ASPIRE Blog

“The essence of what makes up my daughter was gone. She was a different person. And we didn’t know what was going on,” said Tara Richardson.

“Bartonella bacteria are increasingly recognized as an emerging infectious disease threat. A new study by North Carolina State University researchers has found additional instances of Bartonella infection in humans who exhibited neuropsychiatric symptoms, a subset of whom also had skin lesions. This research adds to the body of evidence that not only can Bartonella infection mimic a spectrum of chronic illnesses – including mental illness – but also that dermatological symptoms may accompany infection.”

Conclusions: These findings indicated relative difficulties with aspects of executive and motor functions. Although evaluations were performed following the resolution of acute symptoms, ongoing and significant academic difficulties and emotional, behavioral, and social concerns were targets for clinical intervention and support.

Breitschwerdt, E.B.; Bradley, J.M.; Maggi, R.G.; Lashnits, E.; Reicherter, P. Bartonella Associated Cutaneous Lesions (BACL) in People with Neuropsychiatric Symptoms. Pathogens 2020, 9, 1023. DOI: 10.3390/pathogens9121023. Read Article Read NC […]

Hanie Ghasemi, Homa Nomani, Amirhossein Sahebkar* and Amir Hooshang Mohammadpour*, “Anti-inflammatory Augmentation Therapy in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: A Review”, Letters in Drug Design & Discovery (2020) 17: 1198. DOI: 10.2174/1570180817999200520122910 Anti-inflammatory […]

Around 4th grade, Sylvie was at a friend’s house, and I received a call that she wanted to come home. She was scared as she had seen something upsetting on TV; turns out it was a cat that had fallen from a roof and broken its leg. It was a little strange that she had such a strong reaction, and afterward, she was withdrawn. Soon after, Sylvie came home from school and said she could no longer eat because she was afraid of choking and dying. She loved food and, prior to this, ate with gusto. We struggled and cajoled her into eating; the whole family got involved, and after about two weeks of extremely slow eating and chewing, she got back to somewhat normal.

I was so relieved to have a diagnosis that made sense finally, which gave us the hope of treating and recovering our son.

Borrelia miyamotoi Serology in a Clinical Population With Persistent Symptoms and Suspected Tick-Borne Illness Delaney Shannon L., Murray Lilly A., Aasen Claire E., Bennett Clair E., Brown Ellen, Fallon Brian […]

Standing Up to OCD Workbook For Kids: 40 Activities to Help Children Stop Unwanted Thoughts, Control Compulsive Behaviors, and Overcome Anxiety by Tyson Reuter PhD  Show your worries who’s boss―an […]

Note from ASPIRE: This is a must-read PANS PANDAS Patient Story. A typical happy young girl develops a severe eating disorder and other PANS PANDAS symptoms; then, she suffers through […]

This story exemplifies how it is sometimes hard to see the sudden onset or sudden worsening of PANS PANDAS symptoms as you are living (struggling) through it. Remember, someone with PANS PANDAS does not need to be 100% free of all symptoms, behaviors, delays, etc. before onset; symptoms can pile up. The boy featured in this story had several challenges prior to diagnosis. Hence, as his parents, providers, and educators kept trying new therapies, seeing gains then seeing the loss of those gains, it was hard to see the big picture and identify those periods of sudden onset and sudden worsening of symptoms. It was not until medical issues in his sibling were identified, including Bartonella, strep, and mycoplasma, was PANS PANDAS considered. Then the pieces fell into place, and it was easier to see when he had hit walls – i.e., when he had periods of regression and sudden worsening of behaviors.

Nykytyuk S, Boyarchuk O, Klymnyuk S, Levenets S. The Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction associated with doxycycline in a patient with Lyme arthritis. Reumatologia. 2020;58(5):335-338. doi: 10.5114/reum.2020.99143. Epub 2020 Oct 3. PMID: 33227092; […]