Parasites (Reference) Archive: DR WALT STOLL M.D.

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Posted by Walt Stoll [93.1889] on August 20, 2006 at 07:34:37:

 

Friends,

 

FYI! From Misty Trepke's website.

 

Walt

 

 

Of course- just another way of saying Mind/Body medicine. This is a

perfect example of how you need a healing system like homeopathy or

chinese medicine that looks at the whole person and not just the

label. Anyone could have a parasite infection, and let's say

hypothetically everyone has the same parasite- how YOUR system

responds to the parasite is unique. You could become depressed, or

anxious, or cranky... The totality of your unique symptoms is what

leads the way to the correct remedy.

 

Other comments?

Misty L. Trepke

www..com

 

THE OVERLOOKED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND MENTAL

 

By Dr. James Howenstine, MD.

September 13, 2004

NewsWithViews.com

 

http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james16.htm

 

Psychiatric disease should be diagnosed only after careful exclusion

of medical conditions that could produce the patients symptoms.

Unfortunately very few mental health care providers are aware of the

multitude of circumstances in which mental symptoms are precipitated

by an infectious illness. A valuable clue that a mental problem may

be infectious rather than psychiatric is sudden onset in a

previously stable individual.

 

Dr. Paul Fink, past president of the American Psychiatric

Association, has acknowledged that every psychiatric disorder in the

Psychiatric Diagnostic Symptoms Manual IV (DSM-!V) can be caused by

Lyme Disease. This proves that every known psychiatric disorder can

be caused by an infection (Borrelia burgdorfi Bb spirochete). So far

all cases of Alzheimer's disease tested for the Borrelia burgdorfi

Bb spirochete, which causes Lyme Disease, have tested positive.

 

Conventional medical practice in the United States largely ignores

the possibility of parasitic disease. There are several reasons for

this:

 

a.. When a disease is never diagnosed it is easy to assume that it

does not exist. Parasites are often overlooked in the U.S.

 

b.. There is a shortage of technicians who are skilled in identifying

parasitic organisms.

 

c.. Spending one's day studying microscopic sample of stool specimens

probably does not attract very many laboratory personnel.

 

d.. There is a common misconception that parasitic problems are

primarily found in tropical countries and are rare in countries like

the U.S.A. To illustrate how many health care practitioners can be

fooled by parasitic disease consider the case of Carolyn Razor.

Upbeat, healthy, energetic, psychologist Carolyn Raser returned from

a vacation in Bhutun with severe depression, exhaustion, and such

swelling in her joints she was unable to open a hotel room door. Her

third M.D. diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis and started multiple

drugs. Her depression, lethargy and exhaustion persisted after

100 treatments by assorted acupuncturists, chiropractors, and

rehabilitation specialists. A call to the Research Institute for

Infectious Mental Illness led to the discovery of three protozoan

parasites and a compromised secretory IGA system. Three weeks after

eliminating her infection she was no longer depressed, her

exhaustion was gone and her zest for life had been restored.

 

To make the proper diagnosis of psychiatric symptoms even more

complex it is now well established that the overgrowth of candida

(yeast) organisms, fungi, mycoplasma, and dangerous anerobic

organiasms in the intestinal tract after antibiotic therapy, high

sugar intake, and illnesses which injure the lining of the intestine

can cause impaired brain function (seizures, confusion, poor

memory, depression, learning difficulties, headaches and short

attention span). These brain symptoms are caused by absoption of

neurotoxic substances produced by mycoplasma, fungi, borrelia, yeast

and anerobic organisms. These neurotoxic substances also commonly

cause injury to the hypothalamus which leads to impaired production

of endocrine hormones. Therefore, patients with intestinal pathogen

overgrowth often manifest impaired function of the thyroid

gland (hypothyroidism) and adrenal insufficiency (Addison's

Disease). Another factor that may contribute to this hormonal

failure is the consumption of cholesterol by mycoplasma in nervous

tissue which decreases the building substance (cholesterol) needed

to make estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, aldactone,

and cortisone. Persons with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid

gland) often do not manifest fever when they have infections which

may lead the clinician away from considering an infectious problem.

 

The psychological treatment of chronic mental illness is often

lengthy and of marginal value. Frank Strick, Clinical Research of the Research Institute for Infectious Mental Illness,

has gathered a large amount of information about how commonly mental

symptoms are not appreciated to be originating[1] from infectious

problems.

 

Four types of infectious problems are capable of producing mental

symptoms. These are infections well recognized for causing

psychiatric problems (pneumonia, urinary tract infections, sepsis,

malaria, Legionaires Disease, syphilis, chlamydia, typhoid fever,

diphtheria, HIV, rheumatic fever and herpes). Research done at Johns

Hokins Children's Center and published in the Archives of General

Psychiatry in 2001 disclosed that mothers with evidence of

Herpes Simplex Type 2 infection during pregnancy were 6 times more

likely to have a child who later developed schizophrenia than

mothers without herpes infections.

 

Parasitic infections which invade the brain (neurocysticerccosis)

manifest depression and psychosis in more than 65 % of cases. These

tapeworms produce cysts, swelling, and encephalitis in brains of

patients. Other parasitic infections can produce psychiatric

symptoms without direct brain invasion (giardia, ascaris psychosis,

trichinosis, Lyme Disease) which clear after effective therapy.

Meningitis or encephalitis was found in 24 % of 1300 cases of

trichinosis reported from Germany.

 

Acute infection with Toxoplasmosis Gondi can produce personality

changes and psychosis including delusions and auditory

hallucinations. T. Gondii can alter behavior, neurotransmitter

function and accounts for approximately 25 % of chorioretinitis

usually contracted congenitally. A large study of mentally

handicapped persons revealed that the incidence of t.gondii

infection in schizophrenic patients was twice that of control

subjects. German research has revealed that first onset

schizophrenia patients have a 42 % incidence of antibodies to

toxoplasma compared to 11 % in control subjects. T. Gondi

usually is spread to humans from cats. Two studies have revealed

that exposure to cats in childhood was a risk factor for the

development of schizophrenia.

 

Two of the drugs used to treat psychosis and bipolar disorder (Haldol

and Valproic Acid) inhibit the growth of t. gondii in cerebrospinal

fluid and blood at concentrations below that being treated with

these therapies suggesting that improved mental status might

actually be due to killing t. gondii not anti-psychotic effects. The

antipsychotic drugs thorazine, haldol and clozapine inhibit viral

replication. Patients with recent onset of schizophrenia have a

400 % increase in reverse transcripyase activity in their

cerebrospinal fluid which is seen in patients with infectious

retroviruses. Cerebrospinal fluid CSF from these recent onset

schizophrenia patients inoculated into New World Monkey cell lines

caused a ten fold increase in reverse transcriptase activity

suggesting that this injected CSF contained a replicating virus. Dr.

Darren Hart of Tulane Univ. Medical School found evidence of

antibodies to retrovirus in the blood of half the patients he tested

who had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Malhotra

has demonstrated that the absence of CCR5?32 homozygotes in more

than 200 schizophrenic patients sharply increased the susceptibility

to retroviral infection. These pieces of evidence have led Johns

Hopkins virologist Robert Yolken and Psychiatry Professor Dr. E.

Fuller Torrey to believe that toxoplasmosis is one of several

infectious agents that cause most cases of schizophrenia and bipolar

disorder. Dr. Torrey noted that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

went from rare diseases in the late 19th century to common as cat

ownership became popular. Yolken designed studies that

showed that mothers of children who later developed psychosis were

4.5 times more likely to have antibodies to toxoplasmosis than

mothers of healthy children. Yolken also learned that patients with

schizophrenia of average duration of more than 22 years who also

tested positive for cytomegalovirus (21 patients) experienced

significant improvement in psychiatric symptoms when

treated with Valacyclovir[2] an antiviral drug for 8 weeks.

 

Streptococcal infections have been followed in some children by the

abrupt onset of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder within a few weeks.

 

Use of the antiviral drug Amantadine has produced greatly shortened

hospitalizations and rapid remission of psychiatric symptoms in

Germany when given to patients testing positive for Borna Disease

Virus BDV. Smaller studies in the U.S. disclosed that up to half of

Bipolar and Schizophrenic patients test positive for BDV compared to

none in healthy controls.

 

For obvious reasons toxoplasmosis has attracted the most attention.

However, many other infectious agents particularly parasitic

infections can disable normal mental function by depleting the host

of essential nutrients, interfering with enzyme and neuroimmune

function, and releasing massive amounts of waste products, enteric

poisons, and toxins which disable brain metabolism. Mature tapeworms

can lay a million eggs a day and roundworms, which afflict 25 %

of the worlds population, can lay 200,000 eggs daily. The brain

requires 25 % of the body's oxygen, nutrients, and glucose even

though it makes up only 3 % of the body's weight. Mental patients

were found to have a 53.8 % incidence of parasitic infection in a 2

year study conducted by the Univ. of Ancona involving 238 inpatient

residents in 4 Italian psychiatric institutions.

 

Cognitive dysfunction and chronic emotional stress with symptoms of

apathy, exhaustion, confusion, poor appetite, memory loss, nervous

stomach, social withdrawal, loss of sex drive and motivation are

often attributed to depression when they were actually caused by

infection.

 

Many parasitic infections escape diagnosis because standard stool

parasite studies pick up only 10 % of active infections. At times

this is caused by inconsistent shedding patterns and other cases are

missed because the parasites are outside the intestine. The World

Health Organization states that 2 billion people have worms but

these are rarely seen in stool exams. Many restaurants are

staffed by persons from foreign lands where parasites are common so

exposure to parasitic infection can occur in most U.S. restaurants.

 

To overcome these failures the Research Institute for Infectious

Mental Illness suggests ova and parasite microscopy, multifluid

antigen and antibody detection, stool cultures, enzyme immunoassays,

imaging techniques, and extensive evaluation of the patients history

and clinical information to discover chronic infections. Patients

diagnosed as chronic candidiasis (yeast) may actually have more

significant infections which are preventing long term cure. Curing

hidden infections often results in return of normal brain

metabolism. Fever and antibody elevation often disappear in patients

with neurotoxin injury to the immune system and thyroid hypofunction

caused by hypothalamic toxicity. Rebuilding the host's immune system

and restoring integrity of the intestines will help prevent relapse.

Care to not provide premature nutritional supplements that are

growth factors for certain microorganisms is vital. Screening tests

for heavy metal toxicity, environmental chemical exposure, molds,

electromagnetic stressors, abnormal glucose metabolism, brain

allergies, food sensitivities, hormone imbalances, neurotransmitter

imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, ph abnormalities, and

dietary correction can improve cognitive function.

 

In my opinion the arguments about the failure to diagnose infections

causing brain symptoms presented by Frank Strick are persuasive and

sound. Most psychiatric consultations almost certainly are not

concerned with exploring diagnostic considerations outside the

psychiatric realm. This whole field of psychiatric diagnosis needs

to be reconsidered in view of the strong evidence that

toxoplasmosis, parasitic infections, borrelia burgdorfi, candida,

borna disease virus, streptococcus, and other infectious agents are

capable of producing impaired brain function with symptoms that will

generate a psychiatric diagnosis in a conventional psychiatrist's

office. There is a real possibility that many, perhaps most

patients, have an infectious illness that is correctable not a

permanent psychiatric impairment. This failure to discover infectious

causes for psychiatric symptoms is tragic because many persons are

vegetating in psychiatric facilities for the remainder of their

lives, instead of recovering full health when their infection is

cured. My suggestion to readers is to consider exploring a

consultation with the Research Institute for Infectious Mental

Illness before accepting a psychiatric diagnosis that is likely

to lead to a lengthy and minimally effective therapy.

 

The Research Institute for Infectious Mental Illness is the first

comprehensive institute of its kind in the U.S. They provide testing,

clinical and consulting services to clients all over the world and

help in educating professional persons. Phone consultations are

offered. by calling 800-699-2466 then press pound (#) 831-425-5555

(patient scheduling only) or by e-mailing

riimi

 

 

The director is Frank Strick and the institute is in Santa

Cruz, Ca.

 

Footnotes:

 

1 Strick, Frank Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients April 2004 pg.

123-1252 Yolken, Robert American Journal of Psychiatry December 2003

 

© 2004 Dr. James Howenstine -

 

 

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