Lyme Disease Information
and New Treatment Options

Lyme Disease is the most commonly reported vectorborne disease in the United States

Common or Dog Tick - This tick is not thought to carry lyme disease. However, since dogs regularly contract the disease, this information may prove to be false.	Deer Tick aka Black Leg Tick - This is the carrier of lyme. The disease resides in mice, rats, deer and marine birds and can be carried to humans from the bite of this tick.

How is Lyme disease transmitted?

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection which is transmitted primarily through the bite of ticks which have become infected from some other mammal or marine birds. This is usually the Black Leg tick (also known as the Deer Tick). It is becoming more and more obvious as time goes on, that there must be other vectors of transmission besides ticks. It is not thought to be transmitted by the common dog tick, although the fact that dogs regularly get the disease is an indication that this may prove to be a false assumption. There is also evidence evolving that transmission from person to person through the bites of mosquitos, fleas and biting flies may also occur. Not all deer ticks are infected with the bacteria that cause the disease. Ticks will become infected if they feed on animals that are infected. The disease can be spread when a tick infected with the bacteria bites a person and stays attached for a period of time. In most cases, the tick must be attached for 48 hours or more before the bacteria can be transmitted. The number of cases of Lyme is growing at a rate which tells science that there must be paths of infection other than the deer tick. The following graph from a county in New Jersy shows this to be so.

It is certain that the deer population in New Jersey did not grow at this rate over this period of time! Lyme Disease is a serious and growing health problem in the United States.

Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection caused by a spirochete form of bacterium known as Borrelia burgdorferi. This bacteria is very similar to the bacterium which causes the dread disease syphlis. Nobody talks about this, but the disease resembles syphilis both in its etiology and its pathology. The bacteria is termed "spirochete" due to it's spiral or spring-like shape. It is a highly motile bacteria which travels through the tissues and organs by contracting lengthwise and then springing forward. You can easily see how this could be so by looking at the shape of the bacteria in this picture:

Borrelia burgdorferi

The bacteria causes physical damage by this burrowing motion, as well as biochemical changes to the tissues, before lodging in various organs and joints where it can cause a number of symptoms. The most common are Arthritis-like symptoms and Nerve degeneration symptoms when the bacteria lodges in the spine or brain (CNS). It is these nervous system complications which are the most serious and the most difficult to treat. Migrains, dizzyness, uncoordination and blindness are some of the results of CNS involvment with Lyme disease. (and of course death - another of the symptoms not too many doctors like to mention) The body has a protective blood-brain barrier which few antibiotics can cross, and the body must rely on its own immune system in large part to address these CNS sites of infection. Otherwise, the brain and spinal colume become reservoirs of the bacteria, from where they re-infect the body after each round of antibiotic treatment. It is VERY IMPORTANT to get early antibiotic treatment with this disease. Once the disease is well established, it is impossible to ever become the same person you were.

Serious Complications Can Arise If Left Untreated

The treatment of Lyme disease is with antibiotics, such as Keflex, doxycycline or amoxicillin. As far as Lyme Arthritis, people who have a particular HLA molecule which matches the OspA outer surface protein are prone to an autoimmune arthritis (molecular mimicry) which does not remit after antibiotic treatment (Science 281: 703, 1998). This is a serious complication with Lyme, as even though the disease is cured, and no more bacteria are present in the body, you are still left with a serious arthritis. That is one of the resons that early treatment is so important to deal with the disease before the damage occurs.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease

In 60%-80% of the cases, a large, reddish rash about 2 inches in diameter appears and expands around or near the site of the bite. Sometimes, multiple rash sites appear. The early stage of Lyme disease is usually marked by one or more of the following symptoms and signs: chills and fever, headache, fatigue, stiff neck, muscle and/or joint pain, and swollen lymph nodes. If left untreated, complications from late Lyme disease, such as arthritis, meningitis, facial palsy or heart abnormalities, may occur within a few weeks to months. These later symptoms may develop in people who did not have early symptoms or did not recognize them. Swelling and pain in the large joints may recur over many years. Here is a typical picture of this ring like rash which commonly occurs around the tick bite:

"The longer the tick stays attached, the more likely you are to get sick. If I found an engorged tick on me, I'd simply treat myself for Lyme disease"

(this quote is taken directly from the medical journal - Journal of Infectious Diseases 175: 996, 1997)

Where Does Lyme Occur?

The infection is most common in the Northeastern United States, with about 40% of the cases in New York state. It is also fairly common in Minnesota and Wisconson. The rest of the country sees only scattered cases, other than a few "hot spots" like Humboldt county in Northern California. There are many good sites on Lyme disease where you can get lots of detailed information.We have linked to these other sites down at the bottom of this page.

How Do You Protect Yourself From Lyme Disease?

Avoid being bitten by ticks. When in tick-infested habitat special precautions to prevent tick bites should be taken, such as wearing light-colored clothing (for easy tick discovery) and tucking pants into socks and shirt into pants. Consider the use of repellents. Check after every two to three hours of outdoor activity for ticks on clothing or skin. Brush off any ticks on clothing before skin attachment occurs. A thorough check of body surfaces for attached ticks should be done at the end of the day. If removal of attached ticks occurs within 36 hours, the risk of tickborne infection is minimal. Here are some graphical guidelines for tick bite prevention:

How to Safely Remove Ticks

Grasp the mouthparts with tweezers as close as possible to the attachment (skin) site. Be careful not to squeeze, crush or puncture the body of the tick, which may contain infectious fluids. After removing the tick, thoroughly disinfect the bite site and wash hands. See or call a doctor if there are concerns about incomplete tick removal. Do not attempt to remove ticks by using petroleum jelly, lit cigarettes or other home remedies because these may actually increase the chance of contracting a tick-borne disease.

Treatment Options

A Lyme disease vaccine, currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in persons between 15 and 70 years old, is available. Since it is not 100% effective in preventing Lyme disease and offers no protection against other tickborne diseases, it is important to continue other prevention measures. Contact your health care provider for additional information about the vaccine.

However

Even though this vaccine is approved by the FDA, serious concerns have arisen over the safety of this vaccine and calls for removal of this vaccine from the market have been made. The high incidence of side effects with this vaccine, often severe side effects, are indeed cause for concern. You should discuss with your health care provider whether your risk of exposure to Lyme is greater than the risk of serious side effects you may have from the vaccine. If you live in an area where there are no cases of Lyme disease, then why risk it? If you work outdoors a lot, or live in an area of high Lyme incedence, then perhaps the risk is worth it. This is a decision that needs to be made between you and your doctor. If you have a doctor that tells you the Lyme vaccine is totally safe, then find a new doctor! There will be newer, safer and more effective vaccines on the market in the next couple of years, but at present (May 2003) be carefull of your options. (This author chooses NOT to get a vaccine, even though living in a high risk area!)

Antibiotics are the treatment option of choice. For CNS Lyme, that is Lyme which has infiltrated the brain or spinal colume, antibiotics may be of limited usefullness. Most certainly antibiotics should be used. Don't skip that part of the treatment! but there is another course of therapy which we feel is useful, and should be followed at the same time. This is concurrent Immune System Enhancement to increase the effectivness of the antibiotic. There are a number of drugs and supplements which act to enhance the immune system. This is very important in a disease like Lyme which may have crossed the blood/brain barrier and which may be building resistance to the more common antibiotics. Also the long term effects of Lyme disease are so serious that it is imperative that the disease be addressed completely the first time around.

Immune System Supplementation Concurrent with Anitbiotic Treatment

The immune system is the mechanism whereby we avoid contracting a disease, and by which we get well once we do get sick. All antibiotics are merely adjuncts to the bodys' own immune system. Without this vital system, the human body can not survive. Note the end result of AIDS. No matter how much antibiotic is given, without proper functioning of the immune system, RECOVERY CAN NOT OCCUR. In Lyme disease, this concurrent Immune System supplementation Therapy is thought to be especially important, as the Lyme bacteria acts to directly depress the immune system in much the same way that syphlis or AIDS does. The activation and enhancement of the bodys' immune function is probably more important while undergoing treatment for Lyme than with most other diseases.

Immunomodulators as a Concurrent Supplementation Therapy

In many countrys where Lyme disease occurs there are available prescription drugs which act in conjunction with antibiotics to increase the curative potential of the antibiotic therapy. These drugs are generally polysaccharide based such as Lentinan, Sonifolan or Polyactin A. While these drugs are not currently used in the United States, There are a number of over the counter dietary supplement which may have the same effect. Aloha Medicinals Inc, a Hawaii based nutraceutical manufacturer has done several years research on the use of immuno-modulators as dietary supplements for concommitant use in difficult to treat diseases such as Lyme. This was an unexpected offshoot from the tracking of results from the use of their original product Immune-Assist™, a condition specific dietary supplement intended for use by cancer patients while undergoing conventional treatment. While intended originally as a cancer treatment enhancer, the mode of action is strictly immuno-modulatory, and led to the development of their second generation of Immunomodulatory supplements. In particular their latest product Ridoxolan Plus™, has shown great effectivness for supplementing the immune system effectivness while undergoing treatment for Lyme disease. It seems logical that this approach may be especially useful in the hard to treat, later stages of CNS lyme. This is probably because the immune stimulation response it provides is not limited by the blood/brain barrier, as are conventional antibiotics. It seems that immunomodulator supplements may act as enhancement for the antibiotics usually used for Lyme treatment, increasing their effectivness. Ridoxolan Plus™ is an all natural product, organically certified and made in the United States, which is made from Beta-Glucans, polysaccharides and Nucleoside compounds extracted and concentrated from several different species of Medicinal Mushrooms and is available without a prescription. Ask your doctor if Immune Enhancement could be the right choice for you, or get more information on this particular mode of therapy at the Ridoxolan Plus™ page.

Silver as Adjunct Therapy

Silver is also a noteworthy supplement to conventional treatment, and in late stages Lyme Arthritis so is gold therapy. While treatment with gold compounds is a very specialized field which only your doctor can prescribe, treatment with colloidal silver products is cheap, available and well worth while. A company that seems to offer good silver products is Vitamin Research Products Inc. and can be found at Silver Treatment for Lyme Disease. Much good information about Lyme is available on their website.

We hope that you have found some useful information here on our Lyme Disease page, and offer you these links to sites which we have found very helpful.

Links

NOTE: The information presented here is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician. These claims have not been evaluated by the FDA. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Health decisions are much too important to be made without the advice of a Doctor or other health care practioner. We invite and encourage you to share this information with your doctor. We would be happy to share all of our research materials with any doctor who asks. Be informed and then make the right decisions for your health.