A few months ago I submitted an abstract to the committee planning the upcoming Days of Molecular Medicine Conference, which will be held this April in Karolinska Sweden. A week ago, I was quite happy to learn that my abstract was accepted and that I will be giving a poster presentation at the conference. The subject: “Cognitive dysfunction in women with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: examining the role of the endometrium, the nuclear receptors, and the antimicrobial peptides.” So if all goes as planned, I’m headed to Sweden in about a month. I’m excited for many reasons, one of them being that before starting the Marshall Protocol I never thought I’d be able to board a plane again - the pressure changes and noise were too much for my head to tolerate. Yet, two 3/4 years later, here I am traveling half-way across the world, talking about many cognitive issues that were once a problem for me - a problem that has largely subsided.

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Several years ago this finance lawyer and mother of two was so debilitated both physically and mentally that she thought it unlikely that she’d live to see her children go to high school. Today, after five years on Autoimmunity Research Foundation’s Marshall Protocol, almost all of her symptoms have resolved and she has rejoined the world - picking up many of her old activities including tennis lessons. Meet Jane Taylor-Aoki.

Jane and her cat Muffy

When did you start to get sick?

During my teenage years but it took another twenty years or so before I was to become chronically ill and debilitated.

Describe the progression of your disease

While I was at high school I had odd bouts of ill health including chronic tonsillitis and sinusitis. In 1979, while at university, I suffered an episode of sudden fatigue and paralysis in both legs which disabled me for about three weeks. I was not seen by a specialist and it was concluded that I was suffering from “hysteria.”

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There’s a lot of information to absorb when learning about the Marshall Protocol. Not only do patients have to understand the treatment itself – how to dose their medications and manage their antibiotics – but they also have to grasp many of the fundamental scientific breakthroughs that underly the treatment.

During this time, it’s easy to become confused about some of the concepts that Dr. Marshall has put forth, or even just about how the medications work and affect the body. Happily, before starting the Marshall Protocol, patients can post questions at the website www.curemyTh1.org (Th1 refers to disease caused by L-form bacteria, hence the name Cure My Th1) where their questions are answered free of charge by patient advocates. They are also required to read a range of helpful information on the Marshall Protocol study site.

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In 2000, this former RN was a “chronic mess” – so ill that her life was an endless series of painful and debilitating relapses. Today, after three and a half years on Autoimmunity Research Foundation’s Marshall Protocol she’s bid goodbye to most of her symptoms and is out and about again – taking water aerobics classes and volunteering at the local nature preserve. Meet Melinda Stiles.

When did you first start to become ill? Describe the progression of your disease.

I was exposed to L-form bacteria at an early age. During the 1970s, I was a practicing Registered Nurse in Connecticut, first at Yale University, then at Middletown Memorial. At the time, a number of young boys were admitted to our hospital with strange muscular, arthritic complaints, swollen joints, and fever of unknown origin. After being given high doses of antibiotics, one boy even developed a heart block. I was in the ICCU and assisted with the temporary pacemaker before he was transferred to Yale Medical for diagnosis. We were following the prognosis of these young men with interest at the time. Most of the cases were originating around the town of Old Lyme, Connecticut. Later, scientists at Yale would group the symptoms these boys presented under the label of “Lyme disease” – inspired, of course, by the name of the town in which the boys first became sick.

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Paul W. Ewald is an evolutionary biologist, specializing in the evolution of infectious disease. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, in Zoology, with specialization in Ecology and Evolution. He is currently director of the program in Evolutionary Medicine at the Biology Department of the University of Louisville.

The first recipient of the George R. Burch Fellowship in Theoretic Medicine and Affiliated Sciences, Ewald’s publication of Evolution of Infectious Disease is widely acknowledged by doctors and scientists as a watershed in the emergence of the new discipline of evolutionary medicine. He has been featured in The Atlantic, Newsweek, Discover, and Forbes.

Professor Ewald is also the author of a groundbreaking book, Plague Time; How Stealth Infections Cause Cancers, Heart Disease and other Deadly Ailments.

How do the concepts of evolutionary biology support the idea that pathogens are to blame for most diseases?

When we consider the possible causes of disease, it’s important to make sure that at our starting point, we put all categories on the table. I believe the most useful way to do this is to think in terms of three main categories:

• inherited genes
• parasitic agents (this includes bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa
• non-living environmental factors (too much or too little of a particular substance, radiation, exposure to a chemical etc.)

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Note: Much of the analysis in this paper draws from the book “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes, and the article would not have been possible without his research.

At the age of 64, after a morning playing golf, President Dwight D Eisenhower had his first heart attack. As Pulitzer Prize winning author Gary Taubes describes in his book “Good Calories, Bad Calories”, Eisenhower’s heart attack “constituted a learning experience on coronary artery disease (CAD).” After the event, his doctors, considered the top experts in the field, gave the public a “lucid and authoritative description of the disease itself,” followed by twice-daily press conferences held on the president’s condition. Soon, most of America, particularly middle-aged men, were intently aware of the dogma surrounding heart disease, dogma that continues to persist today – namely the notion that dietary fat and cholesterol are major factors in the development of CAD. Like much of the rest of the nation, Eisenhower began to avidly lower his fat and cholesterol intake.

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Several years ago this West Virginia native feared for his life. He had managed to survive two heart attacks, but his sarcoidosis of the heart, myopathy, atrial fibrillation, and fluid-filled lungs were only getting worse. Now, after 2 1/2 years on Autoimmunity Research Foundation’s Marshall Protocol, this 69-year old is active again thanks to the fact that his heart conditions and sarcoidosis symptoms have improved considerably. Meet Freddie Ash.

Can you describe the progression of your disease?

As a child I was fed canned milk fortified with vitamin D. Early on I was deficient in iron. They made me eat molasses to try to bring the level of iron up, but in grade school it was so low I saw the doctor almost every day. They had to pull out my baby teeth because they rotted too quickly.

In grade school they had a nurse come in to check our hearts. Later that day I was given a slip – I never did find out what it said. A doctor examined me with a forescope but could find nothing wrong. I was dismissed.

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