Dr. Debra Muth, ND, WHNP, BSNH, MSNH, ARNP, BAAHP spoke at the Madison Area Lyme Support Group She discusses various bacterial, viral and immunological effects that activate the immune system and cause symptoms to increase, as an over active immune system can mimic Lyme/MSIDS symptoms. She believes it’s important to look at all angles of the immune system and how it affects patients.
She reviews how Marcon’s, Viruses, Heavy Metals and vaccines activate the immune system and cause increased brain inflammation. She discusses treatment options available to date, including the RK protocol and how it can assist with Lyme treatment, as well as how it fits in with treatment successes in her practice.
Since the beginning of our species we have been at war. It’s a continuous, neverending fight against the smallest of adversaries: armies of pathogens and parasites. As we have developed new ways to survive and stop them, they have evolved ever more complex and ingenious methods to thwart our efforts.
Humans have faced numerous attempts to challenge our dominance on planet Earth and from the Black Death to the Spanish flu, we have weathered them all. However, since the start of the 21st century, with its trend towards global interconnectedness, these onslaughts are ever-increasing. In the past 17 years we have battled Sars, the Ebola virus, Mers, and more recently the mysterious mosquito-borne Zika virus. These diseases seeming to appear from nowhere and rapidly ravage our populations. One commonality is that they almost always originate in animals before jumping across to people, and few parasites are as good at jumping between animals and people as the tick.
Ticks could be best described as the used syringes of the natural world due to their promiscuous feeding habits. Most ticks go through three stages in their lives and feed on a different host at each stage, whilst simultaneously collecting hitchhiking microbes in their blood meals. Ticks also have one of the widest distributions of any vector on Earth – they can be found on every continent, including frigid Antarctica. This combination of ubiquity and a bad habit for accumulating pathogenic microbes make ticks some of the most dangerous vectors on the planet.
So why ticks? And why now?
Partly, it’s because ticks have been understudied for so long that only recently have we begun to realise just how much they affect our health. It took until 1975 for the infamous Lyme disease even to be formally described, and today the list of microbes found within ticks grows ever larger every year as numerous new species are discovered.
An engorged tick removed from a host. Photograph: Astrid860/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Changing ecosystems are also forcing ticks into closer contact with humans. Perhaps the most immediate changes are being driven by land clearing, which is forcing wildlife into closer contact with humans; with wildlife come ticks and the diseases they carry. Climate change has also been implicated: as the climate gets warmer, some ticks are expanding their ranges into places where cool winter temperatures previously limited their distribution. Geographical boundaries are also being eroded as rapid transport links environments which were previously isolated from one another. This presents easy opportunity for ticks to cross borders and spread to new habitats they may not have previously occupied.
In short, our manipulation of the environment has set the stage for a tick-driven health crisis.
Ticks can carry an extremely wide array of human pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. Within the long list of human ailments caused by ticks, several dangerous diseases stand out.
While the recognition of Lyme disease has led to a greater study of the bacteria which cause it and more frequent testing for patients, it has been a double-edged sword, as its notoriety has overshadowed equally important diseases like tick-borne rickettsiosis (TBR). TBR is caused by a number of different bacteria distributed across the globe. Unfortunately, TBR often presents with signs and symptoms similar to Lyme disease, such as rashes, joint and muscle pain, and fatigue. Although deaths are rare when TBR is treated with antibiotics like doxycycline, when the disease is incorrectly diagnosed or adequate medical infrastructure is lacking, mortalities can still occur.
Babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by a protozoan called Babesia, a species related to the microbe which causes malaria. The disease is rarely tested for by doctors and the global levels of human infection are unknown, although some researchers believe that they may be much higher than present rates of diagnosis indicate. Infections can be highly variable, with about a quarter of infected adults showing no signs of the disease, while others will die from the infection. In truth the disease is still poorly understood in humans, which is compounded by the fact that several species of Babesia cause the disease and the signs and symptoms can be wide-ranging and often include fever, fatigue, anaemia, and nausea – all common features of other illnesses.
The distinctive “bullseye” marking caused by a bite from a deer tick. Photograph: anakopa/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is perhaps the most terrifying disease spread by ticks, as there are no treatments available, and mortality rates can be as high as 40% in infected humans. To put it into perspective, that mortality rate is similar to untreated cases of Ebola or the bubonic plague. The World Health Organisation views CCHF virus as having a high chance of causing human disease epidemics and has accordingly directed considerable funding towards finding a treatment, although to date none have been developed. The wide distribution of tick vectors capable of spreading the disease coupled with the ability of common domestic animals such as sheep and cattle to maintain the CCHF virus in their blood at high levels means the potential for CCHF to expand into new regions like Europe is highly probable.
While only discovered in 2009, SFTS virus (severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome) has sparked widespread fear through much of Asia, especially in Japan where 57 people have died of the disease since 2013. Signs of the disease can range in severity from relatively mild, like fever and diarrhoea, to severe, which can include multiple organ failure. The fact that the epidemiology of the disease is so poorly known makes predicting and controlling its spread difficult. It is also known to be carried by at least two cosmopolitan tick species which are spread throughout the world from the UK, to the US, and even Australia. That might sounds bad enough, but things are even worse: although the disease typically gets to humans via a tick, from there it can spread to other humans or their pets and back again into ticks who feed on infected hosts.
Ticks are ubiquitous, dangerous, and are coming into ever greater contact with us. We must recognise that the next public health crisis may come from our backyards rather than a remote equatorial jungle in Africa or Asia.
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**Comment**
I’m thankful the article points out that other pathogens are involved. For those with Lyme as well as these other pathogens (which is common), they typically have more severe cases and require longer and more extensive treatment.
The Cabal still denies ticks transmit Bart; however, many feel otherwise. This is why all the research in the world put out by the Cabal will never touch Bart. It doesn’t fit the narrative. The fly in the ointment is similar to sexual transmission for Lyme, the organisms have been found but there isn’t conclusive proof of transmission. Many of these pathogens are fastidious and hard to study in a lab. All case studies are ignored.
I’m always fascinated that Bartonella and Mycoplasma are rarely mentioned in regards to coinfections by mainstream news – as according to experts Dr. Nicholson and Dr. Breitshwerdt, they are probably the TOP coinfections with Lyme.
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.
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/
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 – Ateam 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.
Development and Validation of a Serologic Test Panel for Detection of Powassan Virus Infection in U.S. Patients Residing in Regions Where Lyme
Disease Is Endemic
Thomm AM, Schotthoefer AM, Dupuis AP II, Kramer LD, Frost HM, Fritsche TR, Harrington YA, Knox KK, Kehl SC.
/mSphere/. 2018 Jan 10;3(1). pii: e00467-17. eCollection 2018 Jan-Feb.
Powassan virus (POWV) is an emerging tick-borne arbovirus presenting a
public health threat in North America. POWV lineage II, also known as deer tick virus, is the strain of the virus most frequently found in
/Ixodes scapularis/ ticks and is implicated in most cases of POWV encephalitis in the United States. Currently, no commercial tests are
available to detect POWV exposure in tick-borne disease (TBD) patients.
We describe here the development and analytical validation of a serologic test panel to detect POWV infections. The panel uses an indirect enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to screen. EIA-positive samples reflex
to a laboratory-developed, POWV-specific immunofluorescence assay (IFA).
The analytical sensitivity of the test panel was 89%, and the limit of
detection was a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) titer of
1:20. The analytical specificity was 100% for the IgM assay and 65% for the IgG assay when heterologous-flavivirus-positive samples were tested.
On samples collected from regions where Lyme disease is endemic,
seroprevalence for POWV in TBD samples was 9.4% (10 of 106) versus 2% when tested with non-TBD samples (2 of 100, /P/ = 0.034). No evidence of
POWV infection was seen in samples collected from a region where Lyme
disease was not endemic (0 of 22).
This test panel provides a sensitive and specific platform for detecting
a serologic response to POWV early in the course of infection when
neutralizing antibodies may not be detectable. Combined with clinical history, the panel is an effective tool for identifying acute POWV infection.
*Importance*
Approximately 100 cases of POWV disease were reported in the United
States over the past 10 years. Most cases have occurred in the Northeast
(52) and Great Lakes (45) regions
(https://www.cdc.gov/powassan/statistics.html). The prevalence of POWV in ticks and mammals is increasing, and POWV poses an increasing threat in a greater geographical range.
In areas of the Northeast and Midwest where Lyme disease is endemic,
POWV testing is recommended for patients with a recent tick bite, patients with Lyme disease who have been treated with antibiotics, or patients with a tick exposure who have tested negative for Lyme disease or other tick-borne illnesses and have persistent symptoms consistent
with posttreatment Lyme disease. Testing could also benefit patients
with tick exposure and unexplained neurologic symptoms and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients with known tick exposure.
Until now, diagnostic testing for Powassan virus has not been
commercially available and has been limited to patients presenting with
severe, neurologic complications. The lack of routine testing for Powassan virus in patients with suspected tick-borne disease means that little information is available regarding the overall prevalence of the virus and the full spectrum of clinical symptoms associated with infection. As /Ixodes scapularis/ is the tick vector for Powassan virus
and multiple other tick-borne pathogens, including the Lyme disease
bacterium, /Borrelia burgdorferi/, the clinical presentations and long-term outcomes of Powassan virus infection and concurrent infection with other tick-borne disease pathogens remain unknown.
A Strange Itch, Trouble Breathing, Then Anaphylactic Shock
By LISA SANDERS, M.D. JAN. 4, 2018
“I can’t breathe,” the woman panted, her voice a husky monotone. Her sister looked anxiously at the clerk at the triage desk at the University of Iowa hospital emergency room. The woman’s breath was rapid and coarse. Her chest heaved with the work of simply breathing. She pulled at the neck of her sweatshirt — suddenly it was too tight. She pulled it over her head and dropped it to the floor. She was naked beneath the top; she had been in bed when this attack came on.
The 54-year-old woman was helped into a wheelchair and whisked into the inner sanctum of the E.R. What followed was a blur of concerned faces, needles and medical data. Her blood pressure was dangerously low; her heart was racing. She was given epinephrine and steroids, but it was hours before she could explain what had happened that night.
She was staying at her mother’s house in rural Iowa, she told the doctors. Just as she was going to bed, she felt a sudden tingling in the palms of her hands. She recognized the sensation immediately: Twice in the past eight years, she had felt the same strange itch on her hands and sometimes her feet. Each time it was quickly followed by a terrifying sense of her throat closing.
Anaphylactic Shock
She had driven herself to her sister’s house, several miles away, and her sister drove her the rest of the way to the hospital. She opened the car window to let in the frigid winter night air. She struggled to breathe. Black spots swam before her eyes, but she willed herself not to pass out.
She had had this kind of allergic reaction twice before but never as severely. She knew from her own research that this was anaphylactic shock — a potentially deadly allergic reaction. After she got the medications, the woman’s symptoms resolved. She stayed in the hospital overnight, and when it was clear that the episode was over, she went back to her mother’s house. She made an appointment to see a local allergy specialist right away.
A Mystified Allergist
The specialist spent nearly two hours going over everything the woman had been exposed to — food, plants, toxins, anything that might have triggered this nearly fatal allergic reaction. There were no new exposures that day, nothing she hadn’t eaten or touched many times before and after this latest attack. The most common cause of severe allergic reactions in adults is food, but the allergist couldn’t identify any likely suspects. He was mystified. He asked her to share her diagnosis when she got one.
For months after returning to her home on Long Island, the woman was anxious about everything she ate, and she worried every night when she went to bed. She always kept a bottle of Benadryl and an EpiPen with her, but still she was terrified about what might happen if she was too far from a hospital the next time.
‘I Need a Nurse!’
When her next attack happened — just 10 months later — she was already in Brookhaven Memorial Hospital in East Patchogue, N.Y. She was being treated with antibiotics for a devastating case of gastroenteritis due to salmonella. Her first meal, after days of nothing but clear liquids, was beef brisket with potatoes and carrots. It smelled good, but she had no appetite. She made herself eat a few bites anyway, knowing it was her first step toward going home.
A couple of hours later, she felt a strange itch on the top of her head. She scratched reflexively. Then the recognition hit her like a slap: Not now, she thought. She grabbed the IV pole, still dripping fluids into her system, and ran out into the hallway. “I need a nurse,” she shouted. Her heart was pounding, and she knew what was coming next. Hospital staffers in scrubs descended on her. Was she having a panic attack? No, an allergy attack, she told them.
They helped her back into bed and gave her oxygen, Benadryl and steroids. “What happened?” someone asked. She told the whole story, plus something she now realized — every one of her attacks seemed to come a few hours after she ate beef. She didn’t go through this every time she had a hamburger or steak; meat was a regular and much-loved part of her diet. But she was pretty sure that she had steak — or beef brisket, this time — before each episode.
Her doctors were dubious. New food allergies — especially severe ones like hers — are uncommon in adults. This was much more likely to be an allergic response to one of the antibiotics they were giving her. The patient, though, found that theory hard to swallow. It might explain this episode, but what about the earlier ones? She hadn’t been on antibiotics then. The doctors had no answer.
Was a Tick to Blame?
A nurse had a different theory about what happened, one the patient had heard before but never believed. There was some kind of tick, the nurse told her, whose bite could make you allergic to meat. She didn’t know much about it. But, the nurse suggested, she should check it out.
The woman had been bitten by ticks before — who on Long Island hasn’t? But was it really possible for a bite to produce this crazy reaction? Indeed it was, she discovered, when she got home and began doing some research. The bite of the lone star tick — named for a white spot shaped like Texas on the arachnid’s back — could cause an allergic reaction to mammalian meat. The trigger was a sugar, identified as galactose-α-1,3-galactose and more casually known as alpha-gal, a carbohydrate found in the flesh of all nonprimate mammals.
How the tick bite triggers this allergy is not yet known. The link between the tick — whose range extends from southern Florida to Maine and as far west as Iowa — and the resulting alpha-gal allergy was first described in 2009 by Thomas Platts-Mills, a professor at the University of Virginia, who himself developed the disorder. Unlike most food allergies, in which symptoms occur within minutes of consuming the allergen, the alpha-gal reaction is delayed. The symptoms — ranging from a rash to nausea to shortness of breath and even anaphylaxis — can appear four to six hours after a meal containing meat. Stranger still, the reaction doesn’t occur after every exposure.
A Diet Changed Forever
The diagnosis of mammalian meat allergy (M.M.A.) can be confirmed with a blood test that identifies antibodies to alpha-gal. The patient contacted Diane Cymerman, an allergist she had seen years earlier for seasonal allergies. Cymerman asked her to list all the foods she consumed before her last episode in the hospital and had her blood tested for antibodies to everything on the list, down to the black pepper and parsley seasoning. And to alpha-gal.
The first results came back the following week: She had a moderate allergy to beef, but everything else was normal. The following month, the test results for alpha-gal antibodies came back. She was wildly allergic to galactose-α-1,3-galactose. Cymerman called the patient with the news. She had to avoid eating meat from mammals — and everything derived from them, including Jell-O and other foods and medications made from gelatin. Even safe foods cooked on a grill that has also been used for meat can be contaminated with enough alpha-gal to trigger a reaction.
The patient contacted the allergist back in Iowa and told him what she had. He was amazed. He had only recently heard a lecture on this phenomenon. He had never seen it before her case.
It hasn’t been easy for this Iowa transplant to give up beef and other meat that comes from mammals. Some days, she tells me, just thinking about a juicy hamburger or steak makes her stomach growl. But she remembers her terror and that long drive to the Iowa hospital and sticks to chicken, fish and vegetables.
Lisa Sanders, M.D., is a contributing writer for the magazine and the author of “Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis.” If you have a solved case to share with Dr. Sanders, write her at Lisa.Sandersmd@gmail.com.
Great video by Dr. Greger at nutritionfacts.org on tick bites, meat allergies, and chronic urticaria
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/05/paralysis-tick-the-immune-system/ Australian allergy specialist Sheryl van Nunen got her red meat allergy mystery solved when there was a surge in allergic reactions in the U.S. to a drug, Cetuximab, used to treat colorectal cancer developed using a mouse cell line, also containing alpha-gal.
