Here, Dr. Harry Oken presents the case of a middle-aged patient with a history of depression and hypothyroidism who had unusual symptoms, including one-sided allodynia, “pins and needles” sensation, headaches, joint pain, periodic night sweats and IBS symptoms. Treatments included a therapeutic trial of steroids, which caused a steroid psychosis and led to inpatient psychiatric hospitalization, culminating in 25+ Electroconvulsive treatments. A blood culture was positive for an atypical Mycobacteria and a three drug antibiotic regimen was begun with dramatic sustained improvement.

In this presentation, Dr. Gaber Abdellrazek, a postdoctoral fellow who is currently researching the pathogenic mechanism of MAP with Dr. William Davis, explains their lab’s latest findings. They have discovered that the deletion of a single gene cripples Map’s ability to establish a persistent infection. This led to the discovery of a peptide with potential for development as a vaccine. Studies with the peptide in tissue culture show vaccination leads to development of immune cells that can kill Map inside macrophages, an essential requirement for a vaccine against intracellular pathogens. While this is being investigated in cattle, it could have implications for human health as well.

This engaging, enlightening panel discussion explores functional medicine strategies in immune conditions from the point of view of three experts with differing backgrounds and perspectives. Topics include fasting, psoriasis, medical cannabis and antibiotics in conditions such as scleroderma and rheumatoid arthritis.

In this joint presentation, Prof. Borody and Dr. Martin present a case of severe fistulizing Crohn’s disease which was healed with a combination of antibiotics, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and surgery. Powerpoint slides follow the video.

Featuring the world’s leading experts on this topic, Prof. Thomas Borody, Dr. William Chamberlin and Dr. Ira Shafran, this panel discusses antibiotic use in gastroenterology practice and answers audience questions.

Dr. J. Todd Kuenstner reports preliminary results of the MAP/Crohn’s disease testing study, which found that viable MAP organisms were detected by phage assay in 54.6% of the 194 subjects in the study. The study will remain blinded until March 2019, when all testing is complete. Publication is expected in July 2019. Thank you to everyone who has made this study possible. To all of the Crohn’s and control subject participants, to the researchers who have donated their time and expertise, and to our Human Para community who have donated time and resources to this endeavor. A special note of thanks to Valerie Joly of Crohn’s Warrior Fights and the Denver, NC community for hosting a golf tournament which raised a whopping $22,678.32, and funded the majority of the study. We couldn’t have done it without all of you!

In this presentation, Dr. William Chamberlin describes two Crohn’s disease patients who have found long term healing. The first, an adult patient, has altered the traditional antibiotic regimen to avoid side effects and keep the disease in deep remission. The second is a 10 year old pediatric patient who experienced remarkable healing on an antibiotic regimen.

Dr. Hal Gunn is the founder and CEO of Qu Biologics, and has dedicated his professional life to understanding how to optimally support the body’s immune response to chronic disease. Dr. Gunn is recognized both nationally and internationally as a leader in the field of supportive cancer care, and is the founder and past-CEO of InspireHealth, Canada’s leading supportive oncology centres. Dr. Gunn obtained his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of British Columbia and remains on faculty at UBC’s School of Medicine. To learn more about QBECO and the study, please click on this link: https://www.quibd.com/

Dr. Irene Grant is a Professor of Microbiology and Food Safety at Queen’s University in Belfast.  Her long time research interest has been Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, its heat resistance, presence in milk and dairy products, and methods for its accurate detection and enumeration. She has published extensively on this subject and is recognized as an international authority on this potentially foodborne and zoonotic bacterium. In this presentation, Dr. Grant reports on some preliminary findings of the Crohn’s/MAP Testing Study funded by Human Para, and describes her phage assay technique used for the detection of MAP.

John Aitken is a free-lance microbiologist based out of Christchurch, New Zealand and the senior director of Otakaro Pathways, Ltd. Prior to his current position, he worked in medical microbiology for public and private providers for more than 40 years. His particular areas of interest are antimicrobial resistance and emerging bacterial infectious diseases. John is presently involved in research surrounding the relationship between immune diseases and the Mycobacterium species. Here, John discusses his latest research into mycobacterium species found in Crohn’s disease patients.

Dr. Robert Greenstein is a researcher in the Laboratory of Molecular Surgical Research at the VA Medical Center in Bronx, NY. He has written numerous publications on the subject of mycobacteria, and has recently turned his efforts toward the anti-MAP activity of existing Crohn’s disease therapies. Learn about Dr. Greenstein’s decades of work with MAP, conventional Crohn’s disease treatments and antibiotic resistance. His presentation concludes with a discussion of the proof needed to link MAP with Crohn’s, followed by an audience Q&A session.

Dr. Jonathan Budzik is a Visiting Scholar at the University of California Berkeley Cox Lab and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care  at the University of California, San Francisco. His research interests include understanding the changes in host protein phosphorylation during M. tuberculosis infection and investigating the molecular basis for M. avium. complex virulence.

To kick off Human Para’s 2018 conference, Mycobacterial Implications in Crohn’s and Chronic Inflammatory Diseases, Dr. William Chamberlin provided a brief overview of the history of atypical mycobacteria in human disease, suggestions on how to change the status quo by establishing causality and discussed the challenges going forward.

Should humans with Crohn’s disease be reclassified as having Johne’s disease? Enjoy the latest commentary from Dr. William C. Davis of Washington State University, whose lab will be presenting their latest research at the Berkeley Conference on September 21st!

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are not only conventional opportunistic pathogens, but they are important sources of triggers of chronic immune-mediated and autoimmune disorders. In this short note and associated paper, Dr. Karel Hruska highlights the risk posed by NTM in water, food, and soil. Hence NTM are associated with the so called “civilization diseases” (Type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, asthma, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and others.)

The 2018 Human Para conference, Mycobacterial Implications in Crohn’s and Chronic Inflammatory Diseases, is only weeks away! As an introduction to MAP, the conference, and our foundation, Dr. Michael Collins has provided a short video summarizing the issues and setting the stage.