Finnish biologists have strong evidence that a previously unrecognized bacterium can produce kidney stones. If it's a bacterium that is susceptible to a wide range of antibiotics, that is incredibly encouraging. Already, some small studies have suggested that antibiotics might prevent heart attacks, and three large clinical trials enrolling nearly 8,000 people have begun or are beginning. Neurologists are also preparing a trial using antibiotics to treat Alzheimer's disease, and it is likely that trials for other chronic diseases are on the horizon. That doesn't mean you are going to be able to throw away your blood-pressure medicine or eat more fatty foods.
Infections are just one more risk factor to add to the complex equations determining risk.
Some researchers believe, for example, that controlling infections might have the same benefit for heart disease patients as lowering cholesterol. The new discoveries are occurring in part because some researchers are choosing to look for links to infectious agents. But more important, perhaps, has been the development of sophisticated DNA-based techniques for identifying the presence of trace quantities of bacteria or viruses. It shouldn't surprise us . . . The godfather of the new movement is Dr. Barry J. Marshall, who was at the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia in 1981 when he and Dr. J. Robin Warren began studying an unidentified spiral bacterium that they observed in stomach linings.