by Donald S. McAlvaney, Editor,
McAlvaney Intelligence Advisor (MIA), August 1996
The good news is there are a number of treatment modalities (both conventional and alternative) which help to alleviate the symptoms of GWI IF STARTED EARLY ENOUGH, and which, according to Drs. Garth and Nancy Nicolson, Joyce Riley, and others who have had the illness, can bring about a recovery (or at least long-term remission of the illness and its symptoms).
The bad news is that due to pressure from the Dept. of Defense and the Veterans Administration, the Nicolsons have been forced out of M.D. Anderson, and that at this writing their new research facilities in California are just beginning to be set up, so the very sensitive molecular blood tests which they were doing are not being done at this time. It is hoped that they can recommence this testing within a few months.
The Drs. Nicolson discovered in their work at the M.D. Anderson Center that unlike viruses, the mycoplasmas respond to the appropriate antibiotics if the disease is caught early. They found that two or four courses of the antibiotic doxycycline (2-3x100mg. caps/day taken for a few days to a week, then 2x100mgs/day for 5-6 weeks per course) work best.
They have also found that other antibiotics, (i.e. ciprofloxacin and arithromycin) also work, and they believe that the latter antibiotic is safe for children.
Other modalities which have helped GWI victims have included herbal cleansing (or detoxification), an herbal program for building the immune system, ozone treatment, and colloidal silver.
There are a small handful of doctors around the country who understand Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus) and who have been treating it. However, they are under tremendous pressure from the medical establishment and from the government not to discuss, acknowledge, or treat GWI. The half a dozen or so who have been treating GWI have asked that their names NOT be used in this report or put in writing for fear of retaliation from the government, they’re afraid they’ll be shut down or lose their licenses.
[ED. NOTE: Is this bizarre or what?]
Most doctors do not have a clue that the illness exists, what it is, how to recognize it, much less how to treat it. This includes VA doctors who refuse to administer doxycycline to veterans with GWI symptoms.
A. Testing For Mycoplasma Fermentans (Incognitus)
The Nicolsons’ testing for Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus) is unique and until July was done only at the M.D. Anderson Center in Houston by the Nicolsons. Now, because of political pressure against the Nicolsons, it is done nowhere. As regards blood testing for Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus), the Nicolsons have written:
This particular microorganism does not cross-react with tests for any of the 20+ known mycoplasmas, and routine laboratory blood tests do not detect this infection.
One must employ a sensitive genetic marker analysis to detect this micro- organism in biological samples, and even then it is difficult to find because it’s mainly inside cells in the body, not in body fluids. The mycoplasma proliferates inside cells, and in this respect, differs from most bacteria which proliferate intercellularly and can be easily detected. It also differs from other mycoplasmas in that it has a piece of retroviral nucleic acid integrated into its DNA genome.
B. Use Of Doxycycline To Treat Gulf War Illness
As the Nicolsons have written: Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus) is contributing to the deaths of those affected with GWI, but little is known about its distribution in the normal adult population. Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus) will cause chronic fatigue syndrome, recurring fever, night sweats, joint pain, stomach upsets and cramps, headaches, skin rashes, heart pain, kidney pain, thyroid problems, and in extreme cases, auto-immune-like disorders, such as those that lead to paralysis.
[ED. NOTE: See the more extensive list of symptoms in Section I-B above].
These latter symptoms are probably due to the fact that this microorganism is released from infected cells carrying parts of host cell plasma membrane, and individuals may respond to the microorganism as well as normal host antigens carried on the microorganism. This mycoplasma is also communicable between humans and dogs and cats, as we found out when one of our cats died from the disease, and its blood tested positive for Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus). Both of us (i.e. Drs. Nancy and Garth Nicolson) have suffered from Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus) and have recovered.
In 1987, while Nancy Nicolson was an instructor in the Dept. of Immunology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, she became extremely ill. She sought help from doctors, but they couldn’t explain it, and she was partially paralyzed and weighed only 70 pounds when she and her husband began testing antibiotics on her. They tried a half a dozen before finding doxycycline, which proved to be the cure. At the time of her illness, her department had been doing research (for the U.S. government) on mycoplasma and she believes that she contracted it there.
In 1991, almost six months after returning from military service in the Gulf War, Garth Nicolson’s step-daughter began suffering similar symptoms – – chronic fatigue, aching joints, fevers, vomiting, diarrhea. Shortly thereafter, both of the Drs. Nicolsons came down with similar symptoms. All tested positive for Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus), as did their cats.
In an attempt to treat the illness, the Nicolsons tried several drugs on themselves and their stepdaughter. ONLY DOXYCYCLINE (or tetracycline) had any effect. All three recovered.
[ED. NOTE: They noted in their experiments that penicillin exacerbated the disease!]
The Nicolsons’ stepdaughter’s roommate during the Gulf War – – an officer in the 101st Airborne Division, in charge of a nuclear biological, chemical (NBC) unit – – also became ill with GWI. Both girls received cycles of doxycycline, and both are now fully recovered and are attending college in San Diego.
Soon, the stepdaughter began passing the word to her military friends about the cure. With a letter from Nicolson, if necessary, they obtained prescriptions from their doctors. Garth Nicolson later contacted 73 soldiers by telephone or letter, and he says 55 reported a dramatic improvement in their health and had returned to duty.
The Nicolsons report that they have helped units of the Delta Force at Fort Bragg, N.C. with treatment of the disease, as well as a number of Navy Seals, and are also quietly working with other active military units that were involved in Desert Storm.
The Nicolsons have said: Since the diagnosis may take some time, it may be of advantage to try a six-week cycle of doxycycline when the symptoms arise. If the disease is present, one will feel significantly better within 1-2 weeks of taking doxycycline, and you can avoid a potentially disastrous health situation. The doxycycline treatment is not harmful in any way. At the dose levels recommended, it should not cause any problems, and there are few reported complications with this antibiotic.
As the Nicolsons wrote on 6/20/95: We recently published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Nicolson, G. I. and Nicolson, N. L. Doxycycline Treatment and Desert Storm, JAMA 273: 618-619, 1995).
[ED. NOTE: Doctors reading this report are encouraged to get that article.
The brief article discussed their positive results with 73 soldiers. We have found that two to four courses of the antibiotic doxycycline (2×100 caps/day [a.m. and p.m.] for a few days to a week, then 1×100 mg/day for five to six weeks per course) work best. (Severely ill persons may need to repeat the course five to six times).
If you can’t tolerate 200 mg. then use 100 mg/day. For people who can’t tolerate or are allergic to tetracycline (i.e. doxycycline), substitute ciprofloxacin (1000-1500 mg./day) or Zitromax (azithromycin – 500 mg/day). If a person is suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome, ciprofloxacin can be substituted for doxycycline.
We also recommend that patients who also have bacterial infections should take a two-week course of broad spectrum antibiotic (such as Augmentin, 3×500 mg. per day) between their courses of doxycycline. This will suppress the bacteria infections that often accompany the illness.
A more recent article in the International Journal of Occupational Medicine, Immunology and Toxicology (5: 69-78, 1996) demonstrated that approximately one-half of GWI patients are infected with Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus). The patients were placed on antibiotics (doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, or arithromycin) for several (2-6) six-week cycles of therapy. All but one patient recovered, and when these Gulf patients were retested for the presence of Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus) in their blood, they were found to be negative, indicating that the infection was likely to be the cause of GWI in these patients.
{ED. NOTE: The Nicolsons are not saying that doxycycline is a total cure for GWI or Mycoplasma fermentans (incognitus) – – only that it relieves symptoms in many people who have GWI. They readily admit that there is far more that is not known about GWI than is known, and the search for the truth and a total cure needs to accelerated, but is presently being almost totally obstructed by the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, the government in general, the Center for Disease Control, and the medical establishment in one of the greatest medical cover-ups in modern history. Meanwhile, thousands more Desert Storm vets and their wives and children are getting sick and dying, and while the government denies it existence, the disease is spreading inexorably in and through the general population].
And thousands of veterans who have received no medical help from the Veterans Administration, and whose doctors neither recognize GWI nor will prescribe doxycycline are going to Mexico where it can be bought very inexpensively over the counter with no prescription. (Many active duty military personnel are doing likewise). Some are even taking medicines for cats and dogs which contain doxycycline. This is pathetic and should anger every red-blooded American at what our government is doing (or not doing) for our vets. It’s the post-VietNam desertion of our vets all over again.
[ED. The doctors Nicolson’s new address is: Dr. Garth L. Nicolson Institute for Molecular Medicine, P. O. Box 52470, Irvine, CA 92619-2470.
This entire report is available for $5 from McAlvany Intelligence Advisor, P. O. Box 84904, Phoenix, AZ 85071 Phone 1-800-528-0559. The Copyright has been lifted from this report so that it can be distributed widely – especially to Gulf War Veterans, physicians and health care providers.