milk at childbirth], " Dr. Hoekstra explains. Phoebe used

Probioplex as a gentle, broad-spectrum, natural antibiotic (at a dosage of 1/2

teaspoon, four times daily) to suppress the overgrowth of nonbeneficial

bacteria, whose numbers may have increased from the prolonged antibiotic intake.

Phoebe further supported her intestinal ecology by regularly taking supplements

of Lactobacillus acidophilus and L. bifidus (in refrigerated powder form). To

offset the toxic effects of the antibiotic on her liver and kidneys (which

filter all the body's toxins), Phoebe took high doses of vitamin C, typically

4.5 g daily in divided doses. She continued this regimen for a month after the

end of the antibiotics course, adds Dr. Hoekstra.

Often patients with MS have a problem with mercury amalgam fillings, says Dr.

Hoekstra. " Some MS patients seem to benefit greatly from having their mercury

fillings removed. " Phoebe had her mercury amalgams replaced, a procedure that

seemed to help her considerably, he adds.

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi,

> I am pasting an article that Lida Mattman and her colleagues have written.It

discusses their views on MS. I guess I am inclined to believe what Lida says

since she has lots of experience with the subject.

yes, good text although I cannot find 'borrelia mylophora' anywhere in the

PubMed database, which means it is highly controversial. I had never heard of

this name, but it wouldn't surprise me if a spirochete similar to Bb is one of

the causes of MS. Maybe we should not look for a specific organism. Maybe every

bacterium that develops l-forms, or that has an antigenic makeup similar to host

tissue, causes these 'auto-immune' diseases.

There are some models for MS development that sound very similar to models

proposed for Lyme disease (a to-step model requiring infection and another

factor) e.g.:

Molecular mimicry in multiple sclerosis

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17531840