Mycoplasma - The Linking Pathogen to LYME / AIDS / HIV / CFS / EBS / MS / A

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>

> MYCOPLASMA

> The Linking Pathogen in Neurosystemic Diseases

>

> Several strains of mycoplasma have been " engineered " to become more

> dangerous. They are now being blamed for AIDS, cancer, CFS, MS, CJD and

> other neurosystemic diseases.

>

> Donald W. Scott MA, MSc. Ó 2001

>

> Nexus Magazine Aug 2001

>

> I - PATHOGENIC MYCOPLASMA

> A Common Disease Agent Weaponised

>

> There are 200 species of Mycoplasma. Most are innocuous and do no harm;

only

> four or five are pathogenic. Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus strain)

> probably comes from the nucleus of the Brucella bacterium. This disease

> agent is not a bacterium and not a virus; it is a mutated form of the

> Brucella bacterium, combined with a visna virus, from which the mycoplasma

> is extracted.

>

> The pathogenic Mycoplasma used to be very innocuous, but biological

warfare

> research conducted between 1942 and the present time has resulted in the

> creation of more deadly and infectious forms of Mycoplasma. Researchers

> extracted this mycoplasma from the Brucella bacterium and actually reduced

> the disease to a crystalline form. They " weaponised " it and tested it on

an

> unsuspecting public in North America.

>

> Dr Maurice Hilleman, chief virologist for the pharmaceutical company Merck

> Sharp & Dohme, stated that this disease agent is now carried by everybody

in

> North America and possibly most people throughout the world.

>

> Despite reporting flaws, there has clearly been an increased incidence of

> all the neuro/systemic degenerative diseases since World War II and

> especially since the 1970s with the arrival of previously unheard-of

> diseases like chronic fatigue syndrome and AIDS.

>

> According to Dr Shyh-Ching Lo, senior researcher at The Armed Forces

> Institute of Pathology and one of America's top mycoplasma researchers,

this

> disease agent causes many illnesses including AIDS, cancer, chronic

fatigue

> syndrome, Crohn's colitis, Type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis,

Parkinson's

> disease, Wegener's disease and collagen-vascular diseases such as

rheumatoid

> arthritis and Alzheimer's.

>

> Dr Charles Engel, who is with the US National Institutes of Health,

> Bethesda, Maryland, stated the following at an NIH meeting on February 7,

> 2000: " I am now of the view that the probable cause of chronic fatigue

> syndrome and fibromyalgia is the mycoplasma... "

>

> I have all the official documents to prove that mycoplasma is the disease

> agent in chronic fatigue syndrome/fibromyalgia as well as in AIDS,

multiple

> sclerosis and many other illnesses. Of these, 80% are US or Canadian

> official government documents, and 20% are articles from peer-reviewed

> journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, New

> England Journal of Medicine and the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

> The journal articles and government documents complement each other.

>

> How the Mycoplasma Works

>

> The mycoplasma acts by entering into the individual cells of the body,

> depending upon your genetic predisposition.

>

> You may develop neurological diseases if the pathogen destroys certain

cells

> in your brain, or you may develop Crohn's colitis if thepathogen invades

and

> destroys cells in the lower bowel.

>

> Once the mycoplasma gets into the cell, it can lie there doing nothing

> sometimes for 10, 20 or 30 years, but if a trauma occurs like an accident

or

> a vaccination that doesn't take, the mycoplasma can become triggered.

>

> Because it is only the DNA particle of the bacterium, it doesn't have any

> organelles to process its own nutrients, so it grows by uptaking

pre-formed

> sterols from its host cell and it literally kills the cell; the cell

> ruptures and what is left gets dumped into the bloodstream.

>

> II- CREATION OF THE MYCOPLASMA

> A Laboratory-Made Disease Agent

>

> Many doctors don't know about this mycoplasma disease agent because it was

> developed by the US military in biological warfare experimentation and it

> was not made public. This pathogen was patented by the United States

> military and Dr Shyh-Ching Lo. I have a copy of the documented patent from

> the US Patent Office.(1)

>

> All the countries at war were experimenting with biological weapons. In

> 1942, the governments of the United States, Canada and Britain entered

into

> a secret agreement to create two types of biological weapons (one that

would

> kill, and one that was disabling) for use in the war against Germany and

> Japan, who were also developing biological weapons. While they researched

a

> number or disease pathogens, they primarily focused on the Brucella

> bacterium and began to weaponise it.

>

> >From its inception, the biowarfare program was characterised by

continuing

> in-depth review and participation by the most eminent scientists, medical

> consultants, industrial experts and government officials, and it was

> classified Top Secret.

>

> The US Public Health Service also closely followed the progress of

> biological warfare research and development from the very start of the

> program, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National

> Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States were working with the

> military in weaponising these diseases. These are diseases that have

existed

> for thousands of years, but they have been weaponised-which means they've

> been made more contagious and more effective. And they are spreading.

>

> The Special Virus Cancer Program, created by the CIA and NIH to develop a

> deadly pathogen for which humanity had no natural immunity (AIDS), was

> disguised as a war on cancer but was actually part of MKNAOMI.2 Many

members

> of the Senate and House of Representatives do not know what has been going

> on. For example, the US Senate Committee on Government Reform had

searched

> the archives in Washington and other places for the document titled " The

> Special Virus Cancer Program: Progress Report No. 8 " , and couldn't find

it.

> Somehow they heard I had it, called me and asked me to mail it to them.

> Imagine: a retired schoolteacher being called by the United States Senate

> and asked for one of their secret documents! The US Senate, through the

> Government Reform Committee, is trying to stop this type of government

> research.

>

> Crystalline Brucella

>

> The title page of a genuine US Senate Study, declassified on February 24,

> 1977, shows that George Merck, of the pharmaceutical company, Merck Sharp

&

> Dohme (which now makes cures for diseases that at one time it created),

> reported in 1946 to the US Secretary of War that his researchers had

managed

> " for the first time " to " isolate the disease agent in crystalline form " .3

>

> They had produced a crystalline bacterial toxin extracted from the

Brucella

> bacterium. The bacterial toxin could be removed in crystalline form and

> stored, transported and deployed without deteriorating. It could be

> delivered by other vectors such as insects, aerosol or the food chain (in

> nature it is delivered within the bacterium). But the factor that is

working

> in the Brucella is the mycoplasma.

>

> Brucella is a disease agent that doesn't kill people; it disables them.

But,

> according to Dr Donald MacArthur of the Pentagon, appearing before a

> congressional committee in 1969,(4) researchers found that if they had

> mycoplasma at a certain strength-actually, 10 to the 10th power-it would

> develop into AIDS, and the person would die from it within a reasonable

> period of time because it could bypass the natural human defences. If the

> strength was 10 to 8, the person would manifest with chronic fatigue

> syndrome or fibromyalgia. If it was l0 to 7, they would present as

wasting;

> they wouldn't die and they wouldn't be disabled, but they would not be

very

> interested in life; they would waste away.

>

> Most of us have never heard of the disease brucellosis because it largely

> disappeared when they began pasteurising milk, which was the carrier. One

> salt shaker of the pure disease agent in a crystalline form could sicken

the

> entire population of Canada. It is absolutely deadly, not so much in terms

> of killing the body but disabling it.

>

> Because the crystalline disease agent goes into solution in the blood,

> ordinary blood and tissue tests will not reveal its presence. The

mycoplasma

> will only crystallise at 8.1 pH, and the blood has a pH of 7.4 pH. So the

> doctor thinks your complaint is " all in your head " .

>

> Crystalline Brucella and Multiple Sclerosis

>

> In 1998 in Rochester, New York, I met a former military man, PFC Donald

> Bentley, who gave me a document and told me: " I was in the US Army, and I

> was trained in bacteriological warfare. We were handling a bomb filled

with

> brucellosis, only it wasn't brucellosis; it was a Brucella toxin in

> crystalline form. We were spraying it on the Chinese and North Koreans. "

>

> He showed me his certificate listing his training in chemical, biological

> and radiological warfare. Then he showed me 16 pages of documents given to

> him by the US military when he was discharged from the service. They

linked

> brucellosis with multiple sclerosis, and stated in one section: " Veterans

> with multiple sclerosis, a kind of creeping paralysis developing to a

degree

> of 10% or more disability within two years after separation from active

> service, may be presumed to be service-connected for disability

> compensation. Compensation is payable to eligible veterans whose

> disabilities are due to service. " In other words: " If you become ill with

> multiple sclerosis, it is because you were handling this Brucella, and we

> will give you a pension. Don't go raising any fuss about it. " In these

> documents, the government of the United States revealed evidence of the

> cause of multiple sclerosis, but they didn't make it known to the

public-or

> to your doctor.

>

> In a 1949 report, Drs Kyger and Haden suggested " the possibility that

> multiple sclerosis might be a central nervous system manifestation of

> chronic brucellosis " . Testing approximately 113 MS patients, they found

that

> almost 95% also tested positive for Brucella.(5) We have a document from a

> medical journal, which concludes that one out of 500 people who had

> brucellosis would develop what they call neurobrucellosis; in other words,

> brucellosis in the brain, where the Brucella settles in the lateral

> ventrides-where the disease multiple sclerosis is basically located.6

>

> Contamination of Camp Detrick Lab Workers

> A 1948 New England Journal of Medicine report titled " Acute Brucellosis

> Among Laboratory Workers " shows us how actively dangerous this agent is.7

> The laboratory workers were from Camp Detrick, Frederick, Maryland, where

> they were developing biological weapons. Even though these workers had

been

> vaccinated, wore rubberised suits and masks and worked through holes in

the

> compartment, many of them came down with this awful disease because it is

so

> absolutely and terrifyingly infectious.

>

> The article was written by Lt Calderone Howell, Marine Corps Captain

Edward

> Miller, Marine Corps, Lt Emily Kelly, United States Naval Reserve; and

> Captain Henry Bookman. They were all military personnel engaged in making

> the disease agent Brucella into a more effective biological weapon

>

> III - COVERT TESTING OF MYCOPLASMA

>

> Testing the Dispersal Methods

> Documented evidence proves that the biological weapons they were

developing

> were tested on the public in various communities without their knowledge

or

> consent.

>

> The government knew that crystalline Brucella would cause disease in

humans.

> Now they needed to determine how it would spread and the best way to

> disperse it. They tested dispersal methods for Brucella suis and Brucella

> melitensis at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, in June and September 1952.

> Probably, 100% of us now are infected with Brucella suis and Brucella

> melitensis.(8)

>

> Another government document recommended the genesis of open-air

> vulnerability tests and covert research and development programs to be

> conducted by the Army and supported by the Central Intelligence Agency.

>

> At that time, the Government of Canada was asked by the US Government to

> cooperate in testing weaponised Brucella, and Canada cooperated fully with

> the United States. The US Government wanted to determine whether

mosquitoes

> would carry the disease and also if the air would carry it. A government

> report stated that " open-air testing of infectious biological agents is

> considered essential to an ultimate understanding of biological warfare

> potentialities because of the many unknown factors affecting the

degradation

> of micro-organisms in the atmosphere " .9

>

> Testing via Mosquito Vector in Punta Gorda, Florida

> A report from The New England Journal of Medicine reveals that one of the

> first outbreaks of chronic fatigue syndrome was in Punta Gorda, Florida,

> back in 1957.(10) It was a strange coincidence that a week before these

> people came down with chronic fatigue syndrome, there was a huge influx of

> mosquitoes.

>

> The National Institutes of Health claimed that the mosquitoes came from a

> forest fire 30 miles away. The truth is that those mosquitoes were

infected

> in Canada by Dr Guilford B. Reed at Queen's University. They were bred in

> Belleville, Ontario, and taken down to Punta Gorda and released there.

>

> Within a week, the first five cases ever of chronic fatigue syndrome were

> reported to the local clinic in Punta Gorda. The cases kept coming until

> finally 450 people were ill with the disease.

>

> Testing via Mosquito Vector in Ontario

> The Government of Canada had established the Dominion Parasite Laboratory

in

> Belleville, Ontario, where it raised 100 million mosquitoes a month. These

> were shipped to Queen's University and certain other facilities to be

> infected with this crystalline disease agent The mosquitoes were then let

> loose in certain communities in the middle of the night, so that the

> researchers could determine how many people would become ill with chronic

> fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia, which was the first disease to show.

>

> One of the communities they tested it on was the St Lawrence Seaway

valley,

> all the way from Kingston to Cornwall, in 1984. They let out hundreds of

> millions of infected mosquitoes. Over 700 people in the next four or five

> weeks developed myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome.

>

> IV - COVERT TESTING OF OTHER DISEASE AGENTS

>

> Mad Cow Disease/Kuru/CJD in the Fore Tribe

> Before and during World War II, at the infamous Camp 731 in Manchuria, the

> Japanese military contaminated prisoners of war with certain disease

agents.

>

> They also established a research camp in New Guinea in 1942. There they

> experimented upon the Fore Indian tribe and inoculated them with a

minced-up

> version of the brains of diseased sheep containing the visna virus which

> causes " mad cow disease " or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

>

> About five or six years later, after the Japanese had been driven out, the

> poor people of the Fore tribe developed what they called kuru, which was

> their word for " wasting " , and they began to shake, lose their appetites

and

> die. The autopsies revealed that their brains had literally turned to

mush.

> They had contracted " mad cow disease " from the Japanese experiments.

>

> When World War II ended, Dr Ishii Shiro-the medical doctor who was

> commissioned as a General in the Japanese Army so he could take command of

> Japan's biological warfare development, testing and deployment-was

captured.

> He was given the choice of a job with the United States Army or execution

as

> a war criminal. Not surprisingly, Dr Ishii Shiro chose to work with the US

> military to demonstrate how the Japanese had created mad cow disease in

the

> Fore Indian tribe.

>

> In 1957, when the disease was beginning to blossom in full among the Fore

> people, Dr Carleton Gajdusek of the US National Institutes of Health

headed

> to New Guinea to determine how the minced-up brains of the visna-infected

> sheep affected them. He spent a couple of years there, studying the Fore

> people, and wrote an extensive report. He won the Nobel Prize for

> " discovering " kuru disease in the Fore tribe.

>

> Testing Carcinogens over Winnipeg, Manitoba

> In 1953, the US Government asked the Canadian Government if it could test

a

> chemical over the city of Winnipeg. It was a big city with 500,000 people,

> miles from anywhere. The American military sprayed this carcinogenic

> chemical in a 1,000%-attenuated form, which they said would be so watered

> down that nobody would get very sick; however, if people came to clinics

> with a sniffle, a sore throat or ringing in their ears, the researchers

> would be able to determine what percentage would have developed cancer if

> the chemical had been used at full strength.

>

> We located evidence that the Americans had indeed tested this carcinogenic

> chemical-zinc cadmium sulphide-over Winnipeg in 1953. We wrote to the

> Government of Canada, explaining that we had solid evidence of the

spraying

> and asking that we be informed as to how high up in the government the

> request for permission to spray had gone. We did not receive a reply.

>

> Shortly after, the Pentagon held a press conference on May 14, 1997, where

> they admitted what they had done. Robert Russo, writing for the Toronto

> Star11 from Washington, DC, reported the Pentagon's admission that in 1953

> it had obtained permission from the Canadian Government to fly over the

city

> of Winnipeg and spray out this chemical-which sifted down on kids going to

> school, housewives hanging out their laundry and people going to work. US

> Army planes and trucks released the chemical 36 times between July and

> August 1953. The Pentagon got its statistics, which indicated that if the

> chemical released had been full strength, approximately a third of the

> population of Winnipeg would have developed cancers over the next five

> years.

>

> One professor, Dr Hugh Fudenberg, MD, twice nominated for the Nobel Prize,

> wrote a magazine article stating that the Pentagon came clean on this

> because two researchers in Sudbury, Ontario-Don Scott and his son, Bill

> Scott-had been revealing this to the public. However, the legwork was done

> by other researchers!

>

> The US Army actually conducted a series of simulated germ warfare tests

over

> Winnipeg. The Pentagon lied about the tests to the mayor, saying that they

> were testing a chemical fog over the city, which would protect Winnipeg in

> the event of a nuclear attack.

>

> A report commissioned by US Congress, chaired by Dr Rogene Henderson,

lists

> 32 American towns and cities used as test sites as well.

>

> V - BRUCELLA MYCOPLASMA AND DISEASE AIDS

>

> The AIDS pathogen was created out of a Brucella bacterium mutated with a

> visna virus; then the toxin was removed as a DNA particle called a

> mycoplasma. They used the same mycoplasma to develop disabling diseases

like

> MS, Crohn's colitis, Lyme disease, etc.

>

> In the previously mentioned US congressional document of a meeting held on

> June 9, 1969, (12) the Pentagon delivered a report to Congress about

> biological weapons. The Pentagon stated: " We are continuing to develop

> disabling weapons. " Dr MacArthur, who was in charge of the research, said:

> " We are developing a new lethal weapon, a synthetic biological agent that

> does not naturally exist, and for which no natural immunity could have

been

> acquired. "

>

> Think about it. If you have a deficiency of acquired immunity, you have an

> acquired immunity deficiency. Plain as that. AIDS.

>

> In laboratories throughout the United States and in a certain number in

> Canada including at the University of Alberta. the US Government provided

> the leadership for the development of AIDS for the purpose of population

> control. After the scientists had perfected it, the government sent

medical

> teams from the Centers for Disease Control-under the direction of Dr

Donald

> A. Henderson, their investigator into the 1957 chronic fatigue epidemic in

> Punta Gorda-during 1969 to 1971 to Africa and some countries such as

India,

> Nepal and Pakistan where they thought the population was becoming too

> large.13 They gave them all a free vaccination against smallpox; but five

> years after receiving this vaccination, 60% of those inoculated were

> suffering from AIDS. They tried to blame it on a monkey, which is

nonsense.

>

> A professor at the University of Arkansas made the claim that while

studying

> the tissues of a dead chimpanzee she found traces of HIV. The chimpanzee

> that she had tested was born in the United States 23 years earlier. It had

> lived its entire life in a US military laboratory where it was used as an

> experimental animal in the development of these diseases. When it died,

its

> body was shipped to a storage place where it was deep-frozen and stored in

> case they wanted to analyse it later. Then they decided that they didn't

> have enough space for it, so they said, " Anybody want this dead

chimpanzee? "

> and this researcher from Arkansas said: " Yes. Send it down to the

University

> of Arkansas. We are happy to get anything we can get. " They shipped it

down

> and she found HIV in it. That virus was acquired by that chimpanzee in the

> laboratories where it was tested.14

>

> Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

> Chronic fatigue syndrome is more accurately called myalgic

> encephalomyelitis. The chronic fatigue syndrome nomenclature was given by

> the US National Institutes of Health because it wanted to downgrade and

> belittle the disease.

>

> An MRI scan of the brain of a teenage girl with chronic fatigue syndrome

> displayed a great many scars or punctate lesions in the left frontal lobe

> area where portions of the brain had literally dissolved and been replaced

> by scar tissue. This caused cognitive impairment, memory impairment, etc.

> And what was the cause of the scarring? The mycoplasma. So there is very

> concrete physical evidence of these tragic diseases, even though doctors

> continue to say they don't know where it comes from or what they can do

> about it.

>

> Many people with chronic fatigue syndrome, myalgic encephalo-myelitis and

> fibromyalgia who apply to the Canada Pensions Plan Review Tribunal will be

> turned down because they cannot prove that they are ill. During 1999 I

> conducted several appeals to Canada Pensions and the Workers Compensation

> Board (WCB, now the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) on behalf of

> people who have been turned down. I provided documented evidence of these

> illnesses, and these people were all granted their pensions on the basis

of

> the evidence that I provided.

>

> In March 1999, for example, I appealed to the WCB on behalf of a lady with

> flbromya1gia who had been, denied her pension back in 1993. The

> vice-chairman of the board came to Sudbury to hear the appeal, and I

showed

> him a number of documents which proved that this lady was physically ill

> with fibromyalgia. It was a disease that caused physical damage, and the

> disease agent was a mycoplasma. The guy listened for three hours, and then

> he said to me: " Mr Scott, how is it I have never heard of any of this

> before? I said: " We brought a top authority in this area into Sudbury to

> speak on this subject and not a single solitary doctor came to that

> presentation. "

>

> VI-TESTING FOR MYCOPLASMA IN YOUR BODY

>

> Polymerase Chain Reaction Test

> Information is not generally available about this agent because, first of

> all, the mycoplasma is such a minutely small disease agent. A hundred

years

> ago, certain medical theoreticians conceived that there must be a form or

> disease agent smaller than bacteria and viruses. This pathogenic organism,

> the mycoplasma, is so minute that normal blood and tissue tests will not

> reveal its presence as the source of the disease.

>

> Your doctor may diagnose you with Alzheimer's disease, and he will say:

>

> " Golly, we don't know where Alzheimer's comes from. All we know is that

your

> brain begins to deteriorate, cells rupture, the myelin sheath around the

> nerves dissolves, and so on. " Or if you have chronic fatigue syndrome, the

> doctor will not be able to find any cause for your illness with ordinary

> blood and tissue tests.

>

> This mycoplasma couldn't be detected until about 30 years ago when the

> polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was developed, in which a sample of

> your blood is examined and damaged particles are removed and subjected to

a

> polymerase chain reaction. This causes the DNA in the particles to break

> down. The particles are then placed in a nutrient, which causes the DNA to

> grow back into its original form. If enough of the substance is produced,

> the form can be recognised, so it can be determined whether Brucella or

> another kind of agent is behind that particular mycoplasma.

>

> Blood Test

> If you or anybody in your family has myalgic encephalomyelitis,

> fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's, you can send a blood

sample

> to Dr Les Simpson in New Zealand for testing.

>

> If you are ill with these diseases, your red blood cells will not be

normal

> doughnut-shaped blood cells capable of being compressed and squeezed

through

> the capillaries, but will swell up like cherry-filled doughnuts which

cannot

> be compressed. The blood cells become enlarged and distended because the

> only way the mycoplasma can exist is by uptaking pre-formed sterols from

the

> host cell. One of the best sources of pre-formed sterols is cholesterol,

and

> cholesterol is what gives your blood cells flexibility. If the cholesterol

> is taken out by the mycoplasma, the red blood cell swells up and doesn't

go

> through, and the person begins to feel all the aches and pains and all the

> damage it causes to the brain, the heart, the stomach, the feet and the

> whole body because blood and oxygen are cut off.

>

> And that is why people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome have

> such a terrible time. When the blood is cut off from the brain, punctate

> lesions appear because those parts of the brain die. The mycoplasma will

get

> into portions of the heart muscle, especially the left ventricle, and

those

> cells will die. Certain people have cells in the lateral ventricles of the

> brain that have a genetic predisposition to admit the mycoplasma, and this

> causes the lateral ventricles to deteriorate and die. This leads to

multiple

> sclerosis, which will progress until these people are totally disabled;

> frequently, they die prematurely. The mycoplasma will get into the lower

> bowel, parts of which will die, thus causing colitis. All of these

diseases

> are caused by the degenerating properties of the mycoplasma.

>

> In early 2000, a gentleman in Sudbury phoned me and told me he had

> fibromyalgia. He applied for a pension and was turned down because his

> doctor said it was all in his head and there was no external evidence. I

> gave him the proper form and a vial, and he sent his blood to Dr Simpson

to

> be tested. He did this with his family doctor's approval, and the results

> from Dr Simpson showed that only 4% of his red blood cells were

functioning

> normally and carrying the appropriate amount of oxygen to his poor body,

> whereas 83% were distended, enlarged and hardened, and wouldn't go through

> the capillaries without an awful lot of pressure and trouble. This is the

> physical evidence of the damage that is done.

>

> ECG Test

> You can also ask your doctor to give you a 24-hour Holter ECG. You know,

of

> course, that an electrocardiogram is a measure of your heartbeat and shows

> what is going on in the right ventricle, the left ventricle and so on.

Tests

> show that 100% of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia

> have an irregular heartbeat. At various periods during the 24 hours, the

> heart, instead of working happily away going " bump-BUMP, bump-BUMP " , every

> now and again goes " buhbuhbuhbuhbubbuhbuhbuhbuh " . The T-wave (the waves

are

> called P, Q, R, S and T) is normally a peak, and then the wave levels off

> and starts with the P-wave again. In chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia

> patients, the T-wave flattens off, or actually inverts. That means the

blood

> in the left ventricle is not being squeezed up through the aorta and

around

> through the body.

>

> My client from Sudbury had this test done and, lo and behold, the results

> stated: " The shape of T and S-T suggests left ventricle strain pattern,

> although voltage and so on is normal. " The doctor had no clue as to why

the

> T-wave was not working properly. I analysed the report of this patient who

> had been turned down by Canada Pensions and sent it back to them. They

wrote

> back, saying: " It looks like we may have made a mistake. We are going to

> give you a hearing and you can explain this to us in more detail. "

>

> So it is not all in your imagination. There is actual physical damage to

the

> heart. The left ventricle muscles do show scarring.

>

> That is way many people are diagnosed with a heart condition when they

first

> develop fibromyalgia, but it's only one of several problems because the

> mycoplasma can do all kinds of damage.

>

> Blood Volume Test

> You can also ask your doctor for a blood volume test. Every human being

> requires a certain amount of blood per pound of body weight, and it has

been

> observed that people with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple

> sclerosis and other illnesses do not have the normal blood volume their

body

> needs to function properly. Doctors aren't normally aware of this.

>

> This test measures the amount of blood in the human body by taking out 5

cc,

> putting a tracer in it and then putting it back into the body. One hour

> later, take out 5 cc again and look for the tracer. The thicker the blood

> and the lower the blood volume, the more tracer you will find.

>

> The analysis of one of my clients stated: " This patient was referred for

red

> cell mass study. The red cell volume is 16.9 ml per kg of body weight. The

> normal range is 25 to 35 ml per kg. This guy has 36% less blood in his

body

> than the body needs to function. " And the doctor hadn't even known the

test

> existed.

>

> If you lost 36% of your blood in an accident, do you think your doctor

would

> tell you that you are allright and should just take up line dancing and

get

> over it? They would rush you to the nearest hospital and start transfusing

> you with blood. These tragic people with these awful diseases are

> functioning with anywhere from 7% to 50% less blood than their body needs

to

> function.

>

> VII- UNDOING THE DAMAGE

>

> The body undoes the damage itself. The scarring in the brain of people

with

> chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia will be repaired. There is cellular

repair

> going on all the time. But the mycoplasma has moved on to the next cell.

>

> In the early stages of a disease, doxycydine may reverse that disease

> process. It is one of the tetracycline antibiotics, but it is not

> bactericidal; it is bacteriostatic-it stops the growth of the mycoplasma.

> And if the mycoplasma growth can be stopped for long enough, then the

immune

> system takes over.

>

> Doxycycline treatment is discussed in a paper by mycoplasma expert

Professor

> Garth Nicholson, PhD, of the Institute for Molecular Medicine. " Dr

Nicholson

> is involved in a US$8 million mycoplasma research program funded by the US

> military and headed by Dr Charles Engel of the NIH. The program is

studying

> Gulf War veterans, 450 of them, because there is evidence to suggest that

> Gulf War syndrome is another illness (or set of illnesses) caused by

> mycoplasma.

>

> Endnotes

> 1. " Pathogenic Mycoplasma " , US Patent No. 5,242,820, issued September 7,

> 1993. Dr Lo is listed as the Inventor " and the American Registry of

> Pathology, Washington, DC, is listed as the " Assignee " .

> 2. " Special Virus Cancer Program: Progress Report No. 8 " , prepared by the

> National Cancer Institute, Viral Oncology, Etiology Area, July 1971,

> submitted to NIH Annual Report in May 1971 and updated July 1971.

> 3. US Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, Hearings before the Subcommittee on

> Health and Scientific Research of the Committee on Human Resources,

> Biological Testing Involving Human Subjects by the Department of Defense,

> 1977; released as US Army Activities in the US Biological Warfare

Programs,

> Volumes One and Two, 24 February 1977.

> 4. Dr Donald MacArthur, Pentagon, Department of Defense Appropriations for

> 1970, Hearings before Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,

House

> of Representatives, Ninety-First Congress, First Session, Monday June 9,

> 1969, pp 105-144, esp. pp. 114, 129.

> 5. Kyger, E. R. and Russell L. Haden, " Brucellosis and Multiple

Sclerosis " ,

> The American journal of Medical Sciences 1949:689-693.

> 6. Colmonero et al., " Complications Associated with Brucella melitensis

> Infection: A Study of 530 Cases " , Medicine 1996;75(4).

> 7. Howell, Miller, Kelly and Bookman, " Acute Brucellosis Among Laboratory

> Workers " , New England Journal of Medicine 1948;236:741.

> 8. " Special Virus Cancer Program: Progress Report No. 8 " , ibid., table 4,

p.

> 135.

> 9. US Senate, Hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific

> Research of the Committee on Human Resources, March 8 and May 23, 1977,

> ibid.

> 10. New England journal of Medicine, August 22, 1957, p. 362.

> 11. Toronto Star, May 15, 1997.

> 12. Dr Donald MacArthur, Pentagon, Department of Defense Appropriations

for

> 1970, Hearings, Monday June 9, 1969, ibid., p.129.

> 13. Henderson, Donald A., " Smallpox: Epitaph for a Killer " , National

> Geographic, December 1978, p. 804.

> 14. Blum, Deborah, The Monkey Wars, Oxford University Press, New York,

1994.

> 15. Nicholson, G. 1., " Doxycycline treatment and Desert Storm " , JAMA

> 1995;273:61 8-619.

>

> Recommended Reading

>

> .Horowitz, Leonard, Emerging Viruses: Aids and Ebola, Tetrahedron

> Publishing, USA, 1996.

> . Johnson, Hillary, Osler's Web, Crown Publishers, New York, 1996.

> . Scott, Donald W. and William L. C. Scott, The Brucellosis Triangle, The

> Chelmsford Publishers (Box 133, Stat. B., Sudbury, Ontario P3E 4N5),

Canada,

> 1998 (US$21.95 + $3 s & h in US).

> . Scott, Donald W. and William 1. C. Scott, The Extremely Unfortunate

Skull

> Valley Incident, The Chelmsford Publishers, Canada, 1996 (revised,

extended

> edition available from mid-September 2001; US$16.00 pre-pub. Price + US$3

> s & h in US).

> .The journal of Degenerative Diseases (Donald W. Scott, Editor), The

Common

> Cause Medical Research Foundation (Box 133, Stat B., Sudbury, Ontario, P3E

> 4N5), Canada (quarterly journal; annual subscription: US$25.00 in USA, $30

> foreign).

>

> Additional Contacts

> . Ms Jennie Burke, Australian Biologics, Level 6, 383 Pitt Street, Sydney

> NSW 2000, Australia tel +61 (0)2 9283 0807, fax +61 (0)2 9283 0910.

> Australian Biologics does tests for mycoplasma.

> . Consumer Health Organization of Canada, 1220 Sheppard Avenue East #412,

> Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2K 255, tel +1 (416)490 0986, website

> www.consumerhealth.org/.

> . Professor Garth Nicholson, PhD, Institute for Molecular Medicine, 15162

> Triton Lane, Huntington Beach, CA, 92649-1401, USA, tel +1(714) 903 2900.

> . Dr Les Simpson, Red Blood Cell Research Ltd, 31 Bath Street, Dunedin,

> 9001, New Zealand, tel +64 (0)3 471 8540, email

> rbc.research.limited . (Note: Dr Simpson directs his study to

red

> cell shape analysis, not the mycoplasrna hypothesis.)

> . The Mycoplasma Registry for Gulf War Illness, S. & 1. Dudley, 303 47th

St,

> J-10 San Diego, CA 92102-5961, tel/fax +1(619) 266 1116, fax (619) 266

1116,

> email mycoreg.

>

> About the Author

> Donald Scott, MA, MSc, is a retired high school teacher and university

> professor. He is also a veteran of WWII and was awarded the North Atlantic

> Star, the Burma Star with Clasp, the 1939-1945 Volunteer Service Medal and

> the Victory Medal. He is currently President of The Common Cause Medical

> Research Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation devoted to research

into

> neurosystemic degenerative diseases. He is also Adjunct Professor with the

> Institute for Molecular Medicine and he produces and edits the journal of

> Degenerative Diseases. He has extensively researched neurosystemic

> degenerative diseases over the past five years and has authored many

> documents on the relationship between degenerative diseases and a

pathogenic

> mycoplasma called Mycoplasma fermentans. His research is based upon solid

> government evidence.

>

> *******************************************************************

> International Society of Dowsing Research

> In Service to the World Community.

> http://dowsing.does.it http://dowsinglist.does.it

> International Group Discussion and Research

> *******************************************************************

>

> MORE CLINICAL REFERENCE

>

>

>

> Mycoplasmal Infections in Chronic Illnesses:

> Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndromes,

> Gulf War Illness, HIV-AIDS and Rheumatoid Arthritis

>

> Garth L. Nicolson, PhD, Marwan Y. Nasralla, PhD, Joerg Haier, MD, PhD,

> Robert Erwin, MD, Nancy L. Nicolson, PhD, Richard Ngwenya, MD

>

>

> ABSTRACT Invasive bacterial infections are associated with several acute

and

> chronic illnesses, including: aerodigestive diseases such as Asthma,

> Pneumonia, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; rheumatoid diseases, such as

> Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA); immunosuppression diseases such as HIV-AIDS;

> genitourinary infections and chronic fatigue illnesses such as Chronic

> Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) and Gulf War Illnesses

> (GWI). It is now apparent that such infections could be (a) causative, (b)

> cofactors or © opportunistic agents in a variety of chronic illnesses.

> Using Forensic Polymerase Chain Reaction we have looked for the presence

of

> one class of invasive infection (mycoplasmal infections) inside blood

> leukocyte samples from patients with CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), FMS,

> RA, and GWI. There was a significant difference between symptomatic CFS,

> FMS, GWI, and RA patients with positive mycoplasmal infections of any

> species (45-63%) and healthy positive controls (~9%) (P<0.001). This

> difference was even greater when specific species (M. fermentans, M.

> hominis, M. penetrans, M. pneumoniae) were detected. Except for GWI, most

> patients had multiple mycoplasmal infections (more than one species of

> mycoplasma). Patients with different diagnoses but overlapping signs and

> symptoms often have mycoplasmal infections, and such mycoplasma-positive

> patients generally respond to multiple cycles of particular antibiotics

> (doxycycline, minocycline, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, and

clarithromycin).

> Multiple cycles of these antibiotics plus nutritional support appear to be

> necessary for successful treatment. In addition, immune enhancement and

> other supplements appear to help these patients regain their health. Other

> chronic infections may also be involved to various degrees with or without

> mycoplasmal infections in causing patient morbidity in various chronic

> illnesses.

>

>

>

> Introduction --- Chronic Illnesses

>

>

> There is growing awareness that many chronic illnesses may have an

> infectious nature that is either responsible (causative) for the illness,

a

> cofactor for the illness or appears as an opportunistic infection(s) that

is

> responsible for aggravating patient morbidity.(1) There are several

reasons

> for this notion, including the nonrandom or clustered appearance of an

> illness, often in immediate family members, the course of the illness, and

> its response to therapies based on infectious agents. Since chronic

> illnesses are often complex, involving multiple, nonspecific, overlapping

> signs and symptoms, they are difficult to diagnose and even more difficult

> to treat. Most chronic illnesses do not have effective therapies, and

> patients rarely recover from their conditions,(2) causing in some areas of

> the world catastrophic economic problems.

>

> Some chronic illnesses, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), are well

> established in their clinical diagnosis,(3) whereas others, such as

Chronic

> Fatigue Syndrome (CFS, sometimes called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis),

> Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS), and Gulf War Syndrome or Gulf War Illnesses

> (GWI), have rather nonspecific but similar complex, multi-organ signs and

> symptoms that overlap or are almost identical.(1) In the case of CFS, FMS

> and GWI these include: chronic fatigue, headaches, muscle pain and

soreness,

> nausea, gastrointestinal problems, joint pain and soreness, lymph node

pain,

> cognitive problems, depression, breathing problems and other signs and

> symptoms.(4) The major difference between these illnesses appears to be in

> the severity of specific signs and symptoms. For example, FMS patients

have

> as their major complaint muscle and overall pain, soreness and weakness,

> whereas CFS patients most often complain of chronic fatigue and joint

pain,

> stiffness and soreness, but otherwise their complaints usually overlap.

> Often these patients have increased sensitivities to various environmental

> irritants and enhanced allergic responses. Although chronic fatigue

> illnesses have been known for several years, most patients with CFS, FMS,

> GWI and in some cases RA have had few treatment options. This may have

been

> due to the imprecise nature of their diagnoses, which are based primarily

on

> clinical observations rather than laboratory tests, and a lack of

> understanding about the underlying causes of these illnesses or the

factors

> responsible for patient morbidity.(1) These illnesses could have different

> initial causes or triggers but similar cofactors or similar opportunistic

> infections that cause significant morbidity.

>

>

> Chronic Illnesses --- Overlapping Signs and Symptoms

>

>

> The multiple signs and symptoms of FMS, CFS and GWI are complex,

nonspecific

> and completely overlapping (Figure 1), suggesting that these illnesses are

> related and not completely separate syndromes.(1,6) In this figure only

> differences in the signs and symptoms after the onset of illness are

shown,

> and the data for FMS and CFS have been combined, because previous studies

> indicated that with the exception of muscle pain and tenderness, there was

> essentially no difference in patient signs.(4) Illness Survey Forms were

> analyzed to determine the most common signs and symptoms at the time when

> blood was drawn from patients. The intensity of patient signs and symptoms

> prior to and after onset of illness was recorded on a 10-point rank scale

> (0-10, extreme). The data were arranged by 38 different signs and symptoms

> and were considered positive if the value after onset of illness was two

or

> more points higher than prior to the onset of illness. The data in Figure

1

> indicate that patients diagnosed with CFS or FMS had complex signs and

> symptoms that were similar to those reported for GWI. In addition, the

> presence of rheumatoid signs and symptoms in each of these disorders

> indicates that there are also similarities to RA.(7) Moreover, it is not

> unusual to find immediate family members who display similar signs and

> symptoms. For example, there is evidence that GWI has slowly spread to

> immediate family members,(8) and it is likely that it has also spread to

> some degree in the workplace.(1) A preliminary survey of approximately

1,200

> GWI families indicated that approximately 77% of spouses and a majority of

> children born after the war had signs and symptoms similar or identical to

> veterans with GWI.(8)

>

> In the absence of laboratory tests to the contrary, chronic illnesses are

> often misdiagnosed as somatoform disorders caused by stress and other

> nonorganic factors.(9) Patients with CFS, FMS and GWI usually have

cognitive

> problems, such as short term memory loss, difficulty concentrating and

other

> problems, and physicians who find psychological or psychiatric problems in

> these patients often decide that these conditions are caused by somatoform

> disorders, not organic problems.(1) Stress is often mentioned as an

> important factor or the important factor in these disorders. Indeed, GWI

> patients are often diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in

> veterans' and military hospitals.(10) The evidence that has been offered

as

> proof that stress or PTSD is the source of GWI sickness is the assumption

> that veterans must have suffered from stress by virtue of the stressful

> environment in which they found themselves during the Gulf War,(10) but

the

> veterans themselves do not feel that stress-related diagnoses are an

> accurate portrayal of their illnesses. Most testimony to date refutes the

> notion that stress is the major factor in GWI,(11) suggesting that stress,

> albeit important, is not the cause of GWI.(12) But most physicians would

> agree that stress can exacerbate chronic illnesses and suppress immune

> systems, suggesting that stress plays a secondary not primary role in

> chronic illnesses, such as GWI, CFS, and FMS.(1) However, in the absence

of

> physical or laboratory tests that can identify possible origins of FMS,

CFS

> or GWI, many physicians accept that stress is the cause of these chronic

> illnesses. It has been only recently that other causes were seriously

> considered, including chronic infections.(13)

>

>

> Mycoplasmal Infections in CFS, FMS and GWI

>

>

> We have been particularly interested in the association of certain chronic

> infectious agents in CFS, FMS and GWI, because these microorganisms can

> potentially cause most or essentially all of the signs and symptoms found

in

> these patients.(1,14) One type of infection that elicited our attention

was

> microorganisms of the class Molecutes, small bacterial mycoplasmas,

lacking

> cell walls, that are capable of invading several types of human cells and

> are associated with a wide variety of human diseases.(14)

>

> We have examined the presence of mycoplasmal blood infections in GWI, CFS,

> and FMS patients. The clinical diagnosis of these disorders was obtained

> from referring physicians according to the patients' major signs and

> symptoms. Since the signs and symptoms of CFS and FMS patients completely

> overlapped, these patients were therefore considered together

(CFS/FMS).(1)

> Blood was collected, shipped over night at 4=B0C and processed immediately

=

> for

> PCR after purification of DNA using a Chelex procedure.(1,7) Patients'

blood

> was analyzed for the presence of mycoplasmal infections in blood

leukocytes.

> Positive PCR results were confirmed if the PCR product was 717 base pairs

in

> size using the genus-specific primers (or 850 base pairs for M. fermentans

> specific primers, etc.) along with a positive control of the same size in

> the same gel, and if a visible band was obtained after hybridization with

> the internal probe.(15) The sensitivity and specificity of the PCR methods

> were determined by examining serial dilutions of purified DNA of M.

> fermentans, M. pneumoniae, M. penetrans, M. hominis and M. genetalium.

> Amounts as low as 10 fg of purified DNA were detectable for all species

> using the genus primers. The amplification with genus primers produced the

> expected fragment size in all tested species, which was confirmed by

> hybridization with an inner probe.(16)

>

> Mycoplasma tests were performed on all patients as described previously

> (1,7,17) either from Chelex-purified DNA or DNA prepared from whole blood

> using a commercial kit. The targeted Mycoplasma spp. sequence was

amplified

> from DNA extracted from the peripheral blood of 144/203 CFS or FMS

patients

> (~70%). In 70 healthy subjects positive results for Mycoplasma spp. were

> obtained in 6 samples (<9%). The difference between patient and control

> groups was significant (p<0.001).(17) In addition, two of the 70 controls

> were positive for M. fermentans. The ratio between positive and negative

> patients was comparable in female and male patients. These results are

quite

> similar to the results recently published by others.(18) Similarly, using

> Nucleoprotein Gene Tracking to analyze the blood leukocytes from GWI

> patients we found that 91/200 (45%) were positive for mycoplasmal

> infections.(19,20) In contrast, in nondeployed, healthy adults the

incidence

> of mycoplasmal infections was 4/62 (~6%).(19,20)

>

> Patients with FMS or CFS often have multiple mycoplasmal infections and

> probably other chronic infections as well. When we examined CFS/FMS

patients

> for M. fermentans, M. pneumoniae, M. penetrans, M. hominis infections,

> multiple infections were found in over one-half of 93 patients (Figure 2).

> CFS/FMS patients had double (over 30%) or triple (over 20%) mycoplasmal

> infections, but only when one of the species was M. fermentans or M.

> pneumoniae.(17) Higher score values for increases in the severity of signs

> and symptoms were also found in patients with multiple infections. CFS/FMS

> patients infected with different mycoplasma species generally had a longer

> history of illness, suggesting that patients may have contracted

additional

> infections with time.(17)

>

> In the course of our studies we found that DNA preparation and blood

storage

> was extremely important in preserving the test samples. Storage of blood

> frozen or at 0-4=B0C resulted in reproducible assay results, whereas

storage

> at room temperature resulted in loss of PCR signal over time. Within 1-2

> days at room temperature, most of the positive samples reverted to

negative

> results.(1) Also, blood drawn in tubes (blue-top) containing citrate and

> kept at 0-4=B0C before the assay yielded better results than other

> anticoagulants, unless the samples were frozen in EDTA (purple-top) tubes.

>

>

> Mycoplasmal Infections in Rheumatoid Diseases

>

>

> The underlying causes of rheumatoid diseases are not known, but RA and

other

> autoimmune diseases could be triggered or exacerbated by infectious

agents.

> It has been known for some time that infectious diseases in some animal

> species result in remarkable clinical and pathological similarities to RA

> and other rheumatoid diseases. Aerobic and anaerobic intestinal bacteria,

> viruses and mycoplasmas have been proposed as important agents in RA.(21)

> Recently there has been increasing evidence that mycoplasmas may play a

role

> in the initiation or progression of RA.(22) Mycoplasmas have been proposed

> to interact nonspecifically with B-lymphocytes, resulting in modulation of

> immunity, autoimmune reactions and promotion of rheumatoid diseases.(23)

M.

> pneumoniae, M. salivarium and U. urealyticum have also been found in the

> joint tissues of patients with rheumatological diseases, suggesting their

> pathogenic involvement.(24)

>

> When we examined RA patients' blood leukocytes for the presence of

> mycoplasmas, we found that approximately one-half were infected with

various

> species of mycoplasmas.(7) The most common species found was M.

fermentans,

> followed by M. pneumoniae and M. hominis and finally M. penetrans. Similar

> to what we found in CFS/FMS patients, there was a high percentage of

> multiple mycoplasmal infections in RA patients when one of the species was

> M. fermentans.(7)

>

> Although the precise role of mycoplasmas in RA and other rheumatoid

> inflammatory diseases remains unknown, mycoplasmas could be important

> cofactors in the development of inflammatory responses and for progression

> of the disease. As an example of the possible role of mycoplasmas in

> rheumatological diseases, M. arthritidis infections in animals can trigger

> and exacerbate autoimmune arthritis.(25) This mycoplasma can also suppress

> T-cells and release substances that act on polymorphonuclear granulocytes,

> such as oxygen radicals, chemotactic factors, and other substances.(26)

> Mycoplasmal infections can increase proinflammatory cytokines, such as

> Interleukin-1, -2, and -6,(27) suggesting that they are involved in the

> development and possibly progression of rheumatological diseases.

>

> In addition to mycoplasmal infections, other microorganisms have been

under

> investigation as cofactors or causative agents in rheumatological

diseases.

> The discovery of EB virus(28) and cytomegalovirus(29) in the cells of the

> synovial lining in RA patients suggested their involvement in RA, possibly

> as a cofactor. There are a number of bacteria and viruses that are

> candidates in the induction of RA or its progression.(30) In support of

> bacterial involvement in RA, it has been known for some time that

> antibiotics like minocycline can alleviate the clinical signs and symptoms

> of RA.(31) Although this has been proposed to be due to their

> anti-inflammatory activities, these drugs are likely to be acting to

> suppress infections of sensitive microorganisms like mycoplasmas.

>

>

> Mycoplasmal Infections in Immunosuppressive and Autoimmune Diseases

>

>

> Mycoplasmas have been implicated in the progression of HIV-AIDS. It has

been

> known for some time that some species of mycoplasmas are associated with

> certain terminal human diseases, such as an acute fatal illness found with

> certain Mycoplasma fermentans infections in non-AIDS patients.(32)

Recently,

> mycoplasmal infections have attracted attention as a major source of

> morbidity in AIDS patients. For example, M. fermentans can cause renal and

> CNS complications in patients with AIDS,(33) and M. penetrans has also

been

> found in the respiratory epithelial cells of AIDS patients.(34) Other

> species of mycoplasmas have also been found in AIDS patients where they

have

> been associated with disease progression, such as M. prium and M.

> hominis.(32) Blanchard and Montagnier(35) have proposed that mycoplasmas

are

> cofactors in HIV-AIDS, accelerating progression and accounting, at least

in

> part, for increased susceptibility of AIDS patients to additional

> infections. In addition to immune suppression, some of this increased

> susceptibility may be the result of mycoplasma-induced host cell membrane

> damage from toxic oxygenated products released from intracellular

> mycoplasmas.(36) Also, mycoplasmas may regulate HIV-LTR-dependent gene

> expression,(37) suggesting that mycoplasmas may play an important

regulatory

> role in HIV pathogenicity.

>

> There is some preliminary evidence that mycoplasmal infections could be

> associated with autoimmune diseases. In some mycoplasma-positive GWI cases

> the signs and symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Amyotrophic Lateral

> Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Lupus, Graves' Disease and other

> complex autoimmune diseases have been seen. Such usually rare autoimmune

> responses are consistent with certain chronic infections, such as

> mycoplasmal infections, that penetrate into nerve cells, synovial cells

and

> other cell types. These autoimmune signs and symptoms could be caused when

> intracellular pathogens, such as mycoplasmas, escape from cellular

> compartments and incorporate into their own structures pieces of host cell

> membranes that contain important host membrane antigens that can trigger

> autoimmune responses. Alternatively, mycoplasma surface components

> ('superantigens') may directly stimulate autoimmune responses,(38) or

their

> molecular mimicry of host antigens may explain, in part, their ability to

> stimulate autoimmunity.(39)

>

>

> Mycoplasmal Infections in Other Clinical Conditions

>

>

> Asthma, airway inflammation, chronic pneumonia and other respiratory

> diseases are known to be associated with mycoplasmal infections. For

> example, M. pneumoniae is a common cause of upper respiratory

> infections,(40) and severe asthma is commonly associated with mycoplasmal

> infections.(41) Recent evidence has shown that certain mycoplasmas, such

as

> M. fermentans (incognitus strain), are unusually invasive and often found

> within respiratory epithelial cells.(34)

>

> Heart infections (myocarditis, endocarditis, pericarditis and others) are

> often due to chronic infections, such as Mycoplasma,(42,43) Chlamydia(44)

> and possibly other infectious agents.

>

> Other species of mycoplasmas are also associated with various illnesses:

M.

> hominis infections were first found in patients with

hypogammaglobulinemia,

> and M. genitalium was first isolated from the urogenital tracts of

patients

> with nongonococcal urethritis.(45,46) Although mycoplasmas can exist in

the

> oral cavity and gut as normal flora, when they penetrate into the blood

and

> tissues, they may be able to cause or promote a variety of acute or

chronic

> illnesses. These cell-penetrating species, such as M. penetrans, M.

> fermentans and M. pirum among others, can probably result in complex

> systemic signs and symptoms. Mycoplasmas are also very effective at

evading

> the immune system, and synergism with other infectious agents can

occur.(14)

> Similar types of chronic infectious agents may occur.(14) Similar types of

> chronic infections caused by Chlamydia, Brucella, Coxiella or Borrelia may

> also be present either as single agents or as complex, multiple infections

> (see Figure 2) in many of the diseases discussed above.

>

>

> Mycoplasmal Infections --- Treatment Suggestions

>

>

> Once mycoplasmal infections have been identified in the white blood cell

> fractions of subsets of CFS, FMS, GWI, RA and other patients, they can be

> successfully treated. Appropriate treatment with antibiotics should result

> in patient improvement and even recovery.(6,19,20) The recommended

> treatments for mycoplasmal blood infections require long-term antibiotic

> therapy, usually multiple 6-week cycles of doxycycline (200-300

mg/day),(47)

> ciprofloxacin (1,500 mg/day), azithromycin (500 mg/day) or clarithromycin

> (750-1,000 mg/day).(48) Multiple cycles are required, because few patients

> recover after only a few cycles, possibly because of the intracellular

> locations of mycoplasmas like M. fermentans and M. penetrans, the

> slow-growing nature of these microorganisms and their relative drug

> sensitivities. For example, of 87 GWI patients that tested positive for

> mycoplasmal infections, all patients relapsed after the first 6-week cycle

> of antibiotic therapy, but after up to 6 cycles of therapy 69/87 patients

> recovered and returned to active duty.(19,20) The clinical responses that

> were seen were not due to placebo effects, because administration of some

> antibiotics, such as penicillins, resulted in patients becoming more not

> less symptomatic, and they were not due to immunosuppressive effects that

> can occur with some of the recommended antibiotics. Interestingly, CFS,

FMS

> and GWI patients that slowly recover after several cycles of antibiotics

are

> generally less environmentally sensitive, suggesting that their immune

> systems may be returning to pre-illness states. If such patients had

> illnesses that were caused by psychological or psychiatric problems or

> solely by chemical exposures, they should not respond to the recommended

> antibiotics and slowly recover. In addition, if such treatments were just

> reducing autoimmune responses, then patients should relapse after the

> treatments are discontinued.(1)

>

> Patients with CFS, FMS, RA or GWI usually have nutritional and vitamin

> deficiencies that must be corrected.(48) These patients are often depleted

> in vitamins B, C, and E and certain minerals. Unfortunately, patients with

> these chronic illnesses often have poor absorption. Therefore, high doses

of

> some vitamins must be used, and others, such as vitamin B complex, must be

> given sublingual. Antibiotics that deplete normal gut bacteria can result

in

> over-growth of less desirable flora, so Lactobacillus acidophillus

> supplementation is recommended. In addition, a number of natural remedies

> that boost the immune system are available and are potentially useful,

> especially during antibiotic therapy or after therapy has been

> completed.(48) One of us (R.N.) has been involved in the development of

> ancient African and Chinese natural immune enhancers and cleansers help to

> restore natural immunity and absorption. Although these products are known

> to help AIDS patients, their clinical effectiveness in GWI/CFS/FMS/RA

> patients has not been carefully evaluated. They appear to be useful during

> therapy to boost the immune system or after antibiotic therapy in a

> maintenance program to prevent relapses.(48)

>

> Why aren't physicians routinely treating mycoplasmal and other chronic

> infections? In many cases they are treating these infections, but it has

> been only recently that such infections have been found in so many

> unexplained chronic illnesses. These infections cannot be successfully

> treated with the usual short courses of antibiotics due to their

> intracellular locations, slow proliferation rates and inherent

insensitivity

> to most antibiotics. In addition, a fully functional immune system may be

> essential to overcoming these infections, and this is why vitamin and

> nutritional supplements are so important.

>

>

> Conclusions

>

>

> We have proposed that chronic infections are an appropriate explanation

for

> the morbidity seen in a rather large subset of CFS, FMS, GWI and RA

> patients, and in a variety of other illnesses. Not every patient will have

> this as a diagnostic explanation or have the same types of chronic

> infections, and additional research is necessary to clarify the role of

such

> infections in chronic diseases.(1,7) Some patients may have chemical or

> radiological exposures or other environmental problems as an underlying

> reason for their chronic signs and symptoms. In these patients, chronic

> infections may be opportunistic. In others, somatoform disorders or

> illnesses caused by psychological or psychiatric problems may indeed be

> important. However, in these patients antibiotics, supplements and immune

> enhancers should have no lasting effect whatsoever, and they should not

> recover on such therapies. The identification of specific infectious

agents

> in the blood of chronically ill patients may allow many patients with CFS,

> FMS, GWI or RA and other chronic diseases to obtain more specific

diagnoses

> and effective treatments for their illnesses. Finally, patients with

> cardiopathies, AIDS, respiratory illnesses, and urogenital infections are

> often infected with Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, Brucella or other chronic,

> invasive bacterial and parasitic infections, and these patients could

> benefit from appropriate antibiotic and neutraceutical therapies that

> alleviate morbidity.

>

>

>

> References

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>

>

> Prof. Garth L. Nicolson, Drs. Marwan Nasralla, Joerg Haier, Robert Erwin

and

> Nancy L. Nicolson are affiliated with The Institute for Molecular

Medicine,

> 15162 Triton Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92649-1401, (714) 903-2900, Fax

> (714) 379-2082, website: www.immed.org, email: gnicimm; Dr.

> Richard Ngwenya is affiliated with the James Mobb Immune Enhancement

> Clinics, 132 Josiah Chinamano Ave., Harare, Zimbabwe, Fax: +263-4-739-832.

>

> Dr. Nicolson et al's article is hereby published as one view of the

possible

> cause(s) of the Gulf War Syndrome and other chronic illnesses and because

a

> federal grant has been earmarked to evaluate his thesis, but its

publication

> should not be construed as an endorsement of that thesis by the Medical

> Sentinel or the AAPS---Editor.

>

>

> This article was published in the Medical Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 5,

> September/October 1999, pp. 172-175, 191.

>

>

>

>