Author Archive

What Happens to Doctors Who Innovate?

Short answer: they are persecuted and vilified.  Lymeland is filled with such examples.

I remember a quote from Dr. Afrin I will never forget: “Doctors aren’t paid to think.” 
Now that’s a sad truth.

https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/what-happens-to-doctors-who-innovate

What Happens to Doctors Who Innovate?

Lessons to be learned from the American Board of Internal Medicine

A MIDWESTERN DOCTOR

AUG 22, 2023

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • The medical community has a longstanding bias against acknowledging new evidence which shows existing practices harm patients, and doctors who present it often experience professional repercussions for doing so
  • The final part of a doctor’s training is done so they can earn a board certification. That certification is often necessary for doctors to perform things specific to their specialty (e.g., surgeries)
  • ABIM (American Board of Internal Medicine) is a private “nonprofit” organization that grants most of the board certifications hospitals require a doctor to hold in order to see patients within them. Longstanding concerns exist that ABIM has abused its monopoly to milk as much money as it can from America’s doctors (which is then spent on “executive compensation”)
  • During COVID, ABIM chose to revoke the board certifications of numerous doctors who saved lives by publishing effective treatment protocols for COVID-19 no one could make money off of. ABIM’s conduct illustrates how the modern medical system suppresses anything which competes with its business

(See link for article)

________________

Important excerpt:

I recently completed an article discussing how the grant system (which only funds orthodox research) has played a pivotal role in causing innovation to disappear from medicine. When I reviewed Pierre Kory’s pending de-certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), I realized those events illustrate another common way critical innovations are prevented from ever seeing the light of day.

If you are unfamiliar with the gross breach of ethics in the research world, public health, and scientific journals, read this.
The article points out numerous important points:
  • De Facto Laws: things that are not formal laws but are treated as such: e.g., during COVID there was coordinated and widespread censorship of COVID treatments that no one could make any money off of.  This of course was illegal but became de facto law because everyone deferred to the “authorities” advocating the position.
  • Corrupt Panels:  Similarly to the corrupt panels appointed to create Lyme “guidelines,” corrupt panels are appointed to provide “guidelines” for treating diseases that support the sponsors of those panels who have financial interests with the chosen treatments – despite lack of effectiveness or safety.  Due to this, doctors have had to sue the FDA for illegal interference.  This has yet to be done in Lymeland; however, the lawsuit against the IDSA may be revived.
    • The article actually mentions the plight in Lymeland and comments that so far the Torrey lawsuit was dismissed because the IDSA has argued that adherence to the Lyme guidelines is “voluntary,” but similarly to COVID, have served as de facto law, but for over 40 years.  Since the IDSA ruling has not been challenged, it is the current precedent and may explain why the FDA recently reversed its position on ivermectin:

      FDA explicitly recognizes that doctors do have the authority to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID,” Ashley Cheung Honold, a Department of Justice lawyer representing the FDA, said during oral arguments on Aug. 8 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

  • Specialty Boards make a variety of de facto laws usually based on greed:  Eichenwald’s investigation for Newsweek in 2015 found:
    • ABIM executives were receiving between 1-2 million dollars in annual salaries (which should be in the 100k-200k range)
    • That the ABIM, a non-profit, was doing everything it could to hide that compensation.
    • That ABIM was aggressively pushing physicians to do onerous and completely pointless things to maintain their board certifications so they could milk more money from them.
    • That the ABIM was engaging in anti-competitive practices against anyone who tried to create an alternative to their model.
    • ABIM has moved to revoke board certifications of many experts who have spoken out about COVID causing many to fight back through lawsuits and the grueling repeal process:

I’m done with these people. I don’t need the board certification because I never want to work in a hospital again. However, on principle I need to fight this because a lot of other doctors do and they are trying to make an example out of us so all those doctors stay in line and comply.

Suddenly claiming that using licensed drugs for COVID, criticizing federal policies for COVID or criticizing the value of COVID vaccines is “unprofessional” gives the specialty board the right to revoke a certification—well, that was never part of its contract with me. So pulling my certification for issues that were never specified in the original contract is breach of contract. Well, that is if contracts, like constitutional amendments and medical ethical principles were still “a thing.” ~ Dr.
Pierre Kory

  • Consensus-based medicine is not the same thing as evidence-based medicine

Note: as detailed in The War on Ivermectin, there were 80 lawsuits where families with a relative being subjected to Fauci’s hospital COVID protocols and was expected to die had lawyer Ralph Lorigo sue the hospital for ivermectin to be administered to their relative. Of those 80 lawsuits, in 40 the judge sided with the family, and in 40 with the hospital (initially the lawsuits were successful, but as they mounted, the hospitals banded together to develop an effective apparatus to dismiss further lawsuits). Of the 40 cases where ivermectin was given, 38 of the 40 patients survived. Of the 40 cases where the hospitals were allowed to withhold ivermectin, 2 of the 40 patients survived. Beyond the fact this is insane, like the vaccine mandates, it is also a perfect example of not following the three pillars of EBM.

    • COVID is the perfect example of consensus-based medicine masquerading as evidence-based medicine which was forced upon the entire world.

Another indictment that affects all of this is the censorship industry that has completely taken over making it nearly impossible to find truth.  Similarly to how the medical field has been usurped by “consensus-based medicine,” the entire globe has been hijacked by something called “whole of society response” which is an ugly unification of government, news media & “fact-checkers,” the private sector, and civil society. Taxpayer-funded researchers devised stealth strategies to aid social media censorship, including ‘newspeak’ to hide the government’s censorship agenda.  Go here for an interview with Mike Benz, executive director for the Foundation for Freedom Online.  Benz started off as a corporate lawyer representing tech and media companies and then became a speech writer.  Important points to understand:

  • Google started as a DARPA grant and was part of the CIA’s and NSA’s digital data program, the purpose of which was to conduct “birds of a feather” mapping online so that certain groups could be neutralized
  • All of the early internet freedom technologies of the 90s were funded by the Pentagon and the State Department. They were developed by the intelligence community as an insurgency tool — a means to help dissident groups in foreign countries to develop a pro-U.S. stance and evade state-controlled media. Now, these same technologies have been turned against the American public, and are used to control public discourse
  • In the past, censorship was a laborious task that could only be done after the fact. Artificial intelligence has radically altered the censorship industry. AI programs can now censor information en masse, based on the language used, and prevent it from being seen at all
  • One of the most effective strategies that would have immediate effect would be to strip the censorship industry of its government funding. The House controls the purse strings of the federal government, so the House Appropriations Committee has the power to end the funding of government-sponsored censorship

Category:

Activism

Do You Have to be a Millionaire to Heal From Lyme Disease?

https://www.lymedisease.org/does-it-take-millionaires-fortune/

Does it take a millionaire’s fortune to heal from Lyme disease?

Aug. 18, 2023

International supermodel Bella Hadid has an estimated net worth of $25 million.

Actress Riley Keough, granddaughter of Elvis Presley, has just been named sole custodian of Graceland mansion and the family shares of Elvis Presley Enterprises, reportedly worth $500 million.

In addition to being super-wealthy, these two glamorous women have something else in common. Both have recently spoken publicly about having Lyme disease—and the challenges they’ve faced in getting well again.

In a cover story in Vanity Fair magazine, Keough says she went to a clinic in Switzerland: “It’s a holistic treatment center and offers all kinds of things that you can’t really do in America yet, like cleaning your blood.”

At about the same time the Vanity Fair issue came out, Bella Hadid posted on Instagram about recently undergoing more than 100 days of intensive treatment for Lyme disease and co-infections, after “15 years of invisible illness.” Although no specifics of treatment are given, accompanying photos suggest that IVs were certainly part of her protocol.

For sick and suffering Lyme patients who are NOT multi-millionaires—typically forced to travel long distances to even find a practitioner who acknowledges their illness, and then must pay out of pocket because insurance companies won’t cover such treatments—these news stories can seem like a cruel joke.

“What do either of these women have to complain about?” is an oft-asked question on Facebook. “If I had money like that, all my problems would be solved.”

But as other commenters on Facebook frequently respond, even having boatloads of money doesn’t necessarily make the problem go away. Bella Hadid’s rich family and her Lyme-experienced mother Yolanda still couldn’t shield her from 15 years of suffering.

However, one thing that such celebrity news coverage certainly does is raise the profile of Lyme disease in the news media. As an example, LymeDisease.org has received a raft of media inquiries in the wake of the Bella/Riley revelations. Just this morning, I received a message from a news service in China, seeking comment on the situation.

Here are just a few examples of the widespread news coverage of Bella and Riley:

Yahoo News: Bella Hadid and Riley Keough undergo intensive treatments for Lyme disease. The average person can spend up to $10,000 a week treating the condition.

Today Show:  Bella Hadid opens up about journey with Lyme disease. What to know about the condition

Daily Express (UK):  Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough opens up about ongoing battle with Lyme disease

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, President of LymeDisease.org. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide, and of the forthcoming title Finding Resilience: A Teen’s Journey Through Lyme Disease. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.

_______________

**Comment**

The older I get and the more I see and hear, the more I believe healing is truly as individual as the case itself and money can have little to do with it.  

That’s not to say treatment doesn’t cost money.

I added up that we spent about $15K per year per person when we were treating years ago.  I’m sure this price has gone up now.

But I also know people who grow their own herbs and make their own medicine for pennies that are doing marvelously.  This woman was “healed” of chronic Lyme through dry fasting (although like most other patients, she utilized many treatments). I believe one of the biggest keys is being invested in healing and making it a natural part of life. There’s a lot of these people in Wisconsin – people that refuse to give up.  People that love nature, are great examples of good stewards of the earth, and that have an attitude of fortitude.  Now, that’s not to say that they don’t succumb to periodic episodes of melancholy or even weariness but they know that’s not healthy for mind or body and determine to overcome it.

Even with the major trials of life these remarkable patients plod on – determined to be well.

I must say that just talking to these patients encourages me to also plod on.  You see, this mentality is contagious – infectious really, and is a weapon/treatment all its own that doesn’t get enough press or attention.

My ear is to the ground and I’ve followed these wealthy stars traversing the world for treatment.  None of them are completely well and they all suffer despite their wealth and opportunity.  What does this tell you?  All their money, seemingly, isn’t the key.  I’m not downplaying the importance of treatment, but treatment afforded through money is only one prong of this multi-pronged fork and it takes everything to overcome this beast.

My advice: be content with what you have.  Don’t covet what others have.  Learn from everyone – rich or poor and determine in your own mind that YOU ARE GOING TO GET WELL!  Accept nothing else.  One caveat: do not put pressure on yourself as pressure equals stress and stress is a killer.  Calmly do your research.  Calmly experiment to find what works.  Calmly talk to other patients and take notes. Calmly apply what you learn, be patient, and have the contagious attitude of fortitude.

That’s the advice from an aging grey hair who at one point just wanted to cash her chips in.
NEVER QUIT!

And never lose your sense of humor.

P.S. – While the exact clinic in Switzerland is not listed, I can tell you right now that “cleaning the blood” is not a cure-all as borrelia does not hang out in the blood, which is the root of most treatment and testing problems.  This is also why antibiotics are not a “cure all” in the sense that you can not do a couple months of abx and be “cured.” Borrelia loves the brain, synovial fluid, and immunopriviledged sites that are protected by the body. You can clean the blood until the cows come home and these turds are safely and patiently hiding out.

Treating Lyme/MSIDS requires patience!

If it’s this clinic, it uses the same approach as this German clinic that focuses on hyperthermia or active fever therapy. Read this patient’s experience who went there.  Please note that when I quizzed this German doctor’s experience with hyperthermia “curing” Lyme, he said patients need “tune ups” which is code for it isn’t curative.  I’m not belittling this treatment at all and know many have greatly benefitted from it but I’m a realist and don’t want patients believing that this treatment is the answer to their dreams.  It may be, but it also may not be – just like every other treatment under the sun.  

And lastly and most importantly, always keep in mind that Lyme is just the tip of the spear as patients are typically infected with far more than just Lyme and it all requires savvy, individualized treatment and no two cases look alike.

For more:

Category:

Activism, Hyperthermia, Lyme, Treatment

Data on Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated Kids. How Many “Vaccine Coincidences” Will It Take Until the Truth is Accepted?

https://rumble.com/v3g4pk6-this-is-what-happens-when-you-dont-jab-kids-vaccinated-vs.-unvaccinated-dat.html  Video Here (Approx. 8 Min)

Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated Kids: The Data

“The CDC has never looked at long-term health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children,” attested Professor Brian Hooker, Ph.D., during a presentation to the World Council of Health.

Brian Hooker is senior director of science and research at Children’s Health Defense and professor emeritus of biology at Simpson University in Redding, California, who has been doing advocacy and research around vaccine safety for 20 years.

In light of the CDC’s unwillingness to conduct long-term studies comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children, Dr. Hooker took it upon himself to aggregate and conduct such studies.

This is what he found

Dr. Hooker presented a study from Anthony R. Mawson and colleagues. This study collected information from moms who homeschooled their children and focused on children between the ages of 6 and 12.

For more:  https://vigilantnews.com/post/this-is-what-happens-when-you-dont-jab-kids-vaccinated-vs-unvaccinated-data

________________

https://thevaccinereaction.org/2023/10/how-many-more-vaccine-coincidences-will-it-take-until-the-truth-is-accepted/  Video Here (Approx. 3 Min)

How Many More “Vaccine Coincidences” Will It Take Until the Truth is Accepted?

Published October 10, 2023

I am the mother of six children. My first child, Laura, died a few hours after an adverse reaction to her vaccine. My fifth child, Carter, also suffered a severe adverse reaction to a vaccine that resulted in life-altering neurological impairment. I stand here before you today as a mother and also a former nurse to tell you that serious vaccine reactions are not just one in a million, as many people are led to believe. ~ Christine Coleback

For more:

Category:

Activism, research, vaccines

The Lyme Disease Vaccine – Separating Fact And Fiction

https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-vaccine-fact-vs-myth/

The Lyme disease vaccine–separating fact and fiction

By Lonnie Marcum

Aug. 29, 2023

The latest version of a Lyme disease vaccine, “VLA15” made by Pfizer and Valneva, is in phase 3 clinical trials and is due to hit the market in 2026.

A recent Bloomberg article reviews some of the history of the previous failed Lyme vaccine called LYMErix. However, they missed some critical elements of how and why LYMErix was pulled from the market 20 years ago—and believe me, it wasn’t anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories.

Let me be clear, I am not anti-vaccine. In fact, because I’ve worked in various aspects of healthcare for the past 30 years, I am fully vaccinated against most everything. There is no doubt, a vaccine that protects against Lyme disease would be highly valuable. Better yet, a vaccine that would protect against all tick-borne diseases.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the incidence of reported vector-borne diseases (caused by ticks, mosquitos, and fleas) tripled during 2004-2016, with 75% of those infections coming from ticks. Lyme disease accounted for 82% of the tick-borne disease reports and is overall one of the top three “nationally notifiable” infectious diseases in the United States. (Rosenberg 2018)

The “discovery” of Lyme disease

In fact, evidence of Borrelia was found  in 5,300-year-old human remains from Europe (Keller 2012) and in fossilized 15-20 million-year-old amber from the Dominican Republic. Thus, disease caused by Borrelia, aka Lyme disease, is not a new phenomenon. (Poinar 2015)

However, it wasn’t until 1977 that Dr. Allen Steere first described an “epidemic” of arthritis occurring in patients living in Lyme, Connecticut. By 1982, researchers had identified a spirochete in blood samples from those patients and determined it to be the cause of this cluster of illnesses.

The bacterium was later named Borrelia burgdorferi after Wilhelm “Willy” Burgdorfer, the scientist who identified it. The illness was named Lyme disease, after the community in which it was discovered. (Burgdorfer 1982)

Complex bacteria

Borrelia burgdorferi is one of the most complex bacteria known to man. Its unique genomic structure contributes greatly to its ability to survive and maintain an extremely difficult life cycle that alternates between warm-blooded animals and cold-blooded ticks. (Brock 1994; Porcella 2001)

While there are many similarities between Borrelia and other spirochetes (eg. Leptospira, Treponema) the primary difference is their genomic structure. Where Treponema contains only one linear chromosome, Borrelia contains one linear chromosome, plus 21 extrachromosomal elements, including 12 linear and nine  circular plasmids—by far the largest number of plasmids ever found in any bacterium. (Frasier 1997)

It’s now known that Lyme disease can be caused by different strains and species of Borrelia bacteria, though most commonly by Borrelia burgdorferi in the US and Borrelia afzelii or Borrelia garinii in Europe. (Cutler 2016)

Today there are five known subspecies of Lyme disease causing Borrelia burgdorferi and over 52 species of Borrelia worldwide. Twenty-one species belong to the Lyme disease group and 29 are members of the relapsing fever group.

Furthermore, each of those species can develop genetic variants or subtypes.  In all, there are over 300 known strains of Borrelia worldwide, with over 100 found in the US alone. (Cerer 2016)

How do you develop a vaccine to protect against 300 strains of Borrelia?

Challenges of making a Lyme vaccine

Because of their genetic complexity, all Borrelia can alter their outer surface proteins when conditions change—a process known as antigenic variation. This complexity allows Borrelia to adapt to a variety of hosts, avoid immune detection, widely disseminate throughout the body, and support chronic or persistent infection. Borrelia has also been shown to survive standard antibiotic therapy in several animal and primate studies. (Hodzic, Barthold 2014; Elsner, Baumgarth 2015; Embers 2017)

Many of the reasons we do not have a vaccine for Lyme disease are the same reasons we do not have vaccines for other complex bacterial diseases like syphilis and tuberculosis.

The demise of LYMErix

The first vaccine for Lyme disease, drugmaker SmithKline Beecham’s LYMErix, was FDA-approved in 1998. In 2002, shortly after Lyme Disease Association President Pat Smith and others met with the FDA to discuss reports of adverse reactions to the vaccine, the manufacturer withdrew LYMErix from the market.

On that January day in 2002, Donald H Marks, MD, PhD, presented evidence of adverse events associated with the LYMErix vaccine. These included long-lasting arthritis and complicated neurological problems.

Dr. Marks has decades of clinical practice, research, and regulatory affairs experience in the pharmaceutical industry. While serving as director of clinical research at Aventis Pasteur, a pharmaceutical company, he oversaw its OspA Lyme disease vaccine program which was stopped due to adverse events.

In compelling testimony, Marks told the FDA, “The Company (the vaccine maker) dismissed the significance” and did not inform physicians of the potential for adverse events. “As a result of these actions, GPs in the US were kept in the dark about the life-threatening side effect of Lymerix.”

Furthermore, Marks told FDA officials, “In my opinion, there is sufficient evidence that Lymerix is causally related to severe rheumatologic, neurologic, autoimmune, and other adverse events in some individuals. This evidence is such as to warrant a significantly heightened degree of warnings and possible limitations or removal from marketing of Lymerix.”

One month later, February 2002, SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline) withdrew LYMErix from the market claiming poor sales potential.

See the full LYMErix Safety Data Reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) here.

Lyme vaccine fact check

Fact: LYMErix did not provide immunity to humans. The LYMErix vaccine was derived from a single outer-surface protein of Borrelia burgdorferi known as OspA. The vaccine relied on the tick to feed on the vaccinated human, ingest a human byproduct of the vaccine (OspA antigen), that would then kill the Borrelia spirochete in the midgut of the tick. In order to work, this process needed to take place prior to the tick injecting the live spirochetes into the human—a process that the makers of LYMErix admitted was only partially successful. (Sheller 2013)

The new Lyme vaccine, VLA15, also uses the OspA protein, with some structures removed to reduce the number of adverse reactions, in theory.

Fact: LYMErix required patient/doctor compliance and had limited effectiveness. The LYMErix vaccine required three doses within a 12-month period in order to obtain enough OspA antigen to kill the Borrelia in the tick. The vaccine was reported to be 50% effective after the second dose and only 73-78% effective after the third dose. (Smith 2022) Meaning 20% of people who were fully vaccinated could still acquire Lyme disease.

Unfortunately, there were no studies to show what would happen to a patient if they were bitten by an infected tick during the LYMErix vaccine series, and there were no studies demonstrating whether or not the vaccine would provide long-term protection.

The new VLA15 vaccine will also require three doses within a nine-month period followed by annual boosters.

Fact: LYMErix caused auto-immune reactions in some people.  Just prior to FDA approval of LYMErix, Dr. Allen Steere and others published research describing potential auto-immune responses to OspA in a subset of patients who are born with a genetic defect known as HLA-DR4. Approximately 30% of the population carries HLA-DR4 genetic defects. (Gross 1998)

We do not yet know if the VLA15 OspA vaccine will cause the same adverse reactions as the LYMErix. (Comstedt 2017)

Fact: LYMErix caused adverse events that ranged from mild to life-threatening illness, including symptoms of Lyme disease. In the FDA’s 2001 Safety Data Report there were 1,048 reports of injury following the vaccine, including four deaths, and 85 serious events. (Ball 2001; Latov 2004; Rose 2001)

The VAERS data is not available for VLA15. Pfizer states, “The VLA15-221 trial is ongoing to assess the safety and immunogenicity of VLA15 in a pediatric population aged 5 years and above.”

Fact: LYMErix caused hyper immune reactions in some people. A subset of the vaccinated population had extreme immune responses to the vaccine, causing them to test positive for Lyme disease. Using the currently available test, there was no way to determine if the patient had contracted a new case of Lyme, reactivated a subclinical infection, or if they were having an auto-immune reaction to the vaccine. Note: 20-30% of the vaccinated had no protection from Lyme. (Fawcett 2001)

Fact: LYMErix caused severe neurological complications in some patients. These may have been related to asymptomatic pre-existing Lyme disease infections and/or HLA-DR defects. (Marks  2011)

Dr. Marks told the FDA in 2002:

  • “Many of these people may have had prior exposure and clinical or subclinical infection. In these cases, Lymerix could be triggering or reactivating the damage caused by old and presumably cured Lyme disease.”
  • “Pattern of symptoms experienced after Lymerix mimicked pattern of prior infections in many individuals. In these patients, Lymerix-related symptoms seemed to respond to antibiotics, as did the initial infection, bolstering the theory of disease reactivation.”

Fact: LYMErix resulted in multiple class-action lawsuits. After reports of injury the FDA requested GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of LYMErix, to expedite the reporting of their Phase IV trial, including all adverse events. Shortly after a study was published documenting injury, LYMErix was pulled off the market citing “poor sales.” (Stricker, Johnson 2014)

The challenge of establishing trust

Because the history of the previous Lyme vaccine is so muddied, Pfizer will face an uphill battle establishing trust amongst the Lyme community for its new vaccine. As LymeDisease.org’s Lorraine Johnson points out, “without transparency about the issues with the past vaccine, there would be no trust in the patient community for a new vaccine.”

As Pat Smith says in the recent Bloomberg article, “We are interested in the possibility of a vaccine. The issue is the safety and efficacy.”

One way we might get that trust is for Pfizer and Valneva to make their VAERS data easily available for all to see!

In March 2020, I submitted written comments to the federal Tick-borne Disease Working Group on the history of the Lyme vaccine along with my suggestions on how to move forward. You can see those comments here.

And in July 2019, I composed a long thread on Twitter pointing out Myth vs Fact on the LYMErix vaccine in response to an article in The Guardian that got several details wrong. You can see that thread here.

LymeSci is written by Lonnie Marcum, a Licensed Physical Therapist and mother of a daughter with Lyme. She served two terms on a subcommittee of the federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. Follow her on Twitter: @LonnieRhea  Email her at: lmarcum@lymedisease.org.

References

1      Ball R. (2001) Powerpoint on the Lymerix Vaccine, LYMErix® Safety Data Reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), https://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/images/NewDirectory/Government/Vaccines/2001_fda_powerpoint_RobertBall.pdf

2      Brock TD, et al. (1994) Biology of Microorganisms, 7th ed. Prentice Hall, NJ, USA. Introduction to Spirochètes. University of California Museum of Paleontology.

3      Burgdorfer W, Barbour AG, Hayes SF, Benach JL, Grunwaldt E, Davis JP. (1982). Lyme disease-a tick-borne spirochetosis? Science, 216(4552), 1317-1319.

4      Cerar T, et al. (2016) Differences in Genotype, Clinical Features, and Inflammatory Potential of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto Strains from Europe and the United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2016,22(5):818-827. doi:10.3201/eid2005.151806

5      Comstedt P, et al. (2017) The novel Lyme borreliosis vaccine VLA15 shows broad protection against Borrelia species expressing six different OspA serotypes. Plos. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184357

6      Cutler SJ, Ruzic-Sabljic E, Potkonjak A (2016). “Emerging borreliae – Expanding beyond Lyme borreliosis”. Molecular and Cellular Probes. doi:10.1016/j.mcp.2016.08.003. PMID 27523487.

7      Eisen RJ, Kugeler KJ, Eisen L, Beard CB, & Paddock CD. (2017) Tick-Borne Zoonoses in the United States: Persistent and Emerging Threats to Human Health. ILAR J, 1-17. doi:10.1093/ilar/ilx005

8      Elsner R, Hastey CJ, Baumgarth N. (2015) Suppression of long-lived immunity following Borrelia burgdorferi induced Lyme disease. PloS Pathogens, 11: e1004976.

9      Embers M, et al. (2017) Variable manifestations, diverse seroreactivity and post-treatment persistence in non-human primates exposed to Borrelia burgdorferi by tick feeding. PlosOne, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189071

10    Embers M, Narasimhan S. (2013) Vaccination against Lyme disease: past, present, and future. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology 3(6):6 · DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2013.00006

11    Fawcett PT, Rose CD, et al. (2001) Effect of Immunization with Recombinant OspA on Serologic Tests for Lyme Borreliosis. Clin Vaccine Immunol vol 8, no 1 79-84 doi: 10.1128/CDLI.8.1.79-84.2001

12    Frasier CM, et al. (1997) Genomic sequence of a Lyme disease spirochaete, Borrelia. Nature volume 390, pages 580–586

13    Gomes-Solecki, M. (2014) Blocking pathogen transmission at the source: reservoir targeted OspA-based vaccines against Borrelia burgdorferi. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2014; 4: 136 doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2014.00136

14    Gross DM, et al. (1998) Identification of LFA-1 as a Candidate Autoantigen in Treatment-Resistant Lyme Arthritis Science  31 Jul 1998: DOI: 10.1126/science.281.5377.703

15    Hodzic E, Imai D, Feng S, Barthold SW. (2014) Resurgence of persisting non-cultivable Borrelia burgdorferi following antibiotic treatment in mice. PLoS One, Jan 23;9(1):e86907. doi:  10.1371/journal.pone.0086907.

16    Hu LT, et al. (2006) Protective efficacy of an oral vaccine to reduce carriage of Borrelia burgdorferi (strain N40) in mouse tick reservoirs. Vaccine. doi:  10.1016/j.vaccine.2005.10.044

17    Keller A, Graefen A, et al (2012) New insights into the Tyrolean Iceman’s origin and phenotype as inferred by whole-genome sequencing. Nature Communications vol 3, Article number 698

18    Latov N, et al. Neuropathy and cognitive impairment following vaccination with the OspA protein of Borrelia burgdorferi. J Peripher Nerv Syst. 2004 Sep;9(3):165-7. DOI: 10.1111/j.1085-9489.2004.09306.x

19    Marconi RT, et al. (2017) Identification of a defined linear epitope in OspA protein of the Lyme disease spirochetes that elicitis bactericidal antibody responses: Implications for vaccine development. Science Direct. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.04.079

20   Marks DH. Neurological complications of vaccination with outer surface protein A (OspA). Int J Risk Saf Med 2011; 23: 89–96.

21    Poinar G. (2015) Spirochete-like cells in a Dominican amber Ambylomma tick (Arachnida: Ixodidae) Historical Biology. Jan 2014, Volume 27,2015-Issue 5

22    Porcella SF, Schwan TG. (2001) Borrelia burgdorferi and Treponema pallidum: a comparison of functional genomics, environmental adaptations, and pathogenic mechanisms. J. Clin Invest, 10.1172/JCI12484

23    Rose CD, Fawcett PT, Gibney KM. (2001) Arthritis following recombinant outer surface protein A vaccination for Lyme disease. J Rheumatol. Nov;28(11):2555-7.

24    Rosenberg R, et al. (2018) Vital Signs: Trends in Reported Vectorborne Disease Cases — United States and Territories, 2004–2016 Weekly / 67(17);496–501

25    Sheller S. (2013) “It’s Time to Develop a Vaccine for Lyme Disease, Doctor Says” Op-Ed. Philladelphia Enquirer. https://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/images/NewDirectory/Government/Vaccines/2013_LymeOp_Ed_Sheller.pdf

26    Stricker R, Johnson L. (2014) The Lancet. Lyme disease vaccination: safety first. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70319-0

27    Smith P, Gaito A, Marks, DH. (2002) Transcript of FDA Lymerix meeting, Bethesda, MD. https://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/about-lyme/controversy/vaccine/261-lymerix-meeting

28    Sprong H, Seemann I, et al. (2014) ANTIDotE: anti-tick vaccines to prevent tick-borne diseases in Europe. Parasites and Vectors. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-77

Category:

Activism, Lyme Vaccine, Testing, Ticks

Virus Prevention/Treatment Review

Interview with Dr. Saul

Transcript here

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • Initial predictions called for 2.2 million COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. alone. According to the latest models, an estimated 60,000 Americans may die from COVID-19 complications
  • Some doctors are promoting the use of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin for seriously ill COVID-19 patients. Apparently, many are seeing good results, although not universally. Some Swedish hospitals have stopped using chloroquine due to severe side effects in some patients
  • Northwell Health, New York’s largest health care provider, is using vitamin C at its hospitals in conjunction with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin
  • Some doctors have noted their patients’ symptoms have more in common with altitude sickness than pneumonia. In the final analysis, it may turn out that ventilators are inappropriate for a majority of patients. A better alternative may actually be hyperbaric oxygen therapy
  • Preventive methods you can use at home include taking vitamin C to bowel tolerance; zinc, vitamin B1 and melatonin supplementation; nebulized hydrogen peroxide; ozone therapy and nitric oxide boosting exercise

From Dr. Joseph Mercola

Since COVID-19 first entered the scene, exchange of ideas has basically been outlawed. By sharing my views and those from various experts throughout the pandemic on COVID treatments and the experimental COVID jabs, I became a main target of the White House, the political establishment and the global cabal.

Propaganda and pervasive censorship have been deployed to seize control over every part of your life, including your health, finances and food supply. The major media are key players and have been instrumental in creating and fueling fear.

I am republishing this article in its original form so that you can see how the progression unfolded.

Originally published: April 19, 2020

In this interview, recorded April 7, 2020, Dr. Andrew Saul, editor-in-chief of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, brings us new updates and insights into the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since our March 17, 2020, interview, which focused on the use of vitamin C, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the prediction that SARS-Cov-2 would kill anywhere from 100,000 to 240,000 Americans,1 which is still far less than the original prediction of 2.2 million.2

However, even that prediction has since been revised downward. April 8, 2020, a new model referred to as the Murray Model3 predicts COVID-19 will kill 60,000 in the U.S. by August.4 There’s no doubt in my mind that there will be more deaths from the financial collapse than there will be from the actual infection. So, it’s a sad state of affairs. As noted by Saul:

“Folks need to remember that in any given year, influenza escalating to pneumonia is a killer. And in any given year, there’s around 40,000 to 65,000 deaths, depending who you listen to, from pneumonia.

This is an awful lot of people dying every year. COVID-19 is a serious disease, but it’s not worth shutting down the world for. The stress from that is going to be a killer …

The people who die from COVID-19 are dying basically from SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or pneumonia. So, it doesn’t really matter what virus does that. It matters if you die or not.

Many people are going to get COVID-19, and they’re going to have a mild case. And, for those who have a typical case, they’re going to have a miserable flu. They’re going to be sick as a dog for a couple of weeks.

Well, welcome to humanity, because how many times have we all had a miserable flu in our lifetimes? Those who are really at risk from COVID-19 usually have multiple pre-existing health problems, or they have a demonstrably poor lifestyle.

They’re overweight or they’re smoking, or they have an impaired immune system, or they’re elderly. And if you have a combination of those, anything can take that person out. So, we have to have perspective here.”

Google, Facebook Censor Real Data

Unfortunately, if you’re still using Google or social media platforms like Facebook, you’re unlikely to locate sensible information about how to protect yourself from COVID-19.

I believe suppressing access to the truth — the information you need to upregulate your innate immune system — is part of the plan to control the discussion about treatment options. Clearly, Fauci is promoting a pharmaceutical agenda when he says there’s nothing anyone can do until there’s a vaccine or antiviral drug available. Saul provides the following real-world example:

“This is something you can verify with your own Facebook account. Try this little experiment. If you post the meme I have at DoctorYourself.com on Facebook, it will immediately be blocked.

Here’s what the poster says: ‘Dr. Enqiang Mao, who is chief of emergency medical service at Ruijan hospital in Shanghai, China, treated 50 patients with high dose intravenous vitamin C. They had moderate to severe COVID. 50 out of 50 recovered. There were no fatalities.’

This is a report from a senior physician, right from China, to my contact in China, Dr. Richard Cheng, who is a board-certified himself and a Chinese-American, right there, reporting in firsthand. And this is labeled false news, fake news. This is demonstrably oppressive.”

The good news is Cheng is presenting his evidence before the National Institutes of Health. “I’ve seen his PowerPoint,” Saul says. “He’s going to run down why vitamin C is an antiviral, and how it can be used, and what doctors are doing.”

Aside from Mao, Dr. Zhiyong Peng, chief physician at Zhongnan Hospital, who is doing a major COVID-19 trial in Wuhan City, China, has stated that intravenous vitamin C is successful. “The number of new cases of COVID in China is very low, it’s gone way down, almost to the vanishing point,” Saul says. “Yet this information, somehow, is not on the news. And this is the very thing America and the rest of the world so needs to know now.”

Immune-Boosting Supplementation Regimen

Some New York hospitals are using vitamin C, though. A Northwell Health spokesperson has reportedly confirmed that vitamin C treatment is being “widely used” against coronavirus within the 23-hospital system.

According to Dr. Andrew G. Weber, a pulmonologist and critical-care specialist affiliated with two Northwell Health facilities on Long Island, vitamin C is being used in conjunction with the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, which have also shown promise in coronavirus treatment.5 Saul notes:

“Northwell, which is the largest health care provider chain in New York state, [has] over 20 hospitals. It’s difficult to get information out of them, but to their credit, their spokesperson has announced that vitamin C is being used. And Weber … has reported that the vitamin C works. He said, basically, as close as I can quote him, ‘It’s not getting more publicity because it’s not a sexy drug.’ I love that …

If you have vitamin C for prevention, you are much less likely to have a bad case of any kind of viral infection, including COVID-19. Doesn’t mean you won’t get it; it means that your immune system will be able to handle it, and that’s what your immune system does …

In fact, people now are being told if they can manage this at home, [then] please stay home. Leave the hospital beds for those who really need them, and reduce risk of infection.

Remember, a hospital, by definition, is where we have our very sickest people with the greatest load of viruses and drug-resistant bacteria that you’ll ever find … We don’t live in a bubble, we live in a world of viruses, and they’re constantly mutating, and they’re constantly developing …

So, for prevention, the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service Editorial Review Board and the Japanese College of Intravenous Therapy both recommend 3,000 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C a day in divided doses, 400 mg of magnesium … 20 mg of zinc … 100 micrograms (mcg) of selenium … and 5,000 units of vitamin D, scaling down to 2,000 units of vitamin D a day after the first week.

That is a big difference. So, between the vitamin D and the vitamin C, we have something that will strengthen the immune system. When a person is in hospital, they are less likely to have access to supplements, at a very time when they’re going to need them more.

This is why we have to push, and the only way to do that is for the family to get in there and make it happen. More and more doctors are willing to do it because of the studies … in New York … So, the cat’s out of the bag … and it’s not going to go back in. There is a precedent. Just say to your doctor, ‘I want you to do what they’re doing in New York’ …

What we should learn from history is “have a strong immune system and you will survive.” This is the way it works. And the emphasis now is on scaring people, and actually telling them in the media, “Don’t take vitamin C, it won’t help you. Don’t take extra vitamin D, you don’t need it. There’s nothing you can do to build your immune system.”

You’ll actually see this on some news reports, and some newspapers. But, you’ll also see others that are reporting that it’s working in China and other parts of the world.”

Zinc With Hydroxychloroquine

Some doctors are promoting the use of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) combined with azithromycin (Z-Pak) for seriously ill COVID-19 patients. Apparently, many are seeing good results, although not universally.

According to Newsweek, some Swedish hospitals have stopped using chloroquine due to severe side effects in some patients.6 That said, it appears one of the reason quinine drugs work is because it allows zinc to enter the cells. Saul comments on the use of hydroxychloroquine saying:

“I think if you can use a nutrient with a drug, you get better results than if you use the drug alone. Dr. Abram Hoffer, who was my personal mentor … said, ‘Sometimes you need a drug. Sometimes the drug will get you that immediate result that you’ve got to have, but you have to have nutrition if you want it to stick.’

So, if you use medication and the nutrient, you’re going to do better than if you use the medication alone … If the drug will help get the zinc to where it needs to go, that just makes good sense to me.”

Since the drug is now being rationed to those who need it most, you’d be wise to take zinc preventively. Your body only needs a small amount of it, and knows exactly what to do with it. Your immune system, for example, requires it to function. The elderly, who tend to eat less and eat less wholesomely, have a greater need for zinc supplementation.

“This is in every nutrition textbook ever written,” Saul says. “So, what we want to do right now is tell people, ‘Don’t worry about the drug unless you really need it. It’ll be at the hospital pharmacy. But for the rest of us, let’s stay out of the hospital by taking a step so we won’t need the drug.’

It’s not about avoiding doctors; it’s about not needing them. And that means you have to get on the wagon here. We have to do this every day. We have to be sure we take our supplements and eat a good diet, and avoid the junk and continue to get our fresh air and exercise.”

Ventilators May Do More Harm Than Good

In recent days, we’re seeing more and more reports of doctors saying the use of ventilators may be misguided.7 According to Business Insider,8 80% of COVID-19 patients in New York City who are placed on ventilators die, causing some doctors to question their use. As reported by STAT News:9

“What’s driving this reassessment is a baffling observation about Covid-19: Many patients have blood oxygen levels so low they should be dead. But they’re not gasping for air, their hearts aren’t racing, and their brains show no signs of blinking off from lack of oxygen.

That is making critical care physicians suspect that blood levels of oxygen, which for decades have driven decisions about breathing support for patients with pneumonia and acute respiratory distress, might be misleading them about how to care for those with Covid-19.

In particular, more and more are concerned about the use of intubation and mechanical ventilators. They argue that more patients could receive simpler, noninvasive respiratory support, such as the breathing masks used in sleep apnea, at least to start with and maybe for the duration of the illness.”

Some doctors have noted their patients’ symptoms have more in common with altitude sickness than pneumonia.10 This situation highlights the problems inherent with strategic standard of care. We thought we had a serious ventilator shortage and industries such as the auto industry redirected their manufacturing capacity to making ventilators.

In the final analysis, it may turn out that ventilators are inappropriate for a majority of patients. A far better alternative may actually be hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

“Making the oxygen available in a way that’s appropriate to the severity of the patient is the answer,” Saul says. “We have to remember that our body is singularly good at taking in oxygen or we wouldn’t be here. And our lungs have a huge amount of absorptive space. I mean, that’s what they do. It’s just an extraordinary system that we have.

Oxygen goes in by diffusion. You don’t push it in; the body sucks it in because if you have more oxygen outside than you do inside, it just goes through. All you do is give a lot of absorptive surface. And if you flattened out all the little alveoli in the lungs, you’d have an enormous area …

So, by providing the oxygen and then see if the body will take it up, you’ve made the first step. That can be done preventively by fresh air and exercise and going out and playing …

If somebody needs more oxygen, and you want to give them a little pressure, if that makes the patient better, then you do it. But the idea that you’ve got to ram this oxygen like a supercharger on a Mustang is, I think, a little bit, shall we say, industry friendly …

[The alveoli] are tiny, tiny little sacks. They have some of the thinnest little membranes you’ve ever seen. Look at them under a microscope. They’re very delicate. So, the last thing you want to do is add injury to insult.”

Hydrogen Peroxide Therapy

Saul, along with Dr. Thomas Levy, recommend nebulized hydrogen peroxide therapy. Similarly, Dr. Robert Rowen has published a commentary11 about the use of ozone therapy against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Both of these treatment alternatives are inexpensive and safe, and could be administered at home.

One point I want to stress after looking more deeply into this is that you may want to be careful about using regular 3% hydrogen peroxide, as they use proprietary stabilizers. By law, they’re not required to disclose those chemicals. So, ideally, you’d want to use food grade hydrogen peroxide and carefully dilute it to a 3% concentration.

What to Do if You’re Feeling Under the Weather

So, to recap, what can you do if you’re suddenly feeling under the weather and suspect a viral infection? Saul recommends taking vitamin C to bowel tolerance.

“Take enough C to be symptom free, whatever the amount might be. Dr. Cathcart would say take vitamin C to bowel tolerance, and that’s exactly what you think it means. The sicker you are, the more you hold. So, if you are really facing an influenza outbreak, you’ll hold a lot of C before you get to bowel tolerance.

This is something that everyone can do at home. My grandchildren can do this. When they get sick, they manage their own case by taking vitamin C until they get to bowel tolerance. Use whatever kind of vitamin C you can afford … [and] take enough C to be symptom free.

The more frequently you can take the vitamin C, the better off [you’ll be]. Vitamin C being water soluble is constantly lost … The more often you take it, the better results you will have, and you will need less to do so.

So, taking a small amount of vitamin C every half-hour is actually much better than taking a large amount of C twice a day. And taking a large amount of C twice a day is better than taking a huge amount of C every other day. So, the more often you take it, the friendlier it is for your body.”

For acute infection, you may need to increase your dosage somewhat beyond bowel tolerance. Keep in mind that taking it more frequently, such as every half-hour, will allow you to take more before you hit bowel tolerance. Other alternatives include taking a liposomal vitamin C or getting an IV infusion of vitamin C. Liposomal vitamin C can achieve intracellular levels very similar to IV vitamin C at a fraction of the cost and inconvenience.

B Vitamins (Thiamine)

Thiamine (vitamin B1) is also important, and works synergistically with vitamin C. Any infection increases your body’s need for thiamine. You can read more about this in “Vitamin B1 Is Vital to Protect Against Infectious Disease.”

The recommended daily allowance for thiamine is well below 2 mg. For acute illness or short-term prevention, Saul suggests taking 50 mg to 100 mg of thiamine per day, ideally in divided doses.

“Thiamine is the vitamin that smells funny,” he says. “When you open the bottle of your multiple vitamin, or your B complex, that smell is thiamine. So, when your urine smells like thiamine, you’re probably getting more than you need, but that’s not a problem.

Thiamine is safe, and you can excrete that. The excretion is an indicator of saturation. Thiamine, really, is best taken with the entire B complex. The B complex vitamins work better together.

For prevention, most people will get a B complex, B50 … Generally speaking, what I would tell people to do is take a look at the RDA, and you can do that on the internet in seconds, and take more than that. A B complex is this cheapest and safest way to do that.”

Melatonin for COVID-19

Another strategy that appears useful against both bacterial and viral infections is hormone melatonin. I review this in greater depth in “Melatonin for Sepsis.” Saul comments:

“Melatonin is a wonderful thing, because the safety studies are very encouraging. If you want to hurt yourself, melatonin will not do the job … Melatonin is inexpensive, it’s non-prescription and, obviously, something that safe deserves a try … And a little bit of melatonin can go a long way.

The older you get, the less you make. Now, if you keep your bedroom dark at night, you will make more melatonin. I’m about to impart a piece of wisdom that makes me very unpopular very quickly with a large number of people, and that is if you go to bed early, you will make more melatonin, and you will sleep better.

If you go to bed at 7:30 or 8:00 o’clock at night, you will have a far better sleep than if you go to bed later, even if you have the same number of hours. The old adage is, each hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours of sleep after midnight. There’s something to that.”

Nitric Oxide Helps Inhibit Viral Replication

Another strategy worth mentioning is nitric oxide, which appears to inhibit viral replication. To boost nitric oxide, you could use precursors such as arginine or citrulline, but exercise and near-infrared radiation (such as a near-infrared sauna) will also do the trick.

“Exercise is absolutely crucial. I’m so big on that, and I would like to underscore that this is something that doesn’t cost a dime,” Saul says. “What is missing from most discussions on COVID-19 is an appreciation of how far we have let ourselves go. We’ve been eating crummy food for a long time.

We’ve been doing behaviors for a long time that don’t work. And sooner or later, the body is going to be weakened by that. Too much of the wrong thing, not enough for the right thing, and the immune system is going to be weak. And viruses, unfortunately, to put it very coldly, will thin the herd.

This is the way nature works … Now, this is a very harsh lesson from nature, but we would do well to learn it. If we let ourselves go, as my mother would say, ‘If you do this wrong, and you know it, don’t come crying to me afterwards.’ We have to take responsibility, and right now the COVID-19 epidemic is pointing that out in a very, very strong way.

It is most unpleasant to see this, but bearing in mind that we are not a healthy nation, we have to immediately take steps to become one, or there will be another virus, because this is not the first, and it is not the last … It just makes my day when I learn about people that … are not watching the news, they’re going out and they’re getting well.”

+ Sources and References

Category:

Activism, Sleep, Supplements, Treatment, Viruses