Dr Alan B. MacDonald, world renowned U.S. Pathologist - Notes
Recent Research Articles
Medical & Clinical Research - Alzheimer Plaques visualised by in situ DNA Hybridization with Molecular Beacons specific for Borrelia - a novel histomorphologic application
01 Feb 2021 The case of a 59 year old man who was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and treated in 1997, deteriorated over the next 8 years: developed Hydrocephalus, personality changes and decline in cognitive function, visual & auditory hallucinations. He died 2005, cause of death after an autopsy was Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr. MacDonald was asked to do an autopsy by the family. He analysed a section of the hippocampus and detected DNA of the Borrelia Spirochete.
Microbiology & Infectious Diseases - Borrelia Invasion of Brain Pyramidal Neurons and Biofilm Borrelia Plaques in Neuroborreliosis Dementia with Alzheimer’s Phenotype
05 Feb 2021 The case of a 68 year old European male Dr who died of severe dementia.
He was diagnosed after a tick bite with Lyme Disease in his mid 50’s when he suffered from joint stiffness, arthralgia, autonomic dysfunction with hyperhidrosis, transient global amnesia and severe fatigue. Dementia began aged 61 with cognitive and memory deficiencies confirmed by testing. He then had difficulty speaking was unable to write had muscle spasms in his legs, photophobia and was sensitive to noise/sounds. He had antibiotics for 2 years without much effect. He developed psychosis and died in 2010.
At the request of the family Dr. MacDonald performed an autopsy and found intact and fragmented spirochetes and Borrelia DNA inside the plaque lesions and neurons. 3 species of Borrelia were found (garinii, afzelli and Burgdorferi). Tests proved the Borrelia antibodies were produced entirely inside the brain.
For further articles, images and YouTube talks please go to www.alzheimerborreliosis.net
For more information please write to: inmacdonald@yahoo.com
In the 1980’s Dr. MacDonald found the first evidence that a spirochete was involved in Alzheimer's dementia. The spirochete was Borrelia, a bacterium which causes Lyme Disease and Relapsing Fever in humans, as well as a number of animal diseases.
Dr MacDonald found the DNA of Borrelia in 7 out of 10 autopsy brain specimens from victims of Alzheimer’s (supplied by Harvard’s Brain Bank). Using the genetic sequences found in these specimens and Molecular Beacon technology he found the Borrelia DNA is located at exactly the spots where plaques appear (the diseased area of brain tissue which are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s).
He was the first scientist to prove the Borrelia spirochete is passed from mother to her unborn child - he found the spirochete in aborted foetuses.
Dr MacDonald was a a pathologist at Southampton Hospital, New York, which was only 10 miles from Shelter Island, a hotbed of tick borne disease since an outbreak in the Long Island region in the 1970’s, and the discovery of a ‘new disease’, called ‘Lyme Disease’ in 1980.
In 1982 Willy Burgdorfer announced the cause of Lyme Disease was a spirochete which could persist within the nervous system for years, causing progressive illness and it could remain latent for years before producing clinical symptoms.
Knowing also that a spirochete was responsible for syphilis which could persist in the body in a dormant form for decades, only to cause dementia later in life, Dr. MacDonald set out to discover whether Borrelia could be involved in the dementia of Alzheimer’s Disease.
He once said “Infectious disease pathology is a neglected niche in academic medicine…more studies are needed of patients with Borrelia and dementia”.
In the late 80’s Dr. MacDonald theorised that bacteria, as well as autoimmunity, may play a related role in Alzheimer’s Disease. His research showed evidence of Borrelia spirochetes and in 2006 he reported his findings in a six article series in the journal, ‘Medical Hypothesis’.
In 1997 Dr. MacDonald found that spirochetes penetrated neurons (nerve cells) and survived inside brain neurons. He believes that spirochetes are partly or wholly responsible for some of the neuro-degenerative diseases we face today (MS, Parkinsons, etc.) He obtained intact Alzheimer’s brains from the National Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Bank and found Borrelia spirochetes in them.
Dr. MacDonald once said “If my dream comes true, some day, that will redefine the practise of medicine - it will redefine the lives of millions of people.”