The Doctors TV show brings P.A.N.D.A.S. to the forefront

init   Here is the video link after a short ad. This is a must view.

Finally the word on P,A,N.D.A S. reaches households throughout the US with this very important segment on The Doctors. Thank you to Beth Alison Maloney for continuing her efforts to stop this serious childhood illness. Time is of the essence as new cases are appearing everyday. Diagnosis is crucial and so is immediate treatment.Here is an overview of The Doctors to watch and share with your pediatrician so children will not have to suffer needlessly. Thank you:}

PANDAS on The Doctors Nov 3rd 2011.

This is a must watch Sneak preview here. Includes  treatment!

We Are Making Much More Than A Splash. Interest In Our PANDAS Children Skyrockets

WHAT A MONTH FOR PANDAS AWARENESS

BETTER THAN I EVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED

BECAUSE OF MOMS WHO STARTED THE FIGHT

WE ARE NOW SHOUTING IN UNISON

OUR CHILDREN NEED HELP. CAN YOU HELP US? WILL YOU HELP US?

AND THE ANSWER IS “WIPE YOUR TEARS. WE ARE HERE.”

Take A look At What is Happening

Pepsi Refresh Project P.A.N.D.A.S. says “Number 6!!  This is truly amazing!! Perhaps Mystery Diagnosis shook up the world a little bit!! Let’s continue to shake it up until the whole world hears!!” (As Posted on Facebook.)

Beth Alison Maloney brings her story to Mystery Diagnosis. Yes, STREP can CAUSE  OCD, Tics, Tourette’s and even Autism. She brings hope to families with children suffering needlessly. Sammy got well and the whole world hears her gutwrenching story.

Kelly Harrity Smith “This is what I am fighting for.”     “My younger son, Ethan, who was severe at one time……..thank God we found out it was strep (PANDAS) and he got proper treatment! He is doing wonderfully right now.”

Can you see what is happening here? One woman begins a FIGHT that takes the whole world by storm. And before we know it, another woman joins in, then families join in, physicians join in, researchers join in, news media join in and soon the WHOLE WORLD WILL JOIN IN.

Pepsi Refresh Project PANDAS is going for $50,000 to Dr Cunninham to FIGHT for our children.

If each one of us gave $10 or $50 or $100 to the Pandas Foundation we could help other families and Doctors FIGHT for our children. Just think of it… $10 everytime we looked at this blog would have raised over $140,000.00 for PANDAS Awareness!

It takes Families and Doctors around the GLOBE to FIGHT for our children. OUR TIME IS NOW.

Give to the PANDAS Foundation and make your donation count.

Vote Pepsi Refresh Project PANDAS.

OUR TIME IS NOW!

Thank you for caring♥

Marci Lichtenwalter, Director of MoonDance To The Cure

PS  Prayers for Dr Robert Reichler who is home recovering from his appendectomy. Our family continues to be forever grateful to you:)

 

Press Release “We Feel Your Pain” P.A.N.D.A.S. to air 6.14.10 on Discovery Health. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

PANDAS    www.savingsammy.net info@savingsammy.net

Contact: Marci S. Lichtenwalter Moondance2cure@gmail.com twitter @Moondance2cure

UPDATE 6.15.10 Response overwhelming. We must not stop. Let us continue to unite to help to these very sick children. Our Time Is NOW!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Date June 4, 2010

OCD caused by strep. Medical Mystery to air on Discovery Channel June 14th, 2010 10PM eastern 7PM pacific

Seattle, Washington The national TV show, Mystery Diagnosis, will highlight the plight of PANDAS syndrome this month on a family in Kennebunkport, Maine.  It will air on June 14, 2010 at 10:00 PM eastern, 7:00 PM pacific on Discovery Health Channel. But this disorder hits closer to home than you may think. I saw Beth Maloney on the Today Show where she presented  her story about her son’s severe struggles with Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Strep. I responded with my you tube video which 3,675 of you have watched. My you tube video describes what my son, Jamie went through in 2001. Since this time, over 13,000 of you have visited my blog site.

Many researchers, including the National Institutes of Health, believe that PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections) occurs in some children when antibodies that are produced to fight a strep infection mistakenly attack the brain and trigger a sudden onset of behavioral disorders, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Tourette syndrome.

Worldwide, families are finding that seemingly normal kids can change almost overnight after being exposed to STREP. They have noticed how different their child acts weeks or months after a strep related illness . The child may seem hyperactive, moody, and may develop tics. The child may become very particular about the way he/she does certain things. The child’s teacher may say that he/she is not paying attention in class, and the teacher may having trouble reading the student’s writing.

The child may have developed what the medical community has named PANDAS. Basically, it means that when the body’s defences are trying to attack the Streptococcal bacteria  there is some degree of mistaken identity and it also attacks parts of the brain. Some children never have a sore throat, so the parents have no idea the children ever contracted strep.

Affected children 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 or body movements),
• Tourette Syndrome,
• Attention deficits and oppositional/defiant behaviors,
• Eating disorders,
• Frequent urination,
• Hair pulling.

In our case our child, Jamie had overnight changes which appeared a lot like OCD & Tourette Syndrome. He has been in remission since 2002 because he received immediate high dose and prophylactic antibiotic therapy. The diagnosis and treatment of PANDAS may surprise you.  To localize this national story please contact me via email to learn about our discovery and struggles with PANDAS Syndrome. I have been in touch with MANY families in the Seattle area who are currently facing Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated With Strep. These children are extremely ill and need IMMEDIATE attention.

What: PANDAS Syndrome

Who: Marci S Lichtenwalter, Northwest Region “got strep” coordinator Pandas Foundation.

Where: Seattle, WA

When: June 14th 2010 on Discovery Health Channel 10:00PM eastern, 7:00PM pacific Mystery Diagnosis (Please watch my you tube video prior to this viewing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0EyBTuSODA)

I am also a Seattle blogger, Here’s my blog site. http://www.jamiesstory.wordpress.com

Why: To help educate others about this prevalent disorder

How: The result of a STREP Infection

My book Fighting P.A.N.D.A.S. As we MoonDance To The Cure will be coming out this summer. Interested parties can email Moondance2cure@gmail.com for details on how you can obtain a copy of this book detailing our family’s experience with this serious childhood illness.

Resources: There are many resources available on the internet that may be helpful.

http://www.savingsammy.net/

http://www.pandasfoundation.org/

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/pandas/pandas-frequently-asked-questions-about-pediatric-autoimmune-neuropsychiatric-disorders-associated-with-streptococcal-infections.shtml

http://www.ocfoundation.org/uploadedFiles/MainContent/Find_Help/PANDAS%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf?n=4866

June 14th 10pm P.A.N.D.A.S on Discovery Channel Mystery Diagnosis!

OUR TRUE HEROES Fighting For Life, Liberty & Happiness           

#1 Bill Lichtenwalter on USS Enterprise during WWII.#2. Beth Maloney and her book, Saving Sammy gets featured in the Portland Press Herald. She is excited to announce “we have an airdate for Mystery Diagnosis!  The episode will premiere on June 14, 2010 at 10:00 pm on Discovery Health Channel.”    Check this out!     A Must Watch PANDAS airs on medical Mystery. Press link here.

#3. My husband Dr Ken, Jamie and I participated in a research study at Massachusetts General Hospital and conducted by Dr Daniel Geller. We hope and pray new light will come to this crippling autoimmune disorder in the near future. You can email eamancuso@partners.org if you would like more info on this study.

#4. Pepsi Refresh Project P.A.N.D.A.S. did not get their 50k grant, nor did I get an individual artist grant from 4culture, but we will CONTINUE to reach out to the medical community with our plea to HELP THESE CHILDREN IN CRISIS.

#5. Our Leaders in P.A.N.D.A.S. research are getting closer each day. So much is happening back East. I continue to make a plea to our wonderful state of Washington. Please take a closer look at OCD, Tics, Tourettes, Autism caused by an autoimmune response to streptococcus. Let us not be one of the last to recognize and treat this childhood disorder. By then it may be too late.

#6. Thank you to Dr Cynthia Keller & Dr Robert Reichler. You are the leaders in Washington State.

Let us keep Dr Elizabeth Latimer, a true P.A.N.D.A.S. hero, in our thoughts during this time of loss. Our hearts go out to you.

Marci Lichtenwalter, Director of MoonDance To The Cure & “Got Strep” coordinator Northwest and International regions.

To All My Twitter, Facebook, Youtube & WordPress Friends.

IF THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES  THIS IS WHAT I”LL DO.

TWEET ALL DAY and FACEBOOK ALL NIGHT to Help Our Kids In Meltdown from a debilitating Autoimmune Disorder called P.A.N.D.A.S.

STREP CAN TRIGGER A RESPONSE THAT DESTROYS HEALTHY CHILDREN’S BRAINS

STREP CAN BE STOPPED

STREP CAUSES P.A.N.D.A.S.

P.A.N.D.A.S. CAN BE STOPPED

Go to  http://www.pandasfoundation.org for more info.

PLEASE HELP  us shout it out loud and clear. P.A.N.D.A.S. is very crippling.  P.A.N.D.A.S. can be stopped with immediate & longterm treatment with antibiotics in some cases. We do NEED more research. But you can Help stop childhood suffering.

Here’s the link to my youtube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0EyBTuSODA Please pass it along to other families. NO CHILD SHOULD HAVE TO SUFFER like our P.A.N.D.A.S. children SUFFER

Thank YOU All.

Marci Lichtenwalter Director of Moondance to the Cure & “Got Strep” Northwest & International Coordinator  PandasFoundation.org Twitter @Moondance2Cure

 Please don’t forget to vote for 50k grant from Pepsi. Here’s the link vote Pepsi Refresh Project P.A.N.D.A.S.

http://www.refresheverything.com/PANDAS

 

WOW Says Beth Maloney PANDAS in The New York Times

Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD The New York Times!

Read it here “Can Strep Throat Lead to Behavior Problems?”  ?ref=health * article in The New York Times!

Dr. Robert King and Dr. James Leckman of the Yale Child Study Center address Pandas and the link between strep throat, tics and obsessive-compulsive behaviors.

Beth Maloney
show details Mar 19 (2 days ago)
Check this out!  We’re getting there!  And thanks so much for the dynamite response to our Mystery Diagnosis announcement.  I’ve passed along your kind words and heartfelt thanks to Sammy.   Beth

March 19, 2010, 12:31 pm
Can Strep Throat Lead to Behavior Problems?
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Can a bout of strep throat lead to serious behavioral problems like obsessive hand washing or odd tics in children?
Obsessive hand washing sometimes follows strep infections; are the two related?

Steve Kagan for The New York Times
The condition, known as Pandas, for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infection, remains a controversial topic among child health experts. Dr. Robert King and Dr. James Leckman of the Yale Child Study Center, who recently joined the Consults blog to answer readers’ questions about Tourette’s syndrome, here respond to readers concerned about the link between strep and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Q.
If your child shows symptoms of a tic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder or Tourette’s syndrome, you should have them checked for strep. Pandas, could be the cause. A simple blood test will tell if your child’s “strep titers” are at an abnormal level.
This can be treated with antibiotics. Worth checking out before you subject your child to psychiatric medications. Not all doctors believe in Pandas. But let me tell you, it’s worth finding a doctor who does.
For more info check out the Web site Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Got O.C.D.RS from N.J.
Q.
The first sign of scarlet fever is obsessive hand washing, hours before the rash; Tourette’s is in the strep/O.C.D. family, or Panda. Why don’t they treat it with I.V. antibiotics and probiotics?Bethany Brinton, Salt Lake City
A.
Dr. King and Dr. Leckman respond:
Pandas, or pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections, remains a controversial topic for many experts in Tourette’s.
Two recently completed intensive longitudinal studies found little evidence to support the existence of Pandas as presently defined. Since the onset of tics is common in middle childhood and as many as half of young school age children may have strep throat in a given year, the co-occurrence of new tics and a strep infection will happen as mere coincidence, without any specific causal link, in a certain number of children.
Furthermore, since stress, including the stress of illness, can be a cause of tic flare-ups, it is not always clear if or when there is a more specific causal link.
That said, some researchers, including ourselves, suspect that the label of Pandas is probably best reserved for a subset of children with apparently strep-related O.C.D. or tics, and that it is this subset of cases that need to be more intensively studied. Such cases probably fall on a continuum with Sydenham’s chorea (a movement disorder that follows rheumatic fever) and other post-infectious disorders that can lead to an inflammation in the basal ganglia, a part of the brain involved in motor control and learning.
These more narrowly defined Pandas cases appear to have an abrupt sudden onset, over the course of two days or less, and are marked by separation anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, a loss of writing skills and sleep problems. Tics are often present, but they can also confuse the picture, especially if they had been present in some form prior to Pandas onset.
The overuse of antibiotics has its hazards, both for individuals and communities, including allergic reactions and fostering the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Hence, antibiotics — and certainly intravenous antibiotics — are not indicated for the typical case of tic disorder but should be reserved for cases where there is clear-cut and convincing evidence that the onset or recurrent flare-up of tics/O.C.D. is linked to strep infection.
Although there is at least one well done study that supports the use of intravenous immunoglobulin for well-defined Pandas cases, this work needs to be replicated. Plans are now under way for such a replication study in a carefully defined group of children who meet the narrower criteria described above; the study will again be performed at the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by Dr. Susan Swedo, who first coined the term Pandas more than a decade ago.
Q.
What percentage of children could be misdiagnosed as Tourette’s and actually have Pandas?mlw, Brooklyn
A.
Dr. King and Dr. Leckman respond:
Another great question. Once we have a reliable and valid way of making a diagnosis of Pandas, we should be able to provide an answer.
As noted above, there is much controversy as to whether Pandas exist and, if so, how should they be defined. At present, in making a Pandas diagnsosis, we focus much more on the sudden, abrupt onset — unusually in less than 48 hours — of severe anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, sleep problems and behavioral regression and a marked deterioration of writing and drawing abilities. Tics may be present, but they are probably not a key feature.

On Our Way To The Olympics!

Dr Ken, CEO and Marci, COO of Your Neighborhood Healthcare Center, PLLC

We will be tweeting and taking photos of our experiences for the Issaquah Press. Upon our return photos will be on display at our Chiropractic offices where we are taking HEALTH and SPORTS to the next level. PANDAS Foundation “got strep” cards & copies of Beth Alison Maloney’s book, Saving Sammy will also be available.

Follow us on twitter:
Dr Ken @DrKen1stPitch
Marci @Moondance2cure

Game On. “Got Strep” campaign launched.

Thanks to the perserverance of Beth Alison Maloney, founder of the PANDAS Foundation (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Association with Streptococcal Infections) the “got strep?” campaign has been launched! This campaign is designed to alert caregivers and physicians to the nontraditional ways that strep can present itself. Like we have found with our son Jamie, early intervention with antibiotic therapy, can prevent obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), tics and Tourette Syndrome symptoms from overtaking your child’s mind and body.

Thank you for supporting this cause. Much more to come. This is only the beginning.
QMiril
Moondance to the Cure
Coming Soon to the Northwest

Please click on this link. PANDAS IN THE NEWS. PANDASFoundation.org
<a href=”http://mywaybusiness.com/strep-throat-may-be-cause-of-many-child-mental-illnesses/961/“>

4,475 Of You Seeking Info on PANDAS

THE TIME IS NOW!
This is what I thought after viewing the Today Show’s feature on Saving Sammy, Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD by Beth Alison Maloney. Until this time we thought our son, Jamie’s sudden onset of tourettes and OCD was one case in a million.

WE FOUND THE ANSWERS IN 2001.

It’s now time we share these answers with the rest of the world. This is what prompted me to create my Youtube video.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP RIGHT NOW

Simply DONATE $10.00 to the Pandas Foundation using the link below.

Just think, if each of us DONATED $10.00 we would already have been able to raise $44,475.00 to the cause whose mission is to raise awareness of the devestations of this disorder and the NECESSITY for IMMEDIATE antibiotic treatment.

We must not let these children suffer in silence. BE HEARD! ACT TODAY! The future of our precious children is now in your hands.

THANK YOU,
QMiril Director of Moondance to the Cure
THE TIME IS NOW DONATIONS! click here
http://pandasfoundation.org/