Traveler said...
But without having examined the child in this study, no one can say that he definitely had more than just Lyme, even though most of us do.
This is the way most people think and I feel that this thought pattern is incorrect. The National Institute of Health's Human Microbiome Project determined that microorganisms in the human body out number human cells by 10 to 1. This means there are 360 times more bacterial genes in our body than human genes. Without these bacteria, we would die from malabsorption and/or vitamin deficiency.
Here is a quote from an article: "Moreover, the components of the human microbiome clearly change over time. When a patient is sick or takes antibiotics, the species that makeup of the microbiome may shift substantially as one bacterial species or another is affected. Eventually, however, the microbiome returns to a state of equilibrium, even if the previous composition of bacterial types does not." IMO, Lyme Disease has components that prevent the return to a state of equilibrium. But back on topic, normal non-pathogenic bacteria are controlled by our immune response. They may not evoke the cytokine cascade like Borrelia, but they are controlled by our immune response. When our body goes "all in" to kill Lyme, IMO, it can't control the other bacteria and this is what causes many people issues. IMO, this means we all have other pathogens in addition to Lyme. Our normal bacterial cells can be pathogenic and this is supported in the literature. In reference to the boy, IMO, he was young enough that his GI flora had not deteriorated to the point where he could over come his issues. Aging is many things and our GI bacterial decline is one of them. You are right Trav, no one can guarantee anything, but I stand by my statement. I'll put my research up against anyone but the real problem is that no one is doing the research I'm doing.