(OT) 5/09 conference notes - Very Long!

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

Unfortunately,I left my notes in CT (I think I wanted a Lyme break),

so much will be missing, but I thought I would let you all know what

I gathered from the conference (UNH Lyme Symposium May 8 2010).

People who's names I recognised : Dr. , Dr. Eva Sapi,

Dr. ph Burrascano, Dr. Alan Mac, Sheila Statlender, Pamela

Weintraub (Cure Unknown), (LDA), Polly Murray

(Lyme,CT), Willy Burgdorfer sent his regards... and many more.

Biofilms:

This was the most shocking information at the conference. Everyday

examples of biofilms are dental tartar and black sludge in plumbing.

For some reason, they are not yet allowed to call them " biofilms " for

Borrelia, but I got to see them in action. I thought biofilms were a

protective coating on a single bacteria having a similar effect as

cyst formation. No! In adverse environment (ex.:abx), the spirochetes

congregate and start to form a substance that holds them together .

They form these masses of bacteria by the thousands! They are alive

in these masses as there is uptake of a green fluorescent dye that

wouldn't show up if it were a mass of dead spirochetes. The masses

are organised and allow communication between the bacteria and

exchange of genetic informatiion(?). The substance is not mucosal in

nature, but hardens, cementlike. The microbiologist described the

fact that if you press down on the coverslip(thin piece of glass you

place over a specimen on a glass slide), it doesn't compress, but the

coverslip shatters. He said it was " gummybear-like " .

To illustrate the resiliance of these " biofilms " , they filmed one

exposed directly to MMS (basicly bleach, I think they said 3%). The

film was sped up so we could see in a couple minutes what occured in

30 minutes. I thought it looked pretty good since the biofilm seemed

to get disolved and spirochetes were released. By the end of 30

minutes, it was much smaller and many spirochetes were killed, but

not all. This was NOT good news. Bacteria are supposed to be killed

by this 3% bleach within milliseconds. Spirochetes were still alive

after 30 minutes. What was illustrated was the effectiveness of the

biofilm in protecting the bacteria. Many bacteria form protective

coatings in adverse conditions that resist chemicals, but actually

seeing it and knowing that these " biofilms " can form inside us was a

shock.

Cyst formation:

Certain abx tend to increase cyst formation while reducing spirochete

load. Combinations of certain abx are better at reducing spirochetes

AND preventing cyst formation (work synergisticly). Both flagyl and

tindamax in combination with another abx (ex:zithromax) are effective.

The same experiment was done with tinctures of Samento and Banderol

both alone, together and in different concentrations([ ]). What was

interesting was that when using higher [ ] of each herb, more cysts

were formed and much lower [ ] were much more effective in both

preveting cyst formation and killing spirochetes. I think both

together were better than each one alone, but now I'm not sure, sorry.

Dr. Sapi will be doing more research with herbs.

These were in-vitro ( " in tubes " ) studies rather than in-vivo ( in

living beings), so they are not definitive, but help guide future

studies.

XMRV virus:

Dr. Burrascano is researching the possibility of this retro-virus

being an important key in chronic/refractory Lyme. XMRV virus =

xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (murine=mouse)

There wasn't a lot of practical treatment information. Dr Wulfman

from Vermont has an integrative practice. He treats with herbs, abx,

diet, liquid mineral supplements, probiotics, etc. What he stressed

was that he has tried to streamline his treatment for Lyme and he

CANNOT. What works for one person does not automaticcally work for

the next, however simmilar the cases. It is a constant trial and

error medical journey for each of his patients.

Nanotechnology,

Trying to apply nanotechnology ( " nano " is much smaller than " micro " )

to be able to visualise and actually understand the physical

properties of the spirochetes with more precision. Also trying to

develop technology that allows this visualisation of LIVE spirochetes

(preparation of sample typically desicates/kills organisms).

Nanotechnology physically scans the specimen with a probe that runs

across its surface which also allows a certain determination of

texture (soft, hard, etc) and gives a 3-d picture. Electron

microscopes bombard specimen with electrons, thus killing it (if it

happened to survive preparation).

is a fabulous LD advocate. Contact the LDA for any

issues regarding children and school issues for guidance.

Again, this is from memory. If I find in my notes that I have made

any grave errors I will correct them next week and update with more

info if missing ( I am sure it is!). I couldn't stay for the whole

thing, though I wanted to.

Sorry for the very long, possibly tedious post.

I hope there was a little something in it for everyone,

Aviva