a new study to be released in 2007

University of Michigan is in the final stages of releasing a study that has linked OCD even closer to Strep Infections. In this study they found that when they had the tonsils and adenoids taken out of 100 patients with full blown OCD, they had a 98% decrease in symptoms of the disorder. This is awesome news that I'm sure will be further studied here in the near future.

Oh, thank you for sharing this, Lindsey! I hope it's true. I did have strep throat when I was young (more than once), and since learning of PANDAS, I've considered myself a victim of that type of acquired OCD. I have never had my tonsils or adenoids removed, but if that would make me virtually normal, I'll sign up for surgery tomorrow! I'm going to look this up right now!

I hope this does work for you! My son suffers from extreme OCD and I learned about this from a good friend of mine that works at the hospital in the psych unit. The study was part of her internship, so she gave me the info about it to bring up to his doctor. The results of the study will be released sometime either this spring or summer, and it will probably take some time for the knowledge to be embraced by doctors in the mental health community and insurance companies alike. She also said that the ramifications of this discovery in the mental health world will probably stem more research studies regarding other mental health issues such as depression or bipolar. If they can link OCD to a bacterial infection, it might be possible to find a bacterial / viral links to these other infections as well! Let's all keep positive thoughts about this, because it could change all our lives forever!

I'm skeptical of "magical cures," but nevertheless hopeful. Like I said, if I thought getting my tonsils out would cure me (or reduce my symptoms by 98%), I'd sign in to the hospital tomorrow! (Of course, they wouldn't let me, since there are tests you have to go through before surgery, but you know what I mean.)

Hmmmmmmm..........very interesting........do you know which journal it will be in?

d

Yes, I'm also leery of instant cures but open to whatever is out there I sure hope it wasn't funded by some surgical org or company. TC

I emailed U of Mich on Friday to ask for info, but haven't heard from them yet.

I just received a reply to my email. Here's what it said:

Hi -

I think they may have gotten things a bit garbled. There was a study that came out last year on the effect of removing kids' tonsils on their attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and their sleep - see http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2006/sleep.htm for more information.

We also did a press release on an OCD genetics research study last year, that specifically focused on early-onset OCD in kids and teens - see http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2006/ocd.htm . But that didn't have anything to do with tonsils.

Hope that helps!

Kara

Kara Gavin, M.S.
Lead Public Relations Representative
University of Michigan Health System
Public Relations & Marketing Communications
kegavin@umich.edu
ph: 734-764-2220
fax: 734-615-2169
2901 Hubbard St., Suite 2400
Ann Arbor MI 48109-2435

Thanks, Maven.

Yes, the couple of studies I read,

http://www.priory.com/psych/OCDstrepto.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

imply it's children with sudden-onset, severe OCD; not "true" OCD at all to my way of thinking but more toward the auto immune problem.

Thanks for posting those links, Perna. I'm going to read them a little later when I have some time. I have to make dinner for my boyfriend soon.