Author Archive

Tuttle Destroys NASEM’s Report Part 2

https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/

The IDSA’s Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome was not good enough! (Part 2)

Carl Tuttle
Hudson, NH, United States
May 21, 2025

Please see the following response to my inquiry previously sent to Dr. Marcia McNutt regarding the National Academies Report “Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses”

Original inquiry found here:

The IDSA’s Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome was not good enough!

Response from the National Academies of Sciences:

———- Original Message ———-
From: “Liao, Julie” <JLiao@nas.edu>
To: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
Date: 05/19/2025 9:47 AM EDT
Subject: Re: Inquiry on National Academies report, Charting a Path Toward New Treatments for Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses

Good morning,

I am a senior program officer at the National Academies and co-director of the study that produced the report, Charting a Path Toward New Treatments for Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses. Dr. McNutt shared your message with me, and I am responding on her behalf as a lead staff for the project.

First of all, thank you for your interest in this report and sharing these concerns. The National Academies committee that authored this report is aware of the painful history of disbelief and mistrust in the early days of recognizing and studying persistent symptoms associated with Lyme disease. It is their hope that this report takes the first step toward moving past this history to catalyze actions that prioritize discovery and development of new, effective, safe treatments for people living with these symptoms. To this end, the report explicitly recognizes that Lyme infection-associated chronic illnesses are real, and that these illnesses are debilitating to the health and well-being of many individuals.

Regarding the concern on funding development and use of new antimicrobials, the report recognizes that there may be a multitude of pathogenic mechanisms and calls for exploration of new treatments that can address the different potential pathways leading to these chronic symptoms. This includes pathogen persistence, as well as autoimmunity or other immune dysregulation as a result of Lyme disease.

It is the committee’s hope that new evidence will continue to emerge and advance our collective knowledge and ability to mitigate and one day cure these infection-associated chronic illnesses, including those associated with Lyme disease.

Warm regards,

Julie

Julie Liao, PhD (she/her)
Co-Director
Forum on Microbial Threats
Study on Evidence Base for Lyme-IACI Treatment
Keck 854 | (202) 334-2191

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001

nationalacademies.org/HMD

Carl Tuttle’s reply:

———- Original Message ———-
From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: “Liao, Julie” <JLiao@nas.edu>
Cc: “mmcnutt@nas.edu” <mmcnutt@nas.edu>, “vdzau@nas.edu” <vdzau@nas.edu>, “wkearney@nas.edu” <wkearney@nas.edu>, “dmay@nas.edu” <dmay@nas.edu>, “amacdonald@nas.edu” <amacdonald@nas.edu>
Date: 05/20/2025 10:02 AM EDT
Subject: Re: Inquiry on National Academies report, Charting a Path Toward New Treatments for Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses

Dear Dr. Liao,

Thank you for responding to my inquiry sent to Dr. Marcia McNutt which is now in the public domain posted as an Update to the Change.org petition; Calling for a Congressional investigation of the CDC, IDSA and ALDF with 106,773 verified signatures.

The optimal treatment for Lyme disease has yet to be determined because the focus early on went directly into developing a vaccine. Here are some examples of how other difficult infections have been handled:

It was once believed that rifampin was curative in treating Brucellosis but when symptoms returned doxycycline was added to the mix and when that too failed a third antibiotic, streptomycin was added to the current treatment regimen. [1] [2]

In 1985 the worldwide incidence of leprosy was 6,000,000. Last year, it was 800,000. The only thing that changed was the addition of rifampin to dapsone in the treatment of the disease. Rifampin was added to dapsone because the M leprae were becoming resistant and it was a new antibiotic at that time.

Treatments for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis have been introduced (bedaquiline and delamanid) with more in the pipeline. [3]

A new treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile was recently studied (bezlotoxumab) for reducing the risk of a repeat infection. [4]

In contrast, oral amoxicillin or doxycycline remains the treatment of choice for treating Lyme disease for over thirty years regardless if debilitating symptoms return. In 1977 Dr. Allen Steere knew that these antibiotics were not effective for all patients [5] but there has been no change in treatment or research to find more effective ways to eradicate the infection in all stages/forms of disease.

At what point in time do we recognize that we are dealing with an antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug and focus our research on finding new antimicrobials for this life-altering/life-threatening disease as more of the population becomes severely disabled from inappropriately treated Lyme disease.

From your reply: The report recognizes that there may be a multitude of pathogenic mechanisms and calls for exploration of new treatments that can address the different potential pathways leading to these chronic symptoms. This includes pathogen persistence, as well as autoimmunity or other immune dysregulation as a result of Lyme disease.”

Those of us who have studied the mishandling of Lyme disease believe this is just lip service and the real effort will be spent on expensive treatments for the sick and disabled Lyme community still suffering from chronic Lyme; there’s more profit in providing a lifetime of drugs than on a cure and if a chronic relapsing seronegative disease were identified through the proposed “actions” it would end the current vaccine dream overnight because you cannot prove vaccine efficacy in a disease where we do not know who has or does not have the infection; having a curative approach would also give the public an excuse not to take their vaccine. (Let that sink in)

The Evidence is overwhelming that we have been dealing with an antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug while the so-called science is (mis)used for legalized gaslighting (Follow the science) The IDSA/CDC have defined the disease (= high costs) away so when patients object; MD’s successfully hide behind their definition and guidelines.

I want to make this crystal clear: Suppressing evidence of antibiotic resistance (as well as ignoring these actions) is a crime and the National Academies has been given detailed notice of this atrocity.
 
Questions:

1. Will the search to find new antibiotics [6] be the research priority?

2. Who will be given responsibility for these studies? (certainly not the same researchers who previously received Lyme funding from the CDC/NIH)

A response to this inquiry is requested.

Carl Tuttle
Independent Researcher
Hudson, NH

Cc: Marcia McNutt, President of the National Academy of Sciences and Chair of the National Research Council
REFERENCES (PLEASE READ!)

1. Chronic Brucellosis and Persistence of Brucella melitensis DNA
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Chronic+Brucellosis+and+Persistence+of+Brucella+melitensis+DNA

After acute brucellosis infection, symptoms persist in a minority of patients for more than 1 year. Such patients are defined as having chronic brucellosis. Since no objective laboratory methods exist to confirm the presence of chronic disease, these patients suffer delays in both diagnosis and treatment.

2. Administration of a triple versus a standard double antimicrobial regimen for human brucellosis more efficiently eliminates bacterial DNA load.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25246401

The doxycycline-streptomycin-rifampin regimen eliminates Brucella DNA more efficiently than doxycycline-streptomycin, which may result in superior long-term clearance of Brucella.

3. Global Introduction of New Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Drugs—Balancing Regulation with Urgent Patient Needs
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/22/3/15-1228_article

4. New C.diff treatment reduces recurrent infections by 40%
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170126081724.htm

5. Lyme arthritis: an epidemic of oligoarticular arthritis in children and adults in three connecticut communities. (1977)
Steere AC, Malawista SE, Snydman DR, Shope RE, Andiman WA, Ross MR, Steele FM.

Excerpt:

“The best treatment for this illness is not clear. Some physicians have reported that penicillin or tetracycline results in disappearance of the skin lesion (41,42), but others find antibiotics ineffective. Four of the patients with expanding skin lesions received penicillin but still developed arthritis.”

6. Lyme Disease: Call for a “Manhattan Project” to Combat the Epidemic
Raphael B. Stricker, Lorraine Johnson

Published: January 02, 2014

http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003796

Carl Tuttle’s follow-up message:

———- Original Message ———-
From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: “Liao, Julie” <JLiao@nas.edu>
Cc: “mmcnutt@nas.edu” <mmcnutt@nas.edu>, “vdzau@nas.edu” <vdzau@nas.edu>, “wkearney@nas.edu” <wkearney@nas.edu>, “dmay@nas.edu” <dmay@nas.edu>, “amacdonald@nas.edu” <amacdonald@nas.edu>
Date: 05/21/2025 8:42 AM EDT
Subject: Re: Inquiry on National Academies report, Charting a Path Toward New Treatments for Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses

Dr. Liao,

It’s no surprise that the Chair of your committee that published the Consensus Study Report is a vaccinologist. This validates everything I have been reporting about the rush to create a vaccine for Lyme which led to the deliberate mishandling of the disease.

It is obvious that the priority here is still the Lyme vaccine and finding a cure for chronic Lyme is just lip service.

THE GENEVA FOUNDATION

CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
 
KENT KESTER, MD, COL (RET.), USA

https://genevausa.org/about/leadership-in-military-medicine/board-of-directors/col-ret-kent-kester/

Kent E. Kester, M.D., is currently Executive Director
Vaccine Research and Development at the Coalition
for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)

Carl Tuttle

_______________

Part 1 here: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2025/05/16/tuttle-destroys-nasems-lyme-disease-report/

I posted the NASEM Report – ‘new treatments for Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses’ here:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2025/05/09/charting-a-path-towards-new-treatments-for-chronic-lyme-disease/

Again, here is the old 2014 interview with Willy Burgdorfer where he states research must be started over at square one because the same people have been doing the research and coming up with the same results – nothing!

http:// Approx. 5 Min

Willy Burgdorfer 2014

“Money goes to people that have for the past 30 years produced the same thing.  Nothing.” ~  Willy Burgdorfer

Well, it’s now been a total of more than 40 years and the same thing is being produced, which is nothing.

Yeah – I agree.  Total lip-service to patients. 

It’s all about the ‘vaccine.’

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Uncategorized

Bartonella and Babesia Detected in Patients With Chronic Illness

https://news.ncsu.edu/2024/07/bartonella-and-babesia-co-infection-detected-in-patients-with-chronic-illness/

Bartonella and Babesia Co-Infection Detected in Patients with Chronic Illness

July 16, 2024  
For Immediate Release
Tracey Peake
Edward Breitschwerdt

A small pilot study has found evidence of human co-infections from Bartonella and Babesia odocoilei, a protozoal tick-borne infection primarily found in deer, moose and other cervids. The co-infections were detected in six of seven patients suffering from chronic, non-specific illness, who were enrolled in a Bartonella study at North Carolina State University. The work presents some of the first definitive DNA evidence of this strain of Babesia infection in humans, and could impact treatments for patients with Bartonella, Borrelia or Babesia infections.

Bartonella are a group of vector-borne bacteria transmitted primarily via arthropods like fleas, lice and potentially ticks, but also by the animals that harbor them. There are at least 45 different known Bartonella species, of which 18 have been found to infect humans. Improved methods for detecting Bartonella infection in animals and humans have led to the diagnosis of bartonelloses in patients with a host of chronic illnesses, as well as in some patients with psychiatric symptoms.

In the U.S., the main Babesia species that infect humans are B. microti, B. duncani and B. divergens-like. Transmission occurs mainly by tick bite, but there are reports of transmission by transfusion of contaminated blood, organ transplantation and transplacental transmission. In addition to asymptomatic infection, babesiosis can be associated with non-specific symptoms such as fever, chills and night sweats, or with severe, life-threatening hemolytic anemia.

Babesia and Bartonella are often suspected as co-infections with Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.

“Doctors who work with Lyme patients often suspect co-infection with Babesia most often based on serology data and symptoms,” says Edward Breitschwerdt, Melanie S. Steele Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine at NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine and corresponding author of a paper describing the work. “So we decided to test for potential co-infections with this subset of our Bartonella study participants.”

The seven patients in the pilot study were already enrolled in a larger study aimed at detecting Bartonella in the blood of people with chronic illness and extensive animal contact. The participants’ ages ranged from two-and-a-half to 62 years old. Four were veterinary workers, one was a student and veterinary technician, one was a veterinarian’s daughter and one was a pre-school aged child. All submitted blood and tissue samples for testing.

Using digital droplet PCR testing, which identifies pathogens by their DNA sequences, the researchers discovered that all seven participants were infected with Babesia odocoilei, and that six of the seven were co-infected with at least one, and sometimes two or more, species of Bartonella.

“We were surprised by these findings for several reasons,” Breitschwerdt says. “First, this strain of Babesia – B. odocoilei – isn’t currently considered a cause of human infection. Second, these patients reside in locations around the U.S. and in Mexico, so the distribution may be geographically widespread. Finally, we were able to identify these seven infected individuals within a one-year time period, suggesting that this may be a more prevalent infection than currently appreciated.”

The findings could have implications for how patients with symptoms of vector-borne illnesses such as Lyme, babesiosis, or bartonellosis are tested and treated.

“The main symptom associated with babesiosis is acute, severe hemolytic anemia. None of these patients reported any such illness, a factor that could limit a doctor’s decision to test for Babesia infection,” Breitschwerdt says.

“This study primarily focused on patients with chronic illnesses and suspected bartonelloses. Most often, doctors don’t look for Babesia in these patients, but we now have good evidence that people can be infected by this organism, evidence that should be pursued in larger studies. Physicians who treat Lyme disease have often suspected co-infections with these pathogens, and it looks like their suspicions are correct, at least in a subset of patients.”

“We are committed to providing the best vector borne infectious disease testing results possible,” says Ricardo Maggi, research professor at NC State and first author of the study. “The cases presented in this manuscript reflect our team’s efforts to develop better approaches and diagnostic tools that can give answers to both patients and their doctors.”

The study appears in Parasites and Vectors and was supported by NC State’s Bartonella/Vector-Borne Diseases Research Fund and the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation. NC State Ph.D. student Charlotte Moore, São Paulo State University Ph.D. student Ana Cláudia Calchi, and NC State research specialist Emily Kingston also contributed to the work.

For more:

Category:

Babesia, Bartonella, research

Magic Trick Reveal: How To Get Perfect Efficacy From a ‘Vaccine’ That Doesn’t Work. Two White Papers Call to Halt COVID Shots, But FDA Approves Non-mRNA COVID Shot

https://kirschsubstack.com/p/the-big-magic-trick-revealed?

The big magic trick revealed!

How can you get near perfect efficacy from a vaccine that doesn’t work? Thanks to Professor Jeffrey Morris, I now know the magic trick too! This one had me fooled me for years.

Steve Kirsch
May 16, 2025
The Secret Truth Behind Penn & Teller: Fool Us

I like Penn and Teller. But they don’t know jack about vaccines. Check out this video they did. They should apologize and re-do the video to tell the truth. YouTube will ban it though.

Executive Summary

If you have a policy of COVID testing where it is mandatory to test the unvaccinated 2x/week but the vaccinated can totally skip testing, this can massively skew all studies based on that data.

I just found out this was the case in the Czech Republic which is the only country where we have record level data.

That explains a lot, doesn’t it? A testing policy like that can make an ineffective vaccine close to perfect.

Bottom line: the only honest way to see if the vaccine worked is to compare the whole period all-cause mortality between those who got the shots and those who did not. Then you learn the truth.

Guess what? There isn’t a single study that does this.Zero. Zip. Nada.

So I calculated it for the Czech Republic. It shows that the vaccines should be stopped. But you already knew that, didn’t you?

And if you can’t get COVID, you can’t die from COVID!

BAM! The magic trick has been revealed. The next time you want to make a vaccine super effective, there is nothing like deploying a differential testing policy like this.

Therefore, in Czechia, you get a near perfect vaccine and can write papers about it and nobody is the wiser.  (See link for article)

_______________

**Comment**

These tactics need to be continually exposed for what they are: false and misleading – constituting scientific fraud.  Those in public health should be reviewing these things before they roll out a drug or medical product of any kind.

Hirsch then shows a table (to access, click top link) that shows when you actually compare whole period all-cause mortality between the injected and the non-injected you discover the shots are killing people.  But, reality is already showing this for those paying attention.

For more:

People have been shouting about these death shots for years.  There’s plenty of published science showing the myriad of problems.

Two White Papers Call For COVID Shot Halt

The IPAK-EDU White Paper 2025-ENDEUA states that when corrected efficacy curves and suppressed risks are taken into account, the mRNA covid shots fail the EUA standard.  The shots were based upon interim data from large-scale Phase III trials. The legal standard under §564 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires that a product may be authorized for emergency use only if it is “reasonable to believe” that the product “may be effective” against a life-threatening condition, that the known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks, and that no adequate alternatives are available. This report  demonstrates, through a rigorous retrospective analysis, that these criteria were never met.  

Go here to listen to Dr. Jeyanthi Kunadhasan, an Australian anesthesiologist and perioperative physician who was terminated from her hospital position after questioning the risk-benefit profile of COVID-19 vaccines in healthy individuals. Following her dismissal, she joined a group of international medical volunteers tasked with reviewing the 500,000+ pages of internal Pfizer documents released as part of a court-ordered FOIA request. This effort was coordinated by DailyClout and Dr. Naomi Wolf. As a result of that work, Dr. Kunadhasan has become one of the foremost experts on Pfizer’s pivotal mRNA vaccine trial, focusing specifically on discrepancies in reported deaths and adverse events.

What Dr. Kunadhasan uncovers raises grave questions about data integrity, regulatory failure, fraud, and the validity of the FDA’s EUA for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 shot.

And yet another White Paper is calling for an urgent halt on self-amplifying RNA ‘vaccine’ deployment until comprehensive safety studies are done to address contagiousness risks.  The paper discusses the significant theoretical risk including contagiousness through shedding, sexual transmission, and recombination with wild-type viruses.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and head of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Dr. Vinay Prasad, note that a number of other countries such as Australia and Germany only recommend the clot shots to certain populations while the U.S. has taken a ‘one size fits all’ approach because experts have argued Americans are too stupid to understand age-and risk-based recommendations.

But, even this approach ignores the elephant in the room: there are treatments for COVID which means a ‘vaccine’ isn’t even needed.  Then, there’s the fact they have negative efficacy.

What more is it going to take?

Evidently, a lot more……

The Food and Drug Administration issued an approval for Novavax’s Covid-19 ‘vaccine.’ This is the only non-mRNA vaccine.

The vaccine was approved for adults aged 65 and older and individuals aged 12 to 64 with at least one underlying health condition that increases their risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes. Reading the clinical trials prompts serious questions.

The trials included populations that had a single dose and populations that had two doses. The trials showed a reduction in symptomatic Covid 7 days after the second dose. But the FDA didn’t approve two doses. They only approved one. So is one dose even effective at all at preventing Covid? We don’t know, that wasn’t tested.  (Is this sounding familiar yet?)

There is also a noted risk of myocarditis and heart inflammation. There was also at least one vaccine recipient with “a serious event of Guillain Barré syndrome reported 9 days following the shot.  The FDA notes that Novavax has to follow up on any further cases if they observe it.

The FDA is also supposed to follow up on how the vaccine does when it is shipped to patients. They must submit a study called “Shipping Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 rS (JN.1 Vaccine) Drug Product in Pre-Filled Syringe (PFS) Finished Good Presentation” by July of this year.

They approve vaccines not knowing how they will fare once they are shipped to doctor’s offices. They test it on us.

Don’t forget the low prevalence of Covid.

There is good news: there are at least 16 states with pending bills seeking to ban the clot shot mandates, establish a ‘vaccine’ bill of rights, or prohibit any immunization containing mRNA material.  Some bills would require manufacturers to label foods containing mRNA, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Government.

More than 2,500 ‘vaccine’-related bills have been introduced since 2021.

And top FDA official just disclosed she never got the clot shot due to her concerns about biodistribution.  She was concerned about excretion in breast milk since she was pregnant during the COVID ‘pandemic.’  When asked if information has emerged that validates her choice, said she thinks it does, but wanted to go on record that she was not speaking on behalf of the FDA.  

Researchers reported in a 2022 paper that messenger ribonucleic acid, which is in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 shots, was detected in human breast milk. Another paper, in 2023, detailed similar findings.

Pfizer and Moderna did not return requests for comment.

And ‘Dilbert’ comic strip creator, Scott Adams, just admitted to having the same aggressive turbo cancer as former President Biden.

“The smartest, happiest people are the ones who didn’t get the vaccination, and they’re still alive.” ~ Scott Adams, Dilbert creator

It’s getting hot in the kitchen, folks.

Category:

Activism, research, vaccines

Draft Resolution on WHO Pandemic Agreement

https://jamesroguski.substack.com/p/draft-resolution-on-the-who-pandemic?

Draft Resolution on the WHO Pandemic Agreement

The WHO has finally published their “Draft Resolution on the WHO Pandemic Agreement.”

 
James Roguski
May 15, 2025

BREAKING NEWS:

The resolution to adopt the proposed “Pandemic Agreement” was finally made available on May 15, 2025.

The WHO seeks to have its cake and eat it too.

They want nations to begin to implement aspects of the “Pandemic Agreement” even though the agreement cannot be signed until at least after the 79th World Health Assembly in May 2026.

NO VOTE SHOULD OCCUR UNTIL THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT HAS BEEN WRITTEN AND AGREED UPON
In my opinion, the World Health Organization needs to be abolished and removed from the face of the planet.
(See link for article, the WHO draft resolution, and important videos)
_________________
 
**Comment**
 
According to this, the agreement centers on something called the PABS system, a global plan to share profits from so-called “pandemic pathogens.”
 
“They literally talk about pathogens with pandemic potential,” Roguski said. “They don’t need to have an actual outbreak.”
 
Roguski warns their goal is to build permanent mRNA infrastructure, fast-track approvals, and hand out billions in contracts—before a single case is reported.
 
Even worse: every country, including the U.S., is still on the hook unless they opt out of the WHO’s International Health Regulations by July 19, 2025.
 
Trump may have promised to leave, but the clock is still ticking—and the WHO isn’t backing down.
 
The good news? They failed to reach full agreement.
The bad news? They’re trying to push it through anyway.

For more:

CLICK HERE to give each and every Senator a phone call and demand that they instruct their staff to copy House Resolution 79 (H.R. 79 – the WHO Withdrawal Act) and submit it as companion legislation in the Senate. Let them know that you want to #ExitTheWHO, not reform it.  Members of Congress already gave a letter to Biden in 2022 calling on him to exit the WHO.

Just in case you believe the misguided notion that the WHO cares about ‘health,’ the organization using the One Health approach, aims to monitor and control the global food supply, but shrouds it under the ruse of preventing diseases that cause diarrhea and achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Please also remember the WHO to this day denies the effectiveness of ivermectin and was part of the Cabal keeping thousands upon thousands  from effective treatment for COVID.  They only recommend the FDA ‘approved,’ expensive, dangerous and ineffective Paxlovid,  molnupiravir, and remdesivir.  

 

Category:

Activism

How Are MS & Chronic Lyme Related?

Although this article is about MS, I wanted to post this information from Dr. Makis on fibromyalgia since both have many similar symptoms:  https://makismd.substack.com/p/ivermectin-and-fibromyalgia-testimonials?

In short, fibromyalgia patients are experiencing great relief, and even cure with ivermectin.  Many are stating their pain is entirely or nearly gone.  A few MS patients claim ivermectin cured their MS.

https://www.lymedisease.org/multiple-sclerosis-chronic-lyme/

How are multiple sclerosis and chronic Lyme related?

By Bill Rawls, MD

April 21, 2025

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease where the immune system attacks the protective covering (called myelin) around nerves in the brain and spinal cord.

Myelin acts like an insulator to keep nerves from touching each other and shorting out, much like the plastic coating on a copper wire.

This damage disrupts nerve signals, leading to symptoms such as fatigue, muscle weakness, numbness, vision problems, and coordination difficulties.

Undoubtedly, plenty of people who identify as having chronic Lyme disease struggle with these same symptoms. And demyelination of nerves has been documented for Lyme disease. Beyond that, many people with MS test positive for Borrelia, the Lyme bacteria. So what distinguishes MS from chronic Lyme?

The answer: arbitrary cut-offs.

So how do we differentiate?

There is no single test that is specific for MS. The diagnosis of MS is made using a combination of clinical evaluation, imaging, such as MRI, and laboratory tests of blood and spinal fluid.

If all of the findings are deemed significant enough by the clinician evaluating the patient, then the diagnosis of MS is made and the patient qualifies for treatment.

This means that a person could have all of the symptoms, and some or all of the findings, but not to the degree that would qualify for a diagnosis of MS.

That person might end up being diagnosed with some other neurological condition, fibromyalgia, or maybe wouldn’t get a diagnosis at all. Chronic Lyme disease is unlikely because it isn’t a diagnosis recognized by the conventional medical community.

No diagnosis, no treatment. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

Getting to the root cause

There are numerous drugs for treatment of MS. They work by blocking inflammation or blocking the immune system’s assault on myelin. The benefits are marginal at best and they carry significant side effects.

What the drugs don’t do is address why the body is attacking myelin in the first place. Without getting to the root causes of the problem, patients typically don’t get well. They live in a compromised state of relying on medications to mask the symptoms of their illness.

When you start looking for underlying causes, you’ll find that MS is listed as multifactorial. In other words, it’s not one specific cause, but rather multiple variable causes. This is also true of other chronic illnesses, including chronic Lyme disease.

A review paper published in the 2023 edition of the journal, NeuroSci, cataloged some of the known risk factors for MS that may be causative. These risk factors can be grouped into five categories.

  • Diets rich in processed foods and saturated fat, but low in vegetables and fruit
  • Chronic mental stress with inadequate sleep
  • Smoking or chronic exposure to other toxic substances
  • Sedentary lifestyle
  • Certain myelin-scavenging microbes, including (but not limited to) Chlamydia pneumoniae, Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), Human Herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6), Mycoplasma pneumoniae and other mycoplasma species, and Borrelia burgdorferi

While the review didn’t go as far as defining how these factors might come together to cause MS, it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out a possible scenario.

A plausible explanation for MS

Myelin is contained within specialized cells called oligodendrocytes, which wrap around the shaft of a nerve to insulate it. Each of these microbes are known to invade oligodendrocytes to scavenge myelin as a resource for replication. While this provides one possible link to MS, that’s not the end of the story.

Evidence shows that the microbes can go dormant inside an oligodendrocyte after they invade it. Intracellular dormancy is a common survival mechanism used by many host-dependent microbes. It has been documented for borrelia and all the Lyme coinfections. Dormancy allows microbes to survive when conditions aren’t favorable for growth — in other words, when the cells they’ve invaded are healthy.

When cells are weakened by chronic stress factors — poor diet, chronic exposure to toxic substances, unrelenting mental stress and poor sleep, being sedentary — dormant microbes are able to reactivate, consume the cell, and then emerge to infect adjacent cells.

The immune system reacts by attacking the oligodendrocytes where microbes are emerging, in the process compounding the damage.

This is also a plausible explanation for chronic Lyme disease. The question remains: Why do some people progress to more advanced symptoms that are ultimately defined as MS?

The answer may be genetics. A variety of genetic mutations are common among people diagnosed with MS. You can’t do anything about genetic mutations, of course, but you can do something about the root causes of the problem.

A natural solution for MS and chronic Lyme

One obvious part of the solution is minimizing stress factors that weaken cells. Not surprisingly, there are many documented cases of people who went into stable remission from MS after modifying their health habits.

Improved health habits alone, however, don’t completely address the microbe factor. Fortunately, there is one thing that does — and it’s not antibiotics or other drugs.

Certain medicinal herbs demonstrate antimicrobial and immunomodulating properties that offer the potential for an ideal solution to support recovery from MS. They are already used widely for chronic Lyme disease and supported by sound evidence.

Among numerous studies, a study from Johns Hopkins University showed that certain herbs — cryptolepis, Japanese knotweed, and Chinese skullcap — were more effective for killing Borrelia than antibiotics.

Unlike an antibiotic, however, which is a single chemical agent specific for only certain microbes, an herb contains hundreds of chemical substances that act as a chemical defense system against a wide range of microbes, including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and yeasts.

Never just one

This is important because it’s never just one microbe possibility. People identifying as having chronic Lyme disease typically test positive for co-infections. Chronic Lyme co-infections associated with demyelination include Chlamydia pneumoniae, Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), Human Herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6), Mycoplasma pneumoniae and other mycoplasma species.

But these are just the ones that have been identified so far — there are probably many others.

Combining multiple herbs extends the range of coverage. This is possible because the potential for toxicity of the most commonly used herbs in Lyme protocols is inherently low.

Medicinal herbs and mushrooms that are commonly included in chronic Lyme protocols that could also be beneficial for MS recovery include:

  • Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum)
  • Cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa)
  • Chinese skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis).
  • Cryptolepis (Cryptolepis sanguinolenta)
  • Andrographis (Andrographis paniculata)
  • Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)
  • Cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis)
  • Berberine or berberine-containing herbs
  • Red sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza)
  • Rehmannia (Rehmannia glutinosa)

Very importantly, the complex chemistry of herbs and medicinal mushrooms also protects cells from a wide range of toxic threats, including free radicals, foreign toxic substances, and harmful radiation. This applies to all cells in the body, including cells that make up the nervous system.

Immunomodulators

The medicinal herbs and mushrooms listed are classified as immunomodulators, meaning they upregulate underactive parts of the immune system and downregulate overactive portions of the immune system. This is important for reducing inflammation and calming the autoimmune response.

A final advantage of antimicrobial herbs is specificity for pathogens. The antimicrobial properties of herbs and medicinal mushrooms are selective for pathogens, but do not disrupt normal flora in the gut and other areas of the body.

Low toxicity and low potential to disrupt the gut microbiome means that herbal therapy can be used for extended durations, months or even years, which is often what it takes for complete recovery.

What this all means is that therapy — with a targeted endpoint of wellness, not managed illness — can be started with or without having a formal diagnosis.

With over 30 years of medical experience, Dr. Bill Rawls specializes in the holistic treatment of chronic illnesses, particularly Lyme disease. His personal journey with Lyme disease inspired his mission to empower others with the knowledge and tools needed to regain their health naturally. Learn more about Dr. Rawls’ approach to treating chronic illness with herbal therapy at RawlsMD.com.

References

An X, Bao Q, Di S, et al. The interaction between the gut microbiota and herbal medicines. Biomed Pharmacother. 2019;118:109252.

Anderson C, Brissette CA. The Brilliance of Borrelia: Mechanisms of Host Immune Evasion by Lyme Disease-Causing Spirochetes. Pathogens. 2021;10(3):281.

Berer K, Mues M, Koutrolos M, et al. Commensal microbiota and myelin autoantigen cooperate to trigger autoimmune demyelination. Nature. 2011;479(7374):538-541.

Bjornevik K, Münz C, Cohen JI, Ascherio A. Epstein-Barr virus as a leading cause of multiple sclerosis: mechanisms and implications. Nat Rev Neurol. 2023;19(3):160-171.

Branton WG, Lu JQ, Surette MG, et al. Brain microbiota disruption within inflammatory demyelinating lesions in multiple sclerosis. Sci Rep. 2016;6:37344.

Eisenreich W, Rudel T, Heesemann J, Goebel W. Persistence of Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens-With a Focus on the Metabolic Perspective. Front Cell Infect Microbiol.

Feng J, Leone J, Schweig S, Zhang Y. Evaluation of Natural and Botanical Medicines for Activity Against Growing and Non-growing Forms of B. burgdorferi. Front Med (Lausanne). 2020;7:6.

Fritzsche M. Chronic Lyme borreliosis at the root of multiple sclerosis–is a cure with antibiotics attainable? Med Hypotheses. 2005;64(3):438-448.

Greening C, Grinter R, Chiri E. Uncovering the Metabolic Strategies of the Dormant Microbial Majority: towards Integrative Approaches. mSystems. 2019;4(3):e00107-19.

Ivanova MV, Kolkova NI, Morgunova EY, et al. Role of Chlamydia in multiple sclerosis. Bull Exp Biol Med. 2015;159(5):646-648.

Kriesel JD, et al. Spectrum of Microbial Sequences and a Bacterial Cell Wall Antigen in Primary Demyelination Brain Specimens Obtained from Living Patients. Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 4;9(1):1387.

Landry RL, Embers ME. The Probable Infectious Origin of Multiple Sclerosis. NeuroSci. 2023;4(3):211-234.

Libbey JE, Cusick MF, Fujinami RS. Role of pathogens in multiple sclerosis. Int Rev Immunol. 2014;33(4):266-283.

Livengood JA, Gilmore RD Jr. Invasion of human neuronal and glial cells by an infectious strain of Borrelia burgdorferi [published correction appears in Microbes Infect. 2015 Jun;17(6):e1]. Microbes Infect. 2006;8(14-15):2832-2840.

Pender M. The essential role of Epstein-Barr virus in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Neuroscientist. 2011;17(4):351-367.

Rittershaus ES, Baek SH, Sassetti CM. The normalcy of dormancy: common themes in microbial quiescence. Cell Host Microbe. 2013;13(6):643-651.

Thakur A, Mikkelsen H, Jungersen G. Intracellular Pathogens: Host Immunity and Microbial Persistence Strategies. J Immunol Res. 2019;2019:1356540.

Toledo A, Benach JL. Hijacking and Use of Host Lipids by Intracellular Pathogens. Microbiol Spectr. 2015;3(6):10.1128/microbiolspec.VMBF-0001-2014.

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**Comment**

A few points:

  • The Johns Hopkins study was in vitro, or the lab, which may not transfer over to the human body.
  • Antibiotics of daptomycin, doxycycline, and cefuroxime were used as controls at a final concentration of 5 μg/ml.  I’m not sure how this translates to oral dosages given patients, but according to Burrascano, dosages matter greatly.  It could be that these dosages were not high enough.
  • Doxy is a great front-line drug due to its action against many coinfections, but it is not the best and only drug to treat Lyme disease.
    • Eva Sapi found that while the use of doxy reduced spirochetal structures ~90%, round body forms increased about twofold.What this means is these round forms will simply lie and wait until conditions are better to reemerge. She found that tinidazole was the only antibiotic that reduced viable organisms by ~90%.  Recent research showed piperacillin effectively cured mice of Lyme at a dose 100 times smaller than doxycycline with virtually no impact on resident gut microbes.
So, for anyone paying attention, doxy has its limitations and all experienced Lyme literate doctors use multiple antibiotics in a combination therapy.

This, right here, is why mainstream medicine and research are worthless because this complex illness is treated as a one pathogen, one drug illness when typically more than one pathogen involved, and to complicate it further, the pathogens have multiple forms (pleomorphism) and strains that need to be addressed.

  • Daptomycin is an antibiotic that has been utilized recently in combination therapies. In a study through Johns Hopkins, when combined with doxycycline and ceftriaxone, daptomycin effectively cleared Lyme disease infection in vitro as well as in mice. However, daptomycin is relatively expensive and only available intravenously.  Notice it’s effectiveness is due to being used in a combo therapy.  I would say this is true of ALL antibiotics and why single antibiotics were not successful in the Johns Hopkins study Rawls refers to.
  • While cefuroxime has been found to have a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) similar to doxycycline; out of three borrelia species tested, two were susceptible while the third (borrelia hermsii) was less susceptible. The three antibiotics with similar MBCs in vitro, i.e., cefuroxime, doxycycline, and amoxicillin, demonstrated comparable activities in preventing borreliosis in B. burgdorferi-challenged hamsters (50% curative doses = 28.6, 36.5 and 45.0 mg/kg, respectively). So cefuroxime is far from perfect either when used alone.  Source

Using single antibiotics is really doing an injustice to what is known about successful treatment for Lyme since tindy is the most effective drug overall and combination drug protocols are by far the most effective.

Please remember too that Dr. Rawls manufactures and sells herbs and is financially compensated.

Don’t misunderstand – I’m not opposed to herbs.  I’ve used many myself and know of patients who have done well on them.  I just don’t want you to believe they are perfect or the only answer, either.  It takes everything AND the kitchen sink for this crap so keep an open mind.  And herbs are not harmless – there are interactions with other drugs as well as toxicity.

Nothing is ever simple.

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Herbs, Lyme, research, Treatment