Uveitis

Sample PubMed cite¹

Medicine (Baltimore). 2008 May;87(3):167-76. Links High prevalence of fastidious bacteria in 1520 cases of uveitis of unknown etiology.

Drancourt M, Berger P, Terrada C, Bodaghi B, Conrath J, Raoult D, LeHoang P. Fédération de Microbiologie Clinique et Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France. The etiologic evaluation of uveitis is frequently unsuccessful when noninvasive methods are used. We conducted a prospective study to evaluate systematic screening for pathogens of uveitis. All patients with uveitis referred to the participating tertiary ophthalmology departments from January 2001 to September 2007 underwent intraocular and serum specimen collection. The standardized protocol for laboratory investigations included universal polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection of any bacteria and mycoses, specific PCR-based detection of fastidious (difficult-to-grow) bacteria and herpes viruses, and culture of vitreous fluid. Sera were tested for fastidious bacteria.Among the 1321 included patients (1520 specimens), infection was diagnosed in 147 (11.1%) patients: 78 (53%) were caused by fastidious bacteria that included spirochetes, Bartonella species, intracellular bacteria (Chlamydia species, Rickettsia species, Coxiella burnetii), and Tropheryma whipplei; 18 by herpes viruses; and 9 by fungi. Bartonella quintana, Coxiella burnetii, Paracoccus yeei, Aspergillus oryzae, and Cryptococcus albidus were found to be associated with uveitis for the first time, to our knowledge.We recommend applying a 1-step diagnostic procedure that incorporates intraocular, specific microbial PCR with serum analyses in tertiary centers to determine the etiology of uveitis. PMID: 18520326

Please see these links for explanations of uveitis:

Uveitis

Uveitis-simple explanation

Anterior Uveitis

Uveitis is one name for inflammationThe complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli such as pathogens or damaged cells. It is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli as well as initiate the healing process for the tissue. in the eyes. (Uveitis is inflammation of the eye structure called the uvea. Other parts of the eye can also become inflamed, caused conditions such as scleritis. They are included in the umbrella name “ocular inflammatory disease.”)

“Uveitis is a symptom, and has many identified causes and associations at this point. Some cases are widely accepted to be due to bacteria or viruses. Other cases are associated with “autoimmune diseases” like Crohns disease and rheumatic arthritis. I suspect that these other cases are due to CWD bacteria. There are several interesting papers that explore this. The researchers found cell-wall deficient bacteria (sometimes called mollicute-like organisms) in the vitreous fluid of patients with sardoidosis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, etc.” Dr. Trevor Marshall, Ph.D

Ocular pressure may increase as uveitis resolves

As the uveitis gets better, the eye often starts to produce more fluid before the inflammation decreases sufficiently in the eye's drainage system. When the pressure rises as the uveitis is going away, there might be a temporary imbalance between how much fluid is being produced and how much the drainage network of the eye can handle.

When uveitis gets worse, the amount of fluid produced usually decreases (which helps keep the ocular pressure at safe levels). Ocular pressure tends to rise in the presence of steroids.

Extreme light sensitivity is typical of uveitis

I would expect your doctor to be aware of this, and to anticipate that you would be very bothered by the lights. (This is true in general, not just with patients on the MP.) Adequate eye protection will be particularly important for anyone with eye inflammation. NoIRsSpecial sunglasses worn by Marshall Protocol patients to block light.

Balancing steroid use with using antibiotics

In terms of efficacy of the MP while using steroids in the eye, I can relate some of my daughter's experiences. (See also Teen on MP.) She has never been free of using steroid eye drops during the four years she has had chronic uveitis. (The lowest dose she has been on is four drops per day.) She also had one steroid injection, at the time of her first cataract surgery.

Despite using the steroid eye drops, her systemic symptoms have gotten so much better on the MP. We also never noticed eye herxing. I would suggest that someone with uveitis be closely monitored by an eye doctor while on the MP, and be prepared to adjust antibiotic dosing if it seems that there are any problems related to eye herxes.

Her eye symptoms improved while on the MP. Her second cataract surgery, after one more year on the MP, had a much easier recovery period than the first. Over time on the MP, her uveitis has slowly gotten better. We think that each eye surgery, and related medications, stalled her progress on the MP by at least 6 months. (She has had three eye surgeries, due to severe cataracts. Unfortunately, cataracts are a risk of prednisolone/prednisone use as well as of uveitis.) ~Margo

See an opthalmologist regularly

If you have active inflammation in your eyes, you should be seen pretty often by an ophthalmologist (ie, every six weeks). Over time, the Marshall ProtocolA curative medical treatment for chronic inflammatory disease. Based on the Marshall Pathogenesis. should resolve such inflammation, but you could have occasional increases of inflammation (with Herxheimer reactions, for example) that could require some temporary medical intervention. In general, people with sarcoidosis are advised to see an ophthalmologist every six months.

I hope you have been able to see a specialist in uveitis, not just an ophthalmologist with an interest in uveitis. There are actually very few physicians who have completed fellowship level training in uveitis. While these doctors are not likely to know about the Marshall Protocol, they will have much more experience with uveitis (which is actually a relatively rare disease).

I would really urge you to contact the ophthalmologist who is on our Dr List who has experience treating uveitis with antibiotics. This doctor could best advise on balancing steroid use with antibiotics. The doctor may be willing to speak with you; I am sure that this doctor would speak with your MP doctor.

I traveled across the country to see various eye specialists for my daughter. Preserving your sight is so important that I really would urge you to consider such a trip.

MP supportive opthalmologists

There is a Neuro Ophthalmologist in PA and an Ophthalmologist in Wisconsin on our list of doctors who are available for consult only. Member will still need a primary health care provider for supervising the MP meds. You may also need to continue seeing a local opthalmologist to keep close track of eye inflammation due to immunopathologyA temporary increase in disease symptoms experienced by Marshall Protocol patients that results from the release of cytokines and endotoxins as disease-causing bacteria are killed..

We highly recommend the opthalmologist in Wisconsin because he is aware that bacteria are causing the inflammation and he agrees that the MP is the answer.

You may post a request for the contact information for these opthalmologists here.

Uveitis specialist available for consult

Because uveitis is relatively rare, many eye doctors have treated very few patients with the disease. If you ask how many patients (over how many years) the doctor has treated with uveitis, and how many with your type of presentation, you may be shocked.

Any ophthalmologist can express an interest in treating uveitis; their experience and expertise vary. If you aren't able to travel to see someone, you can ask your doctor to consult by phone (or email) with another specialist.

Dr. Stephen Foster, in Boston, is a top specialist, and is very willing to consult with other physicians. (He won't know anything about the MP, but he has lots of experience treating uveitis and controlling iflammation after surgery in uveitis.)

If your eye doctor is reluctant to contact Dr. Foster, your family doctor can also consult with him, or can urge the eye doctor to do so. Dr. Foster will consult by phone or email. (You can write him directly, as well.)

Dr. Foster's contact info:

Dr Stephen Foster (Uveitis Specialist) Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institute 5 Cambridge Center 8th Floor Cambridge, MA 02142 http://www.mersi.us. Phone 617-621-6377 Fax 617-494-1430

Dr. Foster wrote a book on uveitis; he and his research group have published a huge number of articles on it. Because he is such a well-known specialist, he has seen more cases of uveitis than pretty much anyone else.

Here is a link to his background and publication details:

You can also contact the online patient support group that Dr. Foster supports. People there may have recommendations for doctors to see in your area.

If you are faced with eye surgery or complicated-to-manage inflammatory eye conditions (ie, uveitis), it would be a good idea to get Dr. Foster's input. You and your doctor may not want to do what he says, but he has much more experience in this area than almost anyone else. He is unfamiliar with the MP, and, in fact, considers most inflammatory eye disease to be autoimmuneA condition or disease thought to arise from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body in nature (not caused by active bacterial infection). However, for managing essential eye surgery, we have also consulted doctors trained by Dr. Foster. ~Margo

Members experiences

Leesa wants to share progress

UVEITIS: I had my yearly eye exam and after a rather comprehensive check, was told “there is not any sign of Uveitis or Iritis and your occular pressure is 14 in each eye…the lowest it's been in years and years and years.” I am so thrilled!!! ~DNStog

I was completely cured of severe uveitis by the very first stages of the Marshall Protocol. In fact I hadn't even started the full MP with Benicar when my eyes began to heal quite dramatically, just on minocyclineBacteriostatic antibiotic used by Marshall Protocol patients.. ~Julia

Most doctors only have experience with patients who are not on the MP. People with uveitis who are not on the MP don't usually get the degree of healing that is possible on the MP. At a recent ophthalmologist visit, my daughter's doctor wanted to show her intern my daughter's pupil. Her right pupil had become irregular in shape because of adhesions related to inflammation. When the doctor went to look at it, she (the doctor) was surprised to see how the pupil was no longer so distended. She said she never would have expected the change. For treating and curing uveitis, we have seen much more benefit from the Marshall Protocol. ~Margo

See this thread for Members experiences

See also:

Eye inflammation, vision, and bacteria

Will the immune response cause increased eye inflammation?