By Simon Yu, MD
Is it possible to reverse engineer unsuspected mental illness? Several years ago, I saw a 59-year-old nurse from North Carolina with chief complaint of parasites coming out of her oral cavity through her teeth and gums. Nobody believed that she had parasites. Her family wanted her hospitalized in a psychiatric unit for evaluation and treatment of mental illness, suspecting acute mania or schizophrenia. She told me, “I’m not crazy. I just have a parasite problem.” My patient also had chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, brain fog, IBS, GERD, chronic diarrhea, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, history of hepatitis C from a needle stick, and was unable work as an nurse. She had insomnia, fungal enteritis and mold exposure. In addition, she had many severe rotting dental cavities.
Parasites can be an underlying cause of hundreds of mysterious medical and mental illnesses. For example, toxoplasmosis, caused by the parasitic protozoan Toxoplasma gondii – a unicellular parasite, similar to Babesia or Malaria – commonly infects include cats, cattle, poultry, sheep, goats, and more. It can also infect humans, where toxoplasmosis effects may range from asymptomatic to severe disease. Transmission can come from handling cat litter, eating undercooked meat, and congenitally from mother to fetus. With a US prevalence of about 11%, asymptomatic infection occurs in the general population. In congenital infection and immunosuppressed individuals, more severe forms of the disease may occur, but the blood test for Toxoplasma is not always reliable.
Lymphadenitis (lymph node swelling), fatigue, and malaise are some of the most common clinical symptoms of the disease. I have very limited experience with Toxoplasma, but perhaps I have overlooked many more toxoplasmosis cases, according to German physician Dr. Uwe auf der Strasse. He recently published, The Toxoplasmosis Handbook: A parasite deceives medicine and makes us sick – Recognize and treat Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasmosis is fairly common in Germany; infection rates rise from 20% to 77% for increasing age cohorts. The book is only available in German; I got this information from my good friend, Dr. Helmut Retzek of Austria.
From Retzek’s blog post, Dr. Uwe auf der Strasse the hero-physician of 2019, “Starting from the case of a woman who has been ill for 50 years and who was temporarily significantly improved with a special antibiotic (clindamycin), he was able to identify the underlying infection being toxoplasmosis, worked up the scientific literature on toxoplasmosis, successfully treated 150 similar patients and thus gave us a very detailed picture of one disease that is almost always misinterpreted as Lyme disease, rheumatism or chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia in patients that have not been successfully treated so far.”
“The parasite occurs in several forms: The tachyzoite is the official vegetative form, but the body forms antibodies in about 70% of the cases, which pass with long-term infection. In the human body the tachyzoite transforms into the spore form bradyzoite, which multiplies much more slowly and experiences a change in the cell membrane so that the human immune system no longer recognizes this “spore”. We currently have no antibody diagnostics against the bradyzoites and so the disease can no longer be detected in the case of prolonged infection. Bradyzoites live above all in muscle cells and in the brain.”
Toxoplasmosis Symptoms, Questionnaire and Scoring
The symptoms described by Strasse are very clear, as summarized by Retzek. The percentage after a symptom refers to the percent of toxoplasmosis patients presenting that symptom.
“A” symptoms
- Great tiredness and exhaustion after minimal effort, high need for sleep 100%
- Strong muscle pain after minimal exertion, takes days to release and relax 100%
- Concentration disorders 93%
- Sweating, especially at night 78%
- Shortness of breath with little exertion, fast high pulse with exertion, feeling of pressure on the heart or chest, especially with exertion; infection of the heart muscle or diaphragm; patient typically had previous examinations by a cardiologist and/or pulmonologist 67%
- Listlessness 63%
- IgG against Toxoplasma 60%
“B” symptoms
- Irritability 59%
- Visual disturbance, blurred vision, unclear vision 44%
- Dizziness 37%
- Depression 41%
- Fears 33%
“C” symptoms
- Morning stiffness 30%
- Water retention (especially of the hands and feet) 33%
- Sleep disorders 38%
- Coordination disorder, runs into objects, gait insecurity
- Abdominal pressure
- Headache
- Joint pain
- Lymph node swelling
Because the blood test is not reliable against all stages and forms of the disease, Dr. Strasse uses a Toxoplasmosis questionnaire as an aid to diagnose and trial medications. If no more than three of the A symptoms are present and the other symptoms are normal, then there is probably no toxoplasmosis. If there are at least three A symptoms and three from B or C, there is probably toxoplasmosis. Tiredness was the leading symptom that was present in all reported cases. Dr. Strasse uses clindamycin initially as a trial, and then adds Pyrimethamine plus sulfadiazine and other combinations. Pyrimethamine is also used for Malaria, Pneumocystis carinii and Babesia.
I treated my nurse from North Carolina with multiple parasite medications including Ivermectin, pyrantel pamoate, praziquantel, tinidazole, doxycycline, and antifungal meds based on acupuncture meridian assessment (AMA). In collaboration with Dr. John Wilson, her Integrative medicine physician, we added Pyrimethamine, sulfadiazine, and folinic acid based on a blood test with a very high IgG antibody titer of 102 (above 8.8 is considered positive for toxoplasmosis).
While it may sound farfetched, I have learned from my patients that parasites can affect and control your mind, as well as muscles, organs, nerves and more. See my articles, “Parasites and Mental Illness: Delusions of Parasitosis,” and “Parasites and Mind Control,” on www.preventionandhealing.com.
This patient is now doing much better physically and emotionally, and is going through the process of reconciling with her estranged family after multiple rounds of different combination of parasite meds. Her biggest challenge was dental work. She said she spent over $20,000 on dental revision work, still had parasites coming out of her oral cavity, and was unable to see me due to financial hardship for more than two years. Last month, I saw her again. She still had residual parasite-related symptoms. I told her she needed more parasite medications, and to extract seven infected teeth for the potential of a full recovery. Dental-related parasite problems are an often overlooked part of dental-related medical problems.
In summary, when patients are suffering from unusual complex chronic conditions, both parasites and dental problems must be considered as they have been deceiving medical professions for many years. Do not treat based on the latest expensive lab test or follow new fads for your symptoms or diagnosis. Do not treat for a single parasite, i.e. Toxoplasma gondii alone. Most patients have multiple parasites, coinfections and dental problems that must be addressed in the right sequence, in addition to environmental toxins and allergy-immunology dysregulation. This is a multi-year project for reversing unsuspected medical and mental illnesses or any complicated medical and dental (MAD) condition; including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, rheumatism, or neurological diseases such as ALS, MS, Parkinson’s disease, and more.
Dr. Simon Yu, M.D. is a Board Certified Internist. He practices Internal Medicine with an emphasis on Integrative Medicine to use the best each has to offer. For more articles and information about integrative medicine, patient success stories, and Dr. Yu’s new book, AcciDental Blow Up in Medicine: Battle Plan for Your Life, visit his website at www.preventionandhealing.com or call Prevention and Healing, Inc., 314-432-7802. You can also attend a free monthly presentation and discussion on Integrative Medicine at his office on the second Tuesday each month at 6:30 pm. Call to verify the date. Seating is limited, arrive early. Note: The Tuesday evening presentation is suspended until further notice due to COVID-19
Simon Yu, MD
Prevention and Healing, Inc. 10908 Schuetz Road
St. Louis, MO 63146 314-432-7802
www.preventionandhealing.com
Weaving Internal Medicine with Integrative Medicine to Use the Best Each Has to Offer