From Newsmax

Dr. Russell Blaylock, M.D., writes:

It’s estimated that about 70 percent of the world’s population carries live cytomegalovirus — one of the herpes family of viruses — in their bodies. In most cases, the person remains completely unaware of the infection because the virus is dormant or latent.

But if the immune system is weakened, those viruses can become activated and cause severe illness.

You see this in people who have undergone transplants and are taking immune suppressants, or people with immune-suppressing cancers. They can die of overwhelming cytomegalovirus infections.

The same is true with other herpes viruses, such as the Epstein-Barr virus.

Some bacteria and mycoplasma — such as Chlamydia pneumoniae, Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease), and H. pylori — can also go dormant. And there are also some 50 species of mycobacteria (other than the tuberculosis organism) that may remain hidden in the body.

All of those organisms cause chronic, smoldering inflammation, and lead to conditions ranging from cancer to neurodegenerative disorders, including possibly Alzheimer’s dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

Diagnosing these infections can often be difficult, and in some cases very expensive. The least costly methods are immune antibody tests such as the ELISA test or Western blot testing. Of those two, ELISA is much less accurate.

The most accurate test for specific infections is the polymerase chain reactions (PCR) test — though it has some limitations.

If you have persistently high inflammation, you should have your doctor pursue these tests.

Lyme disease and mycoplasma infections are increasing at an alarming rate, and many cases go undiagnosed. These infections cause a number of symptoms in their active phases, and in some cases latent infection can trigger smoldering inflammation that may lead to:

• Alzheimer’s dementia

• Parkinson’s disease

• ALS

• Chronic fatigue syndrome

• Fibromyalgia

• Progressive degeneration of organs and tissues

Viruses like herpes can also infect blood vessels, leading to rapidly advancing atherosclerosis.

Smoldering inflammation of the vessel lining causes an accumulation of inflammatory cells (monocytes and macrophages) as well as oxidized fats in the wall of the vessel.

At those sites, there are high levels of free radicals and lipid peroxidation products, further damaging the blood vessel and triggering clot formation that can lead to heart attack, stroke, or blockage of other blood vessels.

Patients with dormant herpes infections are much more likely to have a heart attack following insertion of coronary artery stents. The same is true for heart transplant patients with latent infections.

Chlamydia infections are also associated with atherosclerosis leading to heart attacks and strokes.

Dr. Russell Blaylock, M.D., is editor of The Blaylock Wellness Report and a nationally recognized board-certified neurosurgeon, health practitioner, author, and lecturer.

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