Low-grade bacterial infections may play a role in asthma, according to a study.
In the study, 31 out of 55 patients with chronic, stable asthma also had a low-grade airway infection with mycoplasma pneumoniae, bacteria that commonly cause pneumonia in people younger than 40 years of age, or another bacteria called chlamydia (not associated with the sexually transmitted kind).
The infected patients were treated with antibiotics for six weeks and had significant improvements in lung function.
Although some researchers view the findings as controversial, more and more experts are noting the importance of the association and a large study to further examine the topic has been launched.
Asthma is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, with the number of asthma patients doubling from 1982 to 1998. Some 20 million Americans had asthma in 2001, and the condition costs the United States $14 billion annually.
Mouse experiments are also being used to explore the link between bacteria, allergy and asthma.
In asthma, airways get inflamed and hyperreactive, or "twitchy." Further, according to researchers, asthma patients with mycoplasma infection had a six-fold higher number of mast cells, which are associated with allergies, than asthma patients with no infection.
In a mouse with mycoplasma infection, its airways become hyperreactive and inflamed as well. When the mouse gets over the illness, in about two weeks, it is then sensitized to mycoplasma allergen and the airway’s hyperreactive response is blocked when subsequent exposure to the allergen occurs.
However, researchers noted that if a mouse becomes sensitized to the allergen before the mycoplasma infection, the airways become much more reactive.
According to researchers, this illustrates the hygiene hypothesis, which says that children who are exposed to germs are less likely to develop allergies and asthma than children who grow up in very clean environments.
Researchers conclude that people with new-onset asthma should be evaluated for a possible infectious component.
It was also noted that since it is possible to get mycoplasma infection but not wind up with asthma, those who do are likely genetically susceptible to the condition. Further genetic research may show that asthma cases follow different courses and may require different therapies to be treated effectively.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA June 10, 2003
I find this article most intriguing as for the last 14 years I have used a low-dose, pulsed antibiotic treatment to successfully treat the vast majority of nearly 3,000 patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
The theory was developed by Dr. Thomas Brown over 50 years ago. He treated over 10,000 patients before he died in 1989. Dr. Brown believed that rheumatoid arthritis was in large part caused by the same mycoplasma organisms. That is why the antibiotics used in the treatment protocol are derivatives of tetracycline, because those are the drugs of choice for mycoplasma.
Normally, asthma is not that difficult to treat. Optimizing your diet and removing sugars, grains and all fluids but water is typically a remarkable step in the right direction. My new book, The No-Grain Diet, discusses this approach in detail.
Adding omega-3 fish oils is also another potent tool to help normalize asthma. When choosing your fish oil or cod liver oil, it is important to remember that not all brands are the same. In my research--and in my clinical experience with my patients--I have found that 1) the liquid form is superior to capsules; 2) that certain brands definitely seem inferior to others; 3) that the Carlson's brand of fish oil/cod liver oil is of an exceptional quality and purity. It is likely not the only brand in the world of such high quality, but up to this point it is the only one of such quality that I can recommend, so I now have the Carlson's fish oil and cod liver oil available on Mercola.com; you can also check your local health food store to see if they carry it.
So what is the difference between fish oil and cod liver oil? In short, fish oil should be consumed in warm weather months and warm climates, while cod liver oil should be consumed in cool weather months and cool climates. Cod liver oil is high in vitamin D (and vitamin A); those in cool weather climates do not generally get enough vitamin D. However, in warm weather, their vitamin D is usually sufficient, as sunshine is one of the primary methods of obtaining this vitamin; if you consume too much vitamin D in these warm weather months, you do risk overdosing.
A reasonable dose for both fish oil and cod liver oil is one teaspoon for every 50 pounds of body weight daily.
If the diet and other basic tools fail though, it would seem wise to apply a version of the Physician’s Protocol that I developed for rheumatoid arthritis.
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