Natural Medicine and LYME Disease

Natural Medicine and Lyme Disease

Have you been walking in the woods or hiking ? Have you ever had Lyme Disease or do you know someone who who has and still might have recurrent symptoms even after treatment ?
I have many patients who seek advice and they wonder if some of their chronic symptoms are Lyme related. Sometimes, about 40-50 % of the time, a tick bite is not even noticed by a person. Many people have chronic symptoms that can be treated and eliminated if they are comprehensive in their treatment protocols. I am reminded of a 55 yo woman I saw this week who is 80 % better, but not until some exploration and careful looking did I use the right homeopathic homocord for LYME and as well as doses of the correct natural antibiotic that most resonated with her body in potencies that were needed to clear the LYME.

Confusing condition
Why is it so difficult to diagnose Lyme disease? Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacterial spirochete, causes the condition. This type of bacteria can invade all parts of the body, including skin, muscles, joints, nervous system, the cardiovascular system, ocular tissue, sinus tissue, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs. Lyme disease can also mimic different illnesses and syndromes. It is an infection that triggers a variety of host responses, depending on the individual. The spirochete actually burrows into lymphocyte cells and depresses the immune system.

The complex interaction of the Borrelia spirochete, the host, and the immune response that the bacterium elicited, can explain the varied and often confusing persistence of fatigue and other symptoms of the chronic Lyme patient, even after antibiotic treatment.

Unanswered Questions

"No one knows why in some patients with late Lyme disease, symptoms eventually diminish or disappear, whereas in other patients, the symptoms persist. The bacteria survive in numbers too low to be detected by conventional tests, yet high enough to produce illness," according to the national Institute of Allergic and Infectious Disease (NIAID). NIAID is now using the term "persistent Lyme disease syndrome" (PLDS). NIAID states, "We don't know whether these symptoms associated with PLDS are caused by one or more of the following: an ongoing infection with BB (Borrelia Burgdorferi), another tick borne pathogen, re-infection with BB, an autoimmune or primary response associated with the initial infection, or some yet-to-be-identified mechanism. Unanswered questions regarding PLDS include:



What type of antibiotics are most effective?
How long should they be taken?
Do benefits last with antibiotic therapy,
and if so, for how long?
What outcomes can be used to determine
a sufficient treatment?


Chronic Lyme disease most often produces persistent arthritis, nervous system problems, and cardiac symptoms. It can have many different presentations, depending on

1) which body system is affected,
2) the individual’s response to the infection, and
3) the time between initial onset and diagnosis.
Patients can go from physician to physician and get multiple diagnoses, including arthritis, anxiety, depression, and neurological problems such as memory deficits and cognitive dysfunction. Cognitive dysfunction involves brain processing and word retrieval, and can present as a brain disorder. Borreliosis causes a chronic infection of the nervous system and may produce a syndrome indistinguishable from multiple sclerosis. Fatigue presents as a spectrum that includes fibromyalgia symptoms, all the way to chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome.

Diagnosis

Antibody assays of Borrelia burgdorferi (BB) can provide evidence of current or previous infection. However, positive tests of BB antibodies do not always indicate current infection, and patients with active Lyme disease can test negative on antibody testing.

Lyme disease is a clinical diagnosis. Testing confirms the diagnosis. First-stage testing is the Enzyme Link Immunoabsorbent Test, and Indirect Immunofluoresence Microscopy. Western Blot (immunoblot) assays are used for secondary-level testing. The Western Blot tests the serum for the presence of numerous KDA antibodies (both IgM and IgG), such as the 18, 21-25, 28, 30, 31, 34, 39, 41, 45, 58, 66, 83, and 93. A Western Blot IgM test of two bands (e.g., 23, 42, or 39, 41) is a positive IgM test. Five bands on IgG testing constitutes a positive Western Blot analysis by Center for Disease Control (CDC) standards. This is set up on a research basis to make sure no false positives are included in Lyme studies. Many Lyme-positive patients have evidence of three or four bands on testing. Sero negativity shows about 15% of the time. Sero negativity refers to a negative antibody result, even though the patient has the disease.

There is a good article in the International Journal of Integrative Medicne on all of this information.



Background on Lyme Disease

Lyme disease has become the most common tick-born disease in the United States. the areas at highest risk are the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and Northern California. The most prevalent time of year for infection is from May to September. The deer and mouse population are the reservoir for the disease. Recent studies have found that acorns are food for the white-footed mouse. Oak trees shed their acorns every three years, with 70% to 75% of the trees shedding their acorns in synchronous fashion. It has also been shown that the year after a big acorn drop, increased cases of Lyme disease are recorded, It is possible that this is due to the increase mouse population.(10)

COMPREHENSIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY treatment of Lyme disease begins by considering many variables. It is important to look at the patient’s the entire history and range of symptoms, past immune function problems or infections and allergies or candida. If there was a history of antibiotic treatment, what effects did the person notice. A complete overview of nutritional, hormonal, structural status, and other stress factors could have powerful influences on the immune system is important.


Natural Medicine and Lyme Disease
People with Lyme disease often after nutritional testing need anti-inflammatory nutrients such as fish oil and borage seed oil. . Since muscle pain and spasm are present in many cases, minerals such a calcium/magnesium and magnesium malate are carefully looked and possibly given as extra supplements.. CoQ10, reservatrol, extra Vitamin C, D, and E sometimes are also helpful in the right amounts.

It also is important to look at general toxic loads from pesticides and heavy metals that burden the body and interfere with healing.

When a patient is placed on antibiotic therapy, it is important to offer high quality probiotics (e.g., Lactobacillus, acidophilus or bifidum) and Saccharomyces boulardii. this prevents imbalance in the intestinal flora, which could lead to intestinal dysbiosis (imbalances)

Chronic candidiasis and intestinal dysbiosis are frequently encountered in the treatment of Lyme patients. In some cases, natural anti-fungal formulas can be used. . Occasionally, intestinal cleansing and liver detoxing while using the specific treatments for the LYME is necessary. Different formulas that support the liver such as milk thistle extract can help prevent potential dysfunction of liver enzymes from antibiotic therapy.



Stress and the Lyme Patient
Stress affects the Lyme patient in various ways. The disease is chronic. Obviously, this often creates frustration, anxiety, and fearfulness. Stress can cause immunosuppresion. It can also affect the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal access, manifesting as hypoadrenia. This can exacerbate the prior condition and present as fatigue, chronic exhaustion, chronic dizziness, chronic headache, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, and anxiety.

It is important to provide an integrative program for managing the effects of stress on the body:

1. Relaxation techniques and stress-reduction management, visualization and meditation
2. general immune support using zinc,herbal immune support and thymus activators
4. Endocrine enhancement, concentrating on nutritional and herbal support for the adrenal gland. This includes vitamin C, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, and possibly DHEA
5. If there is considerable stress, emotional and or nerve involvement, theanine, inositol and B
vitamins are tested for whether they resonate with what the person needs.



Preventing Lyme Disease
As with all illnesses, prevention is easier, safer, and less costly than treatment. The following tips may be helpful to avoid infection of the Lyme disease bacterium in the first place.

Avoid tick-infested areas, especially in May, June, and July.

After being outdoors in tick infested areas, remove, wash, and dry clothing.

Wear light-colored clothing so ticks are clearly visible.

Inspect the body thoroughly and carefully. Remove any attached ticks.

Wear long-sleeved shirts, pants, and a hat, and closed shoes and socks.

.Swab the bite area thoroughly with an antiseptic to prevent bacterial infection.

Tuck pant legs into socks or boots and tuck shirt into pants.

If you find a tick, tug gently but firmly with blunt tweezers near the "head" of the tick until it releases it's hold on the skin.

Apply insect repellent to pants, socks, shoes, and exposed skin.

To reduce the risk of infection, try not to crush the tick's body or handle the tick with bare fingers.

Walk in the center of trails to avoid overgrown grass and brush.

Check pets for ticks during tick season. Last night, I took about 6 ticks off one of my dogs.

Again I am grateful for the patience many of the clients I work with have to get to the bottom
of what does their body really need to establish a firm foot hold in the healing process.
Lyme can be very very challenging. Lyme Homocords can be very supportive.