Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

The Monster Inside Me – Streaming Available, DVDs Soon

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/themonsterinsideme  Watch Trailer Here and Rent for $12.95 to Stream on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast. Learn more

The Monster Inside Me

“The Monster Inside Me” is a documentary that follows a couple who bravely turn the camera on themselves to reveal an intimate and groundbreaking perspective on Lyme Disease. They take the viewer on an emotional journey researching the truth, lies and healing behind our modern era’s most misunderstood chronic illness and controversial pandemic, affecting more than 150 million people worldwide.

Film Data: 105 Minutes, Color, H264 HD 4K, Aspect: 1.85, Sound: Dolby SRD, Language: English

For more:  https://www.themonsterinsideme.com/

Frances and Tony are a team of passionate storytellers and Lyme disease advocates.   A  photographer and  a cinematographer, both  on a mission to make a difference in the world through the visual power of film and the media.

They have been raising awareness for Lyme disease for over 5 years now, having started working on their documentary shortly after Frances was diagnosed with the terrible illness.  Together they created a film with the goal of not only raising awareness of a disease that is invisible and largely misunderstood, but also to educate the public of the truth of Lyme that has been hushed by the medical and scientific communities.

In 2022, right in the heart of Lyme Awareness month in May, they did a series of red carpet theatrical  events promoting their film throughout the USA in Denver, Phoenix, NYC, Philadelphia, Boston, to name a few.

As a result, THE MONSTER INSIDE ME has become a film that is validating those confused and hurt by the disease, as well as offering them hope, understanding and a voice to continue their fight.

Category:

Activism, Lyme

Tick-borne Diseases Pose ‘Public Health Crisis’ in PA, Experts Say

https://www.wpxi.com/news/pennsylvania/tick-borne-diseases-pose-public-health-crisis-pa-experts-say

Tick-borne diseases pose ‘public health crisis’ in PA, experts say

By Liz Kilmer, WPXI-TV

PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania continues to be a top state for Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne infection, and experts are urging awareness and caution.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health estimates that the state could have as many as 100,000 cases of Lyme disease each year.

“Pennsylvania is ground zero for ticks and tick-borne illnesses,” said Nicole Chinnici, the Director of the Tick Research Lab of Pennsylvania at East Stroudsburg University. “It has a lot to do with our geographical landscape and our protected land and having a decent amount of forest coverage. So with that… we have a huge public health crisis in our state, and it needs to be addressed.”

The lab tests ticks for free, determining the type of tick and potential infection. Last year, about 30,000 came from Pennsylvania residents, she said. Data show about a third of all ticks test for some type of illness.

And, more than half of people who submit ticks report having been bitten while in their own backyards.  (See link for article)

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SUMMARY:

  • Chinnici states your own backyard is the greatest risk because you don’t consider it a risk.
  • Dr. Shannon Smith, DC and LLMD states some that are infected never see a tick or a rash.
  • Smith states some of his patients have been misdiagnosed for years.
  • One such patient initially had fatigue but then developed iron deficiency and Celiac’s disease. Treatment has already begun to help by improving her memory and emotions as Lyme can cause depression.
  • Many misdiagnosed patients fall through the cracks due to a negative test.
  • Joint pain or facial drooping are classic symptoms but other symptoms include brain fog, speech difficulties, or fibromyalgia symptoms.
  • Smith recommends testing for other infections as well as they can cause other symptoms like GI issues.
  • Pets can bring ticks into the home.
  • Smith recommends taking a lint roller and roll it all over your body as ticks don’t quickly embed.
  • Wear tick repellent and bright/light colors
  • It is recommended to wear tick repellent and bright colors that make it easier to spot a tick. If you find a tick that’s attached, you want to use a fine-point tweezer, grabbing at the base of the mouth. More tips can be found on the lab’s blog: https://www.ticklab.org/blog/

For more:

Category:

Lyme, Prevention, Ticks

Fauci’s World & Wuhan Researchers Publish Paper on Assembled Monkey Virus Strains

https://thehighwire.com/videos/tony-fauci-americas-gaslighting-expert/

May 20, 2022

Out of the Horse’s Mouth: Social Distancing, School & Business Closures, Wearing Masks.  ‘Whatever it Takes’

– But has the gall to say we never locked down…..

Fauci gives viewers a teachable moment in gaslighting, something Lyme/MSIDS patients are quite experienced with, as he attempts to tell Americans that they didn’t experience any lockdowns over the last two years.

“Now is the time to do what you are told.” ~ Dr. Anthony Fauci

For more:

BTW: Fauci’s wife, U.S. Bioethics Chief at the NIH, just published a paper telling corporations they can ethically ‘pressure employees’ and ’embarrass vaccine resistors.’  The paper posits ‘vaccine’ mandates can “be ethically appropriate” if there is “clear articulation about the consequences of not complying with the policy.”  The paper also gives the tactic of using “targeted statistics (such as 75% of the company or unit have been vaccinated) to spur competition or even implicitly embarrass vaccine resistors.”

The unearthed paper comes amidst controversy over Fauci’s decision to fund research on “killer” bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. His wife’s supervision of ethics of NIH research and policy are a conflict of interest given Fauci’s role in shaping COVID-19 response and ‘vaccination’ guidelines.  Source

And speaking of papers…..

https://thenationalpulse.com/2022/05/22/wuhan-assembled-monkeypox-strains/

The Infamous Wuhan Lab Recently Assembled Monkeypox Strains Using Methods Flagged For Creating ‘Contagious Pathogens’

Natalie Winters

May 22, 2022

The Wuhan Institute of Virology assembled a monkeypox virus genome, allowing the virus to be identified through PCR tests, using a method researchers flagged for potentially creating a “contagious pathogen,” The National Pulse can reveal.

The study was first published in February 2022, just months before the latest international outbreak of monkeypox cases which appear to have now reached the United States. The publication’s Editor-in-Chief is Wuhan’s infamous “bat lady,” Shi Zhengli, who is the lab’s premier bat coronavirus researcher and a recipient of funds from Anthony Fauci through Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance.

The paper, which was authored by nine Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers and published in the lab’s quarterly scientific journal Virologica Sinica, also follows the wide-scale use of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests to identify COVID-19-positive individuals.  (See link for article)

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SUMMARY:

  • The paper is titled: “Efficient Assembly of a Large Fragment of Monkeypox Virus Genome as a qPCR Template Using Dual-Selection Based Transformation-Associated Recombination.”
  • Monkey pox viruses – referred to as “MPXVs” in the paper – have strains that are “more pathogenic and [have] been reported to infect humans in various parts of the world.”
  • The paper acknowledged that TAR “applied in virological research could also raise potential security concerns, especially when the assembled product contains a full set of genetic material that can be recovered into a contagious pathogen.”
  • While the study conducted experiments on mice and chicken, it noted that H7N9 variants are “also highly transmissible in ferrets, posing the threats of pandemic potential in humans.”
  • The Wuhan lab conducted similar research into strains of bat coronaviruses that could infect humans and has admitted the lab lacks proper safety protocols.
For a brief bit of history:

In 1958, lab monkeys were shipped from Singapore to Denmark of which 30% developed a “pox-like skin eruption” 7-9 weeks after arrival, according to a March 1973 paper  published in what is now the peer-reviewed journal Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.

    • A year later 200 lab monkeys in a Philadelphia Merck facility were infected.
    • There were outbreaks at the Walter Reed Army Institute in Washington D.C.
    • There were outbreaks at the Zoological Garden in the Netherlands in 1962 & 1964.
    • The WHO reported FOUR more pox-like outbreaks in U.S. lab monkeys from 1965-67.

Monkeypox did not affect humans until 1970 in Africa and researchers made sure to highlight the six infected were not vaccinated against smallpox.

History shows monkeypox came from Singapore and was enhanced via gain of function in the U.S., but the narrative is that it originated in Africa in 1958 but nobody explains where or how.  Source

Deja Vu

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https://popularrationalism.substack.com/p/12-monkeypox-facts-what-you-need

12 Monkeypox Facts: What You Need to Know

After a deluge of requests from people, here’s the essential information you need to know.
James Lyons-Weiler

I have to start this article by saying I loathe articles with titles. My immediate reaction to seeing these in MSM is “all you WANT me to know”.

So, here’s a list of unannotated (mostly) facts.

  1. They ran a simulation on a monkeypox outbreak in March 2021. Who? Here.
  2. FDA approved of Tecovirimat, (aka TPOXX), an antiviral that is effective against Monkeypox, in July 2018.
  3. Transmission requires intimate (very close) contact (although it’s not an STD)
  4. CDC says you should not be concerned. Biden says you should.
  5. There are about 1,000 doses of vaccine for Pox viruses (smallpox and monkeypox) that could be used on patients in the US. CDC says for those at “high risk). So that means no one.
  6. Doctors are being told to be on the lookout for Monkeypox cases.
  7. It’s been around since 1958, about the time scientists were injecting African subjects with blood products from monkeys to see which viruses might be transmissible. Zika virus came into our species about the same time.
  8. If you see an overturned truckload of escaped monkeys, keep driving. Don’t stop and “help”, or, according to the official narrative, a monkey might “hiss” in your face.
  9. There are only about 200 recent cases worldwide.
  10. WHO’s Interim Guidance suggests the use of RT-PCR with positive controls. (What???? Where were the positive controls for SARS-CoV-2????)
  11. WHO and CDC have both said it can be “contained”.
  12. Moderna has jumped onto the Monkeypox vaccine bandwagon.More later.

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**Comment**

Clarification: Monkeypox IS spreading through sexual contact, but is not considered a STD.  See this article for more:  https://fortune.com/2022/05/23/monkeypox-spread-sexual-contact-not-sexually-transmitted-infection-who/  This point is being debated.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2022/05/23/monkeypox-outbreak-follows-germ-game-preparations/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Viruses

Best Friends Fighting Lyme Together & A Perfect Example of Why We Need Each Other

https://www.globallymealliance.org/videos/two-best-friends-are-fighting-lyme-disease-together

Two Best Friends are Fighting Lyme Disease Together

by Admin at Global Lyme Alliance on March 25, 2022

<span id="hs_cos_wrapper_name" class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_text" style="" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="text" >Two Best Friends are Fighting Lyme Disease Together</span>
Chase and Natalie, two best friends, are supporting one another on their Lyme journeys.
Watch Here:

Chase and Natalie have both been diagnosed with Lyme disease. They discuss the challenges they face as young adults battling such a debilitating disease. They try to embody a positive attitude as they receive their treatments. Natalie is in a wheelchair because the Lyme has affected the muscles in her legs. She also has been dealing with severe pain in her jaw for the past three years, having received four surgeries. They both talk about how those with Lyme may appear healthy on social media, but you never know what’s really happening behind the scenes. By sharing their experiences, they are spreading awareness and helping others with Lyme to feel less alone.

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**Comment**

What a perfect example of how support makes all the difference.  Having traveled this journey myself I understand the pain, confusion, fear, and gaslighting common with Lyme/MSIDS.  To see two people laughing about what they are going through perfectly demonstrates the importance of friendship and support. One of the worst aspects of this journey is not being believed.

For more:

I really appreciated her comment about being careful about accepting advice from those who are not infected as they truly don’t know what it’s like and what you are going through.  One of the most difficult times for me was when a well-meaning homeschool, Christian mom told me I was in sin for not trusting God by taking antibiotics. Being faithful is important to me but these antibiotics were saving my life.

Be careful what you tell others.
Words have the power of life and death.  Tread carefully.

On the other hand, I vividly remember my son’s marital arts coach tell me, “Alicia, Lyme doesn’t stand a chance against your indomitable spirit.”

That one floored me, because I felt anything but indomitable at the time.  Barely making it through each day, and shuffling through the house trying to just keep the ball rolling, this man put hope into a very weary heart. I will never forget his words.  They still put a clip into my steps.

Let your words inspire and be a catalyst for healing.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Psychological Aspects

Lyme Disease and Bell’s Palsy: New Considerations For Differential Diagnosis

https://www.globallymealliance.org/blog/lyme-disease-and-bells-palsy-new-considerations-for-differential-diagnosis

Lyme Disease and Bell’s Palsy: New Considerations for Differential Diagnosis

by Timothy Sellati, P.h.D. on March 28, 2022

<span id="hs_cos_wrapper_name" class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_text" style="" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="text" >Lyme Disease and Bell’s Palsy: New Considerations for Differential Diagnosis</span>
Neurological disorder resulting from COVID-19 may confound Lyme disease diagnosis.

Bell’s palsy is a non-progressive neurological disorder of one of the facial nerves (7th cranial nerve). Bell’s palsy is fundamentally a clinical diagnosis with no specific laboratory test to confirm the disorder.1 This disorder is characterized by the sudden onset of facial paralysis that may be preceded by a slight fever, pain behind the ear on the affected side, a stiff neck, and weakness and/or stiffness on one side of the face. Paralysis results from decreased blood supply and/or compression of the 7th cranial nerve. This compression can be caused by inflammation of the tissue around the nerve. Approximately 40,000 individuals are diagnosed with Bell’s palsy in the US each year, affecting males and females in equal numbers.

The exact cause of Bell’s palsy is not known, however, bacterial infections (like Lyme disease),1 and viral infections (like Herpes and Epstein-bar virus),2 immune disorders (like Guillain-Barre syndrome) and neuropathies (like brain tumors), are frequently implicated as a cause.

Neurological Lyme Disease and Bell’s Palsy

Bell’s palsy is the most common manifestation of Lyme neuroborreliosis (or neurological Lyme disease) in the US.1 Clues pointing toward Lyme neuroborreliosis include a history of rash compatible with a bull’s-eye erythema migrans (EM) rash or fever in the weks preceding the palsy. Treatment with antibiotic therapy is highly effective, and most patients will fully recover facial nerve function.1 According to Dr. Nate Jowett, M.D. (Massachusetts General Brigham) ~5% of patients with Lyme disease will develop some degree of sudden facial weakness, where one or both sides of the face droop. This tends to occur seven- to 21-days after tick exposure in infected patients.

COVID-19 and Bell’s Palsy

More recently, though a rare occurrence, Bell’s palsy has also been associated with COVID-193 and adverse drug reactions following mRNA-based vaccination for COVID-19.4-7 A recent systematic review found 20 COVID-19 patients whose only major neurological manifestation was Bell’s palsy. In a separate report, according to Colella et al.,an otherwise healthy 37-year-old white Caucasian male developed Bell’s palsy within days after COVID-19 vaccination. Of note, there was no history of trauma, cold or other identifiable triggers reported and no other signs or symptoms were present. Specifically, no history of a preceding infection, including recent SARS-CoV-2 infection, was reported and there was no evidence of a cutaneous rash suggestive of Herpes zoster infection.6 Lack of a cutaneous rash (e.g., EM) might also rule out Lyme disease, though it should be noted that EM may be missed or not develop in some Lyme disease cases.8

Bell’s palsy associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection was either the first neurological manifestation or appeared two to 28 days after the appearance of other clinical manifestations.3 When associated with COVID-19 vaccination Bell’s palsy developed between three and 30 days post second-dose vaccination.6 The FDA points out that cases of Bell’s palsy in vaccine groups did not represent a frequency above that expected in the general population and concluded that currently available information was insufficient to determine a causal relationship with the vaccine. Nevertheless, they also recommend surveillance for cases of Bell’s palsy with deployment of the vaccine into larger populations.6

Since the time frames for onset of Bell’s palsy associated with Lyme disease and SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccination overlaps, it is important for front-line physicians to be aware that when faced with differentially diagnosing a patient that presents with Bell’s palsy they should consider:

  1. The prevalence of ticks and Lyme disease in the geographic area in which the patient resides
  2. Case history of the individual that may increase the risk of coming into contact with ticks and contracting Lyme disease (time of year, outdoor activities, pets, ), finding a tick on themselves, and/or travel to a Lyme-endemic area to name a few
  3. Other symptoms consistent with Lyme disease (g., EM, arthritis, carditis, other neurological complications, etc.)
  4. Timing of the onset of Bell’s palsy and when they contracted COVID-19 or underwent vaccination for COVID-19

In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to causing a whole new set of public health challenges associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections, has also further confounded physicians’ efforts to distinguish Lyme neuroborreliosis from other disorders that cause neurological disease. It is recognition of these complexities that leads GLA to invest financial resources and support research that will ensure rapid and accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of Lyme neuroborreliosis.

REFERENCES

1          Marques, A., Okpali, G., Liepshutz, K. & Ortega-Villa, A. M. Characteristics and outcome of facial nerve palsy from Lyme neuroborreliosis in the United States. Ann Clin Transl Neurol 9, 41-49, doi:10.1002/acn3.51488 (2022).

2          Zhang, W. et al. The etiology of Bell’s palsy: a review. J Neurol 267, 1896-1905, doi:10.1007/s00415-019-09282-4 (2020).

3          Gupta, S., Jawanda, M. K., Taneja, N. & Taneja, T. A systematic review of Bell’s Palsy as the only major neurological manifestation in COVID-19 patients. J Clin Neurosci 90, 284-292, doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2021.06.016 (2021).

4          Cirillo, N. & Doan, R. The association between COVID-19 vaccination and Bell’s palsy. Lancet Infect Dis 22, 5-6, doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00467-9 (2022).

5          Cirillo, N. & Doan, R. Bell’s palsy and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines-an unfolding story. Lancet Infect Dis 21, 1210-1211, doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00273-5 (2021).

6          Colella, G., Orlandi, M. & Cirillo, N. Bell’s palsy following COVID-19 vaccination. J Neurol 268, 3589-3591, doi:10.1007/s00415-021-10462-4 (2021).

7          Cirillo, N. Reported orofacial adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines: The knowns and the unknowns. J Oral Pathol Med 50, 424-427, doi:10.1111/jop.13165 (2021).

8          Schutzer, S. E. et al. Atypical erythema migrans in patients with PCR-positive Lyme disease. Emerg Infect Dis19, 815-817, doi:10.3201/eid1905.120796 (2013).

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For more:

Category:

Lyme, research, vaccines, Viruses