Strep Throat in Kids/PANDAS

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What's causing this stuff?  Are some infections getting past the blood brain barrier or something?  Or is it the drugs that are used to treat the sickesses that do it?

It's probably been going on for ages but only recently is being recognized. NIMH can answer better than I.

Quote: "The strep bacteria is a very ancient organism which survives in its human host by hiding from the immune system as long as possible. It does this by putting molecules on its cell wall that look nearly identical to molecules found on the child’s heart, joints, skin, and brain tissues. This is called “molecular mimicry” and allows the strep bacteria to evade detection for a time.

However, the molecules on the strep bacteria are eventually recognized as foreign to the body and the child’s immune system reacts to them by producing antibodies. Because of the molecular mimicry, the antibodies react not only with the strep molecules, but also with the human host molecules that were mimicked.

The cross-reactive antibodies then trigger an immune reaction that “attacks” the mimicked molecules in the child’s own tissues. Studies at the NIMH and elsewhere showed that some cross-reactive “anti-brain” antibodies target the brain, causing OCD, tics, and the other neuropsychiatric symptoms of PANDAS."

Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/labs-at-nimh/re...ions.shtml