On Friday, May 27, 2011 at 3:15:38 PM UTC-5, pautrey2 wrote:

25 April 2005
Microorganisms Behind Schizophrenia And Alzheimer's?
by Kate Melville

Conditions like heart disease, Alzheimer's and schizophrenia could be
caused by microorganisms, according to a report from the American
Academy of Microbiology. "A number of chronic human illnesses are
triggered, either directly or indirectly, by microorganisms," says
Ronald Luftig of the Louisiana State University Medical Center, one of
the authors of the report. Some diseases like ulcers and certain types
of cancer, once thought to be primarily related to lifestyle factors,
are now known to be caused by microorganisms. "Other diseases,
including some extremely common and devastating conditions, exhibit characteristics that indicate they may have an infectious etiology as
well," said Luftig.

Until recently, doctors believed that chronic diseases such as peptic
ulcers and cervical cancer were caused in part by lifestyle factors
such as diet, stress and exposure to environmental toxins. Now,
researchers have compiled strong evidence that most peptic ulcers are
caused by an infection with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and can
be treated with antibiotics. An infection with human papillomavirus
(HPV), the cause of genital warts, appears to be the cause of cervical cancer.

In addition to H. pylori and HPV, the report lists 30 other
microorganisms for which there exists strong evidence of an associated chronic disease. The report also lists over 40 other chronic diseases, including heart disease, Alzheimer's and schizophrenia, which are
suspected of having an infectious cause. "Each of these diseases was
once thought to be caused exclusively by environmental exposures or
genetic predisposition. Now they are all suspected of being in
infectious diseases," says Luftig.

But proving causation is difficult. In the past, scientists have
applied a series of tests to establish that a specific microorganism
does indeed cause the associated disease. Because of the complex
nature of chronic illnesses, it is often not practical or even
possible to use these tests to prove the infectious nature of chronic illness. The report recommends that new criteria for evaluating the
strength of association between microbes and chronic illnesses be
developed.

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20050325010349data_trunc_sys.shtml

II

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)