lyme disease and brain

Preacher Slay Witnesses Unfazed At First
Congregants Believed Shooting Was Theatrics; Pastor Killed, Two Others Wounded In Attack
MARYVILLE, Ill., March 9, 2009
During a service at the First Baptist Church of Maryville in Ill., a 27 year-old man shot and killed the church?s pastor as well as stabbed two congregants and himself. Dean Reynolds has the latest...

the man's mother said the disease left lesions on his brain and that doctors had diagnosed him as mentally ill before discovering the disease...

...In the August 2008 article, the mother said her son was taking several medications and had difficulty speaking after contracting the tick-borne illness....

The Complexities of Lyme Disease A Microbiology Tutorial by Thomas M. Grier M.Sc.
...What happens when the infection gets to the brain? In the case of Lyme disease, every animal model to date shows that the Lyme spirochete can go from the site of the bite to the brain in just a few days. (41,60, abstract 644) While we know these bacteria can break down individual cell membranes and capillaries, its entrance into the brain is too pronounced for such a localized effect. When the Lyme bacteria enters the human body, we react by producing several immune regulatory substances known as cytokines and lymphokines. Several of these act in concert to break down the blood brain barrier. (E.g. Il-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Il-1, Transforming Growth Factor-beta etc.) In addition to affecting the blood brain barrier, these cytokines can make us feel ill, and give us fevers. (54,60,) (JID 1996:173, Jan)...

... When the human brain becomes inflamed, cells called macrophages respond by releasing a neuro-toxin called quinolinic acid. This toxin is also elevated in Parkinson's Disease, MS, ALS, and is responsible for the dementia that occurs in AIDS patients. What quinolinic acid does is stimulate neurons to repeatedly depolarize. This eventually causes the neurons to demyelinate and die. People with elevated quinolinic acid have short-term memory problems. (27,29-37,40-42,74,75, 82-84,87-90)

This means: If we think of all of our brain cells like telephone lines, we can visualize the problem. If all of the lines coming in are busy, we can't learn anything. If all of the lines going out are busy, we can't recall any memories. Our thinking process becomes impaired.

White House says Bush was treated for Lyme disease a year ago
updated 12:12 p.m. EDT, Thu August 9, 2007