Lyme’s Disease

Lyme’s disease is a global epidemic. The occurrence is four times higher than AIDS and 50% higher than breast cancer. Millions of people around the globe are suffering and dying of Lyme’s and Lyme’s related diseases. Lyme’s is not only at epidemic proportions, it has also become an embattled flash point between insurance companies and physicians treating Lyme’s patients. The Center for Disease Control denies there is a chronic Lyme’s Disease condition allowing insurance companies not to pay for its’ sufferer’s ongoing treatment for the condition. However, over the next decade there is optimism that better testing and diagnostic tools will immerge to better address this disease.

If you have been diagnosed with Lyme’s disease, yet continue with symptoms, there is a likelihood you have consulted with numerous physicians and experts. This app is designed to provide you with a different perspective and approach to the condition. Using a Whole Person Health approach, it presents the most current evidence-based information regarding post-medical treatment for unresolved Lyme’s disease. Links to research articles, videos, published research, audio interviews and more, are provided. The information is sourced from medical researchers, physicians, hospitals and other resources committed to finding solutions for Lyme’s disease sufferers.

Introduction:

Lyme’s disease currently lacks accurate diagnostic testing which often results in false positives and false negatives while symptoms still remain. While the epidemic is spreading, the conventional treatments for Lyme’s disease continue to be ineffective in halting its spread. Many experts question the existence of “chronic Lyme’s disease”, while others push for new research, as well as advanced and more effective treatment options.

From the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, Bethesda, MD, USA (1)  

“Lyme disease is a controversial tick-borne illness that is estimated to be four times more common than AIDS in the United States. This paper outlines the challenges overcome in the healthcare response to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, the development of sensitive laboratory tests for the AIDS virus, and the promotion of long-term combination antimicrobial regimens to effectively treat HIV disease. We suggest that similar challenges need to be overcome before the chronic form of Lyme disease can be successfully treated. Currently, diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is hindered by the lack of a uniform case definition that adequately reflects the clinical presentation of the disease, poor laboratory test sensitivity, and high treatment failure rates using short-term monotherapy. Consequently the optimal treatment for patients with persistent symptoms of Lyme disease remains undefined. Although antibiotic monotherapy has been successful in treating early Lyme disease, the use of combination antibiotic therapy modelled on HIV treatment appears to be more effective for patients with persistent symptoms of tick-borne infection. Resolution of the controversy surrounding Lyme disease should lead to improved diagnosis and treatment modelled on the approach to HIV disease.”

A Whole Health Perspective

Looking at Lyme’s disease through a Whole Health model, we explore the individual’s unique presentation from the 5 Aspects of Whole Health™ perspective. 

1. Physically – The immune system, the largest organ and system in the body and our “National Guard” against disease, is the arbitrator of how your body can destroy, eliminate or recover from an invasive organism. Understanding this is the starting point to having the Whole Picture of Health® regarding Lyme’s disease. This is also true of most chronic conditions which do not resolve or heal. The physical aspect of Lyme’s infection is that it can affect any  and all parts of the body including the brain, nervous system, respiratory and reproductive, digestive system, and all other organ functions. 

              Physical aspects include quality and amount of SLEEP, as the immune system’s T cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines exhibit peak during early nocturnal sleep.

              Also included is EXERCISE and its function on the enhancement of immune system activation (read “Immune Changes after Exercise” section). Across the chronic disease spectrum, exercising is proving to be part of the treatment regime of choice.

• Chemically/Nutritionally – The many chemicals that go into our bodies from our water, air, food, or through our skin, have a profound effect on our immune and nervous systems. This is a highly individualized topic of discussion, as what can be nourishing for one individual can be toxic or even deadly for another. There are many dietary schools of thought and food, in and by itself, is not necessarily the culprit. The way our bodies chemically respond to the materials that enter our system, our organ function, DNA, hormonal and enzymatic makeup all contribute to what results in either disease resistance, wellness or a disease state.

Food stuffs, such as sugars and starches, when over consumed over time, can lead to cellular insulin resistance. Insulin resistance has been linked with major chronic disease , including Lyme’s Disease.

       Excess insulin leads to Insulin Resistance which lowers immune function, increases fat deposit, cardiac and brain function, and leads to obesity, heart disease, cancer and a host of other conditions. 

• Emotional – The adrenal glands, the adaptation system of the body, located in and part of our kidney function, are a major player in the maintenance of a healthy immune and nervous system. The Adrenal glands receive emotional messages through neurotransmitters (proteins) and can impact the thymus and immune cell functions in the body. When the stressors we experience on a day to day basis chronically cross the homeostatic threshold, the adrenal hormone cortisol suppresses the immune system cells, which contain and control diseases such as Lyme’s, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, cancer, Aids, etc. There are many who are infected with HIV or Lyme’s who do not succumb to the disease state. This is evidence of how our adaptation (adrenal) and environmental protection (immune) systems make the difference to if and how much a micro-organism will create disease or dysfunction in our bodies. (12)

• Environmental – The impact of our environment cannot be underestimated. Lyme’s disease is a direct result of environmental impact. There are many environmental factors that have an impact on our immune and adaptation systems including: air, water, noise, pollution, overcrowding or congestion, violence, traffic, politics, war, GMO and chemical food pollution, and, most recently Electromagnetic
  Field Radiation. We can change our environmental factors by our choices in where and how we live and what we can avoid exposing ourselves to in the world around us. 

• Beliefs, Values and Worldview – also identified as Spirituality – Our values and beliefs can effect what how we live and behave towards ourselves and others. A wide range of spiritual practices such as meditation, visualization, praying, yoga, fasting, silent retreats, and others, have been utilized to aid immune and nervous system healing and return the body back to a state of health.

Overview of current approaches to Lyme’s disease after initial treatment with antibiotics and continuation of symptoms; and an inspiring athlete’s
story of overcoming Lyme’s disease.

• Removal of all insulin provoking foods from the diet. Adaptation of a low net-carb diet which allows for above ground vegetables, good fats such as nuts, seeds and organic butter, lean proteins, all seafood, eggs, salads, soups, no-carb yogurt (Greek), grain free bread such as almond flour loaf, tea and coffee without sweetener and other no-net carb foods such as bean sprouts.
• Adding individualized supplemental support to improve Lyme’s symptoms for sufferers. Mentioned in medical presentation and literature: Niacin and niacinamide are anti-microbial; garlic is anti-microbial and anti-bacterial; turmeric, Omega 3 and vitamin C are antiinflammatory. Homeopathic medicines have been shown to improve Lyme’s symptoms for chronic sufferers.

• Re–building exercise.
  Aerobic exercise has been shown to increase immune function significantly and aid in the reversal of the Lyme’s disease physiological profile.

• Reducing emotional stress and the potential it has directly in reducing all chronic disease states, including Lyme’s disease, has been studied and is recommended. Lyme’s disease can bring about its own psychological impact, an important focus for future research.

• Environmental – there is much evidence that multiple environmental factors are creating and exacerbating chronic neurological and immunological diseases. Addressing home environment impact
  from the above mentioned factors is recommended. 

• Beliefs, values, worldview or spirituality – An individual’s perspective, their beliefs, what they value, their lifestyle, as well as their willingness to make changes in their day to day living, has a major impact on their ability to take control of their chronic condition. It is
  an individual choice that only a patient can make, regardless of the
  encouragement of their physician or family, but an important part of their life to be reflected on.

To find a physician with Lyme’s Disease expertise- 

http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=277
&Itemid=74