Lyme News:
Detecting Borrelia Spirochetes: A Case Study With Validation Among Autopsy Specimens https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.628045/full (here)
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A Novel Way to test for Lyme Disease: Raman Spectroscopy
Researchers from Texas A&M University have identified Borrelia infection with 88% accuracy, 85% sensitivity, and 90% specificity using Raman spectroscopy, a light-based test commonly used in chemistry labs, to evaluate human blood samples provided by Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s Lyme Disease Biobank. By providing a unique chemical thumbprint to identify Lyme bacteria faster, Raman spectroscopy has the potential to diagnose the disease earlier. Read the full study here.
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Changes at BC Lyme:
Sep 18, 2024, Darquise Desnoyers resigned as President. Darquise worked tirelessly behind the scene and her leadership will certainly be missed. She will remain on the executive. Bill Wheeler, at his age, is trying to retire but will resume as President until a replacement is found. Anyone interested in joining BC Lyme's Executive should contact us!
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Oct 19, 2022, two founders and Board Members resigned:
- Jeannine Kenmuir found she had too many medical and personal issues to continue. She wishes to thank all
members for their support and wishes everyone good luck in the future.
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- Elaine Crossley likewise resigned for medical reasons. Following two Hospital visits and a series of scans, Elaine was diagnosed with Neuro-Endocrine Cancer. Elaine made the difficult decision to resign from BCLyme as a director. Bill will stay on as a director, Webmaster and to assist with the transition.
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​Azlocillan -Potential treatment for Lyme disease kills bacteria that may cause lingering symptoms, study finds
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Screening thousands of drugs, Stanford scientists determined that in mice, azlocillin, an antibiotic approved by the Food and Drug Administration, eliminated the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
March 12, 2020 - By Tracie White
For decades, the routine treatment for Lyme disease has been standard antibiotics, which usually kill off the infection. But for up to 20% of people with the tick-borne illness, the antibiotics don’t work, and lingering symptoms of muscle pain, fatigue and cognitive impairment can continue for years — sometimes indefinitely.
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A new Stanford Medicine study in lab dishes and mice provides evidence that the drug azlocillin completely kills off the disease-causing bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi at the onset of the illness. The study suggests it could also be effective for treating patients infected with drug-tolerant bacteria that may cause lingering symptoms.
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“This compound is just amazing,” said Jayakumar Rajadas, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and director of the Biomaterials and Advanced Drug Delivery Laboratory at the Stanford School of Medicine. “It clears the infection without a lot of side effects. We are hoping to repurpose it as an oral treatment for Lyme disease.” Rajadas is the senior author of the study, which was published online March 2 in Scientific Reports. The lead author is research associate Venkata Raveendra Pothineni, PhD.
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“We have been screening potential drugs for six years,” Pothineni said. “We’ve screened almost 8,000 chemical compounds. We have tested 50 molecules in the dish. The most effective and safest molecules were tested in animal models. Along the way, I’ve met many people suffering with this horrible, lingering disease. Our main goal is to find the best compound for treating patients and stop this disease.”
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Click here to read the full story.
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Dr Charles Ray Jones passes
Dr. Charles Ray Jones was the greatest Lyme-literate pediatrician
to have ever lived. He was not just a hero, but a phenomenon,
a beacon for all of us caring for patients.
- Steve Harris, MD
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He refused to back down through the many years he fought
the Connecticut Medical Examining Board to keep his license.
He did this not just for his own sake, but for the many physicians
around the country being targeted by medical boards for daring
to treat people for Lyme disease...
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Click here to read the poignant 12 page eulogy for Dr. Jones
