Final Conclusion of Research Part 2

London, used genetic fingerprinting techniques to search for the IS900 sequence in the intestines of Crohn's patients. He found that incriminating fingerprint in 65% of Crohn's patients compared with 12.5% of people without Crohn's disease.  This was a highly significant finding, giving the first solid evidence that Crohn's patients were far more likely to be infected with MAP than the population at large.  Since Hermon-Taylor's research was published, six independent teams in four countries (England, France, Denmark, USA) have replicated the finding of the MAP fingerprint in a significantly higher percentage of Crohn's disease patients.

Does the DNA prove the case?      As with any suspect, just finding a print at the scene of a crime does not indicate whether a suspect is alive and dangerous, or dead and harmless.  Thus it is with DNA.  The test for "alive and kicking" is not DNA, but RNA.  Similar to DNA, RNA is only found in living, multiplying cells.  Researchers in New York, searching for MAP RNA found it in all of the Crohn's patients they tested, all of the ulcerative colitis patients tested, and none of the people who didn't have Crohn's disease.  Great detective work, and more solid evidence to build a case against MAP.

What happens if we treat Crohn's disease as though Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis were the cause?      Prof. Hermon-Taylor, treating his Crohn's patients with the combination of antibiotics known to be effective against MAP, achieved the greatest percentage of remission of any Crohn's treatment protocol.  Around the world, other doctors who tried this treatment on their patients had similarly successful results.  Treating Crohn's disease as though it were a MAP infection not only works, but works very well.

How might Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis enter the human digestive tract?      The answer to that question begins with a field trip - to a dairy farm.  In the United States, a national tragedy is slowly building, one that costs our dairy farmers an estimated $200 million dollars every year.  It is called Johne's disease (pronounced "Yo-Nees" and named for it's discoverer, Dr. Johne).  Forty percent  of large dairy herds in the United States are infected!  Left unchecked, Johne's can stealthily work its way through a herd causing diminished milk production and ultimately death to cattle.  Farmers, finding a cow in their herd with clinical symptoms of Johne's, (rapid weight loss, diarrhea, reduced milk production) typically cull that cow, sending it to slaughter.  But the silent problem remains, sapping production and profits, unless the farm undertakes an aggressive, long-term cleanup program.  The cause of Johne's?  It's been known for one hundred years:  Mycobacterium avium

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