New Parasite Found In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFIDS)
Somebody and perhaps indeed it was Jim Humble that posted to HealthSalon but who knows? I have no way to verify. Anyway, they left this link of interest on Chronic Fatigue and suggested that this is why MMS has been so effective for such issues.
New Parasite Found In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFIDS)
by Immunesupport.com Staff
January 16, 2000
CFS Radio Program Jan. 16th, 2000. Roger G. Mazlen, M.D. Host with Dr. Larry Klapow.
Dr. Mazlen: Dr. Larry Klapow was a guest on this past Sunday's CFS Radio Show and gave a very important and very informative report of the work he has been doing. Dr. Klapow has been finding a new roundworm type of parasite in CFS patients called "Cryptostrongylus pulmoni". I found this show to be of particular interest to me because I have been found to have this particular parasitic infection and was very interested to learn of the immunologic dysfunctions that it can cause. I truly think that this important work definitely plays a part in the complex puzzle that is known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Dr. Mazlen To kick off the new millennium with a good show that you'll find of great interest and great importance, I'm talking today with Dr. Larry Klapow, a Ph.D. in Invertebrate Biology who's in Burlingame, California near San Francisco. Good morning Larry, welcome to our show.
Dr. Klapow Good morning, Roger, I'm glad to be here.
Dr. Mazlen Can you tell our audience something about the this suspected new parasite that you've found in a percentage of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? How'd you find it?
Dr. Klapow Well, Roger, it came about as a result of a conversation I was having with an immunologist friend of mine, Dr. Vincent Marinkovich, here in Redwood City, California. He was treating a CFS patient we thought might have a roundworm infection. The patient had a low grade eosinophilia and some unusual rashes on the torso that suggested the possibility of threadworm disease. Antibody tests and stool tests were negative. I thought about this for a while and I know that some chronic parasites migrate between the digestive tract and the respiratory tract and some of them are coughed up in sputum. So I looked at the sputum and that's where I found it. I called the new parasite "Cryptostrongylus pulmoni", that's a provisional name and it means "the hidden lung worm".
Dr. Mazlen That's pretty appropriate in terms of what you say.
Dr. Klapow It definitely is, Roger. It's very difficult to find. And I hope other people will start looking for it. In fact, I've put together some material that I think can help them.
Dr. Mazlen You recently completed a small blinded study in cooperation with a small number of CFS doctors including Dr. Anthony Komaroff in Harvard. You're now doing a larger blinded trial and you're also trying to develop a clinical test for the parasite. But for these other investigators and clinicians, can you tell us what does the parasite look like and how can they find it?
Dr. Klapow You can identify the parasite, the female by its mouth parts and the male by its very intricate reproductive structure. This parasite is very small. The female is less than a millimeter long and the male is about a third that length. So, in addition to being small there's also a lot of difficulties. The specimens I usually pick up are naturally expelled in sputum and they're usually very decayed and rare and because of this you need very specialized imaging techniques to find them. They're not expensive techniques, they're just specialized. In any case I wanted to help people look for this parasite and so I put together a website which describes how to find it in great detail. It also includes anatomical drawings. I can give you the website address if you like.
Dr. Mazlen Yes, give us the address right now, that'll be great.
Dr. Klapow OK, I'll give you my own email address and then I can post the other rather longer address for people who contact me. My email address is
[email protected].
Open the above link to finish the article