HARDSCIENCEONLYME: Can Lyme Disease Cause Alzheimer’s Disease?

Michael Kruse says he thinks people “should be looking at all of the evidence, not just the few studies that agree with an opinion that moves us emotionally.” Then he bases his argument on evidence that agrees with an opinion that moves him emotionally.

The first sign of Lyme disease may be a non-specific ‘flu-like illness with fever, headache, stiff neck and muscle aches and pains several weeks or even months after the nymphal tick season in your area.

A 12-year-old thoroughbred was examined because of signs of depression, neck stiffness, and poor performance and a reluctance to raise its neck and head above a horizontal plane. The horse responded well to doxycycline treatment for 60 days and returned to normal exercise. However, 60 days after treatment was discontinued, the horse again developed a stiff neck and rapidly progressive neurologic deficits. The horse's condition deteriorated rapidly despite IV antibiotic treatment, and the horse was euthanized. Postmortem examination revealed findings consistent with a diagnosis of neuroborreliosis (leptomeningitis, lymphohistiocytic leptomeningeal vasculitis, cranial neuritis, and peripheral radiculoneuritis with Wallerian degeneration). Nervous system infection with B burgdorferi should be considered in horses with evidence of meningitis and high or equivocal serum anti-B burgdorferi antibody titers. Evaluation of immune function is recommended in adult horses evaluated because of primary bacterial meningitis.

The FDA gave its blessing to Lyme tests that miss as many as half the cases or more. The CDC thinks this should be good enough for patients. But patients insist on tests with better sensitivity from specialty labs in spite of having to pay out of pocket. Why is the government trying to prevent them from using all the tools in the arsenal when failure to diagnose has profound, life-altering consequences?

The organized medical community doesn’t believe in chronic Lyme disease, said Michael Specter in a recent interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, and he appears to buy into this myth, too. We do know that some people don’t get better after treatment, he said, but the term “chronic Lyme” is vague, Besides, it’s hard to say you have the disease if there’s no evidence of the disease, he said.

It has long been known that ticks harbor Bartonella and that humans who have Lyme disease may also have Bartonellosis. However, the actual transmission of Bartonella from tick to host has not been demonstrated until a mouse study by Drs Reis and colleagues was published in May 2011. The study is available free on line for those interested. “This work represents the first in vivo demonstration of a Bartonella sp. transmission by ticks. It . . . corroborate[s] a prospect that ticks play a role in the natural cycles of some of the bartonellae including those pathogenic for humans. Consequently, bartonelleosis should be included in the differential diagnosis for patients exposed to tick bites.”