Archive for the ‘Treatment’ Category

Another CDC Conflict of Interest – Director Resigns

Scandalous CDC director RESIGNS after caught buying shares of vaccine maker Merck while heading the CDC

Wednesday, January 31, 2018 by: 

Image: Scandalous CDC director RESIGNS after caught buying shares of vaccine maker Merck while heading the CDC

(Natural News) As yet more proof that the CDC functions as little more than an extension of the corrupt vaccine industry, CDC director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald was forced to resign yesterday following a that exposed her ownership of shares of Big Tobacco companies as well as Merck, a prominent vaccine manufacturer whose products are promoted by the CDC.

The gross conflict of interest didn’t stop there, either: Fitzgerald also purchased shares of junk food companies and a tobacco corporation, according to media reports, all while she was serving as director of the CDC. “Documents revealed Fitzgerald had holdings in Reynolds American, British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands, Philip Morris International, and Altria Group,” reports CNBC.

“Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald had also invested money in food and pharmaceutical companies just one month after taking over the job,” reports the UK Daily Mail.

Yes, the head of the CDC bought tobacco stocks and Big Pharma stocks, even when her own decisions at the CDC were neck-deep in gross conflicts of interest related to public health.(The CDC studies and reports on death and disease related to smoking. The corrupt agency also promotes pro-vaccine propaganda while burying all science that reveals vaccine injuries or adverse events.)

The CDC is in bed with junk food companies, vaccine manufacturers and Big Tobacco

This pattern of corruption and collusion is no surprise, given that the director of the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention was caught pushing pseudoscience nonsense that favored Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The CDC, it turns out, is in bed with junk food companies, tobacco companies and vaccine manufacturers… all while claiming to be working in the interests of “public health.”

As further proof of that, CNBC reports:

Along with her Japan Tobacco purchases, documents confirm Fitzgerald also bought thousands of dollars of shares in several health-care companies, including Merck & Co, Bayer and Humana, which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deemed a conflict of interest…

In other words, the head of the CDC stood to profit from vaccines, medications, tobacco use and “disease profits” reaped by health care companies.

As the World Mercury Project explains:

Both Merck and Bayer have a pattern of wreaking havoc on human health while striving to bury the evidence. Merck, for example, manufactures the top-selling but devastating Gardasil vaccine and used statistical gimmicks and other deceptive tactics to conceal Gardasil’s risks. Whistleblowers also have accused Merck of falsifying its mumps vaccine data. Bayer, too, has a track record of “scandal and marketing fraud,” having once paid out millions to the U.S. government in a medical fraud settlement after admitting to overcharging for Bayer’s antibiotic Cipro. Bayer also settled tens of millions after having persisted in selling contaminated blood products to hemophiliacs. At present, Bayer is poised to close a “mega-deal” to merge with Monsanto, which manufactures the glyphosate-containing herbicide RoundUp—both glyphosate and RoundUp’s other ingredients have been shown to be highly toxic.

As this video explains, the CDC actually owns 56 vaccines and profits from pro-vaccine propaganda:

Natural News vindicated yet again for accurately claiming the CDC is tied to vaccine makers

The bombshell news confirms yet again that Natural News has been right all along in reporting the “corruption and collusion” of the CDC and vaccine makers. On January 26, 2017, Natural News published a story entitled CDC works in collusion with vaccine manufacturers… can you really trust their “fake science?”

As that story explains:

If you’ve ever wondered how the CDC can afford to do all that it does, look no further than the CDC Foundation. The organization describes itself as some kind of liaison between the CDC and the private sector, existing solely for public benefit, but a quick look at their list of corporate partners reveals a much more sordid story; a story of fake science that is being propagated for industry benefit. While studying the rather lengthy list of corporate donors — who also sometimes collaborate with the CDC on their project — one might notice that many of them are pharma companies, pesticide makers, and biotech firms.

When one considers the apparent ties the CDC has to Merck — and countless other corporations — it honestly raises doubts for just about anything the federal agency has put their stamp on.

The World Mercury Project adds:

The CDC has its own lengthy history of corruption and deceit and has routinely turned a blind eye to conflicts of interest while it works to “protect the private good.” Although the agency owns 56 patents applicable to vaccines, it has no problem shredding vaccine safety data it doesn’t like, while continuing to serve as the nation’s powerful (and ostensibly “independent”) arbiter of vaccine policy. Julie Gerberding, the doctor who led the CDC from 2002 to 2009 (the time period when the Food and Drug Administration approved Gardasil without proper safety testing), left CDC to become president of Merck Vaccines and subsequently became Merck’s executive vice president for global strategic communications. Gerberding has benefited handsomely from her shares of Merck stock.

Thus, Brenda Fitzgerald’s personal financial stake in companies such as Merck and Bayer only illustrates, in microcosm, the CDC’s longstanding willingness to cozy up to Big Pharma and Big Health Care in defiance of ethics rules.

CDC corruption and collusion with death-causing corporations is now an established fact

With Dr. Fitzgerald’s sudden resignation and credibility implosion, we now have irrefutable proof that top CDC personnel have financial conflicts of interest with with vaccine companies, Big Pharma companies and even junk food companies.This is now an established fact, widely reported across most of the media. (Natural News told you this years ago…)

Watch the CDC lie to Congress about “vaccine safety” in this eye-opening video:

Follow more news on the corruption and criminality of the CDC at CDC.news. Stay informed about the lies and deceptions of the baby-murdering vaccine industry at Vaccines.news.

______________

**Comment**

And these are the very folks in power over all things Lyme/MSIDS.  Frightening indeed.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/11/29/spider-attacks-cdc/  CDC scientists expose agency corruption

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/25/speaking-of-fake-science-fifty-seven-million-anti-trust-lawsuit-against-cdc-lyme-tests/  An anti-trust law suit of $57 million is being prepared against the CDC. They are accused of deliberately suppressing the use of an accurate DNA direct diagnostics for Lyme disease.

After publishing the 2013 article ‘A simple method for the detection of live Borrelia spirochetes in human blood using classical microscopy techniques’, professor Laane was invited to give a lecture at the 2014 Norvect conference in Oslo. I was present at that conference and still remember how nervous he was. The reason was that several medical professors complained to his university. He was threatened with losing his job, if he would speak at the conference.  In fact, he did not literally speak – as you can see in the movie below – but used performing arts to show the slides of the spirochetes. Professor Laane was fired anyway and his laboratory was closed down.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/06/remembering-dr-masters-the-rebel-for-lyme-patients-who-took-on-the-cdc-single-handedly/  Masters went over the charts with a fine tooth comb and found huge CDC errors. Another contentious point was the arbitrary cut off date imposed by the CDC which did not pick up serious late-stage symptoms. Another was the CDC’s rejection of many positive blood tests performed in its own lab, as well as other lab work showing “motile spirochetes” in nearly 5% of lone star nymphs. Long story short, after numerous revisions, Masters could never sign onto the bastardized study. The CDC had purposely tossed out data and manipulated the results.

The CDC essentially tried blackmailing Masters into signing off on the study before they would let him see the final draft. Refusing the bait, he published a letter of objection in the Journal of Infectious Diseases as well as an article of his own in Missouri Medicine which showed Missouri patients met the CDC surveillance definition for LD and growing evidence that lone star ticks were infected with an unidentified spirochete causing identical symptoms of LD in patients. When the CDC study came out they unbelievably attributed the rashes they labeled STARI to an allergy to tick saliva! In the acknowledgment section of the paper where dozens of folks were thanked, they completely omitted the man who made it all possible – Dr. Ed Masters.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/01/31/when-als-is-lyme-letter-to-tbi-working-group/  The racketeering scheme to downplay the severity of Lyme disease as identified in the RICO lawsuit should be addressed and documented by the TBD Working Group and not ignored as if this crime does not exist otherwise it will be business as usual at the Centers for Disease Control and we’ll have another thirty years of failure to properly diagnose, treat and control this life-altering infection.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/12/09/25303/ 10 points – Suing the Architects of Lyme Policy as Task Force Meets to Review it

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/12/02/still-a-pig-with-lipstick-cdc-removes-link-to-idsa-guidelines/  And you’ll notice that for information about “chronic Lyme disease” and long-term treatment, the CDC page kicks you to the National Institutes of Health website. If you follow the link, you’ll find the same-old, same-old tripe about how long-term treatment doesn’t help, etc. (Based on three statistically puny studies of “chronic Lyme” the NIH funded years ago.)  Perhaps the CDC is trying to make its ties to the IDSA less glaringly obvious.

 

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/12/the-cdc-needs-a-good-dictionary/  The statement “this disease does not occur nationwide” is inaccurate.  According to CDC surveillance reports, Lyme disease has been reported in every U.S. state except Hawaii, and the black-legged tick that transmits Lyme disease has been found in 45 percent of U.S. counties.

“As a result of their speaking out, from 1997 to 2000, more than 50 physicians in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and Texas were investigated, disciplined or had had their licenses removed. Many of these doctors were reported to their medical boards by the insurance defendants,” the complaint states.
The insurers also allegedly reported doctors who were treating chronic Lyme disease to state medical boards, leading many doctors to refuse to treat Lyme disease patients.”
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/07/20268/  LYMErix did not produce antibodies. It is a fungal antigen. It activates latent herpesviruses, which are basically the main drivers of the MS and Lupus outcomes. And OspA-induced tolerance to similar TLR2-agonists causing the ALS and Chronic Fatigue outcomes (mycoplasma bear OspA-like antigens). LYMErix vaccine (and the Tuberculosis vaccines) all failed because they caused immunosuppression, no antibodies, and they made the victims more susceptible to other infections.
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/12/05/bought-documentary-on-pharma-vaccines-gmos/  “The goal of officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is to achieve a 90 percent health care worker vaccination rate by 2020, and a key strategy for meeting this goal is to tie a health care facility’s employee flu vaccination rate to the facility’s Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements from the federal government.”

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Lyme Vaccine, Testing, Treatment

Finding the Right Psychotherapist for Your Child with Lyme Disease

https://www.lymedisease.org/finding-right-psychotherapist-berenbaum/

Finding the right psychotherapist for your child with Lyme disease

sandy-berenbaum-headshot-238x300

By Sandra K. Berenbaum, LCSW

For some parents and children confronting the challenges of Lyme disease, psychotherapy or family therapy can be a big help. Before seeking a psychotherapist, however, there are a number of things to consider. Different therapists use a wide variety of techniques in their work with clients. Methods that work well for the general client population may not be effective for Lyme patients. Some may actually be counterproductive.

For example, if the therapist doesn’t realize that fatigue in Lyme patients is far beyond merely being tired, she may expect more than the patient is capable of doing. If the therapist doesn’t understand the reason for long-term medical treatment, and a 16-year-old girl complains about being on antibiotics, the therapist might support the teenager’s position, and encourage her to stand up to her parents on the issue. Without appreciating the complexities of tick-borne diseases, a therapist may not understand the many reasons why patients cannot attend school for long periods of time, or go away to college right after high school graduation.

One goal of psychotherapy is to promote improvements in the way a client functions—going to school or work, doing well there, being able to do errands and chores. Yet, for many Lyme patients, no amount of psychotherapy will improve their ability to function. That’s because their functional problems stem from their physical illness, which won’t be fixed without effective medical treatment. A therapist who knows this will understand the need to help the Lyme patient set different goals than could be reachable for a client that does not have Lyme.

There is widespread misunderstanding of Lyme disease in the medical arena. Just reaching a diagnosis of Lyme disease can be a traumatic experience for the child and the whole family. This trauma, on top of that caused by the illness itself, can give rise to issues not present among others seeking therapy, even those with most serious illnesses.

Consider the following scenario, an example of one I commonly see with families in my practice. When their 8-year-old son first starts exhibiting joint pain, headaches or other symptoms, the parents take him to the pediatrician. Not recognizing that he may have Lyme disease, the doctor tries a variety of treatments that do not bring relief. Then he refers them to a rheumatologist or other specialist, who also fails to consider that Lyme disease might be the cause of this boy’s illness. The specialist tries a variety of treatments that don’t help either. The child continues to complain about pain and misses a lot of school because of it. Suspecting that the problem is psychosomatic, the doctors give up exploring underlying medical explanations. They refer the child to a psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist, who also doesn’t know much about Lyme disease, presumes that these symptoms are caused by a mental illness and prescribes psychiatric medication. With undiagnosed Lyme disease, those drugs may have a paradoxical effect or none at all. Then, the psychiatrist becomes convinced that the child is mentally ill. He may even decide it’s severe enough for him to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. In the hospital, this child with undiagnosed Lyme disease will be “treated,” perhaps with more psychotropic medications, along with individual and group therapy. All of this treatment is focused on the psychiatric illness that the doctors have presumed this child certainly has.

In my experience, many Lyme patients are misdiagnosed with mental illness because doctors fail to uncover the physical origin of their symptoms. The problem is not limited to tick-borne diseases. According to Harvard psychiatrist Barbara Schildkrout, more than 100 physical ailments can manifest symptoms that appear to be mental illness. In her book “Unmasking Psychological Symptoms,” Schildkrout writes:

Many widespread and familiar maladies can masquerade as mental disorders: thyroid disorders, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, sleep apnea and other sleep disorders, temporal lobe epilepsy, HIV, the long-term consequences of head trauma, Lyme disease, and the side effects of medications, to name only a few. These and other physical conditions are common in patients who are seen by mental health practitioners; these medical conditions are also often the very source of the presenting clinical picture.

Dr. Robert Bransfield is a psychiatrist and noted expert on how Lyme disease affects the brain. He says Lyme-related psychiatric symptoms may start with brain fog and fatigue, progress to anxiety and depression, and eventually lead to major psychiatric disorders such as psychosis and suicide. He characterizes Lyme disease as a brain trauma and notes that it can cause different impairments in different people.

Most research into Lyme and the brain looks at adults, not children. However, in 2001, a study published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences compared children with neurological Lyme disease to healthy control subjects. The researchers found that children with Lyme had significantly more cognitive and psychiatric issues. They concluded, “Lyme disease in children may be accompanied by long-term neuropsychiatric disturbances, resulting in psychosocial and academic impairments.”

Excerpted from “When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide,” by Sandra K. Berenbaum, LCSW, and Dorothy Kupcha Leland. Published by Lyme Literate Press. Berenbaum has a psychotherapy practice that focuses exclusively on Lyme disease patients and their families. She is a member of ILADS and advises a number of Lyme patient advocacy groups. Her website is LymeFamilies.com.

______________

**Comment**

Fantastic article.  I highly recommend Berenbaum and Leland’s book as it will be a helpful resource for parents who have infected children.  I always thank and encourage family members who attend the support group as in my experience patients who have family support always do better than those are fight alone.  We all need someone in our corner, believing us, encouraging us, studying and learning with us, and sticking up for us.  It validates us when we find ourselves in an unpopular experience that is vilified by the medical community at large.  This alone creates a whole host of issues such as depression and anxiety.  Patients are often abused by the very professionals they seek for help.  It’s a horrible situation.

For more on the psychiatric issues with Lyme/MSIDS/PANS:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/10/18/psychiatric-lymemsids/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/01/17/lymemsids-and-psychiatric-illness/ and https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/11/01/lyme-mental-illness-dr-jane-marke/ (both links with great info by Dr. Marke)

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/08/misdiagnosed-how-children-with-treatable-medical-issues-are-mistakenly-labeled-as-mentally-ill/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/06/30/child-with-lymemsidspans-told-by-doctors-she-made-it-all-up/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/01/05/scary-side-of-childhood-strep/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/09/today-is-panspandas-awareness-day/  “Trifiletti officially diagnosed Carson with PANS, not PANDAS, due to the active co-infections found in his blood work: mycoplasma, the bacteria that causes pneumonia; coxsackie — the virus causing Hand, Foot and Mouth disease; streptococcus, the bacteria causing strep throat; bartonella and babesia — a bacteria and parasite related to Lyme disease; and yeast, Melissa Spears said.  Instead of attacking these infections, Carson’s antibodies were instead going after his brain.”  (Many other links within this article)

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/01/panspandas-steroids-autoimmune-disease-lymemsids-the-need-for-medical-collaboration/  “Boy’s Lyme Disease Morphs into Autoimmune encephalopathy. It took 10 years and 20 doctors to find out 12-year-old Patrik had Lyme disease. Just 4 months later the doctors discovered he also has a condition where his immune system attacks his brain. Dr. Souhel Najjar, Cahalan’s doctor, heroically saves the day again.”

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, PANS, Psychological Aspects, Treatment

Cure a Cold Fast – It’s Not the Flu Vaccine

Lyme/MSIDS patients have impaired immune systems due to serious bacterial and often viral and fungal infections, so when a cold or flu strikes, we are sitting ducks.  Recent research shows that just breathing is enough to spread the flu:  http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/17/1716561115  This information is being used to frighten and push the flu vaccine which Dr. Mercola explains is about 10% effective this year due to viral mismatches and growth substrates where viruses can mutate:  https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/12/19/flu-vaccine-likely-worthless.aspx

Then there’s that pesky detail of not having enough studies on the effectiveness of formaldehyde killing the virus making it “inactive” which explains why some get the flu after getting the vaccine:  http://www.thevaccinereaction.org/2018/01/formaldehyde-doesnt-always-kill-viruses/  This happened before when 40,000 kids were given the Salk IPV and got polio.  OOPS!

What authorities don’t tell you about vaccines for the immunocompromised, such as Lyme/MSIDS patients, is that a vaccine which is created to lower your immune system so that your body mounts an immune response can activate latent infections.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/12/02/scottish-doctor-gives-insight-on-lyme-msids/  Within this link you will also see a connection between the HPV vaccine and Bartonella.  I just finished “Lyme Madness,” by Lori Dennis.  Her son’s Lyme/MSIDS activated after a flu shot.  I hear these stories over and over.  

And then there’s the damning retroviral connection:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/15/vaccines-and-retroviruses-a-whistleblower-reveals-what-the-government-is-hiding/

Often the first sign of immune dysregulation is an adverse reaction to a vaccine:  https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/26/vaccines-adverse-reaction.aspx  All it took was a tetanus shot for engineer Eric Gladen to get major neurological symptoms.  After going on a protocol for about 6 months to remove mercury, his symptoms vanished.  This led him on a journey and gave us the documentary “Trace Amounts,” which is about mercury-based thimerosal & autism.  http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/rfk-jr-decries-holocaust-of-forced-vaccination/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/19/autism-aluminum-adjuvant-link-corroborated/

The flu vaccine in particular often contains high amounts of thimerosal, which is 50% mercury.  Many vaccines also contain aluminum, a neurotoxin.  Research is growing on how these metals accumulate in the brain over time.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/21/aluminum-flawed-assumptions-fueling-autoimmune-disease-and-lyme/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/11/28/biological-mechanisms-of-vaccine-injury/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/12/06/mechanisms-of-vaccine-injury-part-2/

http://vaxtruth.org/2012/01/aluminum-toxicity-and-a-primer-on-the-vic/  Great article on aluminum toxicity.

So rather than be frightened and reach for what seems like an easy button, this article will hopefully give you practical tools to use at home to lower your flu risk or lessen infection time.

The following video by NPR shows how viruses turn our cells into mini viral reproductive factories.

 Approx. 3.5 Min

Approx. 6 Min

In this video Dr. Axe shares his top seven remedies to cure a cold fast. These specific remedies can help you get rid of your cold in 24 hours or less.  They are most effective when taken upon initial flu/cold symptoms.

1. Echinacea

The research using Echinacea tea is not consistent. The studies that demonstrated the best effect at shortening the length of a cold occurred when you drink two to three cups of Echinacea tea per day starting on the first or second day of your cold.

2. Elderberry Syrup or Extract

In one study, elderberry syrup reduced the severity of flu symptoms and shortened their duration by about four days. Elderberry extract is also known for inducing sweating, and helps relieve congestion.
3. Vitamin C (1000mg 5x day)
A very potent antioxidant; use a natural form such as acerola, which contains associated micronutrients.  You can take several grams every hour (use the liposomal form so you don’t get loose stools), till you are better. 

4. Garlic (capsules or cloves)

In the singular study identified by the Cochrane group, those who took garlic daily for three months had fewer colds than those who took a placebo, and, when they did come down with a cold, the duration of illness was shorter — an average of 4.5 days compared to 5.5 days for the placebo group.

5. Oregano Oil/ Oil of Oregano (4-5 drops in water)
The higher the carvacrol concentration, the more effective and most active antimicrobial agent in oregano oil which has potent antibacterial and antiviral effects. In one study, researchers found when in spray form in combination with four other aromatic plants it could immediately reduce the side effects of a cold. This treatment was no longer effective after three days of use. Oil of oregano should not be used by children, women who are pregnant or nursing or who plan to become pregnant.
6. Zinc (100mg a day)
A Cochrane Database Review of the medical research on zinc found that when taken within one day of the first symptoms, zinc can cut down the time you have a cold by about 24 hours.  Zinc was also found to greatly reduce the severity of symptoms. Zinc was not recommended for anyone with an underlying health condition, like lowered immune function, asthma or chronic illness.  Dr. Mercola does not recommend taking more than 50 mg a day, and does not recommend taking zinc on a daily basis for preventive purposes as you could easily develop a copper imbalance that way.

7. Apple Cider Vinegar (2 Tbsp in water 3x a day)

Cold viruses increase the acidity of your body.  Apple Cider vinegar reduces the acidity and has acetic acid that helps prevent the growth of viruses.
Eliminate sugars from your diet, add in a real vegetable soup a day, consume chicken broth, and citrus fruits. For more information on getting rid of a cold check out this article: http://draxe.com/natural-cold-remedies/
 If you aren’t already taking a vitamin D supplement, please read about it here:  https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/12/20/vitamin-d-level.aspx
Since it’s a fat-soluble vitamin, it can be toxic, which is why it’s important to test your level at least yearly.  It’s also more effective than the flu-vaccine:  https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/02/27/vitamin-d-better-than-flu-vaccine.aspx

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/02/06/natural-cold-remedies.aspx  Dr. Mercola adds to this list:

1. Meditation – has significant positive effects on heart rate, brain function, stress reduction and blood pressure.  Research also has demonstrated lasting positive effects on brain function and immune system.  Imaging demonstrated an increase in activation in the left frontal region of the brain associated with lower anxiety, and blood work showed larger increases in antibody production in participants who meditated in the study. 

2. Exercise – if all symptoms are above the neck, such as sneezing, sniffling and watery eyes, then breaking out in a sweat is generally considered safe. The immune system functions better when you exercise regularly and is a good preventative measure.  Walking, jogging, yoga and slow biking are among the best exercises when you have a cold, while endurance sports, team sports, weightlifting and exercising in the cold weather are among the worst.  Exercise may help you feel better but may not shorten the length of your cold. If you are involved in strenuous exercise it depletes the energy needed to fight the virus and can actually make your symptoms worse.

3. Sleep – Sleep has a strong regulatory influence on your immune system and promotes the influence of cytokines stimulating the interaction between antigen-presenting cells and T-helper cells necessary for your body to fight virus infections.  Most people need between about eight hours of sleep a night and plenty of rest during the day.

4. Nasal Saline Rinse – Although researchers can only speculate how saline nasal washes are effective in treating and preventing virus infections and recurrences, the fact is they are effective.  Use only sterile normal saline water in the rinse.  Tap water can increase the inflammatory response in the sinus passages and carry parasites that can infect your brain.

5. Hydrogen Peroxide – In 1928, Dr. Richard Simmons hypothesized that the cold virus entered your body through the ear canal and not the nose. His theory was dismissed by the medical community; however, in 1938, German researchers had great success using hydrogen peroxide in the ear canal to treat colds and the flu.  You must start treatment in the first 24 hours to have a significant impact on reducing the length of the cold. Take a capful of hydrogen peroxide and while lying on your side, pour it in, letting it bubble for a few minutes.  Switch sides and repeat.

6. Chicken Soup – A team of researchers from the University of Nebraska Medical Center found evidence that chicken soup — both homemade and from the can — had anti-inflammatory properties that could prevent the side effects of a cold.  Avoid the canned varieties in favor of a home-cooked version with homemade broth.

9. Coconut Oil – has both antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Rub coconut oil over your skin. It is readily absorbed into your body and, as an added benefit, will soften your skin too. Add one-half teaspoon to your coffee or tea when you have a cold and cook with it.

10. Baking Soda – reduces the acidity of your body in the treatment of colds and flu. However, I have pushed the body pH in the opposite direction and achieved the same results, shortening the length of an infection.  The administration of baking soda is simple, relatively harmless and easy to test on your own cold. Simply dissolve the recommended amount of baking soda in a glass of cold water and drink it. Recommended dosages from the Arm & Hammer Company for colds and influenza back in 1925 were:

Day 1 — Take six doses of one-half teaspoon of baking soda in glass of cool water, at about two-hour intervals
Day 2 —Take four doses of one-half teaspoon of baking soda in glass of cool water, at the same intervals
Day 3 — Take two doses of one-half teaspoon of baking soda in glass of cool water morning and evening, and thereafter ½ teaspoon in glass of cool water each morning until cold symptoms are gone
This should only be used as an occasional (not chronic) treatment, however, and be careful not to consume excessive amounts, which can cause serious electrolyte and acid/base imbalances.

11. Lifestyle Choices – eliminate or drastically reduce your alcohol intake and smoking. Both of these factors negatively impact your immune system, making it more difficult for your body to fight the viral infection.

12. Steam – will not shorten the length of your cold, but it will help to break up the mucous secretions in your sinuses, reduce the inflammation in your nasal passages and help you to breathe better.

13. Stress Reduction – Practicing meditation, yoga or Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) are simple and effective practices to support your immune system and prevent other damage caused by stress.

14. Hand Washing – is a deterrent for infection by viruses and against further infection while you are sick. It will also reduce the spread of the virus to other family members, but it will not shorten the length of your cold. Remember that too much hand washing is almost as bad as not enough. Frequent washing strips your skin of protective oils, causing the skin to crack and bleed.

15. Eat Real Food – and avoiding processed foods will give your body the necessary tools to fight a viral infection. It will also reduce the potential you’ll suffer a quick recurrence of the infection.

https://vitalplan.com/blog/flu-alert-how-to-prep-for-a-bad-season?

In this article Dr. Rawls gives some more great advice:

  1. Isolate the sick & stay in bed
  2. Wash your hands
  3. Maintain a healthy immune system
  4. Drink lots of fluids
  5. Take Vitamin C (1,000 mg up to 4X/day)
  6. Take herbal therapy to support your immune system
  7. Apple cider vinegar (2 Tbs with 8oz water and 1-2 tsp local honey – drink several X/day)
  8. Reduce food intake
  9. Inhale steam before bed (can use essential oils in steam)
  10. Antiviral drugs can reduce severity and duration  Please see this news story first:  http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/01/12/unexpected-side-effects-tamiflu/

 

 

Category:

Activism, Autism, Bartonella, diet and nutrition, Herbs, Lyme, Treatment, vaccines, Viruses

Phase II Malaria Meds – 100% Cured – Good for Babesia?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180119090342.htm

Promising malaria medication tested
New combination of drugs proves effective and well-tolerated; further studies planned

January 19, 2018

Universitaet Tübingen

Summary:
An international research team has conducted successful phase II clinical tests of a new anti-malaria medication. The treatment led to a cure in 83 cases.

FULL STORY

Researchers tested the efficacy, tolerability and safety of a combination of the drugs Fosmidomycin and Piperaquine. 

An international research team has conducted successful phase II clinical tests of a new anti-malaria medication. The treatment led to a cure in 83 cases. The new combination of drugs was developed by Professor Peter Kremsner of the Tübingen Institute of Tropical Medicine and the company DMG Deutschen Malaria GmbH. The study was recently published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and is freely accessible.

In the study, the researchers tested the efficacy, tolerability and safety of a combination of the drugs Fosmidomycin and Piperaquine. The twofold medication was administered for three days to patients aged one to thirty who were infected with malaria via the Plasmodium falciparum pathogen. In the 83 evaluable cases, there was a 100% cure rate. Patients tolerated the treatment well, and it led to a swift reduction of clinical symptoms. Safety issues were limited to changes in electrocardiogram readings, as had been described for Piperaquine.

The study was conducted at the Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL) in the African country of Gabon; CERMEL has close ties with the University of Tübingen. Financial support came from the nonprofit organisation Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).

“This study represents a milestone in the clinical research into Fosmidomycin,” says Tübingen Professor of Tropical Medicine Peter Kremsner. The substance was originally extracted from Streptomyces lavendulae and today can be produced synthetically. It blocks a metabolic pathway for the production of Isoprenoid in the malaria pathogen. This makes the malaria pathogen unable to metabolize or reproduce. Because Isoprenoids are formed via a different synthesis path in the human body, humans have no target structures for Fosmidomycin. For this reason humans tolerate the drug well and suffer barely any side effects. In addition, this unique mechanism excludes the possibility of cross-resistance to the drugs used in earlier malaria treatments.

The new combination meets WHO guidelines for combination therapies. The two drugs mechanisms against differing target structures means that they attack the parasite in the bloodstream independently of one another. This meets WHO requirements for a fast and effective treatment of the acute phase of infection, and for protection against relapse due to reappearance of the infection. The researchers say the effective mechanism helps to delay the formation of a possible resistance. Further studies are in planning to optimize dose.

Journal Reference:

Ghyslain Mombo-Ngoma, Jonathan Remppis, Moritz Sievers, Rella Zoleko Manego, Lilian Endamne, Lumeka Kabwende, Luzia Veletzky, The Trong Nguyen, Mirjam Groger, Felix Lötsch, Johannes Mischlinger, Lena Flohr, Johanna Kim, Chiara Cattaneo, David Hutchinson, Stephan Duparc, Moehrle Joerg, Thirumalaisamy P Velavan, Bertrand Lell, Michael Ramharter, Ayola Akim Adegnika, Benjamin Mordmüller, Peter G Kremsner. Efficacy and safety of fosmidomycin-piperaquine as non-artemisinin-based combination therapy for uncomplicated falciparum malaria – A single-arm, age-de-escalation proof of concept study in Gabon. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2017; DOI: 10.1093/cid/cix1122

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02198807    Evaluation of Fosmidomycin and Piperaquine in the Treatment of Acute Falciparum Malaria (FOSPIP)
Verified June 2015 by Jomaa Pharma GmbH.

Collaborator:
Centre de Recherche Médicale de Lambaréné

Brief Summary:
The objective of this study is to explore the role of fosmidomycin and piperaquine as non-artemisinin-based combination therapy for acute uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum when administered over three days.
Together, fosmidomycin and piperaquine fulfil the WHO criteria for combination therapy by meeting the three key parameters of having different modes of action and different biochemical targets while exhibiting independent blood schizonticidal activity. Like the artemisinins, fosmidomycin is fast-acting, has an excellent safety record and is active against existing drug-resistant parasites. Piperaquine has a long half life protecting fosmidomycin as a much shorter lived molecule against selection of resistant parasites and will provide post-treatment prophylaxis.

Experimental: Fosmidomycin-Piperaquine
Fosmidomycin sodium capsules 450 mg, dosage: 30mg/kg twice daily for 3 days Piperaquine phosphate tablets 320 mg, dosage: 16 mg/kg once a day for 3 days

______________

**Comment**

It appears this works for Babesia as well:  http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0019334&bw=1  Babesia divergens, a related parasite that also infects human erythrocytes and is also known to induce an increase in membrane permeability, displays a similar susceptibility and uptake behavior with regard to the drug. In contrast, Toxoplasma gondii-infected cells do apparently not take up the compounds, and the drugs are inactive against the liver stages of Plasmodium berghei, a mouse malaria parasite.

The big caveat; however, is that many Lyme/MSIDS patients are persistently infected with Babesia and need far more than 3 days for acute treatment:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/16/babesia-treatment/  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.

Testing which is poor as these organisms are not often found in high enough numbers in the blood, as well as people present subclinically. In other words, their Lyme case is more severe and they have malarial-type symptoms, but they can’t find Babesia in the blood in a Giemsa stain. It takes a trained eye to identify Babesia, which produces a Maltese Cross form, which may or may not be present in a particular smear. Also, doctors have been taught that besides the day and night sweats and chills, patients are supposed to get hemolytic anemia and their liver functions go up or their platelet count might go down (thrombocytopenia). The fly in the ointment is that only certain strains of Babesia do this. Many strains do not cause these symptoms – but doctors aren’t educated on these finer points. Also, to hide from the immune system, the various species produce offspring that have different exterior proteins, or genotypes. http://www.townsendletter.com/July2015/babesia0715_2.html According to Dr. Schaller, there is immense variation and pre-2015 treatments were “weak and showed ignorance of the power of Babesia – it is vastly harder to kill than malaria.”

 

Category:

Babesia, Malaria, research, Treatment

Medical Marijuana For Lyme – A Doctor’s Perspective

https://www.lymedisease.org/med-marijuana-lyme-kinderlehrer/

Medical marijuana for Lyme symptoms? A doctor’s perspective.

Kinderlehrer-headshot-300x300

by Daniel A. Kinderlehrer, M.D.

I have a confession to make. I proposed a talk on medical marijuana at ILADS because it would force me to learn everything I could on the topic. I live in Colorado where it seems there is a dispensary on every corner, and many of my patients have been using medical cannabis. But the huge assortment of products is confusing, and I wanted to give specific recommendations to help patients get the most benefit. Here is what I learned.

Marijuana has 483 phytocannabanoids, which are naturally occurring compounds that can affect many body processes such as appetite, mood and sleep. Most people have heard of one of them—THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol—the psychoactive component of marijuana. THC can make you high, giddy, or euphoric, and provide seemingly awesome universal insights that may appear quite trivial the next day.

Some strains of marijuana now available are not your father’s weed—they have a much higher THC content. It’s important to choose the appropriate strain for your needs, and some people may want to avoid THC entirely. However, it has been clearly established that THC is quite beneficial for pain, sleep, nausea, appetite, and PTSD, so there are medically valid reasons for choosing it.

Most of the non-THC phytocannabanoids fall into the category of cannabidiols, or CBDs. CBDs were once considered to be physiologically inactive unless paired with THC, but it turns out that is not the case. There is compelling scientific research documenting its independent activity, and now there is extensive clinical experience as well.

Did you know that we make our own CBDs? All vertebrates going back 600 million years on the evolutionary tree have an endocannabanoid system, which modulates immune and nervous system function. CBDs are potent anti-inflammatory agents, they regulate neurotransmitters, and they may enhance immune competence. CBDs decrease neuroinflammation and are neuroprotective. They can significantly reduce pain and anxiety.

Marijuana is not the only product that supplies CBDs. Hemp, a variety of cannabis that is used to make rope, fabric and paper, contains CBDs. Hemp has less than 0.3% THC, and is not psychoactive.

There are two strains of cannabis: indica and sativa. Indica has a high proportion of THC to CBD. It is great for pain but is sedating, so it is best used at night. Sativa is CBD-dominant. It is activating, can increase energy, and is better suited for daytime use. There are also a number of hybrid strains now available that essentially cross categories.

If your problem is pain, consider taking CBDs in the form of hemp oil in the daytime. My patients have had excellent responses to a liposomal sublingual extract (taken under the tongue), and it is activating, not sedating. In the evening, you can take a marijuana extract with equal parts THC and CBD, since these together will have additive pain-relieving effects. There are a number of delivery systems available, including smoking, vaping, edibles and sublingual extracts. I recommend the extracts since the onset is reasonably quick, usually in about 30 minutes, and the dose can be easily titrated by adjusting the number of drops under the tongue.

Both hemp-derived CBD and marijuana are available as balms that can be applied topically to relieve pain. Whether taken systemically or applied locally, these products can help many patients significantly decrease their need for pain medication. In fact, states that have legalized medical marijuana have experienced a 25% decrease in opiate overdose deaths. That’s right. This scourge, which took 42,000 lives in 2016 (66,000 including all drug overdose deaths), was significantly reduced by the availability of marijuana.

For sleep, take a THC-dominant indica strain. THC is not only sedating, it increases the time spent in the deeper stages of sleep, so sleep is more restorative. If your problem is difficulty falling asleep, use a short-acting vehicle like vaping, which kicks in within 15 minutes. Vaping is high-tech smoking without the ill effects of the smoke. Alternatively, use a sublingual extract, which has an onset within 30 minutes. Both of these will hang around for up to an hour.

If your problem is staying asleep, then take an edible. It takes 60-90 minutes to get into the circulation, and hangs around for an average of 3-4 hours. I don’t recommend cookies or candy, as they usually have a lot of junk in them—you can take pure THC tablets. The average dose is 10mg, but start with 2.5mg to see how well you tolerate it.

If you have problems with both sleep initiation and maintenance, you can take sublingual extract or vape to fall asleep, and a THC tablet to stay asleep. The table below includes some considerations for choosing among the available options.

TIMING 

  • Daytime CBD from hemp oil  for pain, anxiety, energy – because THC can cause sedation & alter cognition
  • Evening Marijuana with THC:CBD ratio around 1:1 for pain & relaxation – because
    THC and CBD combination yield optimal analgesic benefits
  • Night THC dominant indica strain or edible THC for sedation, improved sleep, architecture – Vape or SL extract for sleep initiation; Edible for sleep maintenance

While THC is only available in states that have legalized medical marijuana, CBD from hemp oil is available everywhere—although the attorney general in Nebraska seems to be confused about that. You can buy it on the Internet, travel across state lines, and I have even taken it out of the country when I traveled to Israel to visit my daughter.

**My note:  Hemp Oil has little THC.  Go here to read about the differences** https://healthyhempoil.com/hemp-oil-vs-cannabis-oil/

CBD can lessen anxiety, without any of the psychoactive giddiness of THC. CBD is anti-inflammatory—it not only decreases pain, it can improve energy, cognitive function and general well being. When I started selling it in my office, it went flying off the shelf. The full effects of CBD from hemp oil do not kick in for two to three weeks.

While properly administered marijuana has been extremely effective in helping people with PTSD, in some people it will make anxiety worse. Similarly, THC can help depression in some people, but in others can make depression worse, particularly if it is abused by chronic users. If you develop tolerance to the benefits of cannabis because of chronic use, it is important to take a drug holiday. Pregnant women should not take marijuana.

The legal status of marijuana is dicey. It is unjustifiably classified as a Class I controlled substance by the Food and Drug Administration, in the same category as heroin, and the Obama administration declined to enforce federal laws regarding marijuana in states where it was legalized and properly regulated. The current administration is trying to change that, but I predict it will be like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.

The analgesic, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties of cannabis make it extremely valuable as an adjunct to the treatment of tick-borne diseases. There is a lot of research available on the medical uses of cannabis. A couple of good resources are listed below.

Kowal MA et al. Review on clinical studies with cannabis and cannabinoids 2010-2014. Cannabinoids 2016;11(special issue):1-18

Project CBD, User’s Manual: https://www.projectcbd.org/guidance/cbd-users-manual

Dr. Daniel Kinderlehrer specializes in the treatment of tick-borne disease in Denver, Colorado. He has found that properly administered medical marijuana and CBD from hemp oil have been extremely beneficial for many of his patients.

______________

**Comment**

Helpful and practical article by Dr. Kinderlehrer.  Recently, I posted an article by Dr. Amen that serves as a caution in regards to the THC in marijuana:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-cbd-oil-cause-brain-damage-dr-daniel-amen/ “Although marijuana doesn’t necessarily pose the same immediate, life-threatening dangers as alcohol, we have seen that chronic, long-term use does cause significant brain changes—chiefly, slowed activity in the frontal and temporal lobes; areas of the brain involved with focus, concentration, motivation, memory, learning, and mood stability.

Just published in the most recent Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease,  https://www.j-alz.com/content/new-study-shows-marijuana-users-have-low-blood-flow-brain the research finds that, after studying imaging of 1,000 cannabis users’ brains, there were signs of noticeable deficiencies of blood flow. The study, which included 25,168 non-cannabis users, and 100 healthy controls, shows a scary and obvious difference in blood flow levels for those that used cannabis.

Additionally, those that used marijuana showed a significant lack of blood flow in the right hippocampus, the area of the brain that helps with memory formation. This part of the brain is severely affected with those that suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.”

The Amen Clinic Uses SPECT imaging and as they say, “A Picture’s worth a thousand words.”  http://www.amenclinics.com/blog/amen-research-marijuana-affects-blood-flow-brain/

marijuana-8x4

Like everything else it’s important to read all around an issue, particularly when you are considering it as a treatment and it’s going into your body.  As always one must weigh the risk vs the benefit.  I know folks who swear by medical cannabis and that they wouldn’t be alive without it.  I also know of folks who swear by Hemp CBD oil as well.

For more on Cannabis:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/01/23/nasem-report-on-cannabis/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/05/marijuana-chronic-pain-q-a-with-dr-david-barton/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/05/19/marijuana-the-miracle-herb/

For more on Hemp-derived CBD:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/28/cbd-for-pain/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/19/november-madison-lyme-support-group-meeting/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/11/14/hemp-oil-presentation/

If you are having trouble sleeping, immune dysfunction, inflammation, & PTSD,  read about LDN:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/?s=LDN

Trouble with your gut, detoxing, inflammation/pain, and allergies?  Read about MSM:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/01/03/the-invisible-universe-of-the-human-microbiome-msm/

Category:

Hemp Oil, Lyme, Marijuana, Pain Management, Treatment