"Could a sudden, severe change in a child's behavior be brought on by something as common as strep throat? Many experts -- and distraught parents -- say yes. We dig deeper to find out what's going on, and which children are at risk."

7 Signs of PANDAS:

- Developmental regression A child may suddenly start acting much younger than his actual age. He'll often throw temper tantrums or revert to baby talk.

- Acute severe onset of ritual behaviors The child suddenly engages in frequent hand-washing (a common symptom of OCD) or can't come to the dinner table without bringing nine specific books, ...

A Placebo-Controlled Trial of Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) for PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) URL link IVIG is a large component of PANDAS recovery for many welcoming some kids back to full function, to joyful lives. If nothing else follow this study for outcomes. What is the OCD piece of PANDAS and what is the key to taking it down? Well be watching this NIH study.

Attached to this P.A.N.D.A.S. group discussion is an article published in the Washington Post Health and Science section. Tuesday, September 27, 2011.

Thought the group would find it interesting ...

Story Published: Jul 22, 2011 at 9:25 AM PDT - URL link

Have you ever heard of PANDAS? When Beth Maloney’s middle son Sammy was 12, he was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and then Tourette Syndrome. Confined to their home by the horror of his illness, a lifelong placement seemed his likely fate -- until Beth learned that a strep infection might be the cause (a disorder known as PANDAS). Most doctors said she was wrong but she followed her mother’s instincts and now her son Sammy is fully recovered.
Beth joined us to share her story detailed in her book, Saving Sammy-- A Mother's Fight to Cure Her Son's OCD. Children affected by PANDAS can have any combination of the following symptoms:

- Cognitive inflexibility, difficult to reason with, as if stuck on an idea,
- Obsessive/repetitive/compulsive argumentative behaviors,
- TICS (repetitive vocalizations of body movements),
- Tourette Syndrome,
- Attention deficits and oppositional/defiant behaviors
- Eating disorders

For more information on PANDAS, click here. URL link...

Wow what a difference in the last couple of years. This is a post to save. Look at the kids with PANDAS running their own websites, incredible! IMO they will be the key to understanding this condition as they recover and grow. Were finding as our dd recovers and matures she is able to articulate and even anticipate symptoms - were better able to nip them in the bud. Would that the whole world operated this way. There is such a big part of me as a parent that wishes she could just forget it all - dont we all. At the same time Im proud that she is aware, willing to help and blessedly not raging...

Just finishing Out of the Fog - Into the Light on my Kindle,URL link Also bouncing through my head is a note from my mom the other day that shes caught a rerun of Mystery Diagnosis the Boy who only Hopped URL link Mom said that the story unfolded a bit slowly. My immediate thought was well, yeah, thats because it takes 4 years to get a diagnosis but I did not zing that back in an e-mail. Like Saving Sammy URL link Out of the Fog - Into the Light is tedious in the unfolding drama unless youre a PANDAS parent in which case its a page turner. Set in the late 90s author Elizabeth Ann Eberhardt who sha...

Chicken or Egg? PANDAS and OCD, OCD and PANDAS? Depends, doesnt it. Tanya Murphy M.D., MS, gives us the best new article Ive seen chock full of constructive suggestions in a quick read posted on the International OCD Foundation website. Constructive? How often do we see that along-side PANDAS? Alas, it not all rosy. Its worded fairly carefully. The article allows for considering other diagnosis of mental illness and viral illness. While neither unexpected or inappropriate read it with the knowledge that too many PANDAS families are dragged down what turns out to be the wrong path by physician...

What do you do when all the literature points in one direction, your well known DAN doctor is pointing in that same direction, and almost every day youre reading parent reports of PANDAS kids reacting to this strain of strep. Alright, I had to see it for myself. August 2009 theyd been doing well on Klaire Therbiotic Detox Support. It was then and is still now our favorite probiotic. It was strongly recommended by our homeopath after I brought my questions and confusion to her office. URL link But also on the Klaire website have saved this article for the past few years URL link they say the...

Really. I mean it. Thank goodness for Yahoo Groups PANDAS and other posts. I am today, as I have been on many days in the last 5-6 years struck, wondering where I would be without these other parents who posted so much for so long on Pandas, Lyme, Autism? Id be up a creek, no doubt. Just came upon a thick folder of articles Id printed out about PANDAS, and other issues over the last few year with the best intentions of internalizing this information. Ill be posting 2 more articles with comments later this morning but first a big shout out to those who give so much of their time and i...

Seems crazy asking the question: Are you and your child ready for Back to School? Our school year just wrapped this morning. Summer is generally a time to regroup and stand down from the high alert of the strep season that just ended but consider this over the next few days and weeks: what happened? What were the low points? Its helpful if you have these ideas written down. How long do PANDAS exacerbations last? What is your usual course of treatment? What accommodations helped - and what did not. Did your child miss days of school due to PANDAS? Did your child regress in math or handwriting?...

Donya Currie does an incredible job with this article giving the subject both weight and balance. Pointing to a list of symptoms up front is a great attention getter sure but more important it is a great service to parents seeking diagnosis illuminating well the challenges involved in diagnosis. She doesnt let the nay sayers off the hook, heres her article. Kudos. Comments? URL link URL link

From a section in the medical journal Psychiatric Annals Online they call Case Challenges comes an interesting report on a case involving a 7 year old boy with ADHD and the steps that lead this family and their physician to an additional diagnosis of PANDAS. Considering the number of times we have met with blank stares or outright hostility at the mention of PANDAS in the ongoing effort to have our children treated for their illness I find stories like this somewhat heartening. Thought: Book mark this article in case you need to refer to it in a psychiatric or emergency treatment situation...

Will PANDAS name change to PANS in the future? At the Autism One conference in the Chicago area last weekend in Dr. M. Cunninghams presentation on Sunday 5/29/11 she indicated that the name of the disease will probably change to PANS -- or is it P.A.N.S. (Pediatric Acute Neurologic Syndrome.) The new definition seeks to account for exacerbations triggered by exposure to strep, mycoplasma, lyme and virus(es.) PANDAS docs are testing for Lyme as a matter of routine these days, what does this mean? Watch on-line at: URL link k.org/2011/ 05/pandas- and-autoimmunity -summary- of-dr-cunningham ...

This Sunday May 27, 2011 9:00 a.m. to 10:a.m. (Central time) PANDAS and Autoimmunity Madeleine Cunningham, PhD -- STREAMING LIVE from the AutismOne Conference Dr. Cunningham has published and co authored a number of journal articles in relation to her blood assays and their pronounced correlation with the PANDAS population as well as with patients with Sydenhams Chorea. The data show elevated anti-neuronal antibody titers now turning out to be more highly reliable indicators sending the standard ASO and Anti-DNase B titer tests to the back seat. CamKinase II levels are especially helpful a...

Mitochondrial dysfunction is thought to play a part in PANDAS too, question is it cause or effect. Here is a link to an article on the subject : Power Failure URL link scientist. com/article/ display/58132/

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URL link Ill try to get through this quickly and post a review.

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URL link Directors Posts about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) On This Page Microbes and Mental Illness (August 13, 2010) August 13, 2010 Microbes and Mental Illness Posted by Thomas Insel Hints that some mental illness may be linked to infectious agents and/or autoimmune processes date back to at least the early 20th Century. In the 21st Century, the field of microbiomics, which is mapping the microbial environment of the human organism, may transform the way we think about human physical and mental development.1 It is already clear that 90% of our DNA is microbial, not hu...