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Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

Taking on Ticks: Some Lyme Disease Symptoms Can Be Mistaken for COVID-19

https://www.news4jax.com/health/2020/10/01/taking-on-ticks-some-lyme-disease-symptoms-can-be-mistaken-for-covid-19/ News Video Here

Taking on Ticks: Some Lyme disease symptoms can be mistaken for COVID-19

Ivanhoe Newswire

Published: October 1, 2020

Fever, chills, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, body aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting — sounds like the symptoms of COVID. But actually, it’s Lyme disease.

And this year is expected to be an exceptionally bad year for ticks. In fact, because more people are spending time outdoors and in the wilderness, due to the pandemic, experts fear more people will come down with Lyme disease. (See link for article)

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**Comment**

The article discusses Olivia Goodreau’s story. Barely able to walk, she saw 51 doctors before she was diagnosed. She also never saw the tick or the rash, and ONE tick bite caused 5 other diseases.

Mainstream medicine STILL hasn’t embraced these facts that are more common than not.

Key quote:

“You have migratory muscle pain or migratory nerve pain, tingling, numbness, burning, stabbing. That is the hallmark of Lyme,” said Dr. Richard Horowitz, a board-certified internist at Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center.

Despite increasing stories like this one and worse, hit pieces continue to pour forth denying the severity of the disease and maligning doctors who take a different approach: https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/reckless-lyme-disease-treatments-are-injuring-and-killing-patients-as-alternative-doctors-get-certified-to-treat-the-illness-report-finds

Do not kid yourself. There is a political war that’s been going on for over 40 years regarding Lyme/MSIDS. These public health ‘authorities’ are increasingly coming underwire for conflicts of interest and actual scientific fraud. They are squirming in their seats. I was not surprised to see the recent article that again regurgitated the 5 cases of IV antibiotic treatment for Lyme, published in the MMWR, that had poor outcomes. The CDC has a long and sordid history of maligning anything that competes with their lucrative interests: .https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/26/cdc-playbook-learning-from-lyme/

Regarding the 5 cases which were cherry-picked, it was discovered that one of the authors, a CDC epidemiologist, allegedly solicited IDSA doctors for evidence of harm from IV antibiotic treatments, essentially bribing them by offering co-authorship of the report if anecdotes were used. No such solicitation was made for IV treatment success stories – showing complete bias. There has been hot debate on Lyme treatments for decades. The MMWR paper is only one example of bias which is embedded within the CDC. There are many success stories using IV therapy by a Wisconsin Doctor and IDSA founder who disagreed with his colleagues on how to treat Lyme disease.

The article then drags Dr. Sponaugle through the mud, insinuating that he caused a recent death of a patient because he was “previously flagged for Lyme disease-related malpractice in 2014.”

Again, I write about this common crucifixion of Lyme literate doctors here: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/26/cdc-playbook-learning-from-lyme/

What you must understand is the CDC is a bully and can not and will not have opposition, so they do all in their power to dictate clearly to other doctors the accepted narrative by their draconian “guidelines” and making examples out of those who dare to draw outside the lines (investigations, hefty fines, medical license expulsion and loss of revenue and reputation). These are not idle threats and have been used over and over worldwide.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks

Breaking Down Lyme Disease and the Blood-Brain Barrier

https://globallymealliance.org/breaking-down-lyme-disease-and-the-blood-brain-barrier/

by Jennifer Crystal

In previous posts, I’ve mentioned the blood-brain barrier and the fact that tick-borne illnesses can cross it and infect the central nervous system. Daniel Cameron, M.D. and I also talked about the blood-brain barrier as part of our webinar on Lyme and COVID-19. Several patients have asked me to explain what exactly the blood-brain barrier is, how/why tick-borne infections cross it, and what it means when they do. Rather than give a short answer in one of my Dear Lyme Warrior…Help! FAQ posts, I thought I’d dedicate a blog to breaking down the science of the blood-brain barrier into layman’s terms.

The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. Since it plays a key role in most bodily functions, the body wants to protect the CNS from anything that could harm it, like pathogens. Therefore, the CNS has security: a protective border of cells that form the walls of blood vessels that regulate what moves between the blood and the brain. According to the Journal of Neuroinflammation, this protective border, known as the blood-brain barrier,

“separates the central nervous system (CNS) from the peripheral tissues. In order to maintain homeostasis in the CNS, the blood-brain barrier controls material, nutrients and cell transfer from the blood to the brain and from the brain to the blood.”[i]

To put it in simpler terms, think of a swim cap. Cloth swim caps are comfortable. They’re soft, and don’t hurt your scalp when you put them on. Unfortunately, though, the loose, thin material makes them more permeable than their rubber counterparts. Cloth swim caps don’t do their job of protecting your hair very well. You might have a nice swim, but you’ll probably get out of the water with wet or at least damp hair.

Rubber swim caps are tighter and thicker. They squeak as you stretch them over your skull, pulling on your skin. Once they’re on, though, you’re assured a fairly dry swim. When a rubber swim cap is worn properly, it protects your hair well; you can spend hours in the water and emerge with completely dry hair.

The blood-brain barrier is like a rubber swim cap. The body puts in place its best protective shields against its most vulnerable areas: a pregnant woman’s belly grows hard to protect her baby; scabs form to protect open wounds; the blood-brain barrier acts as a swim cap to protect your brain.

Unfortunately, even the best protection isn’t foolproof. Rubber swim caps don’t always work perfectly. A little hair can still creep out and get wet. A foreign object could perforate the material, allowing water to seep in. In the case of the central nervous system, that foreign object could be a pathogen—say, a sneaky spirochete (the bacteria that causes Lyme disease) that can spiral its way across the blood-brain barrier, causing a security breach that jeopardizes the integrity of the central nervous system.

In his book Lyme Disease: Medical Myopia and the Hidden Global Pandemic, Bernard Raxlen, M.D. writes,

“In some of the earliest Lyme research, Dr. Burgdorfer, the researcher after whom the Lyme Borrelia organism is named, showed that the bacterium had the capability to penetrate cell walls.” He gives an overview of the way spirochetes can penetrate the blood-brain barrier: “Borrelia can traverse this barrier by the addition of plasminogen, which is localized to the site of the spirochete-endothelial cell interaction, leading to a transient breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and facilitating the invasion of B. burgdorferi in the central nervous system.”[ii]

In other words, Lyme bacteria turns a rubber swim cap into a cloth swim cap, easily breaking through to the central nervous system. Once that security has been compromised, spirochetes (as well as other tick-borne pathogens, like the parasite Babesia can burrow deep into the brain and spinal cord. The infections then wreak havoc on the central nervous system, causing symptoms such as brain fog, sleep disturbances, word loss, or repetition. tremors, headaches, and even paralysis.

At this stage, the infection becomes much more difficult to treat. But while the road to recovery will likely be long, hope is not lost. Lyme Literate Medical Doctors (LLMDs) know which antibiotics can also penetrate the blood-brain barrier to chase and kill tick-borne infections. Sometimes this means intravenous antibiotics. Sometimes it means adding an anti-inflammatory medication that works in conjunction with the antibiotic to get across the barrier. While it will not help to share my ever-changing protocol, I can tell you that after prolonged treatment, my neurological symptoms are much, much better. Now I feel like I have a good strong swim cap again, and while that can sometimes be a little uncomfortable—i.e., I sometimes still have flare-ups—overall I am enjoying a great swim.

[i] Małkiewicz, M.A., Szarmach, A., Sabisz, A. et al. Blood-brain barrier permeability and physical exercise. J Neuroinflammation 16, 15 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-019-1403-x

[ii] Raxlen, Bernard, M.D. with Cashel, Allie. Lyme Disease: Medical Myopia and the Hidden Global Pandemic. Hammersmith Health Books: London, 2019 (100).

Opinions expressed by contributors are their own.

Jennifer Crystal is a writer and educator in Boston. Her memoir about her medical journey is forthcoming. Contact her at lymewarriorjennifercrystal@gmail.com.

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**Comment**

Great, easy to understand article.

For far too long our public ‘authorities’ have minimized the damage caused by this complex illness. The discoverer of the organism, Willy Burgdorfer; however, did not. For a short informative interview toward the end of his life:

http://

Footage from UNDER OUR SKIN. Though he is credited as the discoverer of the Lyme disease spirochete, Dr. Burgdorfer’s death on November 17, 2014 leaves behind many unanswered questions.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/10/12/willy-speaks-from-the-grave-rickettsia-helvetica/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/09/16/48473/ Interview with Kris Newby on the Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons

Category:

Lyme

Center for Courageous Kids Partners With Avril Lavigne Foundation

https://www.wnky.com/center-for-courageous-kids-partners-with-avril-lavigne-foundation/

Center for Courageous Kids partners with Avril Lavigne Foundation

October 6, 2020

WNKY Staff

SCOTTSVILLE, Ky. – The Center for Courageous Kids, the 168-acre not-for-profit medical camp facility located in Scottsville, which enhances the lives of seriously ill children at no cost, is partnering with The Avril Lavigne Foundation to continue their joint effort to help protect campers from Lyme disease. A 30-second promotional commercial spot featuring The Center for Courageous Kids will premiere during pop-rock icon Avril Lavigne’s one-of-a-kind livestream benefit concert on Oct. 24, 2020 at 7 p.m. (See link for article)

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**Comment**

In 2019 the camp received a grant from The Avril Lavigne Foundation for tick prevention. This was the first season without any tick bites!

Now that is something to celebrate

For more: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/12/tick-prevention-2019/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/07/20/ticks-lyme-disease-information-for-families/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Prevention, Ticks

Lyme Patients: Know Your Rights

https://www.boothbayregister.com/article/patients-know-your-rights

LYME TIME

Patients: Know Your Rights

Paula Jackson Jones Wed, 09/16/2020

Believe it or not, there are still doctors who claim that Lyme is nothing more than mass hysteria ~ even with statistical data showing confirmation of the rise in new cases. How can this be? How can medical professionals still deny that Lyme is a serious health risk here in Maine? How can they argue with patients who present with information in hand about research, testing and treatment? And they do argue with the patients. They argue when a patient asks for their bloodwork to be sent to Igenex, the leading tick-borne disease laboratory for over 25 years (located in California). Patients have the right to have their bloodwork sent anywhere and yet they are being denied this option because providers use whoever their facility is networked with. Interesting…

Medical providers tell patients that Igenex scams patients and pays doctors for their usage. This is not true but I am beginning to wonder, by denying a patient the right to use whatever lab they want and by only using the lab that their medical office is contracted with, who’s scamming who here? Many providers don’t trust Igenex just because they don’t take insurance. To those providers I ask,” then why aren’t you using the tick-borne disease experienced labs that do take insurance??” Daily, I get calls and emails from patients asking what tests should their PCPs be using, which is why patient AND provider resources and educational links are on our website.

They say that Igenex is not FDA-approved.

Laboratories are not required to be FDA approved. They are, however, required to be CLIA approved. The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) regulate laboratory testing and require clinical laboratories to be certificated by their state as well as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) before they can accept human samples for diagnostic testing. In general terms, the CLIA regulations establish quality standards for laboratory testing performed on specimens from humans, such as blood, body fluid and tissue, for the purpose of diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of disease, or assessment of health.

Igenex, MDL and Galaxy Labs are just a few of over 260,000 US labs that are CLIA-approved and offer highly reliable tests sand panels tarting at $495.

This is a smoke screen practiced by doctors who do not:

understand how labs work and are federally regulated
do not support the new evidence-based scientific research

And why, Why is this still so controversial in 2020?

Did you know that vitamins and supplements are not FDA approved? They are regulated by the U.S. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. Now you know, and does that change how you feel about taking that One A Day vitamin or Melatonin before bed? I didn’t think so.

Medical providers who do not fully understand tick-borne disease will use this argument every time and it back fires, every time. It only shows their patient what they don’t know.

Medical providers who continue to spread “fake news” about how other medical providers and labs work, well folks, that is the real scam and it goes to show what they don’t know.

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**Comment**

The reason for “fake news” regarding testing is our public ‘authorities’ own the patents on Lyme testing: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/06/28/who-owns-the-elisa-patents/

They malign anything that competes with their profitable products: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/26/cdc-playbook-learning-from-lyme/

They also rig treatment guidelines for their own patent purposes:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/02/10/the-bitter-feud-over-lymerix/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/07/30/how-the-cdc-uses-their-own-guidelines-to-rig-the-system/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/09/25/why-should-we-care-about-lyme-disease-a-colorful-tale-of-government-conflicts-of-interest-probable-bioweaponization-and-pathogen-complexity/

Doctors are just ignorant pawns used by ‘authorities’ who have severe conflicts of interest. Time for doctors to wake up and listen to patients who have been saying the same things for over 40 years. Time for a public health reboot and a CDC, NIAID, FDA walk-away movement:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/09/01/it-is-time-to-reboot-public-health-time-for-a-cdc-niaid-fda-walk-away-movement/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Testing

Tick-Borne Disease Warning Signs in State Parks – Wisconsin Mentioned

https://astho.org/StatePublicHealth/Tick-Borne-Disease-Warning-Signs-in-State-Parks/10-01-20/

Tick-Borne Disease Warning Signs in State Parks

iu-11

https://www.campgroundsigns.com/tick-warning-signs

Incidences of tick-borne disease are on the rise, according to the CDC. In 2018, state and local health departments reported about 47,000 cases of tick-borne disease to CDC, 33,000 of which were Lyme disease. According to CDC, state health departments report 30,000 Lyme disease cases each year. However, tick-borne diseases are considered very underreported as recent estimates suggest that approximately 300,000 people contract Lyme disease annually.

Though late spring and summer is considered “tick season,” ticks are still a threat in the fall as many areas of the country continue to see temperatures that ticks can thrive later and later in the year, and as people continue to get outdoors and enjoy their state parks.

Unlike in the case of mosquito-borne disease, where chemical control methods such as adulticiding and larviciding are often used, public health relies on outreach and education for reducing an individual’s exposure to ticks and tick bites. To combat this, some state legislatures are directing state agencies to develop public outreach for preventing tick-borne disease, including signage and communication materials for the public. Below is a look at existing state laws and proposed bills that were introduced or enacted in the past year and a half to determine the legislative landscape around tick-borne disease signage requirements or printed materials in state parks.

Since 2019, three states have introduced legislation requiring state parks to feature warning signage or printed materials on tick-borne diseases at their parks, campgrounds, or other recreation areas. Two states (New York and Wisconsin) have enacted laws surrounding tick-borne disease information signs at state parks since 2019. Wisconsin considered a second bill addressing the state’s Department of Natural Resources’s efforts to raise awareness about Lyme disease. Michigan also introduced a bill in 2019 requiring the installation of signage at state park entrances warning of ticks and tick-borne illnesses.

New York state enacted companion bills in August 2019 requiring its office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation to install Lyme and tick-borne disease warning signs at all state-managed parks, including trail entryways and campgrounds. Assembly Bill A 6752 and Senate Bill S4355 directs the Preservation to conduct an assessment of state parks to determine the best spots to install signage warning the public about Lyme and other tick-borne infections.

Wisconsin enacted a bill in January directing the Department of Natural Resources—along with the Department of Health Services—to design signs in each state park, trail, and recreation area that will raise awareness on Lyme disease, how to avoid tick bites, and encouraging the public to check for bites after each visit. Wisconsin also considered a bill directing each state park that produces its own brochure to also include information on Lyme disease, how to prevent tick bites, and encouraging visitor to check for ticks after visiting. The bill also calls on the Department of Natural Resources to conduct a Lyme disease awareness campaign during the month of May, in connection with Lyme Disease Awareness Month. If enacted, the campaign would have used a combination of digital platforms, including the department’s website, social media, digital newsletters, and print platforms, including the Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine.

Michigan is considering a bill that would amend the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. House Bill 4659 would add a section requiring the Department of Natural Resources to install and maintain signs warning the public about the presence of ticks and the threats of tick-borne diseases at each state park entrances, state park and state forest campgrounds, and access points to state trails. The bill defines “state trail” as a right-of-way owned or operated by the department and adapted to hiking, horseback riding, cross country skiing, bicycling, or snowmobile or off-road vehicle use.

Developing and posting signage and communication materials is a low-cost approach to inform the public about potential risks of tick bites, as well as strategies to prevent exposure to ticks. While park services may be hesitant to develop these materials due to a potential reduction in the number of visitors, equipping the public with information about timely prevention strategies and empowering the public to make informed decisions about risks may increase comfort and trust in the park service overall. This is especially important, since public warning and education is the strongest defense against tick-borne diseases.

ASTHO will continue to monitor legislative and executive activity to protect and educate the public on tick-borne diseases.

Courtney Youngbar is a senior analyst of environmental health at ASTHO
Kathy Dolan is the director of environmental health at ASTHO

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For more: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/01/31/tony-evers-signs-two-lyme-bills/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/06/01/news-story-update-lawmakers-introduce-package-of-bills-aimed-at-lyme-awareness-in-wisconsin/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/30/tick-prevention-lyme-disease-awareness-are-goals-of-new-bills-wisconsin-has-fallen-behind /

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/30/newscasts-on-proposed-lyme-bills-tonight-at-6-9-pm-wisconsin/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/02/27/wisconsin-assembly-passes-lyme-disease-brochure-bill/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/11/01/update-on-wisconsin-lyme-bills-please-contact-your-representative-on-ab-313/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks