- Hi Jeff...
-
- This communication is in response to a question you posed
regarding the miraculous 'cure' of Russell McPhee, a 49 year old Australian
man who had a devastating stroke and was paralyzed for more than two decades.
After multiple injections of Botox into his spastic muscles, he was able
to walk again. The details of this unusual recovery were published on
Times Online ("Paralysed stroke victim 'cured' with Botox"
- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6428858.ece),
and posted on rense.com
-
- Knowing my lifelong interest in bacteria as possible
causative agents in certain chronic diseases and in cancer, Jeff Rense
asked me: "This is a strange one. What might the link be between
bacteria and a long term stroke?"
-
- Before its well known use on wrinkles, Botox was used
for stroke victims to counteract the muscles spasms. However, it is most
unusual to get such a positive response after so many years, as
- in McPhee's case.
-
- Interestingly, Botox is Botulinum toxin, a neurotoxic
protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is the most
toxic protein known. The intense forced relaxation of his
- fibrotic and contracted muscles (along with physical
therapy) was the key to initiating his 'cure.'
-
- Professor John Olver, one of Australia's top stroke experts,
said: "We use Botulinum toxin routinely for patients with spasticity
- which has been caused by stroke, brain damage or heart
disease.
- But we use it very early on, usually within weeks of
a stroke, to prevent the spasticity from becoming a problem. Sometimes
the spasticity is so severe we inject those muscles with botulinum
- toxin, which relaxes the muscles enough to allow a physiotherapist
- to strengthen and stretch them. It is unfortunate that
this patient had to wait for 20 years and extremely unusual that his treatment
was so successful after being immobile for so long. But he's very fortunate
that his muscles are strong enough to allow him to be able to walk."
-
-
- Could bacteria play a role in initiating the stroke,
as Jeff Rense asks? Can bacteria also play a role in chronic muscle disease,
wasting, contractures, and fibrosis?
-
- I will attempt to present some thoughts (as well as some
published data) that might give a clue to the possible involvement of
- bacteria in strokes and in the recovery of this long-paralyzed
man by use of Botox injections.
-
- First, there is more and more evidence that bacteria
(and viruses) may play a heretofore unrecognized role in chronic
illness.
-
- Second, there is evidence that human blood is not sterile.
On the contrary, all blood is infected with bacteria. A stroke in the form
of a hemorrhage pours blood into the affected areas of the brain and
damages the brain cells and nerve connections. A stroke in the form of
a clot does not allow blood to get to the cells.
-
- And thirdly, in many people, and particularly in the
elderly, there is an intimate connection between stroke, heart disease,
and chronic hypertension (high blood pressure). In addition,
- prolonged hypertension frequently leads to kidney disease.
If there is a bacterial connection to a stroke, there should also be some
evidence to link bacteria to heart disease, to hypertension and to kidney
disease. Whether this particular Australian has hypertension, kidney disease
or heart disease is not mentioned in the report.
-
-
- Bacteria and chronic muscle disease
-
- By Googling "bacteria + muscle disease", one
can easily review the evidence for bacteria (in the form of pleomorphic
cell wall deficient bacteria, mycoplasma) in certain chronic diseases
in which arthritic symptoms, muscular weakness and fibrotic changes take
place over time. Some examples are rheumatoid arthritis,
- Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, etc. Some patients
with these diseases appear to be helped by longterm antibiotic therapy
and other modalities, as proposed by the controversial "Marshall
Protocol."
-
- My own autopsy research into the "acid-fast bacteria"
that
- cause systemic scleroderma convinced me years ago that
these bacteria were implicated in the muscle, cardiac, and kidney
- abnormalities that accompany the hardening and fibrosis
of the skin in fatal cases. (Figure 1 shows round tiny granular coccoid-appearing
bacteria in the deep portion of the skin in scleroderma.) For more details,
Google: "alan cantwell" + scleroderma.
-
-
-
-
- Bacteria and the blood
-
- Recent research, based on molecular biology, indicates
that 90% of the cells of the human body are bacteria cells!! Despite this
amazing new discovery, most physicians do not believe bacteria are involved
in any way with the major diseases (heart disease, stroke and cancer) that
kill most of us. In addition, most physicians
- believe that healthy blood is sterile, that is, free
of bacteria.
-
- In 2007, rense.com posted an article of mine entitled:
"All human blood is infected with bacteria" (http://www.rense.com/general77/dblooder.htm).
In a series of papers from 1972-1979, the late Guido Tedeschi and his
colleagues at the University of Camerino in Italy presented remarkable
findings indicating universal infection of the blood with staphylococcus-like
and streptococcal-like microbes.
-
- In 1977 Domingue and Schlegel confirmed "the existence
of a novel bacteriologic system" in the blood. They cultured staphylococcal-like
bacteria and filamentous cocco-bacillary forms from 71% of the blood
specimens from ill patients; and from 7% of supposedly healthy people.
These pleomorphic (variation in size and shape) bacteria grew out of round
complex "dense bodies" and developed into "ordinary bacteria."
The authors concluded: "These organisms may represent an adaptation
of certain bacteria to life in the blood." Their full report, which
contains pictures (full-screen) of the bacteria grown from human blood,
is online at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pagerender.fcgi?artid=421412&pageindex=1#page
-
- In the 1990's microbiologists Phyllis E Pease and Janice
Tallak termed these blood bacteria as "the human bacterial endoparasite."
Finnish researchers Kajander et al. describe them as "novel bacteria-like
particles," which are staphylococcal-like. Like
- viruses, these tiny bacterial forms were able to pass
through bacterial filters, and were exceedingly difficult to culture.
The Finnish team called them "nanobacteria" and proposed a tentative
name for the novel agent: Nanobacterium sanquineum.
-
- In 2002 McLaughlin et al. presented a study entitled
"Are there naturally occurring pleomorphic bacteria in the blood
of healthy humans?" The researchers were surprised to discover bacteria
in the blood "since it is generally acknowledged that the blood stream
in healthy humans is a sterile environment, except when there is a breach
in the integrity of the tissue membranes."
-
- In addition, this blood research confirms the findings
of Gunther Enderlein (1872-1968), Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) ), Raymond
Royal Rife (1888-1971), Virginia Livingston (1906-1990), Gaston Naessens
(1924- ) and others whose research can be easily googled.
-
- Bacteria and hypertension
-
- Because cryptic bacterial infection of the blood is not
accepted by most scientists, there have been no studies correlation infection
with hypertension. However, a just-published report (May 16, 2009) suggests
that high blood pressure could be caused by a common virus, known as the
cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common viral infection affecting between 60 and
99 percent of adults worldwide. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090514221915.htm)
Previous studies determined that the CMV virus was linked to the development
of atherosclerosis, the hardening of the heart's arteries. This new study
brought together a team of researchers from a variety of disciplines
infectious diseases, cardiology,
- allergy and pathology to look more closely at
the issue.
-
- Bacteria and the Heart
-
- In an autopsy study published in 1965, my mentors Virginia
(Wuerthele-Caspe) Livingston and Eleanor Alexander-Jackson first showed
acid-fast bacterial infection of the heart muscle, in the coronary blood
vessels and in the aorta, in a paper entitled "Mycobacterial forms
in myocardial vascular disease." Later, they proposed a vaccine to
combat the bacteria they observed not only in heart disease, but in cancer
and degenerative disease as well. A summary of their research can be read
by googling: U.S. Patent# 4692412). Figure 2 shows bacteria in the heart
muscle at autopsy in a fatal case of AIDS. Figure 3 shows bacteria in the
heart muscle from an autopsied case of lymphoma (mycosis fungoides).
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Most recently, in a BBC news report on May 25, 2009,
there has been a renewed interest in bacteria and heart disease. A scientific
team, headed by Arne Schaefer at the University of Kiel, found a common
gene mutation in patients with periodontitis and heart attack patients.
There were also similarities between the bacteria found in the oral cavity
and those in coronary plaques. One theory is that the bacteria involved
in gum disease trigger a low grade inflammatory response throughout
the body, prompting changes in the arteries leading to strokes and heart
attacks. Another possibility is that the bacteria disturbs the way blood
vessels dilate directly, since some bacteria can enter the bloodstream.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8063512.stm).
-
- Bacteria and strokes
-
-
- Only in the past few years has there been mild interest
in investigating the role of bacteria in the pathogenesis of strokes.
A Google search using key words "bacteria" + "strokes"
leads to numerous web articles, such as "Ulcer bacteria linked to
stroke', "Bacteria in mouth could predict strokes", "Antibiotics
help prevent strokes", etc.
-
- Obviously much more research needs to be done on the
precise role of bacteria in stroke formation. In my view, if bacteria are
- universally present in the blood, then they might play
an important role in stroke formation.
-
-
- Bacteria in kidney disease
-
- As mentioned, chronic hypertension can lead to kidney
disease. The role of bacteria (particularly pleomorphic cell wall deficient
bacteria) in renal and urinary disease has been extensively studied and
pioneered by microbiologist Gerald Domingue, author of Cell Wall Deficient
Bacteria (1982). One can go to the PubMed website to view 38 published
of his papers, many concerning
- cryptic bacterial infection of the blood, the kidney
and the urinary tract. There is also an extensive bio on Domingue found
on Wikipedia. Tragically, there is little interest in studying the role
of bacteria in kidney disease. Figure 4 shows bacteria detected in the
kidney in a fatal case of systemic scleroderma. Note the similarity of
these bacterial forms to the bacterial forms depicted in the heart.
-
-
-
-
-
- Conclusion
-
- Perhaps the biggest reason why bacteria are ignored in
human disease, such as heart disease, cancer, and chronic disease, is
that these microbes are so ubiquitous. Everyone carries them, both in sickness
and in health. And doctors have a hard time comprehending that the same
bacteria present in a healthy individual can be similar, if not identical,
to the bacteria that are found in people who are not healthy.
-
- However, almost all healthy people die of diseases,
such as cancer and heart disease or kidney disease, or suffer a stroke.
In that sense, if one lives long enough, all healthy people eventually
become diseased people. Livingston was fond of saying "the microbe"
was both the giver and the taker of life.
-
- I am grateful Jeff Rense asked his question about the
stroke and miraculous 'cure' of Russell McPhee. It gave me the courage
to write about bacteria in diseases that most physicians do not consider
as bacterial-induced illnesses. However, I think it is fair to say that
we still know very little about the bacteria we carry in our bodies, and
the trouble they can cause as we age.
-
- One final point: Why did a bacterial-produced Botox product
start a healing? In my view, I suspect the paralytic product forced a "breaking
up" of the tight, constricted muscle. This allows better blood flow
to the muscle. This, along with the message, has a healing and energy-renewal
quality which "flushed out" the bacteria in the muscle. I assume
this re-creates some new "channels" between the brain and the
muscles. I am not a neurologist or a physiologist, but this is how I see
it. Figure 5 show the tiny round bacterial forms in the skeletal muscle
of a fatal case of AIDS, a disease that is well-known to cause weakness
and "wasting" of the muscles.
-
-
-
-
-
- Despite the heretical aspects of this paper, I trust
some researcher somewhere will take an interest in these newer findings
and attempt to prove or disprove them.
-
- References:
-
-
- Domingue GJ, Schlegel JU.Novel bacterial structures in
human blood: cultural isolation. Infect Immun. 1977 Feb;15(2):621-7.
-
- Kajander EO, Tahvanainen E, Kuronen I and Ciftcioglu
N.
-
- Comparison of Staphylococci and Novel Bacteria-Like
Particles from Blood. Zbl. Bakt. Suppl. 26, 1994.
-
- McLaughlin RW, Vali H, Lau PC, Palfree RG, De Ciccio
A, Sirois M, Ahmad D, Villemur R, Desrosiers M, Chan EC. Are there naturally
occurring pleomorphic bacteria in the blood of healthy humans? J Clin Microbiol.
2002 Dec;40(12):4771-5.
-
- Nikkari S, McLaughlin IJ, Bi W, Dodge DE , Relman DA.
Does blood of healthy subjects contain bacterial ribosomal DNA? J Clin
Microbiol. 2001 May;39(5):1956-9.
-
- Pease PE, Tallack JE. A permanent endoparasite of man.
1. The silent zoogleal/symplasm/L-form phase. Microbios. 1990;64(260-261):173-80.
-
- Tedeschi GG, Di Iorio EE. Penetration and interaction
with haemoglobin of corynebacteria-like microorganisms into erythrocytes
in vitro. Experientia. 1979 Mar 15;35(3):330-2.
-
- Tedeschi GG, Bondi A, Paparelli M, Sprovieri G. Electron
microscopical evidence of the evolution of corynebacteria-like microorganisms
within human erythrocytes. Experientia. 1978 Apr 15;34(4):458-60.
-
- Tedeschi GG, Amici D, Sprovieri G, Vecchi A. Staphylococcus
epidermidis in the circulating blood of normal and thrombocytopenic human
subjects: immunological data. Experientia. 1976 Dec 15;32(12):1600-2.
-
- Tedeschi GG, Amici D. Mycoplasma-like microorganisms
probably related to L forms of bacteria in the blood of healthy persons.
Cultural, morphological and histochemical data.Ann Sclavo. 1972 Jul-Aug;14(4):430-42.
-
- Wuerthele-Caspe (Livingston) V, Alexander-Jackson E.
Mycobacterial forms in myocardial vascular disease. J Amer Med Wom Assoc.
1965 (20):449-452.
-
- Alan Cantwell M.D. is retired dermatologist. He is the
author of The Cancer Microbe: The Hidden Killer in Cancer, AIDS, and Other
Immune Diseases, and Four Women Against Cancer: Bacteria, Cancer and the
Origin of Life, both published by Aries Rising Press, PO Box 29532, Los
Angeles, CA 90029 (www.ariesrisingpress.com). His books are available from
Amazon.com and via Book Clearing House at 1-800-431-1579.
-
- Email address: alancantwell@sbcglobal.net
-
- Alan Cantwell M.D.
- alancantwell@sbcglobal.net
- http://www.ariesrisingpress.com
- author of, AIDS & The Doctors of Death and Queer
Blood
|