Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

Lyme & Other Tick-borne Diseases With Dr. Philips & Dana Parish

Approx. 47 Min.
April 11, 2021

Relieve Chronic Pain – Steven Phillips, M.S. & Dana Parish

The Empowering Neurologist
David Perlmutter
It has been estimated that some 50 million Americans have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. As such, we have become all too familiar with things like rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis, to name a few.
On our program today we are going to speak with the authors of a new book entitled Chronic: The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic and How to Get Healthy Again by Dr. Steven Phillips and Dana Parish.
Dr. Phillips and his patient, Dana Parish, reveal the role that chronic underlying infections, like Lyme disease, may play as it relates to autoimmune conditions. We will explore not just Lyme disease, but other chronic infections that also may have long-term manifestations. We explore how these diseases present, how they are diagnosed, and of course, treatment, as well as the politics that may well be keeping this information from gaining widespread acceptance or at least recognition.
I think you will find this program to be very intriguing. 
  • Steven Phillips, M.D., is a renowned Yale-trained physician, international lecturer, and media go-to expert. Well-published in the medical literature, he has treated over 20,000 patients with complex, chronic illness from nearly 20 countries. Phillips experienced firsthand the nightmare of an undiagnosed, serious infection after nearly dying from his own “mystery illness,” and having to save his own life when 25 doctors could not.
  • Dana Parish developed Lyme-induced heart failure as a result of being improperly diagnosed by multiple physicians—and had her life saved by Dr. Phillips. A chart-topping Sony/ATV singer/songwriter who has written songs for artists like Celine Dion and Idina Menzel, she has become a major voice in the world of chronic illness. Her popular column on Huffington Post has been read by more than one million people globally.

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**Comment**

Around 26:00, I was thankful Dr. Phillips touched upon the “Lyme vaccine,” and the fact that when they gave the vaccine to animals infected with Lyme, they got sicker.

He also relates how there are some similarities with Long-COVID and chronic Lyme particularly how latent infections are being stirred up with both illnesses.

Humans Infested with Ixodes Ricinus Are Exposed to a Diverse Array of Tick-borne Pathogens in Serbia

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877959X20304799

Humans infested with Ixodes ricinus are exposed to a diverse array of tick-borne pathogens in Serbia

Abstract

Tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) pose a major threat to human health in Europe and the whole northern hemisphere. Despite a high prevalence of TBPs in Ixodes ricinus ticks, knowledge on the incidence of tick-borne diseases in humans infested by this tick species is limited. This study was conducted in the year 2019 on patients who presented themselves to the Pasteur Institute Novi Sad with tick infestations. Ticks (n = 31) feeding on human (n = 30) and blood samples from the same individuals were collected by physicians and a microfluidic real-time high-throughput PCR system was used to test the genomic DNA of the samples for the presence of 27 bacterial and eight parasitic microorganisms in Serbia. Except for one Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. adult male tick, all ticks infesting humans were morphologically identified as I. ricinus.

  • A high proportion of ticks (74%, 23/31) were infected with at least one of the tested TB microorganisms, being Rickettsia helvetica (54 %, 17/31) the most common pathogen, but
  • Borrelia afzelii (9 %, 3/31),
  • Anaplasma phagocytophilum (6 %, 2/31),
  • Borrelia miyamotoi (6 %, 2/31), and
  • Francisella like-endosymbiont (6 %, 2/31),
  • Borrelia valaisiana (3 %, 1/31),
  • Borrelia lusitaniae (3 %, 1/31),
  • Rickettsia felis (3 %, 1/31) and
  • Rickettsia aeschlimannii (3 %, 1/31) were also identified.

Despite the high infection rate of TBPs in ticks, only two human blood samples (6 %, 2/30) tested positive for the presence of TBPs, one patient (code H12, 67 years old female) was diagnosed with Borrelia spp. and the other patient was diagnosed (code H17, 71 years old female) with R. felis infection. The tick infesting patient H12 tested positive for B. afzelii, and R. helvetica and the tick infesting patient H17 tested positive for R. felis. Upon clinical examination, both patients were diagnosed with erythema migrans. No additional discomfort was reported by the patient and no additional pathology was observed by the physician. We concluded that humans bitten by I. ricinus in Serbia are exposed to a diverse array of TBPs with clinical impact in the Serbian cohort studied.

Patient Education Webinar: The Prevention of Lyme & Tick-Borne Diseases

https://www.ilads.org/patient-education-webinar/

Patient Education Webinar: The Prevention of Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases

May 6, 2021
7 PM EDT

Overview

Join us for a special presentation from Dr. Alexis Chesney on The Prevention of Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases. Dr. Chesney will discuss the various tick species found in North America and how to identify them, strategies for preventing tick bites, and the six steps to take after you’ve been bitten by a tick.

All webinar registrants will be entered into a drawing for a free copy of Dr. Chesney’s book Preventing Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases.

Registration Fee: $10

About Alexis Chesney, ND

Alexis Chesney ND, LAc is a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist specializing in the treatment of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Dr. Chesney earned a doctorate in naturopathic medicine from the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine, in Connecticut. She works with patients full-time at the integrative non-profit Sojourns Community Health Clinic in Westminster, Vermont and has a small private practice in Northampton, Massachusetts. Dr. Chesney serves on the Board of Directors and as the Naturopathic Medicine Committee Chair for the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) as well as the Unity in Lyme working group. She is the author of Preventing Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases released through Storey Publishing, and speaks on tick-borne diseases at conferences and in the media.

Chesney Alexis
For more:

Reminder: Lyme Awareness Talk – May 4, 2021

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2021/04/06/lyme-awareness-talk-in-may-lyme-awareness-month/

LYME DISEASE IN WISCONSIN

When: Tuesday, May 4, 2021 – 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Where: Online

For adults held via Zoom. Registration required and opens April 1.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average number of cases has more than doubled over the last decade. In this presentation, learn from Alicia Cashman from Madison Lyme Support Group about Lyme Disease, how to protect you and your family, what common symptoms are, and what to do if you have symptoms.

If you have questions or need special accommodations at events contact Kara at (608) 835-6268 or kripley@oregonlibrary.org.

The program is made possible through funding from the Friends of the Oregon Library.

Tick on a green plant

Lizards May be Protecting People From Lyme Disease in the Southeastern United States

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/lizards-may-be-protecting-people-lyme-disease-southeastern-united-states

Lizards may be protecting people from Lyme disease in the southeastern United States

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Lyme disease is one of the most devastating tick-borne infections in the United States, affecting more than 300,000 people each year. It’s also one of the most mysterious: The creature that spreads it—the black-legged tick—lives throughout the country. Yet the northeastern United States is home to far more cases than anywhere else. Now, researchers have identified an unexpected reason: lizards.

Black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), also known as deer ticks, carry corkscrew-shaped bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The ticks pick up the pathogens—spirochetes that belong to the genus Borrelia—when they suck the blood of animals like mice, deer, and lizards. In the next stage of their life cycle, the ticks may latch onto an unlucky human. But every host transmits the microbes differently. Reptiles are worse transmitters than mammals, so ticks that have lived on reptiles are less likely to make people sick.

The north-south divide in Lyme cases is a fairly sharp line right along the border of Virginia and North Carolina. Researchers have hypothesized that disparity in cases stems from ticks feeding on different hosts in the two regions. (See link for article)

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