Fatal Forecast: Lyme Disease Will Plague America by Dr. Mercola
Fatal Forecast: Lyme Disease Will Plague America
March 22, 2017|34,158views
2.2K
By Dr. Mercola
National surveillance for Lyme disease began in 1982 and since then the number of reported cases have grown over 25-fold.1 Between 1990 and 2015, the number of reported cases in the U.S. doubled.2 The disease has also spread geographically.3
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
it's the fastest growing vector-borne infectious disease in the U.S.4
The CDC reports the disease, and the ticks that carry the disease, are concentrated in the northeast and upper Midwest.5
Ticks carry more than Lyme disease, including Rocky Mountain spotted
fever and human babesiosis, a rare microscopic parasite that infects red
blood cells.
Each year approximately 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the CDC.6
However, this number does not reflect all cases diagnosed in the U.S.
Following two studies by the CDC, researchers estimate 10 times that
number are infected with Lyme disease each year, for a total ranging
between 296,000 and 376,000 cases.
Lyme disease is often called "the great imitator,"7
as it may mimic a number of other disorders, such as arthritis, chronic
fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's disease.
Outwardly, most infected individuals appear healthy, in spite of
suffering severe symptoms. Vague and dispersed pain complaints may be
misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia.
What Lyme Disease Is and How It's Spread
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection primarily transmitted by ticks
that have previously fed on an infected host. However, some top
authorities on Lyme disease,
like Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, warn the bacteria that cause the disease
may also be spread by other insects such as fleas, mosquitoes, mites and
spiders.
Lyme disease remains one of the most serious and controversial
epidemics today. The disease usually starts with fatigue, fever,
headaches and joint or muscle pain.
It can then progress to muscle spasms, loss of motor coordination,
intermittent paralysis, meningitis and even heart problems. Lyme disease
was named after the east coast town of Lyme, Connecticut, where the
illness was first identified in 1975.
It wasn't until 1982 that Willy Burgdorfer, Ph.D., discovered the
bacteria responsible for the infection — a cousin to the spirochete that
causes syphilis. They look almost identical under a microscope.
Burgdorfer named the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. The corkscrew
shape allows the bacteria to hide in a variety of different body
tissues, causing a wide range of symptoms.
The bacteria may also live inside your cells in an "L-form" or coated
as a cyst. The ability to change forms explains why diagnosis and
treatment is so challenging and why recurrence of symptoms may result
after standard antibiotic protocols. Ticks
are not born with the bacteria, but acquire it after feeding on a host.
White-footed mice, which are a common carrier, infect an estimated 75
to 95 percent of larval ticks that feed on them. Urban sprawl and
reduction in natural predators have allowed the mouse population to
quickly multiply, and with them the infected ticks.
The growing number of infections are not surprising, but how the
medical community may respond will determine the extent of the damage in
the coming years.
Although chronic Lyme disease is more widely recognized as an actual
disease, there continues to be resistance in the medical community and
with insurers. Sufferers are often told the problem is psychiatric.
Early Spring Is Creating the Perfect Lyme Storm
The majority of time Lyme disease is spread through tick bites.
However, it can also be spread by mosquitoes, spiders, fleas and mites.
According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, spring was
scheduled to arrive three weeks early this year for nearly half of the
U.S.8
If you love being outside without layers of clothing, this may sound
like a good thing. However, the warm weather will also pose public
health challenges.
Early spring may have an effect on the spread of insects that spread
diseases, such as mosquitoes and ticks. Dr. Aaron Bernstein, associate
director of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Center,
commented on the spread of disease and diseases for which no good
treatment is currently available:9
"There's no question that when it's too cold, ticks and
mosquitoes cannot thrive. An overall warming trend opens up the chance
for them to live in new places and to stay alive for longer periods of
time.
We don't want to have to resort to spraying potentially harmful
pesticides over large swaths of land to kill mosquitoes, or quarantining
people who enter the country from certain parts of the world, or
exposing our children to vaccines that haven't been tested thoroughly."
The combination of higher risks of flooding with an early spring,
milder temperatures, growing populations of ticks and Lyme infected mice
and more people being more active outdoors, may increase the number of
people infected with Lyme disease.
Interestingly, the ticks do not get sick from the bacteria they
carry. Joao Pedra, Ph.D., studies microbiology and immunology at the
University of Maryland School of Medicine. He wanted to know what was
happening in the ticks' immune system and found several genes necessary
for mosquito immunity was absent in ticks.10
Instead of identifying a foreign invader by sugar molecules, a tick's
immunity identifies lipid molecules, making them uniquely adapted to
handle a bacteria that uses lipids to keep the cell structure intact.
Pedra speculates the bacteria may also enable ticks to live through cold
weather.
Areas Affected by Lyme Disease in the United States Are Growing
Areas of the U.S. affected by Lyme disease are growing, and most
notably in the coldest, more northern states. The CDC estimates the two
states to be hardest hit by Lyme disease this season are New Jersey and
Pennsylvania.11 Researchers in New York have also found the regional mouse population is exploding.
Lyme disease is not exclusive to the eastern U.S., but also has a
presence in Wisconsin and Minnesota. However, in recent years the tick
population has spread to Michigan, in both the Upper and Lower
Peninsulas.
The number of diagnosed cases increased five times over a four-year
study period, indicating an expanding geographic distribution northward.12
The increasing number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease may be
the result of better diagnosis and an increasing number of physicians
who suspect Lyme disease. It may also be attributed to an increasing
number of people who are moving to suburban areas that are being
reforested.13
Although the number of areas affected by Lyme disease is growing,
another challenge is convincing people the threat of this condition is
real.
According to a survey of more than 11,000 people done by the CDC
between 2009 and 2012, 21 percent of households had one person bitten by
a tick in the past year,14 but only 10 percent of those reported seeing a health professional.
Unfortunately, over 50 percent of the respondents to the survey
reported they did not take any precautionary or preventive measures
during warm weather.
The survey found that exposure to ticks was common and the
understanding of Lyme disease was widespread, but preventive methods
were used infrequently. This may indicate a poor understanding of the
secondary effects of chronic Lyme disease, or a belief that the
respondents would not contract the disease.
Symptoms of Lyme Disease May Baffle Your Physician
In this video, U.S. Congressman for New Jersey's 4th District, Chris
Smith, describes the challenges patients are facing in the recognition
and treatment of Lyme disease. People with Lyme disease are often
described as "looking good" and their blood work often comes back
normal, making diagnosis of the acute and chronic condition challenging.
In fact, the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) doesn't
believe there is a chronic condition, stating symptoms should be gone in
two to four weeks after antibiotic treatment.15
As a result, many patients are referred to a psychiatrist and some
doctors have gone so far as to accuse patients of being attention
seekers fabricating their symptoms. A significant contributing challenge
is the disease is notoriously difficult to diagnose using lab testing.
The bacteria is able to infect your white blood cells. Testing
measures the antibodies white cells produce, but infected cells don't
respond appropriately. Antibodies to the disease appear only after your
white cells are functioning normally. This means that to get an accurate
blood test, you first have to undergo treatment.16 To overcome this challenge, the CDC recommends a two-step testing process.17
IGeneX lab, which specializes in Lyme testing, has a potentially more
accurate test. They are accredited by the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services and hold licensure in several states. Their test is
highly specific for bacterial strains and co-infections. They check for
bacterial DNA, ideal for people who do not produce antibodies to Lyme
disease.18,19
There is great variation in presenting symptoms and the
characteristic "bulls-eye" rash is not present in nearly half of
patients. The difficulty in diagnosis has led to resistance in
acknowledging both the acute and chronic phase of the disease. This
occurs in patients who are medical professionals as well. Dr. Neil
Spector, oncologist at Duke University, recounts his journey with Lyme
disease in his autobiographical book, "Gone in a Heartbeat."20
Spector's doctors attributed his symptoms to stress as his blood work
was negative, until severe heart failure required a transplant. He
commented:21
"Heaven help the patient whose diagnostic tests do not point to a
specific disease. They are likely to end up neglected by the very
system that was designed to help them … despite my instincts and
research into the field, I was largely being discounted by the medical
community. If this can happen to a physician-scientist with extensive
knowledge of medicine, just imagine what is happening to others who lack
a medical background."
Important to Take Prevention Seriously
The treatment for Lyme disease is challenging and often controversial, making prevention vital.
Many people are unaware that young ticks are the size of poppy seeds
and may crawl over your shoes and up your pants. Adult ticks are more
likely to drop from trees or crawl under an untucked shirt.22
If you live or travel through a high-risk area, maintain your guard
against tick bites. Here are several ways you can prevent contracting
Lyme disease:23,24,25
Avoid tick-infested areas, such as leaf piles around trees. Walk
in the middle of trails and avoid brushing against long grasses path
edgings. Don't sit on logs, wooden stumps, stonewalls or the ground.
Ticks are very tiny. You want to find and remove them before they
bite, so do a thorough tick check upon returning inside and take a
shower.
Continue to check your body and bedding for several days after being in an area likely to have ticks.
Considering the high infection rate of rats, you'd be wise to
take precautions if you're in an area where rats have been sighted.
Tuck your pants into socks and wear closed shoes and a hat,
especially if venturing out into wooded areas. Also tuck your shirt into
your pants.
Wear light-colored long pants and long sleeves with a tight weave, to make it easier to see the ticks.
Once you return home, place your clothing in the dryer (before
washing) on high heat for 60 minutes to kill any ticks on your clothes.
Your pet can become a host for ticks
and may also become infected with Lyme disease, although it is more
likely they will test positive but won't experience symptoms.
I don't recommend using chemical repellents directly on your skin
as this introduces toxins directly into your body. If you choose to use
them, spray the outside of your clothes while outside and avoid
inhaling the fumes.
Keep long hair tied back, especially when you are gardening.
Remove leaves from your lawn each fall, as ticks will seek shelter from
cold weather and snow under piles of leaves.
If you find that a tick has latched onto you, it's very important
to remove it properly. For detailed instructions, please see
lymedisease.org's tick removal page.26
Once removed, make sure you save the tick so that it can be tested for presence of pathogenic organisms.
Antibiotics Are NOT the Best Treatment Option
While early treatment is critical to prevent complications,
traditional treatment involving a course of antibiotics is often
unsuccessful in preventing complications, including arthritis, cognitive
deficits, heart rhythm irregularities or neurological symptoms.27 Antibiotics damage your gut microbiome and increase your risk of yeast and fungal infections.
For these reasons, it is advisable to exhaust natural strategies to
help your body fight Lyme disease. One example is the Nutramedix line of
herbal antimicrobials, recommended by one of the most prominent
alternative medicine experts, Dr. Lee Cowden. The best feature of this
natural treatment for Lyme disease is that it rotates various herbal
antimicrobials, so you don't have to worry about bacteria developing
resistance.
To help your body fight the infection, you should consume a nutritious diet rich in antioxidants.
You can also take antioxidants and other supplements, to help your body
fight the infection and relieve symptoms. Here are some supplement
recommendations if you are embracing a natural treatment approach:
Astaxanthin: neutralizes toxins and relieves joint pain
Probiotics: optimizes gut flora and supports immunity
Grapefruit seed extract: may help treat Borrelia in cyst form
Cilantro: a natural chelator for heavy metals
Krill oil: helps in reducing inflammation and relieving Lyme symptoms
Resveratrol: helps with detoxification and it may treat the common co-infection, Bartonella
Quercetin: reduces histamine, which is usually high in Lyme patients
Whey protein concentrate: may help with nutrition, a common problem in Lyme patients who are unable to eat properly
Andrographis and Artemisinin: herbs that treat the common co-infection, Babesia
Curcumin: helps reduce brain swelling and eliminates neurological toxins
GABA and melatonin: addresses insomnia, which is common in people with Lyme disease
CoQ10: supports cardiac health, alleviates muscle pain and reduces brain fog
Transfer factors: helps boost immune function
Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt is one of the top authorities on Lyme disease.
He has a Lyme disease protocol that can help you recover from the
infection. His website explains the protocol in detail, but here are the
basic steps to give you an idea of what it entails:28
Evaluate all external factors, and address as appropriate. These
include molds, electromagnetic fields, electrosmog and microwave
radiation in connection to wireless technologies. Klinghardt advises
shielding your home using Y shield (special graphite paint) in order to
reduce microwave radiation coming from the outside. Cloth coated with
silver is used for curtains. Patients are advised to turn off all fuses
at night and eliminate all cordless telephones until they recover from
the illness.
Address stress and emotional issues. Energy psychology tools like
the Emotional Freedom Techniques can be helpful to address the emotional
components of Lyme.
Address parasitic, bacterial and viral infections. Parasites need to
be addressed first, followed by bacteria and then viruses. Klinghardt
uses an antimicrobial cocktail composed of wormwood, vitamin C,
phospholipids and different herbs. Viral infections are addressed with
BioPure's Viressence, a tincture of Native American herbs.
Address other lifestyle factors. Determine your need for supplementation (antioxidants) to address nutritional deficiencies.
Tick-Borne Disease Alliance (TBDA). Under the "Diagnosing TBDS" tab, you can find a listing of medical professionals knowledgeable in the treatment of Lyme
Lyme disease expert Dr. Joseph J. Burrascano, wrote what is
essentially a manual for managing Lyme disease, "Advanced Topics in Lyme
Disease," which is worth adding to your resources. However, beware that
his treatment focus is long-term antibiotics, which I believe should
not be your first choice. Nevertheless, there is some good information
there.
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