The New Germ Theory

The "New" Germ Theory: An Idea Whose Time Has Come Again The so-called new germ theory is fast gaining acceptance in the scientific world, as evidence of an infectious etiology accumulates for illnesses ranging from ulcers, hypertension and heart disease to diabetes, kidney stones, asthma, and cancer. Recent DNA evidence has implicated mycoplasmas, chlamydia, and other infectious agents in rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, scleroderma and related rheumatic diseases which until now have been classified as autoimmune and therefore incurable.

In any infectious disease, treatment must attack the cause or source of the illness in order to be effective. Most therapies for rheumatic diseases are aimed at suppressing or controlling the symptoms, and do not address a probable cause. This is now changing with the transition from the autoimmune model to an infectious one.

Consistent with this changing view of the cause, the most promising new therapy for rheumatic diseases has proven to be minocycline, a third generation drug in the tetracycline family of antibiotics. Minocycline has been proven particularly safe and effective against mycoplasmas, and can prevent the organisms from reproducing. Aided by a strong immune system, in many cases this therapy can bring about lasting remission, prevent further damage, and return patients to productive lives.

Improvement with antibiotic therapy can be gradual, and is often the reward of a long-term commitment. A series of clinical trials of minocycline in rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma demonstrated dramatic reductions in all measurable parameters of these diseases: pain, fatigue, depression, stiffness, restricted range of motion, low muscle tone and strength, memory loss, poor appetite, changes in hair texture, muscle spasms, trigger points, inflammation, dry, cracked or tight skin,skin ulcers, Raynaud1s phenomenon, swallowing difficulties, and heartburn (acid reflux). But most patients did not get their illnesses overnight, and reversing the disease takes time.

Antibiotics for connective tissue disease are gaining new popularity, but are hardly a new therapy. Their earliest use in these applications was based on the research of Thomas McPherson Brown, MD, and Albert Sabin, MD, at the Rockefeller Institute in the late 19301s. Dr. Brown1s original clinical protocol was developed in the 1940s, and with modifications has been used successfully and safely for nearly 60 years.