Psych Articles

Psych Articles

27 October 2010

Just a reminder that….

...the Internet is full of crazy people with crazy ideas looking for crazy people with whom to share their craziness. It’s a giant Match.com for the crazy. Case in point:

Multiple sclerosis is Lyme disease: Anatomy of a cover-up

Perhaps the biggest ongoing medical scandal of the past hundred years is the fact that it has been known since 1911 that Multiple Sclerosis is caused by a bacterium, and that the medical establishment covered this up, in order to make money selling symptom relievers to MS patients. Since 1911, overwhelmingly much medical research has been conducted where living Borrelia bacteria were found in the brains of people who were diagnosed with MS.

Time and time again. By at least a dozen medical researchers. In at least ten countries. Since 1911 – the past one hundred years. Several older but also recent autopsy findings linked to in this article found that all deceased MS patients’ brains harbored living Lyme spirochetes. Even when tests, notorious for their large percentage of false negatives were used on living MS patients, staggeringly many tested positive for active Lyme borreliosis.

This site [unnamed here] is run by Sarah…a nutritionist…. Sarah is still recovering from chronic Lyme neuroborreliosis [big surprise]. Sarah dislikes the corrupt FDA, Codex Alimentarius, gene modified food and Big Pharma. Both Sarah and John [a crazy friend] are the “brain” behind the products offered on this site. John and Sarah’s hobby is investigative health journalism and patent database research with the purpose of developing practical new products to promote health and beauty. [They have something to sell to desperate MS patients? I’m shocked!]

[Here’s their helpful disclaimer:]

Please note that we are not medical doctors and that our opinion is not medical advice. Neither are our producs sold as medicines, but as food supplements or beauty products. Always consult professional medical advice before self-medicating. Sarah does not answer questions over the phone. [Does her lawyer?] Our business phone number is only monitored by our dispatch team and webmaster.

Posted by Relative Risk at 10:26 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Psych

08 October 2010

LymeNuts on LymeNet

Is the chronic Lyme disease movement becoming completely irrational? That’s the impression from the increasing number of comments from Lyme activists who believe the government is responsible for infecting them with tick-borne Lyme borreliosis. Poor Plum Island has become Long Island Sound’s Bermuda Triangle into which the ignorant, the conspiracy-minded, and the mentally ill pour their fears and fantasies.

As the example below illustrates, many activists have both hyperactive imaginations and contempt for reality, including primary source materials. I’m not going to wade through this nonsense line by line—I don’t have enough aspirin in the house for that kind of pain—but let’s just note that to believe this crap one has to ignore:

• the natural history of Lyme disease and the changing ecology of New England,
• the 19^th century museum specimens of mice and ticks that are PCR-positive for B. burgdorferi,
• the hundred-year-old cases of European ACA, and the 1940’s cases of “Montauk Knee” on Long Island,
• the variety of borrelial species that may or may not cause a Lyme or Lyme-like disease,
• the absence of Nazis on Plum Island,
• the pre- and post-war importance of Ft. Detrick in Maryland as the center for biological warfare research,
• the publication records of USDA scientists working on Plum over the last 50 years,
• the actual wording of the Geneva Conventions,
• the fact that bad books written by amateurs may not be accurate or factual (Think of anything written by someone on Fox News, for example.), and
• the fact that Lyme disease is just another bacterial infection that is responsive to common antibiotics, is non-fatal and con-communicable, and is geographically- and seasonally-limited.

Of course, the belief system noted below does not bode well for any improvements in dialogue and understanding between activists and the community of scientists, physicians and public health officials who study Lyme disease. What began 35 years ago as cooperation and mutual interest has degenerated into the kind of activist contempt evidence that one finds among the anti-vaccination groups, creationists, and AIDS denialists.

And there’s no going back.

I just saw on internet news that the government is interested in selling Plum Island to developers. If you are not aware, most likely the reason you and I are sick is because of Plum Island.

Plum Island is the government's most important lab for biological warfare. A former Nazi was hired to run the lab.

I believe it was under his tutelage that ticks were identified as a good disease carrying vector.

Pursuant to the Geneva Convention, governments could no longer generally kill citizens. The loop hole for governments was finding a way to sicken large parts of the population.

Once ticks and Lyme were identified as great tools to sicken (an enemy's) poulation, Plum Island became probably the most important and most active lab for research in spreading lyme disease.

Unfortunately in the 1970's a hurrican blew apart the lyme undoutedly unleasing many ticks. Within a few years, accross the sound from Plum Island, the towns of Old Lyme and Lyme, Connecticut became sickened with Lyme and the rest is history.

My information comes from the excellent book written by an attorney published a few years ago. It might be called Lab 51, or perhaps one of the chapters is called Lab 51.

Oh by the way. The recent news article announcing the government's plans to sell Plum Island does not mention Lyme research at all.

Posted by Relative Risk at 13:29 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: psy

Post from which information was gathered. www.LymeNet.org (Less than 15 hours later- overnight)

http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/8/2521#000000

09 September 2010

More Madness in Maryland

Looks like another promotional ad for Lucy Barnes, the queen bee (or maybe tick) of Lyme disease nonsense in Maryland. The always Barnes-friendly editors of the Star Democrat are fairly reliable boosters of her nonsense and probably think public health information should come from one highly questionable private source.

From the hot, inky presses of the Eastern Shore:

Md. support group leader creates Lyme disease website

Posted: Wednesday, September 8, 2010

“… according to Lucy Barnes, director of the Lyme Disease Education and Support Groups of Maryland, who recently developed a website to educate others about the disease and its misconceptions.”

Director? Of what exactly? That’s an impressive sounding organization, but it seems to exist only in the mind of Lucy Barnes. It has no address, no staff, no phone number, no publications, no meetings, no nothing.

The website, [X'ed out], features about 430 pages packed with anything and everything regarding the disease. Barnes, a Queen Anne's County resident, said important facts about Lyme disease have been misconstrued over the years and that the website will help to get the correct information out to the public.

Quite the opposite. Barnes has been misconstruing facts about Lyme disease for years. Visitors to the site are not likely to learn anything real about this common tick-borne infection, but they’ll learn a few things about Barnes.

First, the site if full of her opinions about other people and other (reliable) sources of information. Most of it is insulting, inaccurate, and inappropriate to a site supposedly intended to provide public health information.

Second, the site seems to suggest that Barnes is the leader of numerous other Lyme support groups and organizations. She’s not, as many of these group leaders have taken pains to point out in the past. Still, the deceit (or delusion) persists. In reality, Barnes is in charge of Barnes and her fictitious organization, and nothing else.

Third, the site is a mess. It’s a long scroll of jumbled, disjointed propaganda that is utterly lacking in references or other verifiable sources, and assembled by someone with no training in medicine or research or public health.

Barnes: "We're doing the best we can to get the word out."

Despite the royal “we,” her best is anyone else’s worst.

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Posted by Relative Risk at 21:39 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Psych

12 July 2010

You can lead a horse to water....

How facts backfire

Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains

By Joe Keohane | July 11, 2010

It’s one of the great assumptions underlying modern democracy that an informed citizenry is preferable to an uninformed one. “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1789. This notion, carried down through the years, underlies everything from humble political pamphlets to presidential debates to the very notion of a free press. Mankind may be crooked timber, as Kant put it, uniquely susceptible to ignorance and misinformation, but it’s an article of faith that knowledge is the best remedy. If people are furnished with the facts, they will be clearer thinkers and better citizens. If they are ignorant, facts will enlighten them. If they are mistaken, facts will set them straight.

In the end, truth will out. Won’t it?

Maybe not. Recently, a few political scientists have begun to discover a human tendency deeply discouraging to anyone with faith in the power of information. It’s this: Facts don’t necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite.

Read the rest of the article here.

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Posted by Relative Risk at 17:12 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Psych

24 January 2010

A Bolus of Nuttiness from the LymeNuts

It’s been a busy week in LymeLand. There must have been some kind of nuthouse furlough recently because three Lymee wackjobs have just dumped a load of nonsense into the Internet, which in all fairness is basically what the 90% Internet is—a digital landfill for the mentally ill, the conspiracy-minded, the juvenile, and the criminal.First, former mental patient, Elena Cook, got hold of a computer long enough to post another “secret” report that Lyme disease is actually a bioweapon of some kind. Poor writing in the patent report below has led her to conclude that B. burgdorferi is a real weapon because it’s in a mixed list of potential biological weapons (e.g., B. anthracis, Y. pestis), common human pathogens (e.g., C. pneumniae, L. pneumophila) and generally harmless bacteria (e.g., E. coli, B. cereus). If she had been a little more careful in her reading (and a little less nutty), she might have noticed a paragraph in the document that said the technology would be useful for “hazardous bioagents OR the diagnosis of diseases in human patients"…like B. burgdorferi, a human pathogen that is not on the list of potential bioagents. Here’s the list.

AUTOMATED METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DNA ISOLATION, SEQUENCE DETERMINATION, AND IDENTIFICATION

Bacterial biological warfare bioagents capable of being detected by the present methods include, but are not limited to, Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Yersinia pestis (pneumonic plague), Franciscella tularensis (tularemia), Brucella suis, Brucella abortus, Brucella melitensis (undulant fever), Burkholderia mallei (glanders), Burkholderia pseudomalleii (melioidosis), Salmonella typhi (typhoid fever), Rickettsia typhii (epidemic typhus), Rickettsia prowasekii (endemic typhus) and Coxiella burnetii (Q fever), Rhodobacter capsulatus, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium botulinum, Coxiella burnetti, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Legionella pneumophila, Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease), and Vibrio cholerae.

The rapid identification of the nucleic acid sequences present in a complex biological sample has many practical applications. For example, the ability to rapidly identify the presence of pathogens in a biological sample, via their DNA or RNA signature, would be of enormous importance for the identification of hazardous bioagents or the diagnosis of disease in human patients.

Second, Tincup, a Maryland-based Lyme activist who seems to be the director of afictitious group called the Lyme Disease Education and Support Diseases of Maryland, has posted online a document called, “Maryland Lyme disease Fact Sheet 2009.” She got the wrong year for starters, then things completely fall apart. There are no facts in the document, and no references for those facts. Rather than pick it apart here, I sent a copy to the state health department with the suggestion that they pick it apart and provide correct facts and references in anticipation of some foolish resident reading Tincup’s missive and then calling the Department with questions or concerns.

Third, in response to a foolish question about a Lyme website called lymecryme, Tincup offered her opinion about the validity and accuracy of the site’s claims:

“In MY opinion...Most of the medical/scientific papers posted are actual science which can be found by doing a Pub-Med or extended search...”

So much for her opinion. The site is a mishmash of scientific terms and the delusions of a former Connecticut mental patient and convict, Kathleen Dickson. She’s a regular online ranter about everything from U.S. fiscal policy to Russia foreign policy to autoimmunity and pedophilia. Except as a case study for med students, I can’t imagine anyone paying attention to such a creature. Except maybe Tincup.

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Posted by Relative Risk at 15:34 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Lyme disease, Psych

01 January 2010

Conspiracy Theater: Round Two

One fantasy-filled film about Lyme disease is bad enough, but two is inexcusably excessive. Don’t people have anything better to do with their time and equipment than concoct plots even too ridicules for “The X Files”?

A NYT reviewer wrote of this latest video nonsense: “the film chronicles their 18-month investigation into the diagnosis and treatment of Mr. [Timothy] Grey’s younger sister, Lori Hall-Steele, who died of Lyme disease in Michigan in 2008. Then things fall apart, so fast and so furiously that it’s impossible to know where verifiable science leaves off, and conspiracy theory begins.”

Apparently, Mr. Grey isn’t much of an investigator. According to the published obituary, Ms. Hall-Steele died of ALS (also called, Lou Gehrig's Disease), and not a common bacterial infection readily treatable with common antibiotics.

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Posted by Relative Risk at 10:39 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Anti-science, Film, Psych

13 December 2009

Who let the nut out?

Here’s a little something from the dark side of Lymeland where everything is a conspiracy formulated by secret cabals of scientists and government officials. Fortunately, they can’t seem to keep their diabolical plots from leaking out, not to the NYT or a congressional committee, but to middle-aged mental patients who sit around on the Internet all day looking for fantasies to blame for their personal problems.

Even a brief dunking in reality would show most people that growing B. burgdorferi is one step up from a high school biology project. Right now there are more than a 150 funded projects at universities and hospitals involving cultures of B. burgdorferi. None of them rely on any complicated BSL-3 or -4 facilities. It would be like checking into a Mass General ISU for a scrapped knee.

Get off the Internet and get some therapy.

Enough information has leaked out to show that Lyme disease is studied in maximum-containment biowarfare labs.

The personnel in those labs are shielded head to toe with the most advanced personal protective equipment in existence, work through gloveboxes, in a sealed lab in which the airflow is supposed to be controlled such that no airborne pathogen can escape.

Because the federal funders refused to back his work, Alan MacDonald was forced to operate in his basement. Presumably, he did not have a BSL-3 or BSL-4 lab in his basement. Therefore the work he was doing was potentially very risky.

And again….

Over and over, information has leaked out to the effect that Lyme disease is being studied in maximum security labs in the US. It has also been studied in Porton Down, Britain's biowarfare centre. All of that information is in the public domain.

Some of us have a weaponised Borrelia in our bodies. The spirochetal L-forms cultivated by the Second World War Japanese bioweaponeers were being bred specially for aerosol delivery. A weaponised borrelia bred for aerosol delivery is likely, by definition, to waft into the air while you are preparing a slide, where it could, in theory, infect the lungs of anyone who breathed it in.

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Posted by Relative Risk at 15:51 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Bioterrorism, Psych

01 December 2009

Misreading Bioterror

I know I keep saying this, "Just when I think the denizens of Lymeland can't get any dumber....they do." But here's a posting from LymeNut entitled, "Civil Defence Association lists Lyme as a terrorist risk."Maybe this person is a recent immigrant with an imperfect command of written English. Or maybe he/she is just a nut. Probably the latter. In any case, the Civil Defense Associationweb site does list some not so common pathogens that could be treated with the antibiotic, doxycycline. The list included, "plague, Anthrax, Brucellosis, Tularemia, Cholera, Q Fever, Glanders and Lyme’s Disease" with Lyme disease spelled incorrectly. The site also mentioned typhoid and malaria. Not all of the above are likely bioterror agents. (See if you can guess which ones are not.)The web site listing was about doxycycline, not potential agents of any farfetched bioterror scenario. But apparently this individual read into the list the kinds of things he/she already believes.

A little knowledge, and the Internet, remain dangerous things.

Posted by Relative Risk at 19:33 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Internet, Psych

24 November 2009

When Christmas Trees Attack

Just when the nutty denizens of Lymeland can't possibly get any nuttier, they do. Below is some holiday advice for those of you suffering from Christougenniatiko dentrophobia, acarophobia, hylophobia or hypochondria. (Good thing I've still got that pop-culture Christmas tree from the 1960's.)Just a reminder that you should not get a live Christmas tree, as they can bring ticks right into your home! A post from Bettyg just reminded me of this. That is how she got lyme disease, from her parents Christmas tree, 38 years ago! Instead, opt for one of the artificial trees, they have done some great things with them these days, some look so real, and even come pre-lit! If you must get a real tree, or spend time in anyone's house who has a real tree, be sure to check your family for ticks very carefully.Of course, there's not much evidence for coniferor evergreen type trees being dense with borrelia-infected ticks. And who remembers a 38-year-old Christmas tree!? -

Posted by Relative Risk at 15:45 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Psych

12 November 2009

Detecting abnormal behavior

Jerry’s Mother: Well they're so loud, they're always fighting it's uncomfortable, you never notice?

Jerry: No I notice but they're from your age group I didn't know you could detect abnormal behavior among your own kind.

Jerry’s Father: Well we do.

From Seinfled- ‘The Raincoats’ Episode

Apparently, Lymees can’t detect abnormal behavior among their own kind. I’m thinking of a woman on LymeNut who has posted over a thousand messages to date, most of them I assume containing gibberish like the following:

Little mineral + lots of acids -> HYDROGEN. Many of our cells are hydrogen powered.

pH = potential of hydrogen. Our pH is very closely regulated by our kidney cells which can be damaged by too many acids. Hydrogen goes right INTO our cells, but Bb maybe exchanging H for Na. To carry hydrogen ***into the powerhouses of our cells***, we need a helper enzyme, CoQ10. It takes Mg to MAKE that enzyme (and all others). But Bb looks to be using Mg (and Ca and Fe and glucose) to build "his" biofilm which protects him from too much oxygen and which "he" uses to chemically "talk" to his buddies = quorum sensing. Bb NEEDS fatty acids...we know this for sure. But lots of fatty acids. ***shuts off fatty acid synthesis.*** We have to go SLOW!!! Lauric acid (also in VCO) is in mother's milk. It too is a powerful natural anti-bacterial (and anti-fungal and anti-viral).

With much help from Wikipedia! [Well, that explains some of her problem.]

5' AMP-activated protein kinase or AMPK or 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase is an enzyme that plays a role in cellular energy homeostasis. “AMPK also phosphorylates and ***inactivates 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase***” (that is the enzyme that shuts off the cholesterol pathway). When AMPK is activated it transfers a phosphate to ACC2 and this ***inhibits ACC2***: “Phosphorylation by AMPK inhibits ACC2’s activity which in turn ***slows fatty acid synthesis*** and enhances fatty acid mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation.” Since we know Bb is following the ”cholesterol pathway” to build its cell walls, AMPK must be “off” (because it inactivates HMG CoA reductase as does Mg) and since AMPK inhibits ACC2, ACC2 thus would be “on”. There is another way we can inhibit ACC2. In the liver, caprylic acid converts to a very specific ketone (beta-Hydroxybutyric acid) that inhibits ACC2 (acetyl-CoA carboxylase). We need to inhibit ACC2!!!

To invade, to be pathogenic, Bb has to change to a different outer surface protein - OspA first. (That was the Osp the ineffective vaccine was based on.) We impact that outer surface protein A (=OspA) by downregulating dopamine. We do that by breaking down tryptophan -> melatonin via our DEFENSE cells. Melatonin decreases dopamine. Dopamine -> norepinephrine (=noradrenaline) -> epinephrine (= adrenaline). Bb's OspA binds to norepinephrine and epinephrine so.

we downregulate them = not available for Bb's OspA to lock onto! This FORCES Bb to express OspB. (Usually). OspB is exactly what our antibody goes after.

The cells Bb infects thus send to the surface a receptor, CB2. That is what our mAB to Bb locks onto (if we HAVE a healthy mAB CB2...which we don't). CB2 is a cannaboid receptor. Cannaboid receptor + UV = inflammation. Bb NEEDS inflammation to happen! Yes, I know...Bb is very dependent on Na. It uses NaCl for motility and Na-ATPase. Okay..gotta go slow because the kidneys can't handle a lot of ketones. And we may need to be prepared for histamine release if IgE is triggered - anti-histamines to counter. Biofilms. No problem. They are impacted by oxygen and ultrasound. Far safer than MMP1 (collagenase) which is being upregulated as well as ROS (free radicals) and Hg. Yes, Hg destroys bacteria AND does our own neurons harm too. Instead of "autoimmune", I prefer to call it "self-sacrifice". We are trying to destroy Bb, but doing harm ALSO to self. EPA - one of the omega 3s - impacts oxygen! An over the internet supplement called OmegaBrite has the "right" amt. of EPA, a little DHA and a little vitamin E to do the job. You might also be interested in this: “Eicosapentaenoic acid restores tamoxifen sensitivity in breast cancer cells with high Akt activity”.

DNA is a protein, right? [Not even close lady.] Free radicals do a "number" on DNA too. We make DNA from RNA, but there is one big difference. Oxygen. We can't transfer a genetic code to our offspring via RNA. It has to lose oxygen. Five carbon chain, ribose is the sugar. Lyme disease is a VASCULAR disease. The classification/group is "H16". Bb looks to be located primarily in the basement membranes.

What she is doing is what the writing staff of Star Trek used to refer to as “techno-babble.” They would need to insert some technical-sounding words into the dialogue and often resorted to chopping up concepts from physics—or worse, biology—to carry along the story. The resulting dialogue sounded cool, but was, in fact, just multi-syllabic gibberish. Real words and concepts scrambled into incoherence. But then it was only television; It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.

But the online Lymees seem to take all of their posted gibberish seriously. Or at least they are not calling her on this really bad techno-babble. She’s not alone though. She reminds me of the mental patient in Ct. who was jailed (not long enough) and medicated (not long enough) for her own endless stream of techno-nonsense about Lyme disease. Or the NY woman who thought Lyme was a bioweapon (whatever that means). Or the UK woman, similarly locked up and similarly expressing her Lyme disease delusions through a steady stream of Trekie techno-babble.

But no one on LymeNut questions any of this nonsense. Do they all believe it? Or are they all simply reluctant to question or dissent from the forum’s heavily policed groupthink? I have no idea, but what does it say about a mindset that passively accepts delusion and gibberish as rational discourse and credible information?

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Posted by Relative Risk at 09:34 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Internet, Psych

11 November 2009

Can someone tell me why i'm araid to leave my home?

This is a recent topic from the LymeNut forum for people who think they have a chronic Lyme Borreliosis infection. I’m posting some of the comments from this topic, not to poke fun at these unfortunate people, but rather to suggest that the numerous posters have real emotional and psychological problems. The origins of those problems are likely variable—they are not the result of a common bacterial infection—but there are many medications and counseling tools available to treat these ailments. Patients or family members, however, have to seek out that help. Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen. These individuals seem to be in the grip of a destructive but self-sustaining belief system consisting of a diagnosis (chronic Lyme infection), a treatment regimen (open-ended antibiotics), and a behavioral re-enforcement of said belief by other Internet-based individuals. If ever there was a need for “intervention,” online Lyme disease activism is certainly one such need. Does anyone here know the reason why some of us are afraid to leave our homes...I mean there are the practical aspects of pain, exhaustion, dizziness, muscles spasming, etc. But there has GOT to be other reasons. My brain doesn't even want to have friends over or try to go over to friends' home. Too much overload. I've tried to get out and there's no panic or anxiety. Just that I feel really, really rotten. Is that why?When I first started getting sick which was in the spring I never wanted to leave my house. It was sort of my haven and sanctuary when not feeling well. I knew by staying inside my house I was safe and if feeling terrible, could lie down. When I was diagnosed with lyme I didn't want to see friends just my daughter and fiance. I had a hard time dealing with others and the outside world. I had become a recluse which I knew wasn't good. Also, just the sheer thought of you leaving the house can cause symptoms to flare. It did with me.

I spend most of my time in a quiet environment in doors. When my health is doing better, I do what I can outdoors. I have times when I think I am doing great only to get across the street in my power chair and realize I am not doing as great as I thought and I need to turn around and head home.

I'll speak for myself. I find i want to stay in my home because i dont want to run into anyone. I dont want to have to say how i feel because its usually lousy. I get tired of complaining how i feel. Then dealing with those who dont understand and because your arms not falling off they say you look good which my mind says yeah they think your faking. Now they may not even mean that but its my goofy thinking. Then seeing all the things i want to be able to do and cannot it makes it hard. I went to eat out Sunday and had to get my food in take out box because i couldnt sit threw the meal.

I can hardly leave my house. If there is something I know I have to do, like a Drs appt, it puts me in anxiety mode and all my symptoms get worse.

i just feel better if i stay home. i can go lay down, turn on or off the tv, not have to deal with anybody. i had to go the credit union today and the drive through freeway traffic just stressed me out. i even cancelled an obgyn appt because i just didn't want to deal with the hassle and all the people. besides the bright light hurts my eyes and i wear very dark sunglasses. i'm just grumpy and don't want to do anything i don't have to. sad isn't it?

i only venture out for health education programs at hospital, drs appt., and groceries.

I think it's a way of protecting ourselves from the rest of the world.

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Posted by Relative Risk at 09:22 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Internet, Psych

05 October 2009

Reality Bytes

Excerpt from Doonesbury, 6-Sept-2009:

Professor: "Americans believe in many things that can't be verified. For instance, almost half of us believe in ghosts, and 40% in alien abductions.... And of course, we still have many fringe groups, like the JFK grassy knollers and the staged moon landingists, etc."

Radio DJ: "Is there any counter to these powerful theorists?"

Professor: "Only the reasonists...." (The whole panel is here.)

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Posted by Relative Risk at 11:20 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Psych

02 October 2009

Shooting themselves in the foot....again?

It’s October. Are people in Lymeland waiting breathlessly for the results of the IDSA guidelines review? Probably some of them are, and no doubt hoping that they and thewitless A.G. in Connecticut have somehow managed to force the IDSA to abandon data for dogma.

Personally, I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I do think there will be a couple of changes. First, the treatment of babesia will likely be updated based on some recently published studies. Second, I think the reviewers will feel inclined to add a section on the work of Hassett and Sigal, which describes significant psychiatric co-morbidity associated with “chronic” Lyme disease.

Wouldn’t that be ironic! Insisting the Lyme Movement is not made up of crazy people, CALDA and the LDA manage to coerce a re-review of the IDSA guidelines, which results in the guidelines being changed to include a section on psychiatric co-morbidity.

Lyme activists always have seemed to be their own worst enemy. Disorganized, antagonistic, vindictive, back-biting, fratricidal groups, conspiracy nuts, and any number of certified mental patients acting as self-appointed Movement spokespersons.

Now they just may have provided the medical community with a legitimate reason for considering “chronic” Lyme disease as a psychiatric manifestation.

Move over Morgellons patients.

Posted by Relative Risk at 10:23 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: IDSA, Politics, Psych

24 August 2009

Better the Physical [Explanation] Than the Mental

Finally. I’ve been waiting to see this in print since I read the manuscript months ago. Too bad it didn’t get released in time for the recent IDSA re-review of its treatment guidelines for Lyme disease. I’m sure, however, the current members of the review panel will read it before the end of the year.

Actually, it might not be a bad idea to send copies (plus some of the earlier material) to member s of Congress who are thinking about a possible bill for more Lyme disease research. Maybe they can just redirect any future funds to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Am J Med 2009;122(9):843-850

Psychiatric Comorbidity and Other Psychological Factors in Patients with “Chronic Lyme Disease”

Afton L. Hassett, et al.

Background

There is no evidence of current or previous Borrelia burgdorferi infection in most patients evaluated at university-based Lyme disease referral centers. Instead, psychological factors likely exacerbate the persistent diffuse symptoms or “Chronic Multisymptom Illness” (CMI) incorrectly ascribed to an ongoing chronic infection with B. burgdorferi. The objective of this study was to assess the medical and psychiatric status of such patients and compare these findings to those from patients without CMI.

Methods

There were 240 consecutive patients who underwent medical evaluation and were screened for clinical disorders (eg, depression and anxiety) with diagnoses confirmed by structured clinical interviews at an academic Lyme disease referral center in New Jersey. Personality disorders, catastrophizing, and negative and positive affect also were evaluated, and all factors were compared between groups and with functional outcomes.

Results

Of our sample, 60.4% had symptoms that could not be explained by current Lyme disease or another medical condition other than CMI. After adjusting for age and sex, clinical disorders were more common in CMI than in the comparison group (P <.001, odds ratio 3.54, 95% confidence interval, 1.97-6.55), but personality disorders were not significantly more common. CMI patients had higher negative affect, lower positive affect, and a greater tendency to catastrophize pain (P <.001) than did the comparison group. Except for personality disorders, all psychological factors were related to worse functioning. Our explanatory model based on these factors was confirmed.

Conclusions

Psychiatric comorbidity and other psychological factors are prominent in the presentation and outcome of some patients who inaccurately ascribe longstanding symptoms to “chronic Lyme disease.”

Posted by Relative Risk at 01:31 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: diagnostics, Lyme disease, Psych

02 August 2009

Lyme Nuts

'Lyme Rage': Can Lyme Disease Affect Your Personality?

Roaming Ticks Can Carry Disease Linked to Physical Problems, Mental Madness

July 30, 2009 —

They're tiny insects that can cause big problems. A rise in the number of ticks this year has infectious disease experts focused on the best way to treat the Lyme disease that the little buggers can spread.

Some 20,000 Americans are infected and treated every year, but countless others go undiagnosed. The illness has symptoms that include fever, fatigue and headaches, but if left untreated, Lyme disease can be more serious.

While there are physical symptoms of the disease that can include severe headaches, severe joint pain and even numbness in the hands or feet, many experts believe Lyme disease can rewire the human brain and affect personality.

Maybe, but then so can a good case of meningitis or encephalitis, or even a dose of West Nile or Borna virus.

"I'm convinced that Lyme in a chronic form can affect psychiatric issues, neurological issues and you can have neurological problems," New York epidemiologist Dr. Daniel Cameron said.

Unfortunately, he can’t convince anyone else that matters. See: Wormser, GP, et al. Analysis of a flawed double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of patients claimed to have persistent Lyme disease following treatment. Minerva Med. 2009;100:171-2.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention notes that up to 5 percent of patients "may develop chronic neurological complaints months to years after infection."

Lyme disease patient Kelly Kulesz told "Good Morning America" she saw herself change overnight because of her infection. "They put me on stage fright medications," Kulesz said. "Doctors thought it was obsessive compulsive disorder, but it's just not."

When Terry Jo Sedlacek went to trial for allegedly gunning down the Rev. Fred Winters in March, the defense cited his Lyme disease infection and it's contribution to what many call "lyme rage."

But not all experts believe Lyme disease causes such changes in personality.

"The example I like to cite is if I have Lyme disease and I get run over by a truck, the Lyme disease didn't cause my broken leg," said Dr. John Halperin, lead author on the new American Academy of Neurology Guideline on Lyme Disease Treatment.

ABC News medical contributor Dr. Marie Savard, who had lyme disease, said that the possibility of personality changes should at least be taken into consideration.

"It does affect the central nervous system. You can have behavior changes, personality changes," she said. "We have to listen and pay attention."

To whom? The patient with the alleged personality change or behavioral problems. Well, people have looked at this problem. And more often than not it’s the already disturbed personality that finds Lyme disease and latches onto it as the physical cause of that person’s emotional or psychological problems.

Arthritis Rheum. 2008 Dec 15;59(12):1742-9.

Role of psychiatric comorbidity in chronic Lyme disease.

Hassett AL, Radvanski DC, Buyske S, Savage SV, Gara M, Escobar JI, Sigal LH.

Psychiatric comorbidity and other psychological factors distinguished CLD patients from other patients commonly seen in Lyme disease referral centers, and were related to poor functional outcomes.

Environ. Hlth. Perspect. 2002;110(4):607-11.

Contributions of societal and geographical environments to "chronic Lyme disease": the psychopathogenesis and aporology of a new "medically unexplained symptoms" syndrome.

Sigal LH, Hassett AL.

Division of Rheumatology and Connective Tissue Research, Department of Medicine, Lyme Disease Center, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Lyme disease is a relatively well-described infectious disease with multisystem manifestations. Because of confusion over conflicting reports, anxiety related to vulnerability to disease, and sensationalized and inaccurate lay media coverage, a new syndrome, "chronic Lyme disease," has become established. Chronic Lyme disease is the most recent in a continuing series of "medically unexplained symptoms" syndromes. These syndromes, such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and multiple chemical sensitivity, meet the need for a societally and morally acceptable explanation for ill-defined symptoms in the absence of objective physical and laboratory findings. We describe factors involved in the psychopathogenesis of chronic Lyme disease and focus on the confusion and insecurity these patients feel, which gives rise to an inability to adequately formulate and articulate their health concerns and to deal adequately with their medical needs, a state of disorganization termed aporia.

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Posted by Relative Risk at 10:34 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Cameron, Psych

30 March 2009

Lyme sufferers sought for new study

Block Island Times

03/28/09 -

Bryant University and Providence Psychology Services seek chronic Lyme disease sufferers 18 and older to participate in a study that will gauge the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) in reducing distress and improving quality of life.

The study, called Project PILS (for Psychotherapy Intervention for Lyme Sufferers), offers 10 sessions of CBT to Lyme disease sufferers. The study is led by Joseph Trunzo, Ph.D., associate professor of applied psychology at Bryant University and a licensed clinical psychologist with a background in research and treatment of the psychological impact of chronic illness.

“Lyme disease is a complicated, confusing, and distressing illness, and one of the most rapidly growing infectious diseases in the country,” Dr. Trunzo said in a statement. “Although effective medical interventions are available, there are no formalized … validated treatments for the psychological difficulties that can be caused by, or are related to, Lyme. Our goal is to examine whether CBT — which has been highly effective in helping people cope with depression, anxiety, and other symptoms of chronic illness — is appropriate treatment for chronic Lyme sufferers.”

For more information about the study or to inquire about becoming a study participant, contact Dr. Trunzo at 273-3322, ext. 2, or visit the project’s website, www.providencepsychology.com/lyme-disease.html.

This could be a useful follow-up to Hassett's recent paper on psychiatric co-morbidity in "chronic" Lyme patients. Abstract below.

Arthritis Rheum. 2008 Dec 15;59(12):1742-9.

Role of psychiatric comorbidity in chronic Lyme disease.

Hassett AL, Radvanski DC, Buyske S, Savage SV, Gara M, Escobar JI, Sigal LH.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence and role of psychiatric comorbidity and other psychological factors in patients with chronic Lyme disease (CLD).

METHODS: We assessed 159 patients drawn from a cohort of 240 patients evaluated at an academic Lyme disease referral center. Patients were screened for common axis I psychiatric disorders (e.g., depressive and anxiety disorders); structured clinical interviews confirmed diagnoses. Axis II personality disorders, functional status, and traits like negative and positive affect and pain catastrophizing were also evaluated. A physician blind to psychiatric assessment results performed a medical evaluation. Two groups of CLD patients (those with post-Lyme disease syndrome and those with medically unexplained symptoms attributed to Lyme disease but without Borrelia burgdorferi infection) were compared with 2 groups of patients without CLD (patients recovered from Lyme disease and those with an identifiable medical condition explaining symptoms attributed to Lyme disease).

RESULTS: After adjusting for age and sex, axis I psychiatric disorders were more common in CLD patients than in comparison patients (P = 0.02, odds ratio 2.64, 95% confidence interval 1.30-5.35), but personality disorders were not. Patients with CLD had higher negative affect, lower positive affect, and a greater tendency to catastrophize pain.

CONCLUSION: Psychiatric comorbidity and other psychological factors distinguished CLD patients from other patients commonly seen in Lyme disease referral centers, and were related to poor functional outcomes.

Posted by Relative Risk at 22:16 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Internet, Lyme disease, Psych

09 March 2009

White Coat Underground asks: Does Lyme disease make you shoot people?

Does Lyme disease make you shoot people?

Category: Medicine

Posted on: March 9, 2009 1:30 PM, by PalMD

A pastor in Illinois was shot and killed over the weekend. A similar tragedy happened in my community many years ago. Religious leaders are very public figures and have an emotional connection with members of their communities, so I suppose it's not so strange that they should be targets. Many of the cases I have read about over the years involved a mentally ill assailant, as it appears the Illinois case did. Mental illness doesn't usually lead to violence, but one can certainly imagine how a particularly disturbing delusion could lead someone to violence. The American mental health system is abominable, and there is very little help for people with severe mental illness, so they often end up living untreated in the community. Read more.

Posted by Relative Risk at 11:49 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Lyme disease, Psych