Blastocystis 'hominis' Information

Blastocystis is a highly prevalent single-celled parasite that infects the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals.  It has become the most prevalent gastrointestinal parasitic infection in developed and many developing countries, and it will produce long-term diarrhea, abdominal pain, and other symptoms in healthy individuals. 

BRF's web site has written and audio descriptions from patients, information on the newest research in diagnosis and treatment of Blastocystis 'hominis' infection, and information on BRF"s advocacy program.

NEW!!

* February 2012:  For years, we've been wondering why the United States trails the world in Blastocystis research.  To understand why, we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to find out what the agency reads about Blastocystis, and that they say.  Apparently, the NIH considers both Blastocystis and Dientamoeba fragilis to be non-pathogenic..  Read more here....

* February 2012: BRF begins online petition.  Why should scientists publish research studies if nobody at the NIH reads them?  After we discovered that the NIH does not have any record of any employee ever having read a scientific study on Blastocysits, we decided to start n online petition to sponsor legislation requiring that an NIH employee read at least 10 journal articles for every infectious disease widely diagnosed and treated in the United States, summarize the findings into a 1-page policy statement, and circulate it to all employees in the agency.  Help us make the NIH scientifically literate by signing this petition!

e NIH to show evidence that an employee has read and understood the 10 most widely cited journal articles for every

* May 24, 2011 - Read our interview with Dr. Fran Collyer on the science of epistemology, and why experts get it wrong.

* May 23, 2011 - Read our interview with Dr. Hicham El Alaoui, one of the scientists who sequenced the Blastocystis genome

* May 11, 2011 - Back issues of BRF's Newsletters are now available online!

* June 17, 2010 - I've reorganized the "References for Journalists" section and added some additional letters from the National Institutes of Health, US Congress, and Center for Disease Control.

* June 10, 2010 - Take a look at the new Research Collections if you're looking for all the papers on a particular aspect of Blastocystis 'hominis', as they are indexed in the NIH's Pubmed database.  The number of papers identifying Blastocystis 'hominis' as illness causing now exceeds 100. 

* May 20, 2010 - Added a bunch of patient accounts to the "First Hand" accounts section.

* May 2010 - Back again - we just got a large paper submitted on Blastocystis 'hominis' in patients with 'IBS' and 'IBD', and we've been doing the paperwork to get the Gulf War Veterans study going.  Hope everyone liked the redesigned web site

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* October 25, 2009 - Let people know how miserable this disease is making your life! BRF begins "Giving Chronic GI Illness a Voice" project.  To give a testimonial, click here.

* October 15, 2009 - Read our new study in MIOC on Blastocystis 'hominis' subtypes in inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

* September 1, 2009 - I've updated the Publications Section to provide some more description of what these studies are about.

* August 10, 2009 - Answers to questions from patients.  Why do different members of my family have different symptoms? 

* July 22, 2009 - In 1954, over 50,000 Oregonians were sickened when the public water supply became contaminated by Giardia,....read more

* July 21, 2009 - Cancer and Infectious Diseases.  Most advances in the prevention of cancer are now coming from infectious disease groups.  ....read more

* July 18, 2009 - Sign up for BRF Founder Ken Boorom's new Blog at whendidyougetsick.blogspot.com  Learn about what goes on behind the scenes.

* July 17, 2009 - Read our new Blastocystis 'hominis' Fact Sheet

* July 13, 2009 - See the new addition to our online lab, use Google Maps to study research trends in Blastocystis 'hominis'