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Magic2626  
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 More options Apr 25 1999, 8:00 am
Newsgroups: sci.med.diseases.lyme
From: magic2...@aol.com (Magic2626)
Date: 1999/04/25
Subject: Bacteria linked to MS

The following article can be found at:
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/99/04/24/ms24.shtml

Bacteria linked to MS
By Bill Snyder / Tennessean Staff Writer

Vanderbilt University researchers have found compelling evidence linking
multiple sclerosis to a bacterial infection.

Genetic evidence of the bacteria, Chlamydia pneumoniae, was found in the
spinal fluid from 17 patients with recently  diagnosed MS, Dr.Subramaniam
Sriram reported yesterday at an American Academy of Neurology meeting in
Toronto.

This is not the same chlamydia that causes sexually transmitted disease.
That's Chlamydia trachomatis, a different species.

Nor have the Vanderbilt researchers proved Chlamydia pneumoniae causes MS, a
mysterious and debilitating neurological disorder that afflicts more than
250,000 Americans including an estimated 2,000 Middle Tennesseans.

But according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, which is
supporting the research, "this provocative study could shed new light on the
cause of MS, and may have important long-term implications for potential MS
therapies."

Sriram's research began in July 1996, when a seriously ill deputy sheriff
from Bedford County was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Five months after he developed symptoms of MS -- vision problems and tingling
down his left side -- Brad Lamons was unable to move either leg or his left
arm, and he was having difficulty swallowing.

"I was scared," said Lamons, 26, of Tullahoma. "I was going down so fast that
within a week or so I'm afraid I'd have been on a ventilator."

When tests of his spinal fluid came back positive for chlamydia, Sriram put
him on an aggressive, 18-month-long course of powerful antibiotics.

Several weeks later, with the help of a physical therapist, Lamons was
walking again.

 He has continued to improve, without a relapse, for nearly three years,
though he can no longer work as a deputy because he tires easily. Lamons said
he hopes to train for a job in computer-aided drafting.

Inspired by Lamons' dramatic recovery, Sriram, a professor of neurology who
directs Vanderbilt's MS center, began looking for chlamydia in other patients
with MS.

He and his colleagues, including Dr. William M. Mitchell, professor of
pathology, and Dr. Charles W. Stratton, director of clinical microbiology,
were able to grow bacteria from the spinal fluid of eight of 17 patients with
a recently diagnosed form of MS.

Using a sophisticated laboratory test, the scientists also found genetic
evidence of the organism in the spinal fluid of all of the patients.

In comparison, the researchers were not able to grow chlamydia from the
spinal fluid of any of 13 "controls," people who did not have a diagnosis of
MS.

Bacterial genes were found in two of the controls, but these patients
exhibited symptoms, including  inflammation of the spinal cord, suggesting
they may have had a first attack of multiple sclerosis, Sriram said.

In an interview, Sriram cautioned against drawing too enthusiastic a
conclusion from the Vanderbilt study or from Lamons' anecdotal experience.

In most cases, the disease waxes and wanes. Patients may experience temporary
relief from symptoms, only to relapse within a few weeks or months, he said.

MS destroys myelin, an insulating material that helps transmit nerve signals.
Symptoms include blurred or double vision, muscle weakness, and problems with
balance, coordination and other neurological functions.

The cause of MS is unknown, but many experts believe it results from an
abnormal immune response  -- a misguided, "friendly fire" attack on the body
by its own defense system.

Chlamydia may simply be an innocent bystander -- a secondary infection of
already damaged nerves.

But MS behaves like a chronic infection, and scientists for years have looked
for a culprit. Sriram said the link between chlamydia and multiple sclerosis
is "extremely high -- much higher than any other organism people have looked
at in the past."

The next step is to reproduce these findings in larger numbers of patients.
Ultimately, he said, a carefully conducted treatment study, comparing
patients who received antibiotics to those who did not, will be necessary to
settle the question.

Chlamydia pneumoniae, which is spread through the air, is a common cause of
pneumonia. Increasing evidence suggests it also can infect blood vessel walls
and may be an important factor in the development of heart disease.

"It turns out chlamydia infection is one of the leading hot topics in stroke,
as well," added Dr. Walter Koroshetz, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School
who was familiar with Sriram's work.

"If this is (also) at the bottom of MS, there are medications that can
probably kill this bug."

"This thing, if it's true, just would be unbelievable," added Bill Weaver, a
former insurance executive who has multiple sclerosis, and whose family
endowed a chair in MS at Vanderbilt six years ago.

The $1.25 million endowment allowed Vanderbilt to recruit Sriram from the
University of Vermont to direct its new MS center.

 "It has been our dream that Dr. Sriram would uncover some information about
(MS) that could help other people, as well as Bill," said Weaver's mother,
Elizabeth Craig Proctor, a former Belle Meade mayor. "When we see all these
people in wheelchairs,  it simply breaks our hearts."

© Copyright 1999 The Tennessean
A Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper
......................
non commercial use only research and discussion only


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MrsMeister  
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 More options Apr 25 1999, 8:00 am
Newsgroups: sci.med.diseases.lyme
From: mrsmeis...@aol.com (MrsMeister)
Date: 1999/04/25
Subject: Re: Bacteria linked to MS
I stopped reading the MS NG in an attempt to curb my on line time.. Im assuming
that someone has posted this there.... if not, let me know, Martha

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RMAgricola  
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 More options Apr 25 1999, 8:00 am
Newsgroups: sci.med.diseases.lyme
From: rmagric...@aol.com (RMAgricola)
Date: 1999/04/25
Subject: Re: Bacteria linked to MS
Dear Magic,

When I went to the site you posted I got a message that it was forbidden. What
does this mean? Is there another way to obtain  the article?

Martha A.


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