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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