Chlamydophila pneumoniae
Chlamydia pneumoniae – now known as Chlamydophila pneumoniae or Cpn, is not the bacteria that causes the sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia. Cpn is a common respiratory infection which is spread by contact with droplets that are expelled by an infected person who coughs or sneezes.
It was first described in 1988 and its full genome sequence was published in 1999. It is an obligate intracellular bacterium, which means that it is not capable of reproducing outside a host cell, and is completely dependent on the host cell’s resources. For this reason, they are hard to study, because it is difficult to grow them outside the host. It is also described as being a gram negative bacterium, which means that it cannot be stained by the crystal violet dye in Gram’s method of staining, which helps to distinguish bacteria in tissue viewed under a microscope. Because of the difficulty studying the bacterium, it was initially thought to be a virus.
Once infected, the bacteria usually enter the ciliated cells that move the mucous around in the airways of the host, which it can then paralyse by stealing their energy, causing a serious respiratory tract infection, usually designated atypical, community – acquired or ‘walking’ pneumonia. It was associated with a wheezing asthmatic bronchitis and adult onset asthma in 1991.
If the body does not completely overcome the infection, it can spread via mononuclear cells in the blood (cells with one round nucleus) to other cells in the body such as muscles, heart, nerves, the central nervous system, and tissues that line the blood vessels.
The Cpn bacteria are drawn to any site in the body where mononuclear (immune) cells gather, such as sites of inflammation, where Cpn can cause a secondary infection, invading the host cells and using the mitochondria (the power house of the cell) to steal the energy they produce in the form of ATP. The bacterium has three different stages in its life cycle. It survives outside the host as an elementary body, which is the infectious form. When the elementary body enters a cell, it transforms into a reticulate body, a non-infectious form but one which can replicate, using cellular energy to do so. Once it replicates, it turns back into elementary bodies, so that it can reinfect other cells in the host, or a new host. If threatened by the immune system, it can turn into a cryptic body, a hibernating stage where the infection can lay dormant for decades. This form is very resistant to antimicrobials, but at some stage it must return to the elementary body to continue its lifecycle, and this is where it becomes vulnerable to the rotation of antimicrobial agents, and to a supplement which bursts the elemental bodies, called N – Acetyl Cysteine, or NAC.
Cpn infection has been linked to; Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, Asthma, Atherosclerosis, Atrial fibrillations, Benign prostatic hyperplasia, Bronchitis, CFIDS, COPD, Type 2 Diabetes, Earache, Encephalitis, Endocarditis, Erythema nodulosum, Eye problems, Giant-cell arteritis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, Hypertension, Immune suppression, Interstitial cystitis, Kidney failure, Lung cancer, Meningitis, Morgellons, Multiple sclerosis, Myocarditis, Obesity, Pericarditis, Pharyngitis, Pneumonia, Porphyria, Prostate cancer, Prostatitis, Pyoderma gangrenosum, Sinusitis, SUDS--Sudden unexpected death syndrome, Syndrome X, Vasculitis and others including chronic fatigue syndrome.
The link to MS has been made for several reasons. The bacterium has been found in the brain and cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) of people with MS; The CSF oligoclonal bands react to chlamydial antigens; elevated titers (levels of antibodies in a blood sample) to CPN have been found in MS patients compared to controls; and genes of Cpn have been found in the CSF of people with MS, but not in control groups.
Essentially, instead of killing all of the Cpn bacteria, the immune system cells actually transport it around the body to sites of infection (inflammation) in infected white cells. You may not have an obvious respiratory tract infection, but you now have a cryptic infection. The Cpn has found a way to live inside you, and may cause a chronic immune activation in response.
Work on the connection between Cpn and MS was pioneered by researchers at Vanderbilt university around 1999. A more recent study can be found here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16996738
David Wheldon, a UK based microbiologist who co-authored the above study, has also done extensive research into the links between this infection and MS. He treated his wife Sarah Wheldon who was suffering from progressive MS, for a cryptic infection of Cpn with extraordinary results, after her doctors had told her there was nothing that could be done, and she should just let the disease run its course.
Dr Wheldon notes the long delays in making a diagnosis, and how much greater recovery could be expected if treatment for cryptic infection with Cpn had been started earlier in the disease course. The Wheldon’s story can be read here http://beyondthebandaid.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Dr.-David-Wheldons-Article_Ignoring-The-Evidence.pdf
David Wheldon’s website on Cpn and multiple sclerosis can be found here http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/ms-treatment.html
An ABC Catalyst episode in August 2012 featured Dr Wheldon and Sarah Wheldon’s story. It also featured Dr Paul Thibault, a Newcastle (Australia) phlebologist (vein specialist) who has also linked Cpn infection to Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency, and who examines MS patients for blocked jugular veins, and treats any associated Cpn infection. The transcript of this episode, and the episode itself, can be viewed here http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3572695.htm
Dr Thibault’s Multiple Sclerosis page with links, can be found here http://www.cosmeticcentre.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=217201
Dr Thibault’s Chlamydophila pneumoniae page with comprehensive information on his treatment protocol can be found here http://www.cosmeticcentre.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=329348
Dr Thibault’s research paper on this subject can be found here http://www.cosmeticcentre.com.au/client_images/1043332.pdf
As noted elsewhere on this website, time is of the essence with MS. In the Catalyst interview, Dr Thibault notes that the earlier treatment is started, the better the likelihood of recovery. Nevertheless, to many MS patients, slowing or stopping the progression of their illness is the second most important factor after recovery, so treating any underlying cause of the disease, and optimising their health and quality of life is a major consideration at any stage of the illness.
Most of the treatments for MS, from steroids to disease modifying drugs, aim to ‘modulate’ or suppress the immune system. In the case of an underlying infection, this could be a very unwise approach to take, since these drugs are only likely to allow the existing infection (and other opportunistic infections) to proliferate.
Since the bacterium was only found in 1988, and the link with MS was only made around the turn of the 21st Century, many doctors and neurologists were trained before our knowledge on this bacterium began to explode. There is a lot of complex information out there (just on the link to Cpn and MS), let alone the other studies which link this bug to a multiplicity of illnesses. It is possible that most doctors may not suspect a chronic Cpn infection to be affecting a person with MS, yet it may be a part of the puzzle, especially where sickness behaviours that indicate chronic immune activation are part of the pattern of the illness.
People with MS, and especially people with progressive forms of the illness who are being left to their own devices by the medical profession, may consider checking whether they have compressed or blocked veins that supply their brain, and/or, whether they have a chronic cryptic Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection that could be addressed, as part of their health optimisation strategy.
Links:
Website dedicated to the understanding and treatment of Cpn infection http://cpnhelp.org./
Optic neuritis associated with Cpn infection
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16904026
Study linking Cpn to autoimmune disease http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/34594/InTech-Pathogenesis_of_chlamydia_pneumonia_persistent_illnesses_in_autoimmune_diseases.pdf
Article linking Cpn to chronic fatigue http://www.prohealth.com/library/showArticle.cfm?libid=12763
Rickettsia
Chlamydia pneumoniae – now known as Chlamydophila pneumoniae or Cpn, is not the bacteria that causes the sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia. Cpn is a common respiratory infection which is spread by contact with droplets that are expelled by an infected person who coughs or sneezes.
It was first described in 1988 and its full genome sequence was published in 1999. It is an obligate intracellular bacterium, which means that it is not capable of reproducing outside a host cell, and is completely dependent on the host cell’s resources. For this reason, they are hard to study, because it is difficult to grow them outside the host. It is also described as being a gram negative bacterium, which means that it cannot be stained by the crystal violet dye in Gram’s method of staining, which helps to distinguish bacteria in tissue viewed under a microscope. Because of the difficulty studying the bacterium, it was initially thought to be a virus.
Once infected, the bacteria usually enter the ciliated cells that move the mucous around in the airways of the host, which it can then paralyse by stealing their energy, causing a serious respiratory tract infection, usually designated atypical, community – acquired or ‘walking’ pneumonia. It was associated with a wheezing asthmatic bronchitis and adult onset asthma in 1991.
If the body does not completely overcome the infection, it can spread via mononuclear cells in the blood (cells with one round nucleus) to other cells in the body such as muscles, heart, nerves, the central nervous system, and tissues that line the blood vessels.
The Cpn bacteria are drawn to any site in the body where mononuclear (immune) cells gather, such as sites of inflammation, where Cpn can cause a secondary infection, invading the host cells and using the mitochondria (the power house of the cell) to steal the energy they produce in the form of ATP. The bacterium has three different stages in its life cycle. It survives outside the host as an elementary body, which is the infectious form. When the elementary body enters a cell, it transforms into a reticulate body, a non-infectious form but one which can replicate, using cellular energy to do so. Once it replicates, it turns back into elementary bodies, so that it can reinfect other cells in the host, or a new host. If threatened by the immune system, it can turn into a cryptic body, a hibernating stage where the infection can lay dormant for decades. This form is very resistant to antimicrobials, but at some stage it must return to the elementary body to continue its lifecycle, and this is where it becomes vulnerable to the rotation of antimicrobial agents, and to a supplement which bursts the elemental bodies, called N – Acetyl Cysteine, or NAC.
Cpn infection has been linked to; Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, Asthma, Atherosclerosis, Atrial fibrillations, Benign prostatic hyperplasia, Bronchitis, CFIDS, COPD, Type 2 Diabetes, Earache, Encephalitis, Endocarditis, Erythema nodulosum, Eye problems, Giant-cell arteritis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, Hypertension, Immune suppression, Interstitial cystitis, Kidney failure, Lung cancer, Meningitis, Morgellons, Multiple sclerosis, Myocarditis, Obesity, Pericarditis, Pharyngitis, Pneumonia, Porphyria, Prostate cancer, Prostatitis, Pyoderma gangrenosum, Sinusitis, SUDS--Sudden unexpected death syndrome, Syndrome X, Vasculitis and others including chronic fatigue syndrome.
The link to MS has been made for several reasons. The bacterium has been found in the brain and cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) of people with MS; The CSF oligoclonal bands react to chlamydial antigens; elevated titers (levels of antibodies in a blood sample) to CPN have been found in MS patients compared to controls; and genes of Cpn have been found in the CSF of people with MS, but not in control groups.
Essentially, instead of killing all of the Cpn bacteria, the immune system cells actually transport it around the body to sites of infection (inflammation) in infected white cells. You may not have an obvious respiratory tract infection, but you now have a cryptic infection. The Cpn has found a way to live inside you, and may cause a chronic immune activation in response.
Work on the connection between Cpn and MS was pioneered by researchers at Vanderbilt university around 1999. A more recent study can be found here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16996738
David Wheldon, a UK based microbiologist who co-authored the above study, has also done extensive research into the links between this infection and MS. He treated his wife Sarah Wheldon who was suffering from progressive MS, for a cryptic infection of Cpn with extraordinary results, after her doctors had told her there was nothing that could be done, and she should just let the disease run its course.
Dr Wheldon notes the long delays in making a diagnosis, and how much greater recovery could be expected if treatment for cryptic infection with Cpn had been started earlier in the disease course. The Wheldon’s story can be read here http://beyondthebandaid.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Dr.-David-Wheldons-Article_Ignoring-The-Evidence.pdf
David Wheldon’s website on Cpn and multiple sclerosis can be found here http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/ms-treatment.html
An ABC Catalyst episode in August 2012 featured Dr Wheldon and Sarah Wheldon’s story. It also featured Dr Paul Thibault, a Newcastle (Australia) phlebologist (vein specialist) who has also linked Cpn infection to Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency, and who examines MS patients for blocked jugular veins, and treats any associated Cpn infection. The transcript of this episode, and the episode itself, can be viewed here http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3572695.htm
Dr Thibault’s Multiple Sclerosis page with links, can be found here http://www.cosmeticcentre.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=217201
Dr Thibault’s Chlamydophila pneumoniae page with comprehensive information on his treatment protocol can be found here http://www.cosmeticcentre.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=329348
Dr Thibault’s research paper on this subject can be found here http://www.cosmeticcentre.com.au/client_images/1043332.pdf
As noted elsewhere on this website, time is of the essence with MS. In the Catalyst interview, Dr Thibault notes that the earlier treatment is started, the better the likelihood of recovery. Nevertheless, to many MS patients, slowing or stopping the progression of their illness is the second most important factor after recovery, so treating any underlying cause of the disease, and optimising their health and quality of life is a major consideration at any stage of the illness.
Most of the treatments for MS, from steroids to disease modifying drugs, aim to ‘modulate’ or suppress the immune system. In the case of an underlying infection, this could be a very unwise approach to take, since these drugs are only likely to allow the existing infection (and other opportunistic infections) to proliferate.
Since the bacterium was only found in 1988, and the link with MS was only made around the turn of the 21st Century, many doctors and neurologists were trained before our knowledge on this bacterium began to explode. There is a lot of complex information out there (just on the link to Cpn and MS), let alone the other studies which link this bug to a multiplicity of illnesses. It is possible that most doctors may not suspect a chronic Cpn infection to be affecting a person with MS, yet it may be a part of the puzzle, especially where sickness behaviours that indicate chronic immune activation are part of the pattern of the illness.
People with MS, and especially people with progressive forms of the illness who are being left to their own devices by the medical profession, may consider checking whether they have compressed or blocked veins that supply their brain, and/or, whether they have a chronic cryptic Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection that could be addressed, as part of their health optimisation strategy.
Links:
Website dedicated to the understanding and treatment of Cpn infection http://cpnhelp.org./
Optic neuritis associated with Cpn infection
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16904026
Study linking Cpn to autoimmune disease http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/34594/InTech-Pathogenesis_of_chlamydia_pneumonia_persistent_illnesses_in_autoimmune_diseases.pdf
Article linking Cpn to chronic fatigue http://www.prohealth.com/library/showArticle.cfm?libid=12763
Rickettsia