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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Drug Companies Oppose Simple Surgical Cure for Multiple Sclerosis

Drug Companies Oppose Simple Surgical Cure for Multiple Sclerosis

An Italian medical researcher and vascular surgeon, Dr. Paolo Zamboni, seeking a cure for his wife’s Multiple Sclerosis, has discovered a treatment based on a simple surgical procedure similar to angioplasty that appears for all intents and purposes to cure the disease (see news article below).

What the researcher discovered is that many Multiple Sclerosis victims have a peculiar narrowing of the arteries that drain blood from the brain (i.e., the jugular vein and other arteries). This unusual narrowing of the arteries – thought to be caused by excess iron buildup in the body – apparently prevents proper drainage of the blood from the brain, and may even cause iron to cross the blood brain barrier and accumulate in the brain.

When the doctor performed a simple surgery on his wife to “unclog” these arteries, she experienced a complete recovery. Since then, over 100 other Multiple Sclerosis victims have also enjoyed startling remissions of their MS symptoms after undergoing the surgery.

Similar to Angioplasty

The procedure is similar to angioplasty, in which a catheter is threaded into the groin and up into the arteries, where a balloon is inflated to clear the blockages. But instead of clearing blockages to the arteries in the heart, the procedure clears blockages to the arteries that help drain blood from the brain.

Drug Companies and Multiple Sclerosis Societies Up in Arms

Not surprisingly, the drug company-related Multiple Sclerosis societies (i.e., the so-called non-profit “educational” foundations that seem to exist almost solely to direct Multiple Sclerosis victims to information on drug treatments) are in an uproar over the new discovery. Following the classic pattern of ad hominem attacks -- i.e., attacking the man rather than the discovery -- many are questioning the good doctor’s motives, his credentials, his educational background, and other factors.

Still other skeptics are urging victims of Multiple Sclerosis to forego the treatment until more is known. Some are even urging Multiple Sclerosis patients not to get tested for narrow arteries, even though the simple ultrasound test for narrowing arteries is relatively inexpensive and very safe and simple.

This Will Blow Your Mind…

When you take a look at the unbelievable array of drugs commonly prescribed to Multiple Sclerosis patients, you might begin to understand why the drug companies and their associated foundations (funded by the drug companies) are not too eager to see Dr. Zamboni’s simple, inexpensive treatment become widely used.

You can check the entire list of drugs at the link in the paragraph above, or read below for the short version of the list, which includes the annual cost of the most common drugs prescriped to Multiple Sclerosis patients:

* Avonex: Minimum price = $23,736 annually; Maximum price = $30,660 annually

* Betaseron : Minimum price = $22,272 annually; Maximum price = $32,616 annually

* Copaxone : Minimum price = $23,208 annually; Maximum price = $33,804 annually

* Rebif was : Minimum price = $25,068 annually; Maximum price = $30,756 annually

* Tysabri : Now costs $31,332 for the drug itself, with additional charges for the infusion facility or clinic fees.

Gee, can you imagine why the drug companies and their “non-profit” foundations don’t want Dr. Zamboni’s simple, straightforward and inexpensive surgical treatment ever to see the light of day?

See videos on the new treatment at this link.

-- Spencer

Researcher's labor of love leads to likely MS cure

http://tickerforum.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www?post=118758

Elena Ravalli was a seemingly healthy 37-year-old when she began to experience strange attacks of vertigo, numbness, temporary vision loss and crushing fatigue. They were classic signs of multiple sclerosis, a potentially debilitating neurological disease.

It was 1995 and her husband, Paolo Zamboni, a professor of medicine at the University of Ferrara in Italy, set out to help. He was determined to solve the mystery of MS – an illness that strikes people in the prime of their lives but whose causes are unknown and whose effective treatments are few.

What he learned in his medical detective work, scouring dusty old books and using ultra-modern imaging techniques, could well turn what we know about MS on its head: Dr. Zamboni's research suggests that MS is not, as widely believed, an autoimmune condition, but a vascular disease.

More radical still, the experimental surgery he performed on his wife offers hope that MS, which afflicts 2.5 million people worldwide, can be cured and even largely prevented.

“I am confident that this could be a revolution for the research and diagnosis of multiple sclerosis,” Dr. Zamboni said in an interview.

Not everyone is so bullish: Skeptics warn the evidence is too scant and speculative to start rewriting medical textbooks. Even those intrigued by the theory caution that MS sufferers should not rush off to get the surgery – nicknamed the “liberation procedure” – until more research is done.

U.S. and Canadian researchers are trying to test Dr. Zamboni's premise.

For the Italian professor, however, the quest was both personal and professional and the results were stunning.

Fighting for his wife's health, Dr. Zamboni looked for answers in the medical literature. He found repeated references, dating back a century, to excess iron as a possible cause of MS. The heavy metal can cause inflammation and cell death, hallmarks of the disease. The vascular surgeon was intrigued – coincidentally, he had been researching how iron buildup damages blood vessels in the legs, and wondered if there could be a similar problem in the blood vessels of the brain.

Using ultrasound to examine the vessels leading in and out of the brain, Dr. Zamboni made a startling find: In more than 90 per cent of people with multiple sclerosis, including his spouse, the veins draining blood from the brain were malformed or blocked. In people without MS, they were not.

He hypothesized that iron was damaging the blood vessels and allowing the heavy metal, along with other unwelcome cells, to cross the crucial brain-blood barrier. (The barrier keeps blood and cerebrospinal fluid separate. In MS, immune cells cross the blood-brain barrier, where they destroy myelin, a crucial sheathing on nerves.)

More striking still was that, when Dr. Zamboni performed a simple operation to unclog veins and get blood flowing normally again, many of the symptoms of MS disappeared. The procedure is similar to angioplasty, in which a catheter is threaded into the groin and up into the arteries, where a balloon is inflated to clear the blockages. His wife, who had the surgery three years ago, has not had an attack since.

The researcher's theory is simple: that the underlying cause of MS is a condition he has dubbed “chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency.” If you tackle CCSVI by repairing the drainage problems from the brain, you can successfully treat, or better still prevent, the disease.

“If this is proven correct, it will be a very, very big discovery because we'll completely change the way we think about MS, and how we'll treat it,” said Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, an associate professor of neurology at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

The initial studies done in Italy were small but the outcomes were dramatic. In a group of 65 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (the most common form) who underwent surgery, the number of active lesions in the brain fell sharply, to 12 per cent from 50 per cent; in the two years after surgery, 73 per cent of patients had no symptoms.

“I am confident that this could be a revolution for the research and diagnosis of multiple sclerosis”— Dr. Paolo Zamboni

Augusto Zeppi, a 40-year-old resident of the northern Italian city of Ferrara, was one of those patients. Diagnosed with MS nine years ago, he suffered severe attacks every four months that lasted weeks at a time – leaving him unable to use his arms and legs and with debilitating fatigue. “Everything I was dreaming for my future adult life, it was game over,” he said.

Scans showed that his two jugular veins were blocked, 60 and 80 per cent respectively. In 2007, he was one of the first to undergo the experimental surgery to unblock the veins. He had a second operation a year later, when one of his jugular veins was blocked anew.

After the procedures, Mr. Zeppi said he was reborn. “I don't remember what it's like to have MS,” he said. “It gave me a second life.”

Buffalo researchers are now recruiting 1,700 adults and children from the United States and Canada. They plan to test MS sufferers and non-sufferers alike and, using ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, do detailed analyses of blood flow in and out of the brain and examine iron deposits.

Another researcher, Mark Haacke, an adjunct professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, is urging patients to send him MRI scans of their heads and necks so he can probe the Zamboni theory further. Dr. Haacke is a world-renowned expert in imaging who has developed a method of measuring iron buildup in the brain.

“Patients need to speak up and say they want something like this investigated … to see if there's credence to the theory,” he said.

MS societies in Canada and the United States, however, have reacted far more cautiously to Dr. Zamboni's conclusion. “Many questions remain about how and when this phenomenon might play a role in nervous system damage seen in MS, and at the present time there is insufficient evidence to suggest that this phenomenon is the cause of MS,” said the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

The U.S. society goes further, discouraging patients from getting tested or seeking surgical treatment. Rather, it continues to promote drug treatments used to alleviate symptoms, which include corticosteroids, chemotherapy agents and pain medication.

Many people with multiple sclerosis, though, are impatient for results. Chatter about CCSVI is frequent in online MS support groups, and patients are scrambling to be part of the research, particularly when they hear the testimonials.

Kevin Lipp, a 49-year-old resident of Buffalo, was diagnosed with MS a decade ago and has suffered increasingly severe attacks, especially in the heat. (Heat sensitivity is a common symptom of MS.) His symptoms were so bad that he was unable to work and closed his ice-cream shop.

Mr. Lipp was tested and doctors discovered blockages in both his jugular and azygos veins. In January of this year, he travelled to Italy for surgery, which cleared five blockages, and he began to feel better almost immediately.

“I felt good. I felt totally normal. I felt like I did years ago,” he said. He has not had an attack since.

As part of the research project, Mr. Lipp's siblings have also been tested. His two sisters, both of whom have MS, have significant blockages and iron deposits, while his brother, who does not have MS, has neither iron buildup nor blocked arteries.

While it has long been known that there is a genetic component to multiple sclerosis, the new theory is that it is CCSVI that is hereditary – that people are born with malformed valves and strictures in the large veins of the neck and brain. These problems lead to poor blood drainage and even reversal of blood flow direction that can cause inflammation, iron buildup and the brain lesions characteristic of multiple sclerosis.

It is well-established that the symptoms of MS are caused by a breakdown of myelin, a fatty substance that coats nerve cells and plays a crucial role in transmitting messages to the central nervous system. When those messages are blurred, nerves malfunction, causing all manner of woes, including blurred eyesight, loss of sensation in the limbs and even paralysis.

However, it is unclear what triggers the breakdown of myelin. There are various theories, including exposure to a virus in childhood, vitamin D deficiency, hormones – and now, buildup of iron in the brain because of poor blood flow.

While he is convinced of the significance of his discovery, Dr. Zamboni recognizes that medicine is slow to accept new theories and even slower to act on them. Regardless, he can take satisfaction in knowing that the woman who inspired the quest, and perhaps a dramatic breakthrough, has benefited tremendously.

Dr. Zamboni's wife, Elena, has undergone a battery of scans and neurological tests and her multiple sclerosis is, for all intents and purposes, gone.

“This is probably the best prize of the research,” he said.

André Picard is the public health reporter at The Globe and Mail. Avis Favaro is the medical correspondent at CTV News.

With reports from Elizabeth St. Philip, CTV News

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Procter & Gamble recalls Vicks nasal spray over bacteria fears

As the news article below demonstrates, chemical-laden over-the-counter products like commercial nasal sprays always carry the risk of bacterial contamination, not to mention the hidden dangers from the potentially toxic chemicals you're sniffing up your nose and into your sinuses and lungs.

Using colloidal silver with a simple device called a neti pot, is a far more effective way to deal with sinus problems.

Another simple way to fight sinus infections with colloidal silver is to purchase one of those tiny, plastic nasal spray squeeze bottles full of saline solution, which you can get at any pharmacy. Empty the tiny bottle of the saline solution and wash and rinse it well. Then re-fill it (about half full) with colloidal silver and sniff it up the nose three or four times a day. Sinus problems disappear like magic!

Another safe, natural supplement for sinus problems is NAC, also known as n-acetyl-cysteine. We have recommended it in the pages of this blog several times, in relation to its ability to de-toxify the body of mercury and other toxic byproducts of vaccines. But one of its many other proven uses is for sinus relief.

-- Spencer

Procter & Gamble recalls Vicks nasal spray over bacteria fears

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/health/article6924626.ece

Francesca Steele

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has recalled 120,000 bottles of Vicks Sinex nasal spray after finding traces of bacteria in the product.

No illnesses have been reported yet but the bacteria, known as B. cepacia, could cause serious infections for an individual with a compromised immune system or a chronic lung condition such as cystic fibrosis, P&G said.

The affected product was sold only in the US, Germany and the UK.

P&G detected the problem in a routine quality control at its German plant in Gross Gerau, it said.

It found the bacteria in a small number of bottles from a lot sold in the US and is testing the UK and German lots that were produced from the same batch of raw material mixture.

Shares in P&G fell marginally in the US yesterday, down one per cent to 62.15 cents.

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Death by Tamiflu-Resistant Swine Flu, or Death by Tamiflu?

I find several things interesting and disconcerting about the below news article.

First, the cluster of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu is all in the same state.

Second, the latest four victims were all patients in the same hospital.

Third, they were all hospitalized for reasons other than the flu, which is to say, they caught the flu in the hospital.

And fourth, they were all given Tamiflu, and three out of four of them died.

Considering reports coming in from other countries of Tamiflu's toxicity, which in a number of cases has led to patient deaths (see here, and here), couldn't it have been the Tamiflu that killed these latest victims?

Might not the growing news reports of "Tamiflu-resistant swine flu" be exaggerated cover-ups for the simple fact that Tamiflu is still killing people, particularly when it is adminstered to people who are already sick with other illnesses?

I don't know about you, but I think I'll do my darndest to stay out of hospitals, and stick with my high-dose Vitamin C, a good probiotic supplement, plenty of Vitamin D3, and of course my favorite all-natural antiviral supplement, colloidal silver. See http://www.colloidalsilverkillsviruses.com/

-- Spencer

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cluster reported in NC

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe, Ap Medical Writer

ATLANTA – Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday.

The cases reported at Duke University Medical Center over six weeks make up the biggest cluster seen so far in the U.S.

Tamiflu — made by Switzerland's Roche Group — is one of two flu medicines that help against swine flu, and health officials have been closely watching for signs that the virus is mutating, making the drugs ineffective.

More than 50 resistant cases have been reported in the world since April, including 21 in the U.S. Almost all in the U.S. were isolated, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The BBC reported another cluster of five Tamiflu-resistant cases this week in Wales, in the United Kingdom.

The CDC has sent three disease investigators to North Carolina to help in the investigation there, said Dave Daigle, a CDC spokesman. CDC testing confirmed the Tamiflu-resistant cases.

All four cases at the hospital were very ill patients in an isolated cancer unit on the hospital's ninth floor, and it is believed they all caught the flu while at the hospital, said Dr. Daniel Sexton, professor of medicine and director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.

Three of the four patients died and one is recovering, he said. Flu seems to have been a factor in each death, but they were very sick so it was hard to say that it was the primary cause, he added.

North Carolina health officials did not disclose details about the four patients, other than that three of them — including the survivor — were women and their flu illnesses occurred last month and this month.

The first patient had been given Tamiflu before becoming ill with the virus, as a preventive measure. The three others were given Tamiflu after developing flu symptoms, Sexton said.

The case is under investigation, but hospital officials said they have no evidence the cases represent a hospital-wide concern.

The North Carolina cluster is unusual, but "at this time we don't have any information that should raise concerns for the general population," said Dr. Alicia Frye, epidemiologist in the CDC's flu division, in a prepared statement.

The only other reported U.S. instance of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu spreading from one person to another occurred about four months ago at a summer camp in western North Carolina, where two teenage girls — cabin mates — were diagnosed with the same drug-resistant strain. Health officials said at the time that the virus may have spread from one girl to the other, or it's possible that the girls got it from another camper.

Why did both Tamiflu-resistant clusters occur in North Carolina? It could be coincidence, or perhaps North Carolina's disease surveillance is unusually good, said Megan Davies, the state's epidemiologist.

Overall, CDC officials said Friday that swine flu cases appear to be declining throughout most of the U.S., with reports of swine flu illnesses widespread in 43 states last week, down from 46 the week before.

CDC officials also said reports have been increasing in a few states, including Maine and Hawaii. They said it's hard to know whether the epidemic has peaked or not.

Thanksgiving and the holidays may not help matters, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

"All the kids get together with their grandparents and there's a lot of exchange of warmth and love, but a little exchange of viruses, too," she said.

Swine flu has sickened an estimated 22 million Americans, hospitalized about 98,000 and killed 4,000 since it was first identified last April. It has proved to be similar to seasonal flu but a much bigger threat to children and young adults.

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Another Young Child Almost Dies from Swine Flu Vaccine

Here's another story about the Swine Flu vaccine nearly killing a person -- this one a young child.

The internet news is rife with stories of flu vaccine serious side effects and deaths, but very little of it is making it to the national news.

All I can say is "Think twice" and do your due diligence. Then, if you still want the vaccine, fine.

But you might want to consider an effective natural solution instead -- one that has never killed anyone in over 100 years of use.

For more information, see the Colloidal Silver Kills Viruses web site at www.ColloidalSilverKillsViruses.com.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Natural Medicine Produces Stunning Recovery from Vaccine-Induced Debility for Cheerleader Desiree Jennings

Desiree Jennings is the 26 year old cheerleader and marathon runner was who severely crippled with a neurological disorder diagnosed as dystonia in the wake of taking the Wonderful Swine Flu vaccine that government officials and pharmaceutical shills keep telling us is "safe".

Scroll down to see our Saturday October 24th post, and watch the video documenting the severely debilitating effects of the vaccine, as captured by television's Inside Edition news crew.

Since that time, Desiree's condition deteriorated to the point that she could no longer walk or talk. Her uncontrollable muscle spasms were occuring every 45 seconds. And she was unable to breathe for up to 15 or 20 seconds at a time, every few minutes.

Fortunately, her husband and others got her to one of the few physicians in this country who truly understand vaccine dangers, and who also understands what must be done naturally to detoxify the human body of the multitude of toxins and viral particles used in the vaccines.

As a result, Desiree is now well on her way to what appears to be a full recovery. (See the final video below for a brief but poignent video statement by Desiree from her hospital room.)

What kind of doctor was this? Well, let's just say his medical credentials are impeccable. And I'd hasten to add, had a natural health doctor recommended the all-natural course of treatment Desiree's doctor recommended, and healed her as Desiree's doctor did, he'd have probably been investigated by the AMA and state medical boards for using unorthodox medical treatments.

But Desiree's doctor is a top-notch medical professional. So all the health authorities can do is carp at him from behind the scenes, and complain that Desiree must have been "faking" her symptoms.

You see, Dr. Rashid A. Buttar is a graduate of the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences, College of Medicine and Surgery. He trained in General Surgery and Emergency Medicine and served as Brigade Surgeon and Director of Emergency Medicine while serving in the U.S. Army. Dr. Buttar is board certified in Clinical Metal Toxicology, Preventive Medicine, is board eligible in Emergency Medicine and has achieved fellowship status in three separate medical societies.

Dr. Buttar applied natural intravenous solutions including chelating agents, anti-oxidants, nutritional support, and NATURE-BASED anti-viral compounds (colloidal silver) over a period of 36 hours which resulted in a stunning and amazing turnaround for Desiree from the seizures she was experiencing.

You can learn more by listening to the first audio interview below with Dr. Buttar, conducted by intrepid health freedom advocate Robert Scott Bell, the second audio interview below between conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage and Robert Scott Bell, followed by the YouTube.com video message from Desiree at the bottom.

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Monday, November 9, 2009

New Swine "Cryptovirus" Identified in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis and Epilepsy

Seems like every time you turn around the medical establishment is finding a new "cause" for chronic fatigue syndrome. (See the article below in which a "swine" virus is now implicated in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis and Epilepsy.)

I'm not against research into the cause of chronic fatigue sydrome. In fact, as someone who's suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome since well before they ever had a name for it (I literally collapsed from unrelenting fatigue in college, back in 1977, and have never been the same, since), I applaud such research. I am perhaps more interested than anyone in finding the cause for this most debilitating of maladies.

Is Looking for "THE" Cause the Right Approach?

My suspiscion, however, is that looking for "the" cause -- such as a single bacteria or virus or toxin -- is going to end up being a misguided approach.

Why? Because the likelihood is that there are multiple agents -- including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and perhaps a variety of toxins -- that cause the same general set of symtpoms common to victims of chronic fatigue, i.e., overwhelming fatigue, malaise, depression, pain and other neurological and neurocerebral symtoms.

So rather than focusing solely on the agent or agents of cause, researchers should be also focusing on what can be done for the body nutritionally to help victims of this insidious disease overcome the symptoms.

Nutritional Support for Beating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

As Dr. Brian McCoy, ND -- the doctor who finally diagnosed me with chronic fatigue syndrome back in 1994, after 17 years of being bounced from doctor to doctor -- told me:

"The human body lives with hundreds or even thousands of pathogens on a daily basis. When conditions in the human body become ripe for one or more of those pathogens to take hold and spread, and to do their damage, the only way to resolve the situation is to change those bodily conditions. You have to get the body back up on top of the pathogen. Period. Give the body the right nutrition, for the right reasons, and your immune system will find a way to suppress the pathogen and eliminate the debilitating symptoms."

Dr. McCoy and others taught me how to use nutrients to strengthen my body and my immune system in order to overcome the most debilitating of the symptoms of chronic fatigue. And over the years I've done my own research on nutritional support, learning even more.

Today, instead of suffering debilitating bouts of chronic fatigue syndrome on a regular basis, I suffer them only rarely, particularly when I allow my body to get out of whack, which is to say, when I allow myself to get overly stressed, over-worked, or over-tired, and I fail to pull back, relax, and give myself the nutritional support needed.

As I said, that happens only rarely now, because I've learned to do the following:

I make sure my body gets plenty of vitamins and minerals by taking a good daily multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.

I make sure my brain gets the extra nutrition it needs by taking a good Omega 3 fish oil supplement (pure Salmon oil works best for me), often in high doses of 7 to 10 one thousand milligram capsules a day, whenever needed.

I make sure my body gets the immune system support and antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal support it needs by taking small daily amounts of colloidal silver.

If I'm feeling "toxic," or know I've been doing things I shouldn't such as taking over-the-counter drugs for pain, or drinking alcohol, or breathing in smog or other chemicals, I'll take a good antioxidant and detoxifier such as n-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) each day for a few days, or even for a week or more if needed.

If I'm experiencing "brain fog" or any serious decline in mental clarity, then I take my Vinpocetine in order to boost blood flow, oxygen and glucose to the brain, and enhance ATP production within the brain.

D-Ribose: Energy Booster Extraordinaire

But the chief weapon in my anti-chronic fatigue syndrome arsenal is D-Ribose, the amazing energy-boosting nutrient that revs up the cellular mitochondria in your body's 100 trillion cells, allowing every cell to start producing the prodigious quantities of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) your body needs for energy.

As Dr. McCoy explained to me some 15 years ago, it's very easy for your cells to become damaged or worn out by viruses, or other pathogens, or by exposure to chemicals or other toxins. And as a result your cellular mitochondria may fail to produce enough ATP to keep your body moving.

But if you can give your cellular mitochondria the specific nutrition it needs to start producing its own ATP in sufficient quantities again, then often you can "jump start" your body's entire energy system, which in turn boosts immunity, mental clarity, physical dexterity and puts that bounce back into your step that you always had before the chronic fatigue struck.

My Not-So-Secret Weapon

I used to call D-Ribose the "secret weapon" in my battle against chronic fatigue syndrome. But I haven't been keeping it much of a secret since I found out how potent it is at revving up my body's energy systems and defeating most chronic fatigue symptoms. In fact, I've been shouting from the rooftops about it for over a decade now.

I no longer worry about whether or not they'll ever find "the cause" of chronic fatigue syndrome. I hope they do. I'm definitely rooting for them. But what's more important for me is that I know how to deal with chronic fatigue syndrome, and alleviate most of its awful symptoms from my life, naturally.

-- Spencer

New Swine "Cryptovirus" Identified in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis and Epilepsy

National CFIDS Foundation

Needham, MA May 31, 2006

Recent independent scientific research funded by the National CFIDS Foundation, Inc. (NCF) of Needham, MA provided preliminary confirmation of a new virus identified in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The Foundation’s medical research dovetails with that completed to date by Cryptic Afflictions, LLC *, a private company.

Dr. Steven J. Robbins, virologist and Chief Executive Officer of Cryptic Afflictions, LLC has discovered a major neuropathogen identified as an RNA virus designated as Cryptovirus. Substantial clinical and molecular evidence indicates that this virus is involved in the development of neurological disorders that include Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.) by the World Health Organization, Multiple Sclerosis (M.S.) and Idiopathic Epilepsy of unknown cause.

According to the company, “This previously undetected virus appears to be of significant importance to researchers looking for a cure to Multiple Sclerosis and many other neurological illnesses. Antibodies to the newly discovered virus were found in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of over 90% of the patients tested with Multiple Sclerosis. It is believed that this newly discovered virus may prove to be responsible for a host of neurological disorders. Tests are currently being prepared for tissue samples of lesions within the brains of patients with Multiple Sclerosis. This will be the final round of tests before approaching the FDA for approval of the diagnostic tests.”

Dr. Robbins’ evidence includes the presence of virus-specific antibodies in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of patients suffering from these disorders, the ability of the virus to cause virtually identical disease in experimentally-infected animals, and nucleotide sequence data that indicates that the virus is pandemic and represents a single virus species much like measles.

A recently published medical journal article suggests that Cryptovirus is most similiar to Parainfluenza Virus-5, a rubulavirus in the paramyxovirus family. Another rubulavirus related to Cryptovirus and Parainfluenza Virus-5, that has gained national attention for its large outbreak, is the mumps virus. Rubulavirus infections have been associated with encephalitis, meningitis, orchitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries, spontaneous abortion, and deafness.

The NCF has conducted its own preliminary research into the potential role of Cryptovirus and Parainfluenza Virus-5 in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Professor Alan Cocchetto, Medical Director for the Foundation stated, “Our own funded research first confirmed the lack of a vital protein, known as Stat-1, in the blood of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Stat-1 plays an indispensable role in immunity.

Without this protein, patients are unable to effectively fight viral and bacterial infections. Thus, the next logical question to be answered was ‘Could a virus be causing this Stat-1 depletion?’ Cocchetto continued, “Parainfluenza Virus-5 is a virus that had to be seriously considered as a possible piece of this medical puzzle because it directly targets and destroys the Stat-1 protein.”

Gail Kansky, President of the NCF stated, “Once we determined the status of Stat-1 in patient blood samples, we knew that we had to look for possible evidence of Parainfluenza Virus-5 infection. It was during this phase of our own research that we actually learned of Dr. Steven Robbins’ discovery of Cryptovirus specific antibody reactivity in patients with CFS.”

Dr. Robbins had tested fifty-six serum specimens from patients who had been diagnosed with CFS along with eleven matching cerebrospinal fluid samples obtained from physicians in Brisbane and Southeast Queensland.

Dr. Robbins had determined that 96% of the blood samples and 91% of the spinal fluid samples tested positively for Cryptovirus specific antibodies in these CFS patients.

The National CFIDS Foundation’s own research began to dovetail with that of Dr. Robbins. Scientists funded by the Foundation performed numerous tests for Parainfluenza Virus-5 that included antibody as well as PCR specific probes. Antibody testing provided some initial hints, however a PCR specific probe picked up the infection in a former patient of David S. Bell, M.D. and Paul R. Cheney, Ph.D., M.D., both considered well known specialists in the field of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Kansky commented, “Though our funded research continues in diagnostic testing, our findings have served to highlight the important work of Dr. Robbins and the role of Cryptovirus and Parainfluenza Virus-5 infection in CFS.”

NCF scientists utilized the NIH Genbank database to find the nucleotide sequence for a specific viral protein of Cryptovirus that matched 100% to the porcine (swine) strain of Parainfluenza Virus-5 known as the SER strain. In 1994, scientists at Bayer AG in Germany first isolated the SER strain from swine with Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome.

“This may represent a zoonotic process since zoonotic viruses are those that can be transmitted between animals and people” stated Cocchetto. Kansky commented, “Here we have what appears to be the same viral strain of Parainfluenza Virus-5 on two continents and in two different populations, swine and humans. Given that the NCF found Parainfluenza Virus-5 in one CFS patient in the United States certainly raises the bar.” The Foundation is currently funding further research.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has several ongoing grants in the Parainfluenza Virus-5 field. Currently, however, there is only one U.S. scientist specifically funded for research on the SER strain of Parainfluenza Virus-5 by the NIH.

Founded in 1997, the National CFIDS Foundation has grown to become the largest, all-volunteer patient organization of its type in the United States. The Foundation has no paid employees and is funded solely by individual donations for the primary purpose to fund medical research into the cause and treatment and/or cure of Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS/CFS).

* “Limina Biotechnologies, Inc. is a recently formed subsidiary of Global Medical Technologies, Inc. that was established for the purpose of merging Cryptic Afflictions LLC and Global Medical Technologies, Inc. It is the intent of management to spin off this newly formed corporation once the merger is completed so Limina can raise capital through its own IPO,” according to the company’s website.

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