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see the starting point, doctors often conclude that what they don't « And if the approach continues to reverse coronary artery dis- see isn't there. But make no mistake: calcification is there, and it is ease, it will cut down on expensive surgical procedures that are the a medical disorder. It was registered in 1990 as a disorder under financial mainstay of hospitals. the International Classification of Diseases list of the World Health That's not to say surgeons don't want to get rid of calcification. Organization and was adopted by WHO member states as of 1994 New stents that go into arteries are specially coated with time- (see http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/). release drugs that seem to ward off calcification. But that only hap- When well established, calcification stares defiantly at pens where the stent is located, not in the other 99.999 per cent of radiologists every day from X-rays as it multiplies incessantly. the arteries. There has been no proof of where it comes from, and there is no Also, the EDTA-tetracycline-nutraceutical combo that has known way to prevent it or sustainably get rid of it without demonstrated such promise is not the only treatment shown to work. removing it surgically. Due to its gestation period of years before it A group of drugs known as bisphosphonates, used for example to triggers real trouble, it has just begun sucking the life out of baby treat osteoporosis, has been shown to be effective in the lab against boomers and their healthcare budgets. some calcification. But bisphosphonates can have nasty side effects, Among its more exotic effects, it threatens space exploration especially with the type of regular application that seems to be nec- when it disables astronauts with unexpected kidney calcification essary to reverse heart disease in seriously ill patients. Due to these and it is a budget-breaker for pro- risks, the only present approach that sport-team owners who lose athletes to seems to be safe and effective in revers- its ravages. At the more mundane ing heart disease is the one that uses the level, it complicates root canals and it EDTA-tetracycline-nutraceutical mix. disrupts the lives of otherwise healthy It all comes down toa Critics claim the reason why the young people when it strikes as kidney treatment isn't adopted more broadly stones. Worst of all, it infiltrates sub-microscopic blood particle has nothing to do with money but plaque in heart disease and stroke and known asa nanobacterium, instead with science. They say it plugs bypasses and stents used to fix . . os researchers can't show how the our internal plumbing. discovered In 1988 by Finnish treatment works. The US National Library of H i Medicine holds thousands of research researcher Dr Olavi Kajander. NANOBACTERIA DISCOVERED documents referencing calcification, IN OUR BLOOD and various medical journals cover it It all comes down to a sub- in depth. GE Healthcare, Toshiba, microscopic blood particle known as a Philips and Siemens sell thousands of nanobacterium, discovered in 1988 by machines for detecting it. Finnish researcher Dr Olavi Kajander at Scripps Research Institute in California. TREATMENT A THREAT TO PHARMCO PROFITS The particle has a special habit no other blood particle has been But with all this money being thrown at calcification, there has known to possess: it forms a rock-hard calcium phosphate shell been virtually no success at finding the cause. So when researchers that is chemically identical to the stuff found in hardening of the such as those at Mayo Clinic and NASA find something that seems arteries, prostate disease, kidney disease, periodontal disease and to cause it, and clinical studies show that a new approach seems to breast cancer. The problem is, the particle is so small that it appar- get rid of it, you'd think that most of the medical establishment ently can't accommodate nucleic acid strings that, according to would be rapt with attention, right? Wrong. commonly accepted wisdom, would let it replicate on its own and Only a few small studies have been co-financed by the National be alive. So scientists are stumped over how it manages to self- Institutes of Health (NIH) to look into this, and neither has to do replicate. with the treatment. The only thing the Food and Drug For 15 years, microbiologist Dr Neva Ciftcioglu (pronounced Administration (FDA) seems to have done is to make rumblings "shift-show-lew") has been peering with an electron microscope at about whether the treatment is legitimate, although the active this blood particle that critics say doesn't live. But according to ingredients—tetracycline and EDTA—have been FDA approved NASA colleagues and Mayo Clinic researchers, the question of for other uses for decades. So far, no government agency has made whether it lives is less important than what it does. Despite or per- public note of the peer-reviewed studies that many physicians say haps due to its tiny size and genetic elusiveness, this speck may be are so promising. the Rosetta stone for a calcified language found in most diseases on According to doctors familiar with the approach, here are a few the Leading Causes of Death list. reasons why the treatment has not been given the attention that it Like her science, Ciftcioglu's life is full of unusual turns. Being a seems to merit... woman microbiologist from Turkey speaks volumes. Throw into ¢ The most perturbing for patients: the treatment is relatively that her once-fluent Finnish, a position at NASA and professorships inexpensive and produces poor profits compared to other drugs. It on both sides of the Atlantic, and you've got a determined character is exponentially cheaper than open heart surgery. Because it does struggling with a stubborn scientific cryptogram. not have to be taken for life at full dose—as is the case with most Ciftcioglu's work with nanobacteria began when her PhD other heart drugs—it does not provide the steady cash flow that scholarship took her to the University of Kuopio in Finland, where other medicines do. alongside her once mentor, biochemist Olavi Kajander, she ¢ Although the treatment is initially used alongside other developed the antibodies necessary to find the particle in the human medicines as a precaution to make sure patients don't switch body. A decade later, her work caught the eye of NASA chief prematurely and suffer problems, evidence suggests that the new scientist Dr David McKay and she ended up at the Johnson Space approach might replace more profitable blood thinne: hn and anti- Center in Houston, gathering science awards that testify to her inflam © 7 tha wl sub-microscopic blood particle known as a nanobacterium, discovered in 1988 by Finnish researcher Dr Olavi Kajander. TREATMENT A THREAT TO PHARMCO PROFITS But with all this money being thrown at calcification, there has been virtually no success at finding the cause. So when researchers such as those at Mayo Clinic and NASA find something that seems to cause it, and clinical studies show that a new approach seems to get rid of it, you'd think that most of the medical establishment would be rapt with attention, right? Wrong. Only a few small studies have been co-financed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to look into this, and neither has to do with the treatment. The only thing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seems to have done is to make rumblings about whether the treatment is legitimate, although the active ingredients—tetracycline and EDTA—have been FDA approved for other uses for decades. So far, no government agency has made public note of the peer-reviewed studies that many physicians say are so promising. According to doctors familiar with the approach, here are a few reasons why the treatment has not been given the attention that it seems to merit... ¢ The most perturbing for patients: the treatment is relatively inexpensive and produces poor profits compared to other drugs. It is exponentially cheaper than open heart surgery. Because it does not have to be taken for life at full dose—as is the case with most other heart drugs—it does not provide the steady cash flow that other medicines do. ¢ Although the treatment is initially used alongside other medicines as a precaution to make sure patients don't switch prematurely and suffer problems, evidence suggests that the new approach might replace more profitable blood thinners and anti- inflammatories that are staples of the pharmaceuticals industry. success. NEXUS * 29 It all comes down to a AUGUST — SEPTEMBER 2005 www.nexusmagazine.com