PSEUDOMONAS.

[simplesprout]

As someone who is on colomycin nebs, i recently found out about a study carried out at Liverpool university on something called phage therapy. I was just wondering if anyone else had come across this research as it sounds so promising.

[Hidden]

I think it’s really interesting. I just hope that they can move forward with speed.

[cofdrop-UK]

Phage therapy is something I have been interested in for some time now. I feel though it will take some time to go through trials and to be generally available.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Cx

[simplesprout in reply to cofdrop-UK]

Thanks for your reply and sorry it has taken me so long get back. I also think it will be quite a while, however i have been in contact with the eliava institute in georga and they claim to have a great success rate with treating patients at distance. However, this is at a cost of at least €2000, and if a special phage has to be made, another €1400 can be added. This is quite disappointing considering that less than 30 miles from my home, a study carried out by Professor Craig Winstanley at the institute of infection and global health has shown that phage therapy can offer a alternative to antibiotics. And i believe the study involved pseudomonas.

[Kpacific]

I've been reading about phage therapy too. It is very interesting. Apparently it is currently available in Eastern Europe. Here is a Time Magazine article:

time.com/5068513/superbugs-...

[illawarra]

That is a great article. I saw a documentary on Phage therapy quite some time ago. It would be wonderful to have access to it.

[simplesprout in reply to illawarra]

I must admit that i am very tempted to splash out and try the treatment privately, however as a pre clinical study on mice was so successful 18 months ago i thought maybe human trials would be soon. I do know that a phage therapy center has now been set up in the usa.

[Sabie2 in reply to simplesprout]

Hi, interesting that you were tempted to try the Phage treatment through Georgia. Did you try it? And with what results?

I am in touch with the Phage treatment centre in Tblisi and had sputum samples analysed. They need to prepare a "one off" treatment for me and also to visit their clinic for treatment, this may not be possible however for other reasons.

I would love to hear how you got on with Phage treatment.

[simplesprout in reply to Sabie2]

I didnt end up trying out phages for a couple of reasons, one was, although i am colonized with pseudomonas, for some reason it wont show up in my sputum very often which is a problem as they need a good sample to test the phages against. The other reason is i have been given the possibility of a transplant and will be going for assessment in 2 weeks.

[illawarra]

Yes I can understand why you would want to splash out to have the treatment. I would if I lived closer. The trouble is, waiting for human trials often that takes years and if you are needing the treatment you need it sooner rather than later! I am in Australia and apart from seeing the doco that I mentioned I think it is pretty much a silent chapter here. That is great that a therapy centre has been set up in the USA. I think too with the high cost of hospital stays in the USA they are more open to other treatments. I have a rare disease called Idiopathic subglottic stenosis. Scar tissue forms in the trachea and it closes off the airway. To give an example of what it feels like, imagine breathing through a straw with a peg on your nose! It has to be lasered off or dilations or major surgery to remove parts of the trachea. I belong to a face-book group of sufferers and their hospital bills are gigantic in the USA. However, because of this the medical profession over there are more open to treatments that spare hospital bills. And they are far ahead of Australia with the kind of treatments they give out of hospital.

[Sharp5Flat13]

Steve,

I've been undergoing BCG therapy for urinary bladder cancer and come Sept. I'll be two years cancer-free, and able to go on the lung recipient list. BCG is an attenuated (weakened) live tuberculosis bacterium to stimulate the production of white cells in the bladder. They go after the TB and in the process, the macrophages eat up any neoplastic cells. I'm all for this new form of immunotherapy! I read a year ago they are trying it with other organs, lungs included.