Re: Much needed advice on microscopy in the UK...

From: Aaron (nghy_at_comcast.net)
Date: 06/22/04 

Date: 21 Jun 2004 23:33:45 -0500

Let me extend my sympathies. Lyme disease is a terrible affiction.

To address your original request. The spirochettes that are
responsible for Lyme disease, species of Borrelia , are very very
small. They are small enough to tax even the best light microscope
optics.. The techniques needed to setup a microscope and prepare
samples for this task is also difficult. In my opinion, you would
probably struggle trying to learn all you need on your own. The risk
of investing in unsuitable equipment is also very great. .

Fortunately, there are lots of microscope enthusiasts in the UK and
numerous amateur groups whose members will have adequate equipment and
the experience to help you..

Before you invest in microscope equipment of your own, I suggest that
you contact an amateur group and see if you can find someone who will
work with you to teach you the skills you will need and introduce you
to the types of equipment that you would need. .They will also be able
to put you in touch with reliable sources of equipment.

 A good place to start would be .

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/amateurs/mainpeop.html

Once you are confident about the method of detection and your skills,,
you can go shopping for equipment. however, be prepared to lay out
several thousand pounds sterling for a microscope with the necessary
objectives and attachments. My bias is towards used research grade
microscopes because someone else (ususally a large business) has paid
dearly for the initial deprecieation of the microscope..

Good Luck
Aaron

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 08:20:56 +0100, Mark Greenfield <mark@ukcss.com>
wrote:

>I should have put some more info in my original post but wasn't sure I'd
>be so lucky in getting all these replies :)
>
>I suffer from lyme disease, a spirochaetal infection acquired from deer
>ticks, current blood tests and culture studies aren't reliable enough,
>so a doctor from Denmark who also has lyme decided to go back over the
>old literature from Dr Koch around 1910 where he describes the life
>cycle of the bacteria. We did this at our annual lyme disease conference
>and projected the view from the microscope of many blood samples onto a
>large screen on the wall. you can see the bacteria burrowing into the
>red blood cells where they evade the immune system. Hence I want to do
>some studies on the little buggers in my own blood! The current
>treatment starts at around 18 months of antibiotics (any less is old
>data, as most of the British medical books are) and that will not
>irradicate the blighters, only gets the bacterial load down enough to
>get you 80% well. So it's not a problem that's going to go away until a
>proper cure is found.
>
>my next job is to find out how to correctly mount the sample, but thanks
>to everyone's help I now know I have to look into this before buying a
>microscope. Ideally I'd like to spend £300-500.
>
>thanks again for all the advice
>
>mark
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>In message <m3pcd09ifv5tl45s0q0jmp6vhc4gdukvj8@4ax.com>, Aaron
><nghy@comcast.net> writes
>>Are you a doctor or a nutritionist looking to add blood analysis to
>>your practice?
>>
>>
>>
>>On Sun, 20 Jun 2004 17:37:13 +0100, Mark Greenfield <mark@ukcss.com>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>I'd be most grateful if anyone could help me, I'm completely new to
>>>microscopy and have read a few web sites but have not had much luck
>>>yet...
>>>
>>>I need to purchase a microscope to examine blood samples and view
>>>bacteria within the blood over a period of several days, I believe I
>>>need x1000 resolution for the level of detail I require. I would also
>>>like to be able to add the ability to attach a video camera and/or still
>>>camera at some point. I believe a stereo vision microscope would be
>>>ideal.
>>>
>>>Could anyone please advise what type of microscope I should look for and
>>>where are good places to purchase in the UK? Also, is a second hand
>>>purchase worthwhile or am I asking for trouble if it goes wrong? I only
>>>have a small budget so this will be the deciding factor.
>>>
>>>Also
>>>
>>>* if anyone has any advice on extra features I should look for re:
>>>lighting etc I'd be grateful.
>>>
>>>* Any good books I should purchase which may have more detail on
>>>examining blood samples containing bacteria would be useful.
>>>
>>>* is there any way I can find out if there is a local microscopy
>>>club to me in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>sorry to ask so much but I'd be grateful for as many answers as possible
>>>so I can get a good picture of what I'm looking for.
>>

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