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| | | Action |  Prevention
  | When in tick-infested areas (i.e., tall grass, overgrown brush, etc.), special precautions should be taken. Wear light-colored clothing, tuck pants legs into socks, and wear closed toe shoes. Use commercial insect repellents (particularly those containing DEET) sparingly and with care, as they may cause side effects, especially in young children. Avoid application to damaged skin. When returning from outdoors it is important to check yourself, your children and your pets for ticks. Look for ticks in all joint areas, the navel, behind ears, in the hairline, and in other skin folds. Wash all skin treated with insect repellent thoroughly. Keep your lawn mowed and cut overgrown brush. Some doctors will give a single dose of oral doxycycline within 3 days of any tick bite received in a tick-infested area in order to prevent Lyme disease.
A tick must be attached to its host for 36 to 48 hours before an infectious dose of Borrelia burgdorferi is transmitted. This is fortunate, because most folks who are bitten by a tick will find it prior to the infectious event and thus prevent a possible case of Lyme's disease.
Also, to help prevent tick bites, include garlic in your diet. In a study of Marines it reduced tick bites by 21%. [JAMA August 16, 2000; 284] |
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Animal-based |
 Probiotics / Fermented Foods
| | If taking antibiotics for Lyme disease, remember that they will kill both good and bad microorganisms. Replacing the friendly intestinal organisms killed with antibiotics by eating live culture yogurt or taking probiotic capsules regularly for at least six months is recommended. The aim of this treatment is to recolonize the intestine both during and after antibiotic use. |
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Botanical |
Cat's Claw (Urticaria tomentosa)
| | While the use of Cat's Claw looks very promising, there is a POA TOA controversy that seems to be as yet unresolved. If you wish to look into this controversy further, the following articles may be helpful.
An article by Leslie Taylor, ND discusses it at some length, suggesting that any quality Cat's Claw product should be equally effective.
This pilot study attempts to show that a TOA-free Cat's Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) is effective in treating chronic Lyme disease (Lyme Borreliosis).
There have been many testimonials regarding a particular Cat's Claw product called Samento. |
Medicinal Mushrooms
| | Because of many mushroom's ability to build energy, stamina and endurance it has been recommended for use by those who suffer from Lyme disease. |
 Silymarin/Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum)
Garlic
| | Garlic is a natural antibiotic and immune-booster. |
Evening Primrose Oil / GLA
| | This may help combat the pain and inflammation. 1000mg 2-3 times daily. |
Dandelion Root (Taraxicum officinale)
Black Walnut
Coneflower (Echinacea purpura)
| | Echinacea boosts the immune system and fights viral and bacterial infections. |
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
| | Red clover cleanses the bloodstream and is a good tonic. |
Hawthorn (Crataegus oxycantha)
Wormwood
| | Some physicians have reported good results from treating Lyme disease with artemisinin. These are experimental or untested applications of the product. |
Ginseng, American (Panax quinquefolium)
Kelp / Seaweed
| | Helps in the treatment of the disorder by strengthening the immune system. It also contains essential vitamins and minerals and aids in detoxifying the body. |
Marshmallow root (Althea officinallis)
Horsetail Grass (Equisetum arvense)
Spilanthes acmella
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Diet |
Artificial Sweetener Avoidance
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Drug |
Antibiotics
| | Current medical therapy involves the use of antibiotics, such as doxycycline or amoxicillin. Some clinics are suggesting and offering IV antibiotic use daily over a 50 to 60 day period. Although very expensive, they feel that this is what is required in some cases. In some cases, oral antibiotics have been used continuously for as many as two years, if necessary.
Prompt treatment with antibiotics is effective in curing EARLY Lyme disease in nearly all infected people, including children. A 2003 study showed that the long-term outcome of patients with Lyme disease who are treated with antibiotic therapy is excellent. It should be noted that even if Lyme disease has been successfully treated, it may be possible to become self-reinfected with Lyme disease again at a later date. The risk appears to occur only in patients who had been treated for the rash, however. In those who developed arthritic symptoms as well, the antibody response appears to persist and prevent reinfection.
A positive Lyme blood test, even including a Western blot, does not mean that there is active disease that requires treatment. This is because blood tests can remain positive for years, even after Lyme disease has been treated or has become inactive. Occasionally, to aid in the diagnosis of Lyme disease, a sample of fluid must be aspirated (withdrawn with a sterile needle) from an affected joint. Cerebrospinal fluid may also be withdrawn from around the spinal cord through a spinal tap (lumbar puncture), so that it can be tested for the presence of Lyme-disease antibodies and inflammation, as well as to rule out other diseases.
Doxycycline has been used widely to treat all phases of Lyme disease, including erythema migrans. Doxycycline is active against Borrelia burgdorferi (the spirochete that causes Lyme disease), and it penetrates, in concentrations sufficient for eradication, virtually all body tissues that the organism may reach via hematogenous dissemination. Oral doxycycline has been shown to be as effective as parenteral ceftriaxone sodium (Rocephin) in treatment of central nervous system (CNS) Lyme disease (ie, neuroborreliosis) (1). This has tremendous cost-saving implications. In the New York area, a 3-week course of parenteral ceftriaxone for CNS Lyme disease, including administration by home care, costs between $5,000 and $7,000. In comparison, a 3-week course of oral doxycycline treatment costs only a few hundred dollars.
In addition, treatment failure in Lyme disease is seldom, if ever, seen with properly administered doxycycline regimens in EARLY Lyme disease, whereas failures are common with erythromycin therapy.
A study supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), also a part of the National Institutes of Health, again showed that long-term antibiotic use for Lyme disease is not an effective strategy for cognitive improvement. [Neurology 70(13): 992-1003, 2008]
In about 5% of cases, symptoms persist after treatment, a condition referred to as post-Lyme disease syndrome. The treatment of post-Lyme disease syndrome is a controversial issue. Most doctors do not recommend continuing antibiotic therapy beyond 30 days. Scientific studies do not show any evidence that the benefits of long-term antibiotic treatment outweigh its risks. Long-term antibiotic treatment can lead to a serious and difficult-to-treat infection called Clostridiumdifficile, and can also cause the patient to become allergic to the antibiotic. |
Conventional Drugs / Information
| | Please see the link between Lyme Disease and Antibiotics. |
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Electrical |
Electrical Devices
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Lab Tests/Rule-Outs |
Test for Lyme Disease
| | From the website for THE LYME DISEASE SOLUTION by Ken Singleton, M.D..
"One of the most crucial elements in the successful treatment of Lyme disease is an accurate diagnosis of Lyme and of its potential co-infections. The sooner the diagnosis can be made from the time of the initial infection with Lyme or its co-infections the better." This is the website..
Dr. Klinghardt exclusively uses the IGeneX Lab in Palo Alto for his blood tests, and Fry Labs in Arizona for direct microscopy testing.
"I don't have a financial investment in it, but it's the gold standard in our field," he says. "They use two different antigens. The commercial labs and hospitals and so forth, they use one antigen and are notorious in under-diagnosing Lyme disease. We recommend to rather not test it than get a false negative, which will sometimes lead the patient 20 years on the wrong track. With the other co-infections, the detection rate drops way down.
… We do the FISH test [for Borrelia] at IGeneX Lab. It's a direct microscopy test which has more false negatives than the western blot.
… The leading test for Bartonella that we use is Fry Labs in Arizona. Steven Fry, who does a wonderful direct microscopy test, often comes back positive with the diagnosis of hemobartonella. Hemo means simply blood – Bartonella in the blood. Remember, he's testing the blood where the Bartonella typically does not live. It lives in the nervous system. So if you find it in the blood in small amounts it generally is an indicator that there is a high amount in other tissues in the body."
An indirect test is the CD57 test. "CD-57" is a specific group of natural killer cells that are particularly damaged by the Lyme spirochetes. Therefore, if your numbers drop to a certain level, it is an indirect indicator that you may have Lyme disease, because the only known infection to suppress CD57 is that of Borrelia burgdorferi.
Normally, your CD57 value should be over 100. If it's lower than that, you're infected with Borrelia. If it's below 60, you probably have both Borrelia and Mycoplasma, and, most likely, some other co-infections. |
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Mineral |
Colloidal Silver
| | Many people report that the use of MSP (mild silver protein) helps to control the late-stage symptoms of Lyme disease. Doing a search on the Internet should produce many testimonies regarding it's usefulness. |
Germanium
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Miscellaneous |
Reading List
| | Beating Lyme Disease: Using Alternative Medicine and God-Designed Living by David A. and Sara Koch Jernigan
(January 2004) is a book that takes you far beyond its title. It is written in such understandable language that even beginners can grasp its dynamics quickly and easily. Doctors should also consider this book a must read. If you are searching for alternative methods to treating physical illness, of cleansing your body of toxins and damaging bacteria, then "Beating Lyme Disease" is a book you will treasure.
See also Lyme Testing regarding the book THE LYME DISEASE SOLUTION by Ken Singleton, M.D. |
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Nutrient |
Essential Fatty Acids
| | The use of omega 3 fatty acids may reduce inflammation and joint stiffness. |
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Vitamins |
Vitamin A
| | Vitamin A deficiency appears to be both a consequence of Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi infection) and a factor in the resulting arthritis susceptibility. Although not known definitively, taking vitamin A may improve joint symptoms. Vitamin A-deficient mice were found to be more susceptible to arthritis following infection by the spirochete that produces Lyme disease in humans. [J Infect Dis 1996 Oct;174(4): pp.747-51] |
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GLOSSARY
Adrenal Insufficiency: Also known as Adrenal Exhaustion or Low Adrenal Function, this is a condition where the adrenal gland is compromised in its production of epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, corticosterone or aldosterone. Symptoms include primarily fatigue, weakness, decreased appetite with ensuing weight loss, as well as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation, or increased pigmentation of the skin. Cortical insufficiency (low or no corticosteroids) produces a more serious condition called Addison’s Disease, characterized by extreme weakness, low blood pressure, pigmentation of the skin, shock or even death.
Alzheimer's Disease: A progressive disease of the middle-aged and elderly, characterized by loss of function and death of nerve cells in several areas of the brain, leading to loss of mental functions such as memory and learning. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia.
Arthralgia: Severe throbbing or stabbing pain along a nerve in one or more joints.
Arthritis: Inflammation of a joint, usually accompanied by pain, swelling, and stiffness, and resulting from infection, trauma, degenerative changes, metabolic disturbances, or other causes. It occurs in various forms, such as bacterial arthritis, osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis, the most common form, is characterized by a gradual loss of cartilage and often an overgrowth of bone at the joints.
Bell's Palsy: One-sided facial paralysis of sudden onset and unknown cause. The mechanism is presumed to involve swelling of the nerve due to immune or viral disease, with ischemia and compression of the facial nerve in the narrow confines of its course through the temporal bone.
Chronic: Usually Chronic illness: Illness extending over a long period of time.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) is a disorder of unknown cause that lasts for prolonged periods and causes extreme and debilitating exhaustion as well as a wide range of other symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle ache and joint pain, often resembling flu and other viral infections. Also known as Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), Chronic Epstein-Barr Virus (CEBV), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), "Yuppy Flu" and other names, it is frequently misdiagnosed as hypochondria, psychosomatic illness, or depression, because routine medical tests do not detect any problems.
CNS: Central Nervous System.
Dementia: An acquired progressive impairment of intellectual function. Marked compromise exists in at least three of the following mental activity spheres: memory, language, personality, visuospatial skills, and cognition (i.e., abstraction and calculation).
Extrapyramidal: Referring to brain structures other than those needed for motor activities.
Fibromyalgia: (FMS): Originally named fibrositis, it is a mysteriously debilitating syndrome that attacks women more often than men. It is not physically damaging to the body in any way, but is characterized by the constant presence of widespread pain that often moves about the body. Fibromyalgia can be so severe that it is often incapacitating.
Gout: A disease characterized by an increased blood uric acid level and sudden onset of episodes of acute arthritis.
Hypothalamus: An important supervisory center in the brain regulating many body functions. Despite its importance in maintaining homeostasis, the hypothalamus in humans accounts for only 1/300 of total brain weight, and is about the size of an almond.
Multiple Sclerosis: Demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system, causing patches of sclerosis (plaques) in the brain and spinal cord, manifested by loss of normal neurological functions, e.g., muscle weakness, loss of vision, and mood alterations.
Neuritis: Nerve inflammation, commonly accompanying other conditions such as tendonitis, bursitis or arthritis. Neuritis is usually accompanied by neuralgia (nerve pain).
pH: A measure of an environment's acidity or alkalinity. The more acidic the solution, the lower the pH. For example, a pH of 1 is very acidic; a pH of 7 is neutral; a pH of 14 is very alkaline.
Pituitary: The pituitary gland is small and bean-shaped, located below the brain in the skull base very near the hypothalamus. Weighing less than one gram, the pituitary gland is often called the "master gland" since it controls the secretion of hormones by other endocrine glands.
Retina: A 10-layered, frail nervous tissue membrane of the eye, parallel with the optic nerve. It receives images of outer objects and carries sight signals through the optic nerve to the brain.
Rheumatoid Arthritis: A long-term, destructive connective tissue disease that results from the body rejecting its own tissue cells (autoimmune reaction).
Thyroid: Thyroid Gland: An organ with many veins. It is at the front of the neck. It is essential to normal body growth in infancy and childhood. It releases thyroid hormones - iodine-containing compounds that increase the rate of metabolism, affect body temperature, regulate protein, fat, and carbohydrate catabolism in all cells. They keep up growth hormone release, skeletal maturation, and heart rate, force, and output. They promote central nervous system growth, stimulate the making of many enzymes, and are necessary for muscle tone and vigor.
Trigeminal Neuralgia: (Tic Douloureux) Pain in the trigeminal nerve, chief sensory nerve of the face and the motor nerve enabling chewing. A disorder of the trigeminal nerve producing bouts of severe, lancinating pain lasting seconds to minutes in the distribution of one or more of its sensory divisions, most often the mandibular and/or maxillary. The cause is uncertain. Recently, at surgery or autopsy, arterial and ( less often) venous loops have been found compressing the trigeminal nerve root at its entry point into the brainstem, which suggests that tic is essentially a compressive neuropathy. Adults usually are affected, especially later in life. The pain is often set off by touching a trigger point or by activity (e.g. chewing or brushing the teeth). Although each bout of intense pain is brief, successive bouts may incapacitate the patient.
