Attend MAPS Fall Conference 2017 to Learn about PANDAS

What is PANDAS? Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections are shortly called “PANDAS”. Many people are not fully aware of “PANDAS”. But, the rising negative effect of PANDAS brooding over children requires special attention of the parents as well as physicians. This article discusses some relevant and essential information MAPS Fall Conference 2017 is going to discuss.
What May Cause PANDAS?
PANDAS is a kind of obsessive compulsive disorder. It might appear following a strep infection (scarlet fever or strep throat). Strep bacteria can manage to exist in the body of its human host by playing a hide-and-seek game. They put molecules on their cell wall that look almost identical to the molecules seen in the child’s heart, brain, joint, and skin tissues. This act is called “molecular mimicry” in terms of medical science and it lets the strep bacteria to hide its existence for a long time.
Eventually, the bacteria molecules get identified as outsider to the body and the child’s immune system starts reacting against them. The immune system generates antibodies to combat the strep bacteria.
Symptoms Associated with PANDAS
Let’s find out the most common symptoms of PANDAS:
- Hyperactivity, Inattention, Fidgety
- Separation Anxiety
- Frequent Mood Changes
- Night-Time Bed Wetting
- Day-Time Urinary Frequency
- Sleep Disturbance
- Major Motor Changes
- Joint Pains
Dr. Susan Swedo’s Take on PANDAS
Susan Swedo is the present Chief Pediatrics and Developmental Neuroscience Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health or NIMH. Her research interests include etiology, phenomenology, developmental disorder treatment, pathophysiology, and childhood psychiatric disorder. Her main interest is, of course, Autism Spectrum Disorders and subtype of PANDAS, in particular.
Swedo was an integral part of the team which identified PANDAS for the first time in 1998. According to her, children often consider the symptoms crazy and they try hard to conceal them until the severity becomes too extreme to hold further. Sudden appearance of this disease helps to identify it. There are many cases in which parents can pinpoint the particular day or time when exactly their kid’s behavior changed. Out of her experience, Swedo has stated that 1 out of between 250–500 children tend to develop this disease. Boys are more affected by this disorder in comparison to girls.
A number of people think that a smart, active, and well-behaved child is completely healthy and he/she can’t get affected by PANDAS. Well, this is not true. Even, a smart and popular kid may suffer from PANDAS. For instance, Jake Wiederhorn, a 9-year-old boy from Potomac was identified with PANDAS in 2012. He had suddenly shown the indication, and before that, he was as normal as any other boy of his age.
Jake was fortunate that he got the treatment at the right time and his family was able to afford the expense. Jake is not alone, the number of children affected by PANDAS is rising everyday. Dr. Swedo has commented that mainstream physicians often avoid this kind of controversial disease, and as outcome, innocent children become the worst victims of PANDAS.
Madeleine Cunningham’s Saying on PANDAS
Madeleine Cunningham, is another famous name in the field of molecular mimicry. Apart from molecular mimicry, her major research interests are autoimmunity and infection in inflammatory heart disease. She has revealed that the body may generate overzealous antibodies that target the brain cells to strep or other infections. These super-active antibodies tend to bind at least four targets in the brain. Cunningham has studied two out of these four targets. These are — proteins in neurons which react to dopamine and a chemical that controls the reward and pleasure centers of human brain.
Often people ask their pediatricians “why do some children in particular get PANDAS when others don’t?” Cunningham believes that a specific genetic predisposition is the main reason behind this. This is nothing but the disruption of a group of genes that regulate the immune system.
Dr. Tanya Murphy’s Recent Work on PANDAS
A group of practitioners have suggested antibiotics for children having mild symptoms of PANDAS. Recently, Dr. Tanya Murphy and her colleagues at University of South Florida have revealed the benefits of antibiotics treatment. Even they think that antibiotic treatment may help those children who do not have any demonstrable infection. Dr. Murphy is currently working on a placebo-controlled trial of antibiotics for PANDAS to use it as a treatment. If this trial finds that children having placebo are not showing any sign of improvement while children who are taking antibiotics are recovering, then the antibiotic treatment may become a proven standard care for mild PANDAS.
Doctors should study this kind of recent research papers to outline their way of treatment. They must have a proper understanding of the problem and the solution. Otherwise, no one but children and their parents will suffer.
For a better understanding, medical practitioners can attend MAPS Fall Conference 2017 where the three stalwarts, Dr. Swedo, Dr. Cunninghum, and Dr. Murphy will lead an intense learning session and discussion.

A Final Takeaway
There are a lot of things about PANDAS that we are yet to learn and explore. Not only parents but also doctors and pediatricians need to learn about the latest happenings in the sphere of molecular mimicry. It will help them serve better treatment to their patients. Doctors who are eager to learn more from these three iconic doctors can attend MAPS Fall Conference 2017, where these three doctors will enlighten the mystery of PANDAS followed by an open discussion for all the attendees.
If you are a medical professional who is interested in exploring more about PANDAS and related issues, you should not miss this golden opportunity of learning about PANDAS from three Stalwart medical practitioners and researchers.
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