The Cell From Hell

[Kritters]

Hi all,

I think I recall someone mentioning Pfiesteria before. If so, sorry, but I can't find it so this may be a repeat story.

Scares the heck out of me.

http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Environ...pfiesteria.htm


…..But in recent years, pollution has shifted the natural balance and created an opening for opportunists that thrive in waters rich in sewage, animal waste and fertilizers from burgeoning coastal settlements…………….

…………Like the algae blooms that plague European seaports and the "red tides" that kill Florida manatees, Pfiesteria may be yet another sign that humans are changing coastal environments in ways that could have serious consequences for wildlife and people, scientists say……………

……..For the moment, though, it's hard to imagine a creature as strange as Pfiesteria. In the universe of unicellular animals, it is something of a quick-change artist, slipping through at least 24 different guises at various points in its life cycle………..
…………. Its ability to morph into wildly different forms makes it difficult to detect. When no prey is present, the creature can encase itself in a pod, or "cyst," and lie dormant in river sediment. It also can become a blob-like amoeba that feeds on microscopic algae. Sometimes it can even appear to become an alga, thanks to its ability to "steal" the chlorophyl-producing chloroplasts from its algae prey and use photosynthesis to supplement its nutrient supply………………
…………. But in the presence of certain kinds of fish, Pfiesteria drops its pseudo-plant routine and turns into the microscopic sea monster that has inspired headlines around the world. As a dinoflagellate, it sprouts a whip-like tail, races to its prey and spews "multiple toxins," says Burkholder, who was the first to identify and name the creature………..
…………Pfiesteria is a single-celled animal related to the toxic dinoflagellates that cause "red tides." It can assume as many as 24 different guises in its life cycle and can even masquerade as a plant.

"One toxin strips the skin off the fish," Burkholder says. "Another affects the immune system, depressing the white blood cell count by 20 percent. Others affect the liver, kidneys, nervous system."

Tests in Burkholder's lab suggest the animal prefers dirty, nutrient-rich water, such as found near some municipal sewage outflow pipes. For those who have witnessed an attack, it is an experience not easily forgotten.

I am so sure this is just one of so many more scary things to come

Sorry to be a downer.
Kritts

[Jo]

What an amazing organism!!!

I take my hat off to the scientists that worked it's life cycle out, boy oh boy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:L...Pfiesteria.jpg

Cheers Kritts

Joey
xxx

[megluth72]

Yikes!, looks like a third grader drew that picture! I can't imagine trying to track that. This is what scares me the most:

"One toxin strips the skin off the fish," Burkholder says. "Another affects the immune system, depressing the white blood cell count by 20 percent. Others affect the liver, kidneys, nervous system."

"Tests in Burkholder's lab suggest the animal prefers dirty, nutrient-rich water, such as found near some municipal sewage outflow pipes. For those who have witnessed an attack, it is an experience not easily forgotten."

[Kritters]

i know!!!!

Hi Meg and Jo!

It changes forms like 27 times or something! OMG!!!!

No sweet dreaming for me tonite!!!

Kritts

[tcmgpt13]

Here's a post from another thread about pfiesteria with some additional information:

http://www.morgellons-disease-resear...sg9511#msg9511

I believe bubba mentioned somewhere (whether here or on her website which is no longer up I do not remember) that she used the Shoemaker protocol with partial success, but it did not cure all of her morgellons symptoms.

[Kritters]

HEY TC!!!!

Thanks for the link. I knew the name sounded familiar. Wow, if people have this sucker, I don't see how they are alive based on that info I sent!!!

You know, the more of thise organisms we find out about I realize there are SO MANY dangerous pathogens and SO MANY ways of us contracting them, that for ONE thing......HOW CAN THE PEOPLE IN POSITION OF RESEARCHING (LIKE THE CDC ) BE SO INEFFECTIVE IN PROTECTING OUR PEOPLE????.....(vent, vent) and another......given the morphing these creatures are capable of and the tenacity they exhibit in pursuing hosts and victims, they had better STEP UP TO THE PLATE because it's only going to get worse by the day.

Sorry. What a great way to start my day, huh?

Kritts

[tcmgpt13]

Hi Kritts,

See the steam all the way over here--can't blame you for being upset about it all. Evidently though not everyone is as suseptible to this particular organism, as there seems to be (at least from the way I understand it) some inability in the body to eliminate mold effectively in those who have symptoms from breathing it (probably no one is safe though if entering the infected waters). So some folks could live next door to infected algae blooms and be fine. It is all tied in to genetics, and I guess if most people are not effected the rest who are do not receive the consideration they should by those folks in power. I am sure there have been blooms like this in the past, as it is often claimed that when there was a biblical plague in Egypt which caused blood to flow in the water it was caused by this sort of bloom. So nothing new under the sun I guess (and doubtless the reaction by the rulers was much the same unless it effected their family).

I am sure the slow reaction to help this disease is because there would be so much money tied up in treating folks who have this (never mind the cost of research to find out what it is and how to treat more effectively). I imagine the insurance companies are none to eager to see this disease identified and then treated long term. It is impossible to see that attitude changing anytime soon. After all most insurance companies already have seen to it that the standard treatment for lymes is short term antibiotic use.

The CDC protecting our people? Hardly with the hordes of folks coming over the borders with antibiotic resistant leprosy and tuberculosis. Doubtless this will be hidden until the epidemic spreads all over along with chagas in the blood supply. But then there are none so blind as those who refuse to see due to political correctness and votes.

http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/20...mericanleprosy

[Kritters]

Hey TC!
Yep, Leprosy....I'm not in the least surprised. They are putting off the inevitable and it's only going to become more costly as it spreads.

You mention diseases being tied to genetics and that's something I'm curious about and have been focusing on. I just got the book, "DNA" from the library and it has some good information in it. When I absorb it I'll pass it on. I believe that the organisms get passed onto offspring when they are active in the blood. I believe after the dna is mutated, that is also passed through the genes. That's why it's so important to catch these things before they get comfortable and reach their destinations and settle in.

I also think the reason one person will get it and not her neighbor may also be because that person may have an organism in their blood already. Somehow this makes all the difference. And even in this book I'm now reading, there is reference to vitamins and enzymes playing an important role in all this (hear that 2many? ;-).

I'm also not so sure 'leprosy' isn't pfiesteria or some form of it.

xoKritts