#Lyme and #MultipleSclerosis can be clinically indistinguishable, with some docs differentiating them based on 40 year-old, inaccurate Lyme antibody tests. See thread. @danaparish @BayAreaLyme @Lymenews @lymehopecanada @ProjectLyme @LymeChallenge pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28480854/
Spirochetes had been found in human MS autopsy tissue since the early days of medicine. They called it Spirochaeta Myelophthora. Many researchers have published the same findings. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13118387/
Lyme bacteria (back then called cystic forms, now called round bodies or persisters) was isolated from spinal fluid of MS patients but not from healthy controls apart from one who had a history of Lyme. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11787831/
In a review article on the topic, researchers have concluded that Lyme may be a likely cause of MS. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12194230/
Spirochetal flagellin is immunologically highly similar to myelin. This may cause the immune system to recognize myelin and attack it in the context of a spirochetal infection. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1382434/
It's not only Lyme bacteria that harbor spirochetal flagellin. Spirochetal bacteria that are cousins to Lyme, but routinely test negative for Lyme, keep being discovered. There are many known now. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Minocycline was beneficial in a trial of MS patients."...proportion of active [MRI] scans was lower during the first six months of treatment (5.6%, p < 0.001) and during the extension (8.7%, p = 0.002)..." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18574932/
Doxycycline was beneficial for MS patients. Addition of doxy resulted in “reductions in contrast-enhancing lesion numbers and posttreatment Expanded Disability Status Scale values (P < .001 for both)” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18071030/
And then there's this. Even in the middle of the country, county by county, there's an uncanny overlap. pinterest.com/pin/9999405419…
It's way past time for a concerted research effort into the likely infectious causes of MS.
