• Article on dr. Alan Macdonald from 2006 ( possible Lyme Alzheimer's'S l

    From georgia@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jun 23 19:06:34 2016
    05/05/2006
    A truly revolutionary notion:'Medical researcher with ties to
    Manchester studies possibility of Lyme disease-Alzheimer's link
    By:Alex Wood , Journal Inquirer
    A medical researcher who grew up in Manchester is trying to get
    other
    researchers interested in what he calls a "truly revolutionary notion,"
    that
    the bacterium that causes Lyme disease may also be at the root of many
    cases
    of Alzheimer's disease.
    A scientific journal called "Medical Hypotheses" this week
    published
    on the Internet the second in a series of papers in which the
    researcher,
    Dr. Alan B. MacDonald, sets forth his ideas on the subject.
    "Medical Hypotheses" says in a description of its aims and scope
    that
    it will publish "radical ideas, so long as they are coherent and
    clearly
    expressed."
    MacDonald, who works as a pathologist at a Long Island hospital,
    makes
    clear that the title of the journal aptly describes his idea: It is a hypothesis, meaning an unproven theory used to design further
    experiments to
    confirm or refute it.
    But if MacDonald's idea should prove out, it would open new
    possibilities for prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, in
    that
    bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics.
    Lyme disease is caused by a spirochete, a corkscrew-shaped
    bacterium,
    known as Borrelia burgdorferi. It was first identified in the United
    States
    as a result of an outbreak of arthritis-like symptoms in 1975 in Lyme,
    Old
    Lyme, and East Haddam, Conn.
    Lyme disease is also known to have neurological effects in some
    cases.
    Alzheimer's is a common neurological disease in which the mental abilities of patients steadily deteriorate, leading ultimately to their
    deaths. It primarily afflicts the elderly but can strike younger people
    as
    well.
    MacDonald has been interested in the possibility of a connection
    between the Lyme spirochete and major neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's, for more than two decades. But, while working as a
    pathologist,
    a doctor who specializes in diagnosing diseases in tissues removed from
    the
    body or studied during autopsies, he hasn't always been in a position
    to do
    research on the subject.
    MacDonald's new paper is based on research showing that the
    spirochete
    that causes Lyme disease can take on the rounded form of a cyst under
    adverse conditions, such as starvation, an acidic environment, or
    attack by
    antibiotics.
    "Anything that needs to survive adversity will round up and form
    a
    cyst," he said in a telephone interview from Long Island, where he
    works at
    St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, N.Y.
    He suggests the possibility that these rounded forms of the
    spirochete
    might be the "root cause" of the rounded structures called plaques
    found in
    the brains of Alzheimer's patients. He says there are structural and
    other
    similarities between Lyme cysts and Alzheimer's plaques.
    Moreover, MacDonald says, he has found evidence in seven of 10
    known
    Alzheimer's brains of "transfection" with DNA from the Lyme spirochete. Transfection is the incorporation of a piece of DNA from an alien
    species
    into human DNA.
    He has used this information to design a DNA probe, which he then
    used
    on the brain of a deceased Alzheimer's patient who was known to have
    had
    Lyme disease. The DNA probes showed a pattern similar to the
    distribution,
    size, and shape of Alzheimer's plaques, according to his article.
    MacDonald says in the article that some have suggested that the
    overlap between evidence of Lyme infection and evidence of Alzheimer's
    may
    be a coincidence, in that both diseases are relatively common.
    But he suggests that that argument may be refuted if it can be
    shown
    that Lyme DNA regularly appears at the site of the tissue injuries that
    define Alzheimer's disease.
    "DNA of the alleged perpetrator at the scene of the crime
    constitutes
    'molecular proof'" that the Lyme spirochete causes Alzheimer's disease,
    he
    writes.
    Dr. Christopher H. van Dyck, the director of the Alzheimer's
    disease
    research unit at the Yale University
    School of Medicine, said Friday that MacDonald's hypothesis
    "sounds
    speculative but interesting. It probably is worthy of additional
    research."
    He said there is known to be more than one cause of Alzheimer's
    disease.
    Van Dyck, who is chairman of the medical scientific advisory
    committee
    of the Alzheimer's Association's Connecticut chapter, suggested that
    one
    focus of additional research might whether Alzheimer's disease is more
    common in areas where Lyme disease is found.
    "There's no way it can be the cause of all Alzheimer's disease,"
    van
    Dyck said. "There are genetic mutations that are known to cause
    Alzheimer's
    disease."

    ©Journal Inquirer 2006
    Support group for Oregon residents: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Oregon_Lyme/

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