Archive for the ‘Treatment’ Category

A- To – Z Guide to Lyme Treatments: Webinar With Dr. Rawls

https://rawlsmd.com/webinars/a-z-lyme-treatment/?  Reserve Seat Here

Live Webinar: The A -to- Guide to Lyme Treatments With Dr. Bill Rawls

Wed. Sept. 18th 8pm EDT

Chronic Lyme disease is often lumped in the “mystery illness” category because it’s so challenging to diagnose and treat. In fact, there are dozens of conventional and alternative Lyme remedies available — and tons of debate about which ones work best and whether the costs and side effects are worth it.

So once you know or suspect you have Lyme disease, how do you determine which treatment options will deliver the best results, safely, and without costing a small fortune?

Join a live webinar with best-selling author Dr. Bill Rawls, who knows firsthand what it’s like to struggle to find a cure for Lyme disease, as he reviews and rates more than 26 different chronic Lyme treatments, both mainstream and uncommon.

You’ll learn which remedies to try and trust, which are best avoided, and how to make the right decisions for your health any time you’re considering a new treatment regimen.

PLUS: Don’t miss an exclusive gift for those who attend the live webinar, and have your questions ready for a LIVE Q&A on chronic Lyme treatments with Dr. Rawls.

In this webinar, Dr. Rawls will also discuss:

  • The effectiveness of medical treatments such as antibiotics, hyperthermia, stem cell therapy, and UV light blood irradiation
  • Bee venom therapy, CBD oil, ozone and rife therapy, and other alternative remedies for Lyme disease
  • Whether lifestyle habits like a ketogenic diet, rebounding, qigong, and yoga can offer significant relief
  • Dr. Rawls’ grades for 26+ different treatment options based on their efficacy, safety, and cost, plus how to apply these three key criteria in your life
  • Numerous insights during the live Q&A with Dr. Rawls

 

 

 

“Herxing”: Why Does It Occur?

https://www.galaxydx.com/what-is-herxing-lyme-disease/

By Galaxy Lab

“Herxing”: Why does it occur?

 

Latest Paper Reviewing The Proposed IDSA Guidelines on Lyme Disease and Psychiatric Illnesses

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/7/3/105  Go here for full paper)

Open AccessReview

Proposed Lyme Disease Guidelines and Psychiatric Illnesses

1
Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
2
Independent Researcher, Dorset BH23 5BN, UK
3
General Counsel Red Paladin, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Healthcare 2019, 7(3), 105; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare7030105 (registering DOI)
Received: 6 August 2019 / Revised: 3 September 2019 / Accepted: 4 September 2019 / Published: 9 September 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lyme Disease and Related Tickborne Infections)
The Infectious Disease Society of America, American Academy of Neurology, and American Academy of Rheumatology jointly proposed Lyme disease guidelines. Four areas most relevant to psychiatry were reviewed—the disclaimer, laboratory testing, and adult and pediatric psychiatric sections. The disclaimer and the manner in which these guidelines are implemented are insufficient to remove the authors and sponsoring organizations from liability for harm caused by these guidelines. The guidelines and supporting citations place improper credibility upon surveillance case definition rather than clinical diagnosis criteria. The guidelines fail to address the clear causal association between Lyme disease and psychiatric illnesses, suicide, violence, developmental disabilities and substance abuse despite significant supporting evidence.
If these guidelines are published without very major revisions, and if the sponsoring medical societies attempt to enforce these guidelines as a standard of care, it will directly contribute to increasing a national and global epidemic of psychiatric illnesses, suicide, violence, substance abuse and developmental disabilities and the associated economic and non-economic societal burdens.
The guideline flaws could be improved with a more appropriate disclaimer, an evidence-based rather than an evidence-biased approach, more accurate diagnostic criteria, and recognition of the direct and serious causal association between Lyme disease and psychiatric illnesses.View Full-Text
_________________
**Comment**
In plain English this means the latest Lyme Guidelines once again place too much emphasis on criteria used for surveillance (positive blood serology, EM rash, etc) and not enough on symptoms used for clinical diagnosis: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/05/empirical-validation-of-the-horowitz-questionnaire-for-suspected-lyme-disease/
On top of this, the paper states the guidelines fail to address a clear causal association between Lyme disease and psychiatric illness.
If they are implemented as stands, we are in a world of trouble.

Please share with those in your sphere of influence. Suffering for 40 years is long enough.

The Ad Hoc Patient & Physician Coalition Against IDSA Proposed Lyme Guidelines

https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/25042255?

PETITION UPDATE

The Ad Hoc Patient and Physician Coalition against IDSA Proposed Lyme Guidelines

SEP 7, 2019 — 

From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: tickbornedisease@hhs.gov
Cc: (91 Undisclosed recipients)
Date: September 7, 2019 at 8:48 AM
Subject: The Ad Hoc Patient and Physician Coalition; Comments of the IDSA Proposed Lyme Guidelines September 6, 2019

To the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group;

Please follow the link below to see comments to the IDSA Proposed Lyme Guidelines. These comments are endorsed by members around the world because what has been established here in the United States has adversely affected public health globally.

The link provided is from my personal Dropbox storage area.

The Ad Hoc Patient and Physician Coalition

Comments of the IDSA Proposed Lyme Guidelines September 6, 2019

https://www.dropbox.com/s/whv3udt1oevanhn/Ad%20Hoc%20Patient%20Physician%20Coalition%20Comments%20to%20IDSA%20Proposed%20%20%20Guidelines%20Aug%208%20revised%209.6.19%20as%20submitted.pdf?dl=0

About the Ad Hoc Patient and Physician Coalition: The Ad Hoc Patient and Physician Coalition consists of patients and physicians who are concerned that the proposed Lyme disease guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), American Academy of Neurology (AAN), and American College of Rheumatology (ACR) will further restrict access to care and harm patients by leaving them undiagnosed and undertreated.The coalition consists of over 75 organizations, from 8 countries: the US, Canada, Australia, UK, France, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium (including LymeDisease.org, the national Lyme Disease Association, Bay Area Lyme Foundation among others) and the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, which represents clinicians who treat Lyme disease nationwide. (List of signatories attached.)

These comments were authored by Lorraine Johnson, JD|MBA, CEO LymeDisease.org and Dr. Elizabeth Maloney, who represents the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society. The comments were filed on August 8, 2019 and revised on September 6, 2019.

Page 56

Ad Hoc Patient and Physician Coalition Members As of September 6, 2019

The following 77 organizations have endorsed the Ad Hoc Patient and Physician Coalition Comments of the IDSA Proposed Lyme Guidelines. (List updated Sept. 6, 2019)

Countries represented: United States, Canada, Australia, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium.

Alabama Lyme Disease Association

Arkansas Lyme Coalition

Arkansas Lyme Foundation

Association Québécoise de la Maladie de Lyme (Canada)

Bay Area Lyme Foundation

BC Lyme (British Columbia, Canada)

Brookfield/Wolfeboro New Hampshire support group

Borreliose-Bund, Germany

Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation

Central Massachusetts Lyme Foundation

Charles E. Holman Morgellons Disease Foundation

Chronic Lyme Disease Support and Protest UK.

ChroniLyme (Lyon, France)

Colorado Tick-Borne Disease Awareness Association

Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness, Massachusetts

Dutch Lyme Association (Lymevereniging), Netherlands

Florida Lyme Disease Association

France Lyme, Association de Lutte Contre les Maladies Vectorielles à Tiques (France)

Howard County Lyme Awareness Group, Maryland

Hudson Valley Lyme Disease Association

Illinois Lyme Association

International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society

Kentucky Lyme Disease Association

Le Droit de Guerir (“The right to heal”), France

Litchfield County Lyme Network (Connecticut)

Living with Lyme, London/Middlesex (Canada)

LivLyme Foundation

Lyme Action Network

Lyme Alliance of the Berkshires

Lyme Association of Greater Kansas City

Lyme Center, Chico, California

LymeDisease.org

Lyme Disease Association (US)

Lyme Disease Association of Australia

Lyme Disease Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Lyme Disease Association, Rhode Island Chapter

Lyme Disease Education & Support Groups of Maryland

Lyme Disease UK

Lyme Hope (Canada)

Lyme-int Association (Belgium)

Lyme Newport (Rhode Island)

Lyme Ontario (Canada)

Lyme Stats 57

LymeConnection.org

LymeLight Foundation

Madison Lyme Support Group

Massachusetts Lyme Legislative Task Force

Memphis Tennessee Lyme Network

Midcoast Lyme Disease Support & Education

Military Lyme Support

MSIDS, Inc, Australia

NE Ohio Lyme Foundation

New Brunswick Lyme Disease Association Inc.- LymeNB (Canada)

New Jersey Lyme Resource

New York City Lyme Disease Support Group

OnLyme-Aktion.org (Action Alliance Against Tick-borne Diseases), Germany

Ontario Lyme Alliance (Canada)

PA Lyme Resource Network (Statewide)

PA Lyme Resource Network, Bucks County

PA Lyme Resource Network, Columbia County

PA Lyme Resource Network, Lehigh Valley

Patient Centered Care Advocacy Group

Pennsylvania Lyme Disease Awareness Committee of Chester-Delaware County Farm Bureau (PLDAC)

Penticton, BC area Lyme Group (Canada)

Sam’s Spoons Foundation for Lyme Support & Education

Southern Arizona Lyme Disease Association

Southern Oregon Lyme Disease

Texas Lyme Alliance

Tick Wise Education, Inc. (501c3)

Time for Lyme, ASBL (Belgium)

TxLyme Yahoo Online Support Group (Texas)

Utah Coalition for Lyme Disease

Vernon Lyme Disease Support Group, Vernon, BC (Canada)

VIRAS – Vector-borne Infections: Research, Analysis, Strategy (UK)

VOCAL Ottawa (Voices of Canadians About Lyme)

Wisconsin Lyme Network

York North Lyme (Canada)

______________________

Carl Tuttle

Lyme Endemic Hudson, NH

______________________

For more on the proposed IDSA Lyme treatment guidelines:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/08/22/ad-hoc-patient-and-physician-coalition-from-around-the-world-reject-newly-proposed-idsa-guidelines/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/08/18/idsa-guidelines-deny-lyme-diagnosis-to-most-of-the-usa/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/09/idsa-lyme-disease-treatment-management-business-as-usual-leaves-those-with-persisting-symptoms-to-suffer-die/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/08/15/gla-response-to-proposed-idsa-aan-acr-2019-draft-lyme-disease-guidelines/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/08/11/idsa-extends-comment-period-allows-downloads/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/08/11/natcaplymes-response-to-updated-lyme-disease-guidelines-states-they-are-based-on-outdated-and-discredited-studies/

 

The Macabre World of Mind-Controlling Parasites

https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-parasites-14791/

The macabre world of mind-controlling parasites

Summary: Understanding how parasites ‘hack’ the brains of their hosts may provide new insights into decision making and behavior.

Source: Frontiers

Imagine a parasite that makes an animal change its habits, guard the parasite’s offspring or even commit suicide. While mind-control may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, the phenomenon is very real — and has spawned a new field, neuro-parasitology. As outlined in an article published in Frontiers in Psychology, understanding how parasites “hack” their host’s nervous system to achieve a particular goal could provide new insights into how animals control their own behavior and make decisions.

“Parasites have evolved, through years of co-evolution with their host, a significant ‘understanding’ of their hosts’ neuro-chemical systems,” explains one of the article’s authors, Professor Frederic Libersat from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. “Exploring these highly specific mechanisms could reveal more about neural control of animal behavior.”

The article describes some of the sophisticated, cunning and gruesome ways that various parasites outwit and exploit their insect hosts.

One method is to affect how an insect navigates. The spores of one parasitic fungus, for example, invade an ant’s body, where the fungus grows and consumes the ant’s organs while leaving the vital organs intact. The fungus then releases chemicals that cause the ant to climb a tree and grip a leaf with its mouthparts. After emerging from the ant’s body, the fungus releases spore-filled capsules that explode during their fall, spreading the infectious spores over the ground below. By forcing the ant to climb a tree, the fungus increases the dispersal of the falling spores and the chance of infecting another ant.

Similarly, a parasitic hairworm causes infected crickets to seek out water — where they drown. The cricket’s suicide enables the worms to enter an aquatic environment for reproduction.

In another type of interaction, called “bodyguard manipulation,” the parasite forces the infected insect to guard its young. One such parasite is a wasp, which injects its eggs into a caterpillar by stinging it. Inside the live caterpillar, the eggs hatch into larvae, which feed on the caterpillar’s blood. Eventually, as many as 80 larvae emerge from the caterpillar’s body before forming cocoons to complete their growth into adult wasps.

However, wasp larvae are vulnerable to predators in their cocoons. To scare potential predators away, one or two larvae remain in the caterpillar and control its behavior through an unknown mechanism, so that it acts aggressively towards predators — thereby protecting the cocoons.

These examples shed light on the very old and highly specific relationship between parasites and hosts. But how exactly do these parasites affect their host’s behavior?

This shows an ant with a parasite attached to it

Neuro-parasitology is still a young field, and in most cases, researchers do not yet fully understand the mechanisms involved. However, many such parasites produce their effects by releasing compounds that act on the neural circuitry of the host. Identifying and using these compounds in the lab could help scientists to work out how neural circuits control behavior.

“Because neurotoxins are the outcome of one animal’s evolutionary strategy to incapacitate another, they are usually highly effective and specific,” says Libersat.

“Chemical engineers can generate hundreds of potential neurotoxins in the lab, but these are random and often useless, whereas any natural neurotoxin has already passed the ultimate screening test, over millions of years of co-evolution.”

ABOUT THIS NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH ARTICLE

Source:
Frontiers
Media Contacts:
Conn Hastings – Frontiers
Image Source:
The image is adapted from the Frontiers news release.

Original Research: Open access
“Mind Control: How Parasites Manipulate Cognitive Functions in Their Insect Hosts”.Frederic Libersat, Maayan Kaiser and Stav Emanuel.
Frontiers in Psychology. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00572

Abstract

Mind Control: How Parasites Manipulate Cognitive Functions in Their Insect Hosts

Neuro-parasitology is an emerging branch of science that deals with parasites that can control the nervous system of the host. It offers the possibility of discovering how one species (the parasite) modifies a particular neural network, and thus particular behaviors, of another species (the host). Such parasite–host interactions, developed over millions of years of evolution, provide unique tools by which one can determine how neuromodulation up-or-down regulates specific behaviors. In some of the most fascinating manipulations, the parasite taps into the host brain neuronal circuities to manipulate hosts cognitive functions. To name just a few examples, some worms induce crickets and other terrestrial insects to commit suicide in water, enabling the exit of the parasite into an aquatic environment favorable to its reproduction. In another example of behavioral manipulation, ants that consumed the secretions of a caterpillar containing dopamine are less likely to move away from the caterpillar and more likely to be aggressive. This benefits the caterpillar for without its ant bodyguards, it is more likely to be predated upon or attacked by parasitic insects that would lay eggs inside its body. Another example is the parasitic wasp, which induces a guarding behavior in its ladybug host in collaboration with a viral mutualist. To exert long-term behavioral manipulation of the host, parasite must secrete compounds that act through secondary messengers and/or directly on genes often modifying gene expression to produce long-lasting effects.

_________________

**Comment**

Parasites are a whole new fantastical frontier. I’ll never forget this information on how parasites affect human behavior by Dr. Klinghardt, which I found here:  http://www.betterhealthguy.com/a-deep-look-beyond-lyme

  • Parasite patients often express the psyche of the parasites – sticky, clingy, impossible to tolerate – but a wonderful human being is behind all of that.

  • We are all a composite of many personalities. Chronic infections outnumber our own cells by 10:1. We are 90% “other” and 10% “us”. Our consciousness is a composite of 90% microbes and 10% us.

  • Our thinking, feeling, creativity, and expression are 90% from the microbes within us. Patients often think, crave, and behave as if they are the parasite.

  • Our thinking is shaded by the microbes thinking through us. The food choices, behavioral choices, and who we like is the thinking of the microbes within us expressing themselves.

  • Patients will reject all treatments that affect the issue that requires treating.

  • Patients will not guide themselves to health when the microbes have taken over.

For a great read on parasite treatments: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/03/removing-parasites-to-fix-lyme-chronic-illnesses-dr-jay-davidson/

as well as this one:  http://drallisonhofmann.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/TownsendLetter-Parasitosis.pdf

There’s a link between T. Gondii (Toxoplasmosis) and risky behavior as well as schizophrenia  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/01/risky-business-linking-t-gondii-entrepreneurship-behaviors/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/05/21/toxoplasmosis/

It can be transmitted by ticks (Castor Bean) as well as by undercooked deer meat: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/06/toxoplasmosis-outbreak-due-to-undercooked-deer-meat-from-illinois/

PLEASE CONSIDER PARASITES AND DISCUSS WITH YOUR MEDICAL PRACTITIONER.

Providence certainly has a sense of humor. On one hand, similarly to how the Japanese Barberry provides a uniquely favorable environment for tick questing, which is undesirable to humans, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/25/juvenile-tick-attachment-on-mice-significantly-greater-in-japanese-barberry-shrubs/ we derive Barberry, the yellow root of the plant to treat inflammation in Lyme disease.  Recently, Barberry was listed as a FDA approved drug with higher activity than current front line drugs for Bartonella:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/05/good-news-for-bartonella-patients-identification-of-fda-approved-drugs-with-higher-activity-than-current-front-line-drugs/

And, as mentioned in this article: the fungus Cordyceps hijacks the ant to propitiate itself but here again, many Lyme patients use Cordyceps to fight microbes, lower inflammation, and increase energy and oxygen:  https://rawlsmd.com/herbs/cordyceps