Real Quacks, Imaginary Bugs

You need a license to drive a car.  It’s too bad you don’t need some kind of license or IQ test to travel the Information Highway.  Case in point: this posting from some incredibly naïve and ignorant Lyme nut.  He writes:

Dr. Fry is doing some exciting work on a new biofilm-forming protozoan previously referred to as FL1953 and only recently renamed to Protomyxzoa rheumatica, a highly immune-suppressive microorganism. He refers to it as the premier pathogen.

Trouble is there’s no such bug.  Check PubMed.  The only place it seems to exist is on the web sites and blogs of various people who think they have Lyme disease and numerous other mysterious pathogens. 

Apparently, Stephen Fry of Fry Labs in Arizona discovered this mysterious creature.  According to the Lab’s website, Fry is “the Founder, Director, and Principal Investigator of our laboratory, Stephen E. Fry, M.S., M.D., is an active General Practitioner in Scottsdale.  A large portion of Dr. Fry's patients include those who suffer from chornic fatigue, fibromyalgia, lyme disease, and other complicated autoimmune diseases. Dr. Fry is a member of I.L.A.D.S…..”  Enough said. 

Now about this mysterious “premier pathogen.”  Another one of these gullible online Lyme nuts provided the following info about Fry’s exciting discovery:

I recently had the opportunity to attend a lecture by Dr. Stephen Fry MD as part of Dr. Klinghardt's recent "Beyond Lyme" conference. I'm still working on my notes from that event and will post them soon. In the meantime, I just listened to a radio interview from Fry….  Some of the key points from the radio interview:

• FL1953 is a new, unique protozoan organism that is found in people with CFS, Fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.
• People with Morgellon's also have evidence of the organism. In Morgellon's, Dr. Fry talked about this new protozoan possibly suppressing the immune system such that a fungal/mycelial condition then develops leading to the symptoms of Morgellons.
• Dr. Fry discussed the use of Tetracyclines, Zithromax, Plaquenil and other options, but more interesting were his other recommendations. One of the future projects his lab is working on is to complete sensitivity testing of various therapies for this new protozoan.
• He shared that diet is very important. The protozoan loves lipids (fats) and that lipid restriction via low-fat diets has been a very powerful tool. Lipids and fatty acids also play a role in the formation of biofilms which seem to collapse with lipid restriction.
• He discussed the benefits of a whole food, plant-based diet full of bioflavanoids; which themselves act as an antibiotic.
• He suggested that many people with chronic illness may struggle with wheat not due to the gluten content but due to the high arginine which the FL1953 protozoan thrives on.

Many of these concepts are still emerging, but it appears that Dr. Fry's protozoan may be an important piece of the puzzle. I recently had blood drawn to test for this organism and biofilms with Dr. Fry's lab and will post a blog about my results on my site when they are available.

Please post the bill too, along with your IQ or the name of your court-appointed guardian. 

As with so much of quackery, it’s hard to tell whether Fry is just another “lone, independent investigator” who thinks he’s discovered something new and marvelous while toiling away in his basement, or another online con artist looking to bilk a few dollars out of some gullible and desperate patient wannabes.  I never know quite which one to hope for—the kook or the crook—but in either case the state medical board needs to pay a visit to Fry Labs.