Iron Wars: Bacteria and Lyme

Most are aware of vitamin D and vitamin C as well as minerals like zinc, but do you know about the role that iron plays in our immune defenses and microbial invasions like Lyme? As functional medicine strives to optimize the terrain for potential or actual microbial attacks, we must consider the battle over iron…

Metabolomics and Children’s Chronic Diseases

The tool of “Metabolomics” looks to revolutionize how we view children’s chronic diseases.  The basic lab markers of yesterday revealed shadows of underlying dysfunction.  Metabolomics works to shine clearer light deeper into the actual mechanisms of our next generation’s growing chronic illness epidemic.  Today’s article of interest shares insights into how this developing tool has…

Epstein Barr Virus FB Live Bibliography

EBV Bibliography Symptoms and Diseases associated with EBV: Loebel, Madlen et al. “Deficient EBV-specific B- and T-cell response in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome” PloS one vol. 9,1 e85387. 15 Jan. 2014, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085387 Halpin, Peter et al. “Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and gulf war illness patients exhibit increased humoral responses to the herpesviruses-encoded dUTPase: Implications…

Give a Bacterial Colony a Blanket and You Give Them Life

Clinical and research medicine has long searched for keys to overcome bacterial resistance when treating patients for recurrent or stubborn infections.  Researchers have found various means to overcome bacterial resistance in many cases.  They have produced whole new classes of antibiotics, They have altered old antibiotics over and over, either increasing their killing power or…

SFM Re-Presents: PANDAS

No, I am not writing a veterinary piece this week on zoo animals. I am referring to Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders related to Streptococal infections. PANDAS is a well-known acronym in the medical world for several decades, yet a still mysterious constellation of symptoms with even more mysterious mechanism by which it wrecks havoc in…