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Can Strep Throat Cause Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Fox News ^ | November 08, 2010 | By Dr. Keith Ablow

Posted on 11/09/2010 10:40:58 PM PST by LucyT

For years, researchers have wondered about a connection between children getting strep throat and later showing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a frequently debilitating condition affecting millions of Americans in which those afflicted think repetitive thoughts they don’t want to or perform compulsive, ritualistic behaviors they wish they didn’t have to— ..."

The thinking has been that strep throat bacteria trigger the production of antibodies that end up not only targeting strep, but “mistakenly” acting on an enzyme in the brain, which is involved in making brain chemical messengers. In so doing, the antibodies to the strep throat infection pathologically alter the balance of these chemical messengers.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: bacteria; ocd; ocdisorder; strepthroat
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To: LucyT

Thanks for the PING!


21 posted on 11/10/2010 4:48:58 AM PST by Larousse2 (The price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance. ~ Thomas Jefferson)
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To: LucyT

Anyone interested in FURTHER info on this topic, please search P.A.N.D.A.S - it absolutely makes the connection of neurological disorders (OCD, tics) to strep antibodies.


22 posted on 11/10/2010 5:14:53 AM PST by Dasaji (On a beach somewhere in my head...)
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To: LucyT
Many children exposed to strep (and infected by it) do not complain of a sore throat.

Forgive my ignorance, but neither I, my husband or children have ever had strep. Is it similar to tonsillitis? I always thought strep throat caused a BAD sore throat.

23 posted on 11/10/2010 5:45:26 AM PST by azishot
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To: Smokin' Joe

Thanks for the ping!


24 posted on 11/10/2010 5:48:22 AM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: allmost

I’m a little skeptical of this one. Strep is such a common infection - hasn’t most everyone been exposed? I would think that this theory is along the same lines as, “Everyone who’s ever had a heart attack has drank water. Most within 24 hours of their heart attack...”


25 posted on 11/10/2010 6:00:12 AM PST by Marie (Obama seems to think that Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel since Camp David, not King David)
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To: Smokin' Joe

Thanks for holding this ping list. You ping to some of the most interesting threads.


26 posted on 11/10/2010 6:36:27 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Smokin' Joe
Sorry about the double ping...quirky server.

I thought it was an OCD thing...

27 posted on 11/10/2010 6:41:28 AM PST by null and void (We are now in day 659 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: null and void
(8^D)

Actually, nully, I have had more experience with sleep deprivation than I ever intended to, and noticed a 'fatigue point' where behaviour is similar to OCD after 24-36 hours with less than three hours of sleep, or a protracted period with 3-4 hours of sleep (total) each 24. I wonder if fatigue/stress can't produce similar but more temporary conditions.

28 posted on 11/10/2010 7:16:08 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: metmom

You’re welcome, metmom. I have help, really, because other FReepers ping me.


29 posted on 11/10/2010 7:21:57 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Alamo-Girl

You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl


30 posted on 11/10/2010 7:23:11 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: LucyT

Isn’t anyone else bothered by the fact that the letters in OCD are not in their proper alphabetical order? Or is it just me? :)


31 posted on 11/10/2010 7:53:29 AM PST by Horkster ("Money will buy most anything in this country - even a Muslim Communist Presidency." - RoadTest)
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To: Horkster
Glad you noticed that too.

For a minute there I thought I might be crazy.

32 posted on 11/10/2010 8:37:00 AM PST by Madame Dufarge
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To: LucyT

I had strep throat as a child but I think I’ve always been OCD. Mine isn’t a severe case I just check the locks multiple times. Make sure stuff is in the right place. I go nutty when people move stuff without asking me first because I like everything to be as is.


33 posted on 11/10/2010 10:13:38 AM PST by Dengar01 (Go Blackhawks!!!)
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To: LucyT; AdmSmith; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; bigheadfred; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

“I wonder if ‘Civ ever had strep throat,” everyone wondered.

Thanks LucyT.


34 posted on 11/10/2010 7:51:58 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Ya know - I always think how blessed I am to have such great, wonderful, and healthy kids. And then I pause to think of all the things that can still happen to them.

Add one more. My one daughter is the strep carrier, and the other “gets” it. After about the third time doing the tests, it is just a given that they both have it (twins).

Hard to believe these messy teen girls could become OCD - I hope not. (Although a touch more organization would be nice!)


35 posted on 11/10/2010 8:39:08 PM PST by 21twelve ( You can go from boom to bust, from dreams to a bowl of dust ... another lost generation.)
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To: Dasaji; Smokin' Joe

PANDAS is an abbreviation for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections.

This diagnosis is used to describe a set of children who have a rapid onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or tic disorders such as Tourette syndrome (TS), following group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infections such as “strep throat” and scarlet fever.

The proposed link between infection and these disorders is an autoimmune reaction, where antibodies produced by the infection interfere with neuronal cells.

[snip]

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), children with PANDAS are clinically identified by five criteria. “They are:

1. Presence of obsessive–compulsive disorder and/or a tic disorder
2. Pediatric onset of symptoms (age 3 years to puberty)
3. Episodic course of symptom severity
4. Association with group A Beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection (a positive throat culture for strep. or history of Scarlet Fever)
5. Association with neurological abnormalities (motoric hyperactivity, or adventitious movements, such as choreiform movements).”[1]

The children usually have dramatic, “overnight” onset of symptoms, including motor or vocal tics, obsessions, and/or compulsions.[1]

Some studies have shown no acute exacerbations associated with streptococcal infections among clinically defined PANDAS subjects[8][9] whilst others have shown a profound one.[10][11]

In addition to an OCD or tic disorder diagnosis, children may have other symptoms associated with exacerbations such as emotional lability, enuresis, anxiety, and deterioration in handwriting.[11] In the PANDAS model, this abrupt onset is thought to be preceded by a strep throat infection.

As the clinical spectrum of PANDAS appears to resemble that of Tourette’s syndrome, some researchers hypothesize that PANDAS and Tourette’s may be associated; this idea is controversial and a focus for current research.[3][12]

Concerns have been raised that PANDAS may be overdiagnosed, as nearly one-third of patients diagnosed with PANDAS by community physicians did not meet the criteria when examined by specialists, suggesting that the PANDAS diagnosis is conferred by community physicians without conclusive evidence.[13]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PANDAS


36 posted on 11/10/2010 9:51:39 PM PST by LucyT
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To: 2ndreconmarine; Fitzcarraldo; Covenantor; Mother Abigail; EBH; Dog Gone; ...
Ping to post number 36

Thanks, LucyT!

37 posted on 11/10/2010 10:31:54 PM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: LucyT

Very interesting information about PANDAS


38 posted on 11/11/2010 2:37:21 AM PST by Judith Anne (Holy Mary, Mother of God, please pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.)
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To: LucyT
Dr. Amy Yasko, who is researching methylation cycle gene breaks and how they relate to autism and other disorders, has found a connection with strep and OCD in those following her protocol. Many autistic kids (and others with similar gene breaks) have OCD. Treatment of strep often helps. She has found that the sinuses can act as a reservoir for the strep and it continually reinfects the gut. Some have found xclear nasal spray helpful as well as IP6.

For those interested, her web site is http://www.dramyyasko.com and the newsgroup for those following her protocol is http://www.ch3nutrigenomics.com

39 posted on 11/11/2010 3:53:28 AM PST by nicolezmomma
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To: Smokin' Joe

Thanks for the ping!


40 posted on 11/11/2010 6:01:46 AM PST by Alamo-Girl
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