Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

Lyme & Cancer Connection – July 17 Webinar

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The Lyme + Cancer Connection: How Surprising Similarities May Revolutionize Treatment

Ever notice how new research on cancer causes and treatments is published every week, whereas studies on chronic Lyme disease are few and far between? That’s in large part because many members of the medical community don’t believe chronic Lyme even exists — a serious problem that’s prolonging the quest for answers.

Now for the encouraging news: Experts are finding striking similarities in how cancer and Lyme disease impact the immune system, which opens up new avenues for targeted Lyme therapies.

The role of pathogens in Lyme disease, cancer, and all chronic illness
  • Why the immune system doesn’t recognize chronic infection, and what you can do about it
  • New progress on detecting and diagnosing Lyme disease
  • Innovative immunotherapies and botanical medicine for treating Lyme disease
  • Numerous insights during the live Q&A with Dr. Rawls and Dr. Spector

Presented by Dr. Bill Rawls, Dr. Neil Spector & Carin Gorrell

Wednesday, July 17th
8pm EDT

Webinar can be viewed on any device

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To learn more about these exciting discoveries and what it means for you, tune in to this live webinar with two physicians who are leading the conversation:

  • Dr. Bill Rawls, author of the best-selling book Unlocking Lyme
  • Dr. Neil Spector, a cancer researcher and associate professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine and author of his memoir, Gone in A Heartbeat: A Physician’s Search for True Healing, on Wednesday, July 17th at 8pm EDT.

Both doctors have the unique perspective of physician-turned-patient: After decades of practicing medicine, severe chronic Lyme symptoms forced Dr. Rawls to put his career in obstetrics/gynecology on hold, and misdiagnosed Lyme ultimately cost Dr. Spector his heart.

From these two doctors who’ve been there, you’ll get new insights into what causes chronic illness, how to avoid it, and new treatment approaches on the horizon. Plus, have your questions ready for a LIVE Q&A with Dr. Rawls and Dr. Spector.

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme

When Lyme Kills

https://elemental.medium.com/when-lyme-kills

Illustration by Anuj Shrestha

When Lyme Kills

The extremely rare complication you should know about
Jun 24 2019

This story is part of “Tickpocalypse,” a multi-part special report.

Joseph Elone just felt tired at first, like he wasn’t sleeping well. Soon, however, Joseph developed cold symptoms — a cough, a sore throat, head and body aches, digestive problems, and a low-grade fever.

The doctor saw little reason for concern. Joseph likely had the flu, he said. He prescribed the standard regimen — rest, fluids, and the like — and suggested they give it time.

But a few days later, Joseph’s symptoms worsened. He was feeling light-headed and said he was sensitive to bright light. He returned to the same doctor, who ordered blood tests for strep throat, Lyme disease, and another tick-borne illness called anaplasmosis. The results were all negative.

It would take at least four months and several incorrect diagnoses to determine the cause of Joseph’s death, but ultimately, examinations revealed the presence of Lyme bacteria in several of his organs, including his heart.

(See link for entire article)

This story is part of “Tickpocalypse,” a multi-part special report.

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**Comment**

Well, if this isn’t heartbreaking, I don’t know what is.

There are numerous points that should be mentioned:

  1. The media, researchers, and doctors need to refrain from the word “RARE” on pretty much anything regarding tick-borne illness. Notice out of one side of his mouth, the author states the same year Elone died, the CDC released a report of three other deaths related to Lyme, “which led to further inquiries that uncovered numerous additional instances in New York state…leading experts to wonder if Lyme deaths might actually be more common than previously thought.”  Then, out of the other side of his mouth he announces with certainty that it’s rare. This is illogical and undermines the seriousness of this. All I can say is Zika was handled very differently.
  2. Please take note that spirochetes riddled his body. They were all over. How many dead bodies have to pile up before the CDC/IDSA/NIH believe Lyme is serious and that those with persistent symptoms just might be chronically infected, with spirochetes riddling our bodies? Instead, we have bone-heads saying we have MUS (medically unexplained symptoms), which essentially means he believes we are psychosomatic:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/06/11/dr-eugene-shapiro-medically-unexplained-symptoms/  Video of Shapiro stating he believes our symptoms are completely unrelated to Lyme, i.e. – MUS. He also states the parents weren’t happy with his findings….gee, I wonder why?
  3. Again, regarding only 20% of patients being in the PTLDS group: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/25/medical-stalemate-what-causes-continuing-symptoms-after-lyme-treatment/, microbiologist Holly Ahern states that number is incorrect and only includes those patients diagnosed and treated early. When you add the 10-20% in this category with the 30-40% NOT diagnosed and treated, you get a whopping potential 60% of ALL patients who go on to develop chronic/persistent symptoms.  This is HUGE and downplayed. Little to no research exists on this patient group and yet they are in the majority.
  4. If you want to take a peek at the number of people DYING from Lyme: http://whatislyme.com/rip-lyme-friends-memorial/  Collected by Lyme patient and advocate Lisa Hilton, she’s also made a chart and listing of Lyme deaths: http://whatislyme.com/is-lyme-disease-fatal/, based upon 219 Lyme deaths.  
Is that still considered rare?

 

 

Category:

Activism, Heart Issues, Lyme, research, Ticks

Officers of GLA & A Woman Incapacitated By Lyme Criticize An Article Depicting The Disease As Easy To Treat

https://globallymealliance.org/news/the-new-york-times-dont-minimize-health-risks-of-lyme-disease/

new york times lyme

The New York Times Opinion: Letters to the Editor
July 9, 2019

OFFICERS OF THE GLOBAL LYME ALLIANCE AND A WOMAN INCAPACITATED BY LYME CRITICIZE AN ARTICLE DEPICTING THE DISEASE AS EASY TO TREAT.

To the Editor:

Re “My Son Got Lyme Disease. He’s Totally Fine” (Well, nytimes.com, June 27):

Apoorva Mandavilli celebrates her son’s recovery from Lyme disease. But while the vast majority of those diagnosed with Lyme and other tick-borne diseases are cured with antibiotics, up to 20 percent of more than 427,000 newly diagnosed Americans go on each year to suffer devastating long-term chronic effects — even if they are treated early, like her son.

These patients can become afflicted with neurocognitive disorders, disabling fatigue, extreme joint pain, heart problems and so on. Sadly, with their lives severely disrupted if not destroyed, too many commit suicide. A recent study published by the journal BMC Public Health predicts the number of people suffering post-treatment Lyme could increase to almost two million by 2020.

Rather than minimizing the risks of Lyme disease by stating it is easy to diagnose and easy to cure — which is not the case — and lulling the public into a false sense of security, let’s pull together to address the great public health risk that irrefutably exists.

Robert Kobre
Scott Santarella
Stamford, Conn.

The writers are, respectively, chairman and chief executive of the Global Lyme Alliance

Click here to see entire New York Times Letter to the Editor, including letter from Lyme patient Sarah Young.

Click here to see expanded response by GLA to the article by Apoorva Mandavilli.

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For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/01/touched-by-lyme-singing-from-the-idsa-lyme-hymnal/

https://www.lymedisease.org/nyt-article-raw-nerve-lyme/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/05/new-york-times-story-on-lyme-misses-the-bulls-eye/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/07/steven-alexandra-cohen-foundation-appalled-by-misleading-new-york-times-piece-that-rejects-chronic-lyme-disease/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/22/why-mainstream-lyme-msids-research-remains-in-the-dark-ages/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/29/is-the-sky-truly-going-to-fall-for-patients-with-the-untreatable-form-of-lyme-disease/

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme

Babesiosis Could Be More Common in Sweden Than Previously Thought

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31265116/

2019 Jun 28;116. pii: FL4D.

Babesiosis could be more common in Sweden than previously thought

[Article in Swedish]
Svensson J1, Lazarevic V2, Bläckberg J3, Olsson M4, Persson K1.

Abstract

Babesia is a malaria-like, intraerythrocytic parasite with more than 100 different species. It is a zoonosis and some of the species are transmitted to humans by ticks and also as a possible transfusion-transmitted infection. In Sweden the disease has been well known in veterinary medicine for a long time, but only a few but severe cases have been published in humans during the last decades. Common symptoms from human Babesia infections (babesiosis) are fever, chills and myalgia and they vary from subclinical to potentially fatal among those with risk factors such as immunosuppression and splenectomy. In the U.S. more than 2,000 cases of babesiosis are found yearly and it is one of the most frequent fatal infections following blood transfusion. A study from southern Sweden has recently revealed a seroprevalence of 16% of Babesia antibodies among Borrelia-infected persons. These results indicate that there is a need to broaden awareness of Babesia in Sweden.

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**Comment**

This abstract underplays the prevalence of Babesia. Not sure why they state it is a possible transfusion-transmitted infection when the Red Cross recently came out with a test to screen Babesia for blood.  It’s an obvious problem:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/11/characteristics-of-transfusion-transmitted-babesia-microti-american-red-cross-2010-2017/

Here’s an even earlier article going transfusion-transmission:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/12/15/blood-screening-for-babesia/  of those confirmed to be positive, 20% were PCR-positive, with 13% antibody-negative.

Here we have babies contracting it from blood:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/27/premature-infants-develop-babesia-via-blood-transfusion

Here we have people contracting Babesia from transfusions, even in non-endemic areas.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/08/08/transfusion-transmitted-babesiosis-in-nonendemic-areas/   Excerpt:

“Asymptomatic individuals with Babesia infection are able to donate blood in the United States because of the lack of specific blood donation testing. Blood products collected in Babesia-endemic areas are distributed nationally; thus, clinicians in nonendemic states may fail to include babesiosis in the differential diagnosis of a patient who had a recent transfusion history and a fever of unknown origin.”  

In the abstract, those with Lyme also had a seroprevalence of 16% of Babesia antibodies. In this study,  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/11/19/seroprevalence-of-babesia-in-individuals-with-ld/  it was nearly 29%. To me this demonstrates those with Lyme are at risk for Babesia and other pathogens.

To date, little work has been done on concurrent infections, and has been underplayed for decades.

The most important, recent work demonstrating multiple pathogen involvement:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/30/study-shows-lyme-msids-patients-infected-with-many-pathogens-and-explains-why-we-are-so-sick/  This shows Lyme patients are at risk for not only other tick borne illnesses but opportunistic infections as well.  This is what we experience and see in the real world of Lymeland.

I don’t think mainstream medicine has a clue how important concurrent infection is.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199807163390304  When left untreated, silent babesial infection may persist for months or even years. Although treatment with clindamycin and quinine reduces the duration of parasitemia, infection may still persist and recrudesce and side effects are common. Improved treatments are needed.

Dr. Krause published in the New England Journal of Medicine that when a patient has Lyme and Babesia, Lyme is found three-times more frequently in the blood, proving Babesia suppresses the immune system.  http://danielcameronmd.com/babesia-and-lyme-its-worse-than-you-think/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/06/28/concurrent-babesiosis-and-lyme-in-patient/   Dr. Horowitz warns that due to this immune suppression,patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Lupus and are on immunosuppressant drugs, if they have Babesia, could get much worse. The strain, B. divergens, causes a higher mortality rate and more severe symptoms, and if left untreated, this strain can develop into shock-like symptoms with pulmonary edema and renal failure.

More on Babesia:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/16/babesia-treatment/  Dr. Horowitz, a nationally recognized LLMD, states Babesia is one of the most tenacious coinfections he sees in his patients and that treatment often takes 9 months to a year, particularly with those also infected with Lyme disease (borrelia).  Treatment options for you to discuss with your practitioner in this link.  

 

 

 

 

 

Category:

Babesia, Lyme, research

Lyme Q & A With Dr. Ross Tonight at 5 PM CST

https://events.genndi.com/register/169105139238438973/9629589511 Register here

 

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Register in link for three events in July

Join Marty Ross MD on Thursdays for a 1.5 hour Lyme disease Q&A webinar. He answers any questions you may have about Lyme.
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Next event starts in…

  • Thursday, 11 July 2019, at 5:00 PM CST
  • Thursday, 18 July 2019, at 6:00 PM CST
  • Thursday, 25 July 2019, at 6:00 PM CST

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**Comment**

Make sure you note the times listed. A mistake was made so for tonight (July 11) it will be at 5PM CST, with future times being at 6PM CST.

This is a great opportunity to ask all your questions and get feedback from an experienced practitioner.

Dr. Ross’ Youtube Channel, where you can listen to previous webinars: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rR9VdwTEuXvrJ5tt7j6yw

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Uncategorized