Written by Dr. James Schaller:  We know Lyme disease is highly under-reported.

The following checklist is not meant to be complete or authoritative.  Information about Lyme disease is constantly emerging and changing.  Therefore any checklist is intended for use as a starting point. In traditional medicine, a physician performs a complete history and physical.  Labs and studies assist in clarifying the differential diagnosis. 

In Lyme disease, much debate exists about laboratory kits, the alteration of kits to have fewer possible bands, and which labs are optimally sensitive and specific.  This checklist is not intended to address that issue or treatment.

Over 200 animals carry the Ixodes tick, which is the most commonly known insect spreading Lyme disease.  With so many vectors, the underlying assumption behind this checklist is that Lyme is not rare in North America, Europe, South America, Russia, Africa or Asia.

Immediately upon the onset of a tick bite, it transmits a pain killer, anti-histamine and an anti-coagulant.  Based on animal studies, it is also possible the bulls-eye rash is less common then assumed, in part because injections of spirochete related material in laboratory animals only show a rash with the second injection.

This checklist is offered with the sincere wish that others will improve on it.  It is this author’s personal belief that tick and flea-borne infection medicine is as specialized as HIV and Hepatitis medical science.

Some of the checklist materials might be new to you, which underscores the need for another scale to add to the ones currently in existence.  This list is based on a massive review of thousands of papers over a decade of full-time reading, 2012 science revelations, and/or massive chart reviews. 

Since modern Lyme disease seems to focus on tick borne disease and other laboratory testing, I will start with lab testing considerations. If a lab test has a value or a percentage, the numbers I choose are intended to avoid missing those positive patients who otherwise would be overlooked. I am concerned about physicians and other healthcare workers not treating an infected patient, who over time can experience disability or death at a frequency that is impossible to determine.

LABORATORY TESTING—INDIRECT AND DIRECT

(Check those which apply)

• Vitamin D level is in the lowest 20%.  If you supplement, it should be in top 50%.
• CD57 or CD58 is in the lowest 20^th percentile.
• Free testosterone is in 10^th percentile or below.
• In 5% of patients the testosterone or free testosterone is over the normal range.
• DHEA is in lower 20%.  Or rarely is it fully over the top level.
• Free dihydrotestosterone is in the lowest 20^th percentile or well over the normal range.
• Epstein Barr Virus is abnormal in any measure.  [This virus is believed to be positive over normal positive levels in the presence of infections or high inflammation.]
• On the Western Blot, IgG or IgM any species specific band at any blood level, e.g., 18, 21, 23, 30, 31, 34, 37, 39, 83, 93.
• A free T3 level under 2.8 [the normal bottom range in 1990 was 2.6; the influx of large numbers of elderly patients reset the healthy “normal” range].
• Positive for viruses such as CMV, HHV-6, Coxsackie B Types 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Parvo B-19 or Powassan virus
• Positive for Mycoplasma, e.g. mycoplasma pneumoniae
• The patient is positive for infections other than routine Lyme, [that is Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii].  Some of the other infections also carried by infectious ticks, fleas or other vectors include Babesia (duncani, microti or other), Anaplasma (HGA), Ehrlichia (various species/strains), Rocky Mountain or other Spotted Fevers, Brucellosis, Leptospirosis, Q-fever, STARI (Master’s Disease), Malaria, and Bartonella [e.g., B. henselae, B. quintana, B. elizabethae and B. melophagi].  Once tests are commercially available for testing all forms of protozoa affecting humans, including FL1953, all Bartonella species, and Borrelia miyamotoi and other Lyme species, reporting should increase.
• IL-B is in lowest 10^th percentile.
• IL-6 is in lowest 10^th percentile.
• TNF-alpha is under 2, or in lowest 20^th percentile.
• A WBC count was, or is, under 4.5.
• Eosinophil level in the CBC manual exam is either at 0-1 or 6-7.
• Total manual Eosinophil level is 140 or less.
• XRAY or other study shows cartilage defects in excess of injury or age median.
• If a full auto-immunity panel is run with at least eight different tests, two are positive; for example, you have a positive anti-gliadin and a positive thyroid peroxidase.
• Positive or near positive (borderline) ELISA, PCR, or a positive tissue biopsy; or a tick from your body is positive for Lyme or other tick infection
• Lab tests show high inflammation, e.g., a high C4a, elevated cholesterol and C-peptide.  These are never specific just for Lyme.
• Lab tests show a MSH level under 30 [the reference range of 0-40 is due to the increase of very sick patients tested, and 40-85 is a better reference range which was used before the flood of the sick reset the range of normal].  MSH is an anti-inflammatory hormone.
• VIP is under 20.  This is an anti-inflammation chemical.

BODY EXAMINATION RESULTS

• Weight loss or gain in excess of 20 pounds in 12 weeks
• A round or oval rash with a dark center was or is present in a loose “bulls-eye pattern” or other size and shape rashes that have no other cause after exposure to ticks and vectors
• Healing is slow after scratches or surgery.  For example, after a cat scratch, flea bite or tick bite the mark is still visible later.
• Skin on arms, hands or feet has a texture like rice paper.
• Clear reaction and effect is seen with antibiotic treatment.  Specifically, a marked improvement or worsening of a serious medical problem or function is observed with a spirochete killing treatment, e.g., doxycycline, tetracycline, minocycline, any penicillin such as amoxicillin, azithromycin, clarithromycin or cefuroxime.
• Presence of skin tags, red papules of any size, excess blood vessels compared to peers, and stretch marks with color or in significant excess of peers.
• Moles and raised or hard plaques in excess of the few on normal skin
• Areas of skin with ulcerations such as those seen in syphilis, but at any location on the body
• Areas of clear hypo-pigmentation and hyper-pigmentation
• Positive ACA (Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans) which is a sign of long term untreated Lyme disease.  Some report ACA begins as a reddish-blue patch of discolored skin, often of the hands or feet.  It may include the back in some patients.  The lesion slowly atrophies over months to years, with many developing skin that is thin, dry, hairless, wrinkled and abnormally colored.  The color of the extremities such as hands and feet can be red, dark red, brown, dark blue or purple.

                                                   SAMPLE NEUROLOGY EXAM

• Patient’s short-term memory is poor.  For example, if asked to recall these numbers—23, 5, 76, 43 and 68—the patient cannot recall them.
• Patient cannot reverse four numbers, so if given—18, 96, 23 and 79—the patient cannot do it.
• If asked to subtract 17 from 120, (college graduate), it cannot be done in a timely manner.  If a high school graduate, subtract 7 from 100 and continue to subtract by 7 four times in 20 seconds.
• Light headedness upon standing quickly in excess of peers, and with no clear cause
• Dizziness unrelated to position
• Dizziness made worse by Lyme killing antibiotics
• Trouble doing a nine step heel to toe straight line walk test with fingers slightly in pockets [The patient should not sway or need their hands pulled out to prevent a fall].  In patients with past experience in skating, skiing, dance or ballet this should be very easy and is rarely a challenge to such people.  If it is not easy, it is suspicious medically, but not only for Lyme disease.
• Trouble performing a one leg lift, in which one leg is lifted 12-18 inches off the ground in front of you, as you count, e.g., “one Mississippi, two Mississippi, etc.”
• Positive nystagmus [your eye jerks when you look right or left]

PATIENT’S REPORTED PHYSICAL HISTORY

• Illnesses that come and go and decrease functioning with no certain cause
• Serious illnesses that undermine function with no clear cause, and which affect more than one body organ
• An abnormal lab result, physical exam finding or illness that is given many diagnoses or has no clear cause
• Mild to severe neurological disorders or psychiatric disorders
• A very profound neurological disease which does not clearly fit the labs, studies and course of the illness
• A moderate or severe medical, psychiatric or neurological illness.  [Many severe disorders can be associated with spirochetes such as those causing syphilis, and some propose that Lyme is also related to a well-known serious brain disease.]
• Severe medical, psychiatric or neurology illness with uncommon features, such as Parkinson’s disease, appearing at a young age
• Facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy)
• Personality has changed negatively and significantly for no clear reason.
• Adult onset ADHD/ADD [Primary psychiatric biological ADD or ADHD is present at 7 years of age. Adult onset is a sign of a medical condition.]
• Functioning at work or in parenting is at least 20% reduced
• Patience and relational skills are decreased by 20% or more
• Inability to learn new information as well as in the past [receptive learning]
• Repeating stories or forgetting information told to close relations, such as a spouse, roommate, sibling, best friend or parent
• Fatigue in excess of normal, or fatigue that is getting worse
• Trouble sleeping including mild to severe insomnia and disrupted sleep
• Sleep in excess of 9 hours a day or night, or sleeping in excess of 9 hours every day if allowed
• Trouble falling asleep
• Trouble staying asleep [Taking a 5 minute bathroom break does not count]
• Gastritis or stomach sensitivity not caused by H. Pylori
• Sensitivity to lights, sounds, touch, smell or unusual tastes
• Sensitivity to cleaning chemicals, fragrances and perfumes
• Blood clots fast when you get a cut, or you have a diagnosed problem with clotting.  This may also be seen in blood draws where blood draw needle clots when blood is being removed. If on a blood thinner, blood thinness level goes up and down too much.
• Someone in your neighborhood within 400 yards in any direction of your dwelling has been diagnosed with a tick borne infection [This includes vacation locations].
• You have someone living with you with any type of tick-borne infection—this assumes they were not merely tested for one infection.  [It is not proven that the small Lyme-carrying ticks only carry Lyme, and it is possible some carry other infections without carrying Lyme at all.
• You have removed any ticks from your body in your lifetime.
• You have removed ticks from your clothing in your lifetime.
• After a tick or bug bite, you had a fever for at least 48 hours.
• After a tick or bug bite, you were ill.
• Grew up or played in areas with many small wild mammals
• When you are in a room that has visible mold or smells like mold and you start to feel ill, you do not return to your baseline health in 24 hours.
• Gaining or losing weight in a manner clearly inconsistent with diet and exercise
• New or more food allergies than ten years ago
• Feel worse after eating breads, pasta or sweets
• No longer tolerate or enjoy alcohol
• Anti-histamines are bothersome, more so than in the past.
• Reaction to medications is excessive (you are very “sensitive” to medications)
• Your response to antibiotics is significantly positive and you feel more functional, or you have the opposite reaction and feel worse, feeling ill, fatigued or agitated.
• Numbness, tingling, burning, or shock sensations in an area of skin
• One or more troublesome skin sensations that move over months or years and do not always stay in one location
• Muscle pain or cramps
• Muscle spasms
• Muscle wasting without a clear cause
• Trouble with your jaw muscle(s) or joint insomnia (TMJ)
• Joint defects in one joint with no clear cause if 20 or younger
• Psychosis at any age, but especially after 40 years of age when usually it would have already manifested itself
• Severe anxiety
• Mania or profound rage
• Depression
• Depression or anxiety that did not exist when you were less than 25 years of age
• Irritability
• Any one of the following: paranoia, dementia, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, panic attacks, major depression, anorexia nervosa or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Increased verbal or physical fighting with others
• A mild to profound decrease of insight, i.e., an infected patient does not see their decreased function, failed treatment or personality change
• A new eccentric rigidity to hearing new medical or other important information
• Difficulty thinking or concentrating
• Poor memory and reduced ability to concentrate
• Increasingly difficult to recall names of people or things
• Difficulty speaking or reading
• Difficulty finding the words to express what you want to say
• Confusion without a clear reason
• An addiction that results in relapse in spite of sincere, reasonable and serious efforts to stop
• Intestinal troubles that are unable to be fully managed and/or which have no clear diagnosis
• Nausea without a clear reason
• Ear problems such as pain or increased ear “pressure”
• Any trouble with the senses (vision, sound, touch, taste or smell).  The use of corrective lenses or contacts does not count, unless the prescription is changed more than expected.
• Buzzing or ringing in ears
• Double vision, floaters, dry eyes, or other vision trouble
• Conjunctivitis (pinkeye) or occasional damage to deep tissue in the eyes
• Cardiac impairment
• Chest pain with all labs and studies in normal range
• Occasional rapid heartbeats (palpitations)
• Heart block/heart murmur
• Heart valve prolapse
• Shortness of breath with no clear cause on pulmonary function tests, examination, lab testing, X-rays, MRI’s, etc.
• Air hunger or feelings of shortness of breath
• Any discomfort within two minutes of being in a musty or moldy location
• Rash or rashes without a simple and obvious cause
• Rashes that persist despite treatment
• Eccentric itching with no clear cause
• Hair loss with no clear cause
• Joint defects in two joints or more if 35 or younger
• Joint defects in three or more locations if younger than 55 with no clear trauma
• Swelling or pain (inflammation) in the joints [Most patients never have joint disease.]
• Joint pain that shifts location
• Neck stiffness
• Chronic arthritis with or without episodes of swelling, redness, and fluid buildup
• Chronic pain in excess of what seems reasonable
• Nerve pain without a clear cause
• Headaches that do not respond fully to treatment, or which are getting worse
• New allergies or increased allergies over those of your peers
• Any autoimmunity–Lyme and other tick infections, over many years, increase inflammation and decrease anti-inflammation chemicals.  We believe this leads to increased food sensitivities, increased autoimmunity and a heightened sensitivity to various chemicals and medications.
• Day time sweats
• Night time sweats
• Chills
• Flu-like symptoms
• Bladder dysfunction of any kind
• Treatment resistant interstitial cystitis
• Abnormal menstrual cycle
• Decreased or increased libido
• Increased motion sickness
• Fainting
• A spinning sensation or vertigo

ENVIRONMENT

 Pets or farm animals positive with ANY tick borne virus, bacteria or protozoa, or clinical symptoms without a clear diagnosis or cause

• The patient’s mother is suspected of having or has been diagnosed with Babesia, Ehrlichia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Anaplasma, Lyme, Bartonella or other tick borne disease based on newer direct and indirect testing, or clinical signs and symptoms.
• A sibling, father, spouse or child with any tick borne infection
• Casual or work-related exposure to outdoor environments with brush, wild grasses, wild streams or woods (Examples- golf courses, parks, gardens, river banks, swamps, etc.)
• Pets, e.g., horses, dogs or cats, have had outdoor exposures to areas such as brush, wild grasses, wild streams or woods.
• Exposure to ticks in your past homes
• Clear exposure to ticks during vacations or other travels
• You played in grass in the past.
• You have been bitten by fleas.
• You have been scratched by a cat or dog.

FINAL WORDS

 Some of the above listed signs and symptoms fit other infections that may be more common than Lyme disease.  Unfortunately, the research and experience indicating diverse infections carried by the Ixodes and other ticks is ignored.  Further, “testing” usually involves one test for a mono-infection–Borrelia or Lyme.  Ticks and other vectors should never be assumed to carry only Lyme disease.

Please note that when we are talking about the Ixodes tick we are not referring to this as a “deer tick” since it has over 200 vectors (Ostfeld).  Many of the tick reduction options presently suggested are not successful in accomplishing their goals.  Reducing deer populations, once thought to reduce tick populations and incidence of Lyme disease, may simply increase tick numbers in mammals and other carriers that live closer to humans.

All healers have their familiar way of thinking, testing and treating.  Kuhn has shown we are all biased and struggle to be objective.  Further, tick and flea infections have almost infinite pathological effects because the human body and these clusters of infections are so complex.  I have not suggested a grid or a set number of symptoms, because one would not fit this list.  Simply, the goal of this checklist is to have you think broadly.

You cannot use this checklist to diagnose Lyme disease or to rule it out.

A Lyme checklist is very medically important, since it is still an emerging illness and can sometimes disable or increase mortality risk in patients of any age if not diagnosed and treated early in the infection.

Writings in the past fifteen years have either viewed Babesia and Bartonella as mere “co-infections,” or a footnote of a spirochetal infection [i.e., Lyme].  Either infection can hide for decades, and then possibly disable or kill a person by causing a clot, heart arrhythmia or by other means.

The detection of Lyme from stained tissue samples or blood is very difficult.  Currently, the well-established indirect lab test patterns presented are not used or understood by all health care professionals.  While this is fully understandable, I hope it may change in the coming decade.  Tick infections have systemic impacts on the body, and are not limited to effects reported in journal articles, a few books or any national or international guidelines.

ABOUT JAMES SCHALLER, M.D., M.A.R.

Dr. Schaller has published the four most recent textbooks on Babesia and the only recent textbook in any language on Bartonella.  His most recent book on Lyme, Babesia and Bartonella includes a “researchers only” list of over 2,600 references considered to be a start for basic education in tick infection medicine.

He published articles on both Babesia as a cancer primer and Bartonella as a profound psychiatric disease under the supervision of the former editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).  He also published entries on multiple tick and flea-borne infections, including Babesia, Bartonella and Lyme disease, in a respected infection textbook endorsed by the NIH Director of Infectious Disease.

Dr. Schaller is the author of seven texts on tick and flea-borne infections.  He is rated a TOP and BEST physician, with the latter being awarded to only 1 in 20 physicians by physician ratings.  He is also rated a TOP physician by patients, again ranking in the top 5 percent of physicians.

For full bibliography of text click here.

If you ever experience the symptoms of a heart attack, go immediately to the nearest hospital emergency room. Never take chances with heart disease.

A Heart Attack may cause some or all of these symptoms:

• Pain, pressure, fullness, discomfort or squeezing in the center of the chest
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Stabbing chest pain
• Radiating pain to shoulder(s), neck, back, arm(s) or jaw
• Pounding heartbeats (palpitations) or feeling extra heartbeats
• Upper abdominal pain
• Nausea, vomiting or severe indigestion
• Sweating for no apparent reason
• Dizziness with weakness
• Sudden extreme fatigue
• Panic with feeling of impending doom

The pain is quite distinct.

One person has described it as: “a heavy, strangulating, suffocating experience-far more intense than anything like indigestion, chest wall injuries, pleurisy or spasms of the esophagus that you are familiar with.

The pain may seem to start under the breastbone, on the left side of the chest, and sometimes radiates out to other places: throat, neck, jaw, left shoulder and arm and, occasionally, on to the right side.

There are several different types of heart attacks but even “angina”, the mildest form of heart attack , is an intense, scary episode. But with rest and calm (or by placing nitroglycerin or another kind of nitrate under the tongue), angina attacks usually go away in about 15 minutes or so. If they last longer than that, go to the hospital and have a thorough check up. Long-lasting angina attacks may be the prelude to more severe heart attacks.

For more information on the symptoms of heart attacks go to: http://holisticonline.com/remedies/Heart/heart_attack_identifying.htm

I have the misfortune of suffering with Lyme myocarditis and I will tell you from experience that it is the most terrifying aspect of my disease.

The attacks come without warning, even in from the depths of deep sleep, and ER doctors look at me like a crazy person because I don’t show signs of typical heart disease.

Don’t take a chance with your heart!

Lyme disease can cause myocarditis, and heart muscle disease.

Lyme is a multisystem disorder that can attack any or every organ in the human body, causing unique infections from organ to organ. Unfortunately, absolute proof would require a biopsy of the infected tissue and the heart can only be studied after death.

However, recent studies using rhesus monkeys by Mario Phillip from Tulane University verify this unique phenomenon by demonstrating that the spirochetes change their genetic code by altering their proteins.

According to Pub Med, a study was conducted at the University of Austria in Vienna that verified Lyme disease as a cause of chronic heart muscle disease. Read about it here.

On June 20, 2011, The New York Times published an article, “Once Rare, Infection by Tick Bites Spreads” by Laurie Tarkan; bravely presenting  evidence that shows the alarming spread of Babesiosis  (Babesia – a malaria-like parasite that attacks the red blood cells, and has been considered by many of us to be a common co-infection of Lyme disease.)

Finally the extraordinary mystery surrounding the wide range of differing symptoms and intensity of various symptoms have been set under the umbrella of Babesia microti (although there could be many different and as of yet unlabeled variations of the parasite) while only months ago, and today in some hospitals, Babesiosis was only considered if the symptoms were life threatening.  My own primary care doctor told me five years ago – in spite of my symptoms – that I wasn’t sick enough to have Babesiosis.

Not surprisingly, the fatalities were always in the spotlight, and it has not been until recently with the release of some new studies that more is being understood about Babesiosis, and more in depth questions being brought to the fore.

The CDC recently announced that there has been a twenty-fold increase in Babesiosis  between 2001 and 2008 – in only seven years!  Another study on Block Island showed that Babesiosis is only 25% less common than Lyme disease in the 70% of islanders tested.  Even more alarming is that one quarter of the adults, and one half of the children that tested positive for Babesiosis showed no symptoms at all!

These frightening results affect our society on so many levels, many of which are immediately obvious.  Thankfully government officials are not closing their eyes like they have with Lyme disease but have immediately considered the ramifications concerning the nation’s blood supply.  As you may or may not know, blood banks do not screen blood for Lyme and/or the many co-infections including Babesiosis.

Additionally, it appears that contracting Babesiosis from blood transfusions is more likely to end in fatality according to a study by the American Red Cross – 30% of those infected through infusions died.

The good news is that more effort is being made to find a reliable screening tool to discover these pathogens as soon as possible. The Rhode Island Blood Center has become the first in the country to use an experimental new test to screen blood for the parasite which will hopefully develop into a blood test for those of us trying to find a diagnosis for our mysterious disease symptoms.  The pressure is definitely on.

For more information: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/health/21ticks.html?_r=3

and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19624607

Recently a friend emailed me the website for Dr.  Charles Crist (pictured) that contains a wonderfully concise description of the outstanding symptoms of Lyme.

This is important for several reasons.  As the number of Lyme victims rise, the discussion and medical debate becomes louder and filters into hundreds of thousands of living rooms leaving fear and questions behind. Also, due to the complexity of Lyme disease, it is easy for skeptics to roll their eyes and mentally throw the baby out with the bathwater. As this terrifying epidemic continues to spread, we need to be able to fight for our medical rights and insist on the care we need, as well as discuss the disease in a rational manner.

Lyme disease can and will mimic any disease or illness.  Most doctors will look for the more accepted explanation of our symptoms; fibromyalgia, MS, ALS, depression, arthritis, neuropathy…rather than risk stepping out of the mainstream (and the censure of their peers) by looking for Lyme. We need to insist.  Knowledge is power, and we don’t need to understand the details of the medical terminology (and with Lyme fog that may be impossible anyways.)  We just need to understand enough to ensure that our doctors are giving us the correct diagnostic tests, and not ignoring what could be vital diagnostic information.

Another confusing and often insurmountable problem – even for those doctors who are willing to to consider Lyme, is that the longer we have had it, the deeper it has drilled into our brain, ligaments, joints and soft tissue where blood flow is not as strong, and due to the intelligence of the Lyme bacteria, our body begins to accept the invaders and creates fewer and fewer antibodies – which is how they test for Lyme with the western blot – looking for antibodies that are created by our immune system when it senses a Lyme invasion.

This is why after years of suffering, when my body finally collapsed and I could no longer walk or tolerate sound or light of any kind (in addition to many, many other Lyme symptoms) my Igenex western blot was considered negative by the CDC while my husband who took the test only at my insistence had a clearly positive western blot according to the CDC although he had very few symptoms.

For a much more complete symptom list I offer an ebook called “Could I Have Lyme Disease?” along with many other ebooks at http://lymediseaseresource.com/Free_Ebooks.html.

Back to Dr. Crist in Columbus, Missouri.  Following is what he has written about chronic Lyme disease that I feel is very valuable for everyone, but especially anyone who is interested in understanding why this disease is becoming such a hotly debated issue.

In many ways, borreliosis is like syphilis. Both of the germs that cause syphilis and borreliosis are called spirochetes (spiral-shaped bacteria).  Before penicillin was discovered, doctors called syphilis “a great imitator” because syphilis can imitate or mimic virtually any disease.  Likewise, borreliosis often mimics other diseases.    Borreliosis can cause any symptom and any disease. People who have not been healthy need to consider this infection as a possibility if they are trying to find the cause of their medical problems.

When the initial bacterial infection occurs after a tick bite, people may develop a rash and experience a flu-like illness.  Often the rash is a red ring resembling a bulls-eye, but occasionally the rash may be red all the way across.  The key is whether the rash enlarges or gets bigger, not if it is a red ring or solid red.  The proper name of the borreliosis rash is erythema migrans, erythema meaning red and migrans meaning the rash migrates or enlarges.  In my opinion, a tick bite followed by a rash that enlarges and/or a flu-like illness is borreliosis until proven otherwise.

Borreliosis patients with a chronic infection most commonly have pain, tiredness, brain or thinking problems, blurry vision and neurological (nerve) problems.  Remember, the borreliosis bacteria may cause virtually any symptom or disease. In addition to other symptoms, borreliosis patients usually also have hypercoagulation (thrombophilia), endocrinopathies (hormone deficiencies), toxic metal elevations, deficiencies of essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, and also vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  Borreliosis patients are usually low in iodine, have allergies, dead infected bone (osteonecrosis) in the jaw, have neurotransmitter deficiencies, and may have chenical sensitivities. (These topics are addressed in other sections of this website.)

Pain is far and away the number one problem for those with borreliosis.  Not all patients have pain, but most do.  Any part of the body can hurt, including the head, neck, eyes, ears, jaw, arms, hands, chest, abdomen, back, legs, feet, muscles and joints.  This pain is sometimes worse than pain caused by surgery! Morphine may not help.

Tiredness or fatigue is the second most common symptom of borreliosis.  If you divided the pain symptoms into specific categories such as headache or joint pain, then fatigue would become the number one symptom.  This tiredness has often been misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome.  It can be so severe that the fatigue is described as complete exhaustion.  Many are so tired that they lose their jobs and cannot help at home.  They may also attempt a minor physical activity like walking to the mailbox or taking out the trash and become so tired that they have to go to bed.

The third most common symptom is brain or cognitive problems.  Common symptoms or diseases include memory loss, decreased mental concentration, mood swings, irritability, depression, anxiety, panic disorder, manic-depressive illness (bipolar), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), paranoia, schizophrenia, and “brain fog”.

Blurry vision is the fourth most common symptom in borreliosis, but that is with combining all of the various pains together and all of the brain or thinking problems together.  The bacteria can inflame any part of the eye (causing conjunctivitis, iritis, uveitis, retinitis and optic neuritis), so having blurry vision as a common symptom is not surprising.

Finally, there are the neurological symptoms.  Neurological borreliosis is also known as neuroborreliosis.  Patients may experience numbness, tingling, burning, twitching, jerking, and muscle weakness. In addition, they may have seizures, and multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig disease) encephalitis, meningitis, stroke and dementia.  As one neurologist who specializes in borreliosis put it, “The chapter on neurological Lyme disease is still being written.”  As I stated earlier, borreliosis is like syphilis and may imitate or mimic any disease, including neurological disorders.

In addition to the above symptoms, there are “red flags” that I highly associate with borreliosis.  These include memory loss, twitching around the eyes, Bell’s palsy (in which half of the face droops), tinnitus (which is ringing or buzzing in the ears), symptoms that affect one side of the body more than the other, symptoms that are worse when a patient first gets out of bed or that are worse in the winter, when patients use words like “strange” or “weird” in describing their illness, and finally, when patients have been to a good doctor (or many doctors) and yet the cause of the symptoms or disease is still unknown.

Borreliosis patients are often misdiagnosed as being hypochondriacs.  They are told that they are just getting older, or that they are lazy, crazy or simply overstressed.  They are often referred for counseling when actually what they really need are antibiotics.  Because the symptoms can be so varied and are often so vague, borreliosis is typically not even considered for testing or treatment.

The responsibility must be with us to insist that Lyme be considered, and if our doctor is unwilling to consider this possibility then it is critical we find a doctor who has experience diagnosing and treating Lyme.  Unfortunately, the longer we have it, the longer it takes to get rid of.

The good news is that a new infection of Lyme is easily spotted and easily treated.  Again, the responsibility is ours.  Dr. Crist can be found athttp://www.drcharlescrist.com/index.htm.

by Greg Lee / Two Frogs Healing Center

Ever had a difficult time seeing the road when driving in the rain?
You want to avoid crashing into something, so you try all sorts of things to be able to see more clearly. You flip on the windshield wipers. If that doesn’t work, then you turn on the defroster to clear moisture off the inside of the windshield. Or if you wear glasses, then you try wiping them off.

How is driving in the rain similar to blurry vision caused by Lyme disease?

Just like a blurry windshield, a Lyme infection can obscure your vision
There can be several different causes of Lyme induced blurry vision. Clients have reported having blurred vision due to a Lyme infection in their eyes. This condition has been effectively cleared up with antibiotics in most cases.

Other clients report occasional bouts of blurry vision, which may be due to toxins affecting the visual pathways in the brain. Through using detoxification methods such as herbs, acupuncture, cupping, and dietary changes, these clients see an improvement in their vision through detoxifying their brain. However, there are a group of people who have vision problems that persist, despite several rounds of antibiotics or effective detoxification methods. These clients are often suffering from an energy imbalance in their “Liver” as described by Chinese medicine.

The different energies of the Liver in Chinese medicine and how they affect vision
In Chinese medicine, the term “Liver” is used to describe the actual organ in your body and its associated “energies.” The capitalized version of “Liver” in this article refers to the Chinese definition. The energies of the Liver are further defined using keywords like “Liver-qi,” “Liver-blood,” and “Liver-yin.” Liver-qi is responsible for the smooth flow of energy in the body and the emotions. “Liver-blood” describes how the Liver is responsible for maintaining a smooth flow of blood in the body and its ability to nourish whatever blood comes into contact with, especially the eyes. One quality of “Liver-yin” is the ability to moisten the eyes.

“Liver-qi communicates with the eyes and if the Liver functions harmoniously, the eyes can differentiate the five essential colors….If the Liver receives blood, we can see. The Liver channel [acupuncture pathway of the Liver] branches out to the eyes. Both Liver-qi and Liver-blood flood the eyes to maintain proper eyesight. A person’s eyesight may therefore also serve as an indicator for Liver function.”
- Translated from the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Cannon 2nd Century BCE¹.

How does Lyme disease affect these Liver energies, which can produce vision problems?

Persistent blurry vision can be due to a depletion of Liver-blood and Liver-yin
The Liver can get overwhelmed and blocked by the toxins produced by a chronic Lyme infection. These toxins have a hot quality and deplete the moistening energy of Liver-yin.  Long-term antibiotics can also block up the Liver’s ability to maintain a smooth flow of energy to the eyes. Over a long period, these conditions can lead to a deficiency of “Liver-blood” and “Liver-yin²” which can produce blurry vision. When these two energies of the Liver are replenished, you see an improvement in visual clarity. Here are two methods for replenishing the energies of the Liver, which help people with Lyme disease to improve their vision.

Two ways to replenish the depleted Liver-blood and Liver-yin to improve vision
Here are two methods for effectively restoring the Liver-blood and Liver-yin energies of the Liver: 1) Acupuncture with moxabustion and 2) Chinese herbal medicine.

Method #1: Acupuncture and moxabustion
There are acupuncture points along the inner surface of the lower legs and also on the mid-back on either side of the spine that are needled to help replenish Liver-blood and Liver-yin.

Moxabustion is a process of placing a cone of ground up herb called moxa on these same acupuncture points and lighting it with an incense stick. Once the cone gets warm, it is removed before it gets too hot. This process helps to deeply nourish and replenish these energies that get depleted by a chronic Lyme infection. Many patients also report other symptoms like pain resolving quickly through treatments of acupuncture and moxabustion.

Method #2: Chinese Herbs
There are many herbs that increase visual clarity through replenishing Liver-blood and/or Liver-yin. Here are three different herbs which nourish Liver-blood and/or Liver-yin. Selecting the best herbs depends upon the other presenting symptoms that occur along with blurry vision.

Herb #1: Shu Di Huang (Radix Rehmanniae Preparata)
The properties of this herb are: nourishes Liver-blood, moistens Liver-yin, arrests coughing and wheezing. This herb is used to treat a wide variety of symptoms like blurry vision, dizziness, palpitations, insomnia, fatigue, weakness, sore back, weak knees, tinnitus, night sweats, premature gray hair, and forgetfulness. This herb is to be used with caution in patients with digestive problems, coldness in the stomach, or sharp stabbing pain in the abdomen³. There are no known drug interactions at the time of publication.

Herb #2: Shi Jue Ming (Concha Haliotidis)
This herb works to clear vision by nourishing Liver-yin and reducing heat in the Liver. It also has properties of pacifying the Liver, clearing the eyes, clears heat in the stomach, stops pain, and stops bleeding. This herb is used for symptoms of hypertension, dizziness, tinnitus, headaches, migraines, bitter taste in the mouth, irritability, insomnia, fever, palpitations, forgetfulness, sore knees, weak back, constipation, and heat spells in the body.

It is also used to treat other eye disorders like red, swollen painful eyes, photophobia, glaucoma, cataracts, dry eyes, and diminished visual acuity. Shi Jue Ming is also used for stomach problems like acid reflux, heartburn, bleeding ulcers, and stomach pain. This herb is cautioned for patients that have loose stools and a poor appetite⁴. There are no known drug interactions at the time of publication.

Herb #3: Gou Qi Zi (Fructus Lycii)
This herb is very nourishing and a chief herb for treating visual disorders caused by a lack of Liver-yin. It is used especially for weakened patients that need strengthening over a long period of time. It is used for a variety of symptoms like: dizziness, blurry vision, infertility, soreness and weakness of the low back and knees, gray hair, night sweats, impotence, insomnia, or feeling like your bones are being steamed.

Gou Qi Zi is used to treat lung problems like dry cough with difficult to expectorate phlegm, coughing up blood, and afternoon fevers. This herb is cautioned for use in patients with diarrhea. It is also cautioned with pregnant patients because it can cause a contraction of the uterus⁵. There are no known drug interactions at the time of publication. A Lyme literate Chinese herbalist can help you to determine which herbs are best for addressing your visual problems and other symptoms. Patients report gradual improvements with treatment.

One patient reported a gradual increase in visual clarity
A 40 year old patient, who reported having Lyme disease symptoms for twenty-two years, was unable to drive or work due to blurry vision. She had been taking the anti-malaria drug Plaqenil for over thirteen years which can have visual disturbances as a side-effect.

After four weeks of receiving weekly acupuncture and taking Shi Jue Ming (Concha Haliotidis) and Gou Qi Zi (Fructus Lycii) along with other anti-Lyme herbs, she was able to see clearly enough drive over an hour to her medical appointments. At seven weeks, she was able to return to work at a job which required her to read detailed medical charts of patients. Using the right treatments and herbs can make a big difference in resolving persistent blurry vision.

The right treatment combination can help clarify your vision
Just like getting your windshield cleared off in a rainstorm, the proper combination of acupuncture, moxabustion, and herbs help you to regain your visual clarity from the debilitating effects of a chronic Lyme infection. These herbs can also address a wide variety of related Lyme disease symptoms, so work with a Lyme Literate Chinese Herbalist to determine the proper, safe, and effective herbal combination for your condition.

- Greg

1. Dharmananda, S. The Liver: Views from the Past. http://www.itmonline.org/5organs/liver.htm
2. Flaws, B., and P. Sionneau.  2005. The Treatment of Modern Western Medical Diseases with Chinese Medicine. 2nd Edition. Boulder, Colorado, Blue Poppy Press. p. 351.
3. Chen, John K., and Tina T. Chen. 2004. Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology. City of Industry CA: Art of Medicine Press, Inc., p. 924 – 927
4. Chen, John K., and Tina T. Chen. 2004. Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology. City of Industry CA: Art of Medicine Press, Inc., p.  796 – 797
5. Chen, John K., and Tina T. Chen. 2004. Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology. City of Industry CA: Art of Medicine Press, Inc., p. 956 – 957.

©2001-2010 Two Frogs Healing Center. All rights reserved.
Wouldn’t you love to stumble upon a hidden library of powerful healing tools and ideas? Find simple, yet effective methods on herbal remedies, acupuncture, spiritual healing for Lyme disease, chronic pain, emotional eating, and food cravings.

Head down to http://www.GoodbyeLyme.com today and judge for yourself.

If you are not responding to Lyme treatment, chances are, you are infected with another tick-borne disease.  The more research that is applied to this aspect of Lyme treatment, the more types of Bartonella that are being discovered, and the amazing symbiotic nature these diseases share.

As Dr. James Schaller recently wrote to me (visit his website for many articles and peer-reviewed studies at personalconsult.com) that the top Bartonella veterinary researcher (among about the top three,)  just published things that he had posted 5 years ago, and wisely discusses the increasing need for Bartonella–literate physicians to talk with veterinary thinkers/researchers.

FOUR QUOTES OF INTEREST:

…antibody testing for Bartonella species is proving to be very insensitive.

The genus Bartonella is also unusual because it appears that no other infectious agent is transmitted by more vectors.

…patient response to treatment is frequently incomplete.

…clearly some of us now are much more concerned about the genus Bartonella than anyone is at the National Institutues of Health (NIH) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The veterinarian’s article follows:

“Bartonellosis: An emerging and potentially hidden epidemic?”

By Edward B. Breitschwerdt, DVM, DACVIM

Bartonella species, their animal hosts, potential vectors, and sequelae of infection are being identified at a snowballing rate. A new diagnostic test may help DVMs and MDs come together to better understand these infections in their patients.

Veterinarians and physicians should talk to each other more frequently than we have in the past. Of all known organisms, 61% are zoonotic,1,2 and of the emerging pathogens, the vast majority are zoonotic organisms… In recent years, the genus Bartonella has been the major focus of our vector-borne research efforts.

BARTONELLA SPECIES COMPLEXITIES

The organism that causes cat scratch disease in people was identified as a Bartonella species in 1992. As researchers have continued to study these bacteria, we’ve learned that the intraerythrocytic component of the infection with a Bartonella species has been somewhat overemphasized… Bartonella species are endotheliotropic bacteria that use a specialized invasion process to enter endothelial cells and can move about the body by infecting macrophages, with localization in a variety of tissues…3

Researchers have learned that Bartonella species are the first bacteria identified to have an ability to invade CD34+ progenitor cells in bone marrow.5 This may be why we find Bartonella organisms in cats in only a low percentage (3%) of their erythrocytes.

The genus Bartonella is also unusual because it appears that no other infectious agent is transmitted by more vectors. We now know that sand flies, human body lice, cat fleas, rodent fleas, and probably many other flea species are capable of transmitting certain Bartonella species. And cattle, deer, elk, and sheep all have their own Bartonella species that appear to be transmitted by biting flies or keds (wingless flies)…6

AN UNDER-RECOGNIZED ZOONOSIS

In my opinion, physicians and veterinarians need to come together regarding bartonellosis, because it appears to be an important and under-recognized zoonosis… diagnostic test sensitivity for documenting infection with this genus of bacteria is extremely poor, and based upon recent experience in our laboratory, patient response to treatment is frequently incomplete.

…what’s important for physicians and veterinarians to recognize is that some of these Bartonella species are found in cats, dogs, rats, ground squirrels, and rabbits. In 1992, two Bartonella species were known to exist, and in 2009, over 26 named or candidatus species exist.

ANIMAL RESERVOIR HOSTS

Bartonella species are present in a multitude of animal species. One of the most recently identified Bartonella species, Bartonella australis, was found in kangaroos.13 Unexpectedly, 82% of beef cattle in North Carolina have Bartonella bovis in their blood.14 My laboratory can isolate a Bartonella species from one or two out of three feral cats in North Carolina,15 and other laboratories around the world have documented similar levels of bacteremia in flea-infested cats.

Another important point for physicians and veterinarians to consider is that many of their patients and clients have pocket pets, some of which tend to scratch and bite. Unfortunately, numerous Bartonella species have been identified in the blood of various rodent species. For example, the overall prevalence was 26% in the population of wild and captive animals brought to Japan to be sold as pocket pets.16 The human medical literature in the United States reveals case reports of previously healthy people with no evidence of louse exposure and a history of cat exposure who presented to their physicians for evaluation of lymphadenopathy or seizures and were found to be infected with Bartonella quintana.17 More recently, our laboratory isolated B. quintana from cats and from a woman who was bitten by one of those cats.17

…In reviewing the human literature, as it relates to B. quintana, it told me, as a veterinary internist, what I should be looking for in my canine patients if I suspect that this organism is causing disease. And vice versa: I would suggest that physicians review data and observations that veterinarians are generating in regard to this genus of bacteria, because clearly some of us now are much more concerned about the genus Bartonella than anyone is at the National Institutues of Health (NIH) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

SIMILARITIES OF DISEASE EXPRESSION IN PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

Bartonella species can induce a number of what I think are fairly well established pathologies in either dogs or people.18

…So we’re seeing that what’s occurring in people is also occurring in dogs—for example, about 80% of people and about 80% of dogs have endocarditis selectively involving the aortic valve. And based on the veterinary literature, physicians may want to put bartonellosis on their differential lists for children with unexplained epistaxis.19,22,23

BETTER DETECTION OF BARTONELLA SPECIES INFECTIONS

After the first isolation of B. vinsonii ssp. berkhoffii, we had difficulty isolating Bartonella species in other dogs by using culture or by detecting Bartonella DNA in patient samples by PCR testing, even though we could detect antibodies by using an immunofluorescent antibody assay. In our laboratory, we had discussed that these bacteria seem to be happier in insects than they do in dogs, so we decided to develop an optimized insect cell culture media to enhance the growth of Bartonella species.24,25 The insect cell culture media—Bartonella alpha Proteobacteria Growth Medium, or BAPGM (Galaxy Diagnostics, www.galaxydx.com)—combined with PCR testing now allows us to grow and detect these bacteria in animals and immunocompetent people better than any other diagnostic test currently available.26-28

My laboratory has found that 50% of dogs and people infected with B. henselae or B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii do not have detectable antibodies to any of the six different Bartonella species antigens used in our testing.18,26,27 So antibody testing for Bartonella species is proving to be very insensitive.

INITIAL BAPGM RESULTS AND POTENTIAL SEQUELAE OF BARTONELLA SPECIES INFECTION

Using BAPGM, our laboratory has recently started testing people ….[ with Duke] 14 of 42 people had positive Bartonella species cultures and several had Bartonella species coinfections.26 Using a survey instrument that we developed, this group of people with occupational animal contact and vector exposure described having headaches, insomnia, memory loss, muscle pain, and joint pain.26 Similar to our findings, physicians in Israel have generated a nice body of evidence regarding the long-term follow up of patients with cat scratch disease 29-31 and have shown that a subset of those patients later develop chronic arthritis, chronic myalgia, and chronic musculoskeletal pain as components of their illness.

We now know that some people and some dogs can be coinfected with more than one Bartonella species, as is the case in cats that may be simultaneously infected with three hemotropic Mycoplasma species.32 It was the use of BAPGM that allowed us to culture B. quintana from a woman who had been bitten by a feral cat (although we had expected to culture B. henselae or Bartonella clarridgeiae instead). Months later, we used the BAPGM enrichment approach to culture B. quintana from the feral cat that had bitten her and another feral cat that lived on her property.17 We have also used the BAPGM platform to obtain the first DNA evidence of human infection with candidatus Bartonella melophagi,28 and CDC investigators used this approach to make the first isolates of Bartonella tamiae from febrile human patients.33

MY FATHER’S ILLNESS AND BARTONELLA SPECIES

About two years ago, my 86-year-old father, who lived in a rural farm community and had developed gradual, progressive joint pain… He subsequently developed memory loss that was thought to be possible Alzheimer’s disease. He then fell twice a few weeks apart, and a third time he fell, his hip fractured. He had many postoperative complications, and during his stay in a rehabilitation hospital he developed seizures.

At this point I became intimately involved… We ultimately identified what appears to be a new Bartonella species, most closely related to “Candidatus Bartonella volans,” in his blood, as well as B. henselae and B. vinsonii ssp. berkhoffii.40

BARTONELLA SPECIES INFECTION AND ONE MEDICINE

There are several more examples in the literature that describe people with unexplained and chronic illnesses, who are identified as having positive Bartonella species test results. What I have described today doesn’t prove causation of illness, but I think we have justification to worry about disease causation. Bartonella species infection is truly a problem in comparative medicine and a place where One Medicine applies. Veterinarians and physicians need to work closely to find solutions for the benefit of our respective patients. Although we still have much to learn about these bacteria, we now have a better way of detecting them in patient samples; therefore, we need to find out what they’re doing in our patients and how often they’re doing it.

Source: http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com

Dr. Schaller believes that Dr. Breitschwerdt’s recent findings in many areas are revelutionary but will sadly be ignored for 3-10 years.

What is causing every intelligent mind, shaking in their figurative boots, is that this veterinarian/researcher keeps finding deadly new human forms – it seems as though every other second.  Other researchers and practitioners will have to begin to pay attention not only because of his brilliant article, but his innovative way to isolate these deadly new forms, and the sheer number of deadly forms that are being identified.

During my major crash, before diagnosis with Lyme, my body ached constantly as though I had a temperature of 102.°F degrees, yet when I took my temp, it was rarely over 96.°F degrees.  I bought 3 new thermometers thinking they must all be broken because one reading was as low as 93.°F degrees and the highest was 97.°F after a very long hot bath (after which I felt I would die of heart failure.)

As I went through the long trek from doctor to specialist, Maine to Boston, I never had one doctor consider my low temperature an indication of anything.  The most prestigious infectious disease doctor in Boston actually derided me for even mentioning the low temps and said that it didn’t matter.

Well, imagine my surprise when I read the following by Dr. David Jernigan from the Hansa Center in Wichita Kansas (http://hansacenter.com/)

Cancer and Low Body Temperature

By Dr. David Jernigan of Hansa Center for Optimum Health

One of the very common findings I have noticed in cancer sufferers is a low body temperature or at least a very dysregulated distribution of temperature in the body. I am not here promoting the externally applied hyperthermia treatments that are being used to “kill cancer cells.”

I am not necessarily opposed to their use, but this article deals primarily with the importance of restoring and maintaining a normal core body temperature. This is true not just in cancer but in every degenerative disease of our day.

Your core body temperature is the temperature taken under the tongue. When human physiology books refer to the “normal” core body temperature it is presented as a range sometimes listed between 97.0-99.0°F .

Understand that the “Normal Range” for temperature or even the normal ranges in blood tests are based upon the average person of our day. That is why “normal” changes periodically, because as our average population continues to get sicker the Normal Ranges must be adjusted. So in this discussion I am speaking about what is an optimal core body temperature – 98.6-99.6°F.

Much emphasis is usually placed upon feverish conditions; however, a low body temperature is a much more sinister condition. Where a fever can be viewed as an active developmental and corrective process of the healthy body, a low body temperature can never be viewed as a normal or healthy condition, nor is it a mechanism for a learning or developmental process in the body. A low body temperature creates a happy home for viruses and chronic infections, and is a sign of degeneration and gradual cellular death.

Low body temperature is the plague of the 21st century. People with low body temperature have a weak reaction to even the most ideal medicines and therapies. As the body’s core temperature becomes cold, the energetic crystalline matrix experiences a systemic collapse as tissues condense and cellular tensegrity, the infrastructure of the intra and extracellular matrix, loses its structural conductivity and integrity.

The cooperative and collective intelligence of the human organism is short-circuited as the body temperature cools. As a result, all cellular functions decrease.

There is a decrease in the production of all hormones, neurotransmitters, and other body chemicals necessary for normal healthy balance.

As a result there is an increased susceptibility to infectious disease as temperature drops the acidity of the body increases and the normally predominantly negative polarity of the cells become more positively charged. I will go into the polarity issues in more detail later.

The colder the body becomes the more prone to depression and other psychological abnormalities and all degenerative illnesses of the body, mind and spirit.

Until the causes of the lowered temperature are addressed and corrected, the best that can be hoped for is only temporary or mild improvement of symptoms and a gradual but steady overall decline in health.

Viruses prefer and promote a cold environment and replicate at a much more rapid rate when the body is cold. Viruses are killed and further replication is impeded by maintaining a warm body. Some bacteria such as Lyme spirochetes also prefer and promote a cold environment and can remain in a chronic state as long as their cold environment is maintained. Therefore, in the interest of the prevention and treatment of any viral, bacterial, or chronic illness, this topic must be understood.

The ultimate body coldness is seen in death. When observing a corpse many clinical gems can be gleaned and correlated to degenerative states of human suffering. In death, the blood and lymph fluid of the body solidify and the body becomes stiff and cold. In the same way many chronic cold illnesses such as cancer, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, diabetes, and heart disease, we see that the body becomes progressively colder. As the body cools, the electrical oscillations of the fluids in the body slow down and there is a shift in the body’s polarity which promotes infectious microbes and cancer.

We can see the same principle of what happens in the body by observing the same dynamics in a water molecule. When the electrical oscillations of a water molecule slows down it becomes a solid, ice, as we speed up a water molecule’s electrical oscillations it liquefies and ultimately becomes a vapor.

The colder a body becomes, the slower the electrical oscillatory rate and therefore the thicker, more viscous, or syrupy the body fluids become. The more viscous the fluids become the more difficult it is for the body to push the fluids through the body. The lymph fluids that are normally supposed to bathe the outsides of all of your cells become progressively stagnant as it is too thick to move efficiently.

Now, consider the fact that just like your skin is constantly dying and flaking off and being replaced, so it is that every cell in your body is in a constant state of dying and being replaced. Only now the cold, syrupy lymph fluid cannot wash the dead cellular debris away. As a result the body becomes a toxic waste dump!

Muscles normally have a high demand for energy. Due to the constant contraction and relaxation mechanism of muscle tissue, muscles assist in eliminating their own cellular waste products. In a cold body however, the liquidity of the fluids inside of the muscles is gone, and the muscles cannot move the toxins and cellular debris. The deeper you go into belly or center of the muscle, the more difficult it is to move the toxins. All muscular contraction grinds to a halt, like an engine with no lubricating oil. The belly of the muscle develops a knot that can be felt when massaging the muscle. This is the knotted, painful, muscle condition commonly known as “trigger points” of Fibromyalgia Syndrome, which is being diagnosed in millions of people every year.

If the low body temperature is allowed to persist and no therapies are applied, even in a palliative manner as in massages to move toxins manually out of the belly of the muscle, the condition follows that of the water molecule. The belly of the muscle, due to the increasing coldness and decreased muscular activity progressively over time reaches the point of zero electrical oscillations at which time the tissue solidifies in a calcified stone in the belly of the muscle.

Interesting research that supports this concept has been performed by Dr. Carolyn McMakin, D.C. using the electro-therapy called microcurrent. The microcurrent is applied through direct contact on these trigger points via vinyl/graphite gloves connected to the microcurrent machine. The trigger points virtually vanish under the gentle touch of the glove when applying the correct electrical frequency.

What may be happening here is that the stimulation of the muscle through microcurrent is externally increasing the electrical oscillatory rate of the thickened fluids in the muscle resulting in temporarily restoring the normal liquidity of the fluids allowing the muscles to once again contract and pump out the toxic accumulation. The results are somewhat temporary due to the fact that the underlying condition that created it in our scenario, the overall low body temperature, remains unchanged.

However, used in combination with various other corrective measures, this micro current therapy can speed healing in many cases. [Relief of Fibromyalgia Through Microcurrent Therapy by John W. Addington
ImmuneSupport.com 7-11-2001]

To continue on with the other degenerative aspects going on in the body, we can once again see that the body is set up on electrical circuits all of which are interdependent and interconnected. One circuit in the body cannot go down without ultimately affecting the whole. Therefore, if the muscle is seizing up and becoming progressively rigid and solidified, what do you suppose the organ that is also on that same electrical circuit is doing? It is likely that to some degree it is also progressively seizing up and solidifying.

In the many miles of blood vessels, the cold thick blood is more difficult to push through the veins and arteries. Arteriosclerosis, the progressive hardening of the arteries, and the clogging of the blood vessels is manifesting the exact same problem that is being experienced by every tissue in the too cold body. Edema in the extremities is seen as the muscular walls of the blood vessels seize up and can no longer maintain tone and the fluids leaks out of the pores of the vessels.

I look at many older patients and some not so old who are experiencing all the signs and symptoms of death in the extremities. They are dying in their extremities first, from the feet and hands up to legs to the torso. To touch their feet is just like touching an icy, stiff, dead corpse. The foot is deathly whitish blue and etched in blue/black blood vessels from devitalized, stagnant blood.

The overcooling of peripheral blood returning from cold legs and feet causes depression of the temperature in the vital organs with slowing of metabolic processes, particularly in the brain and medullary centers. [Cotran R.S., Kumar V., Robbins S.L., Robbin’s Pathological Basis of Disease 4th ed. 1989 pp501.]

Death occurs when a vital organ reaches the point of being too cold. Your physician can name your disease, he can call it cancer, he can draw your blood and show you everything that is wrong with it, but he is simply describing the process I have just outlined. When the core temperature of the body is cold every organ, gland, and tissue is affected and becomes hypo-functional.

Hypo-functional means that there are fewer hormones, and less of every chemical involved with normal body and brain function. Even the psyche is affected leading to virtually any type of psychological problem, especially depression. How many people are told that they have psychological depression from a deficiency of a certain brain chemical?

Many!

Can you see that of course they are deficient in “happy” brain chemicals possibly due to the overcooling of the body?

It might be said that you are dying in direct proportion to the coldness of your body. Follow this logic: Cells degenerate and die in direct proportion to the depletion of oxygen.

Blood that is overcooled from a cold core temperature is too thick to efficiently carry oxygen and the lung vital capacity is reduced leading to shallow breathing. This means that the oxygen to carbon dioxide exchange rate in the lungs is minimal.

Now combine the degenerative effects of the oxygen deprivation and the cold temperature and the fact that all of this and the overgrowth of microbes promote an acidic environment and you have greatly accelerated cellular degeneration and the onset of life-threatening disease.

There is an optimum body temperature is which all chemical reactions in the human body need in order to maintain health…98.6° F. I can honestly say that I have never seen a new patient come into my clinic with a normal body temperature.

Just this week a 66 year old woman came in as a new patient with a temperature of 94.6! She is in dire straits for certain. She could not feel her feet and to touch her legs was like touching the legs of a corpse, the legs even looked dead and grey, streaked with blue/black veins of stagnant devitalized blood.

Even in classic hypothermia as seen in people stranded in blizzards, it is well known that the circulation of blood in the arms and legs is reduced dramatically, almost to zero, in order to provide protection and warmth to the vital organs.

These people will also cease to feel cold and will experience numbness, loss of coordination, mental confusion, and heart rhythm problems. It sounds like I am describing many elderly people, and some cancer sufferers doesn’t it?

One way to treat weather related hypothermia is to give the person warm sugar drinks. Sugar is a cheap, fast burning fuel for your body and therefore generates a lot of heat in the process. This may be why so many people suffering from lifestyle induced cold core temperature are plagued with sugar cravings.

Many of them consume copious amounts of sugar in the form of soda pops, chocolate, pastries, and various candies. It may be a craving that is driven by the body’s desire to generate fast heat to keep the body functioning. Sugar cravings should diminish as the core body temperature problems are resolved.

Keep in mind that the body has been too cold possibly since birth, due to suppressive medicines, vaccines, fever-reducers, heavy metal and chemical toxins, and energetically dead foods. The retraining and resetting of the body’s thermostat is just the beginning of healing the body of chronic illnesses. The normal body temperature must be held steady possibly for a year or more in some cases before the body can undo the damage of a lifetime of coldness.

Everyone can afford a simple thermometer. Track your temperature when you first awaken in the morning, before even getting out of bed. This reflects your core body temperature, when it is not being influenced by what you just ate, drank, or your activity level. Many of you will likely be surprised to see just how cold you already are. This is the result of generations of suppressive therapies and an imbalanced life.

You must save yourself.

Many doctors will undoubtedly say that you need to take a thyroid medication to bring up the body temperature; however this is the same mentality of taking a Tylenol for a headache. If you don’t believe me then ask anyone on the prescription thyroid medicines- what happens when they go off of the medication?

The body returns immediately to the previous cold condition. Definitely support the normal functioning of the thyroid, by detoxification, organic iodine, and nutritional support, but see the coldness for what it really is, a sign of multi-organ system breakdown, and longstanding or even generational imbalance.

Besides, it is really the hypothalamus that regulates your core body temperature, along with your degree of motivation and sex drive. The hypothalamus is actually “upstream” from your thyroid. It helps the pituitary regulate the thyroid.

The healthy body has daily temperature fluctuations (diurnal) with the coolest temperature in the early morning hours and the warmest being in the evening between 8-10 pm, after having rested for half and hour. Tracking of the difference between morning and evening temperature should reveal, in a healthy person a difference of at least 0.9° F (0.5° C).

People with a low body temperature and an overall degenerative condition will find that this temperature variation is minimal. Another unusual finding of dysregulated body temperature is that the evening is often colder than the morning reading.

The body’s best chance at long-term healing increases in direct proportion to the restoration of normal body temperature and its normal diurnal fluctuation.

You and your healthcare team must address your body from every direction and with every balancing tool available. You can never truly overcome this condition with pills.

Therapies must engage and reactivate and stimulate the internal thermostatic, rhythmical, metabolic, and nerve/sense aspects of your body, addressing the body, mind, and spirit.

So listen to your body.

Pain, temperature, skin discoloration…if we listen, take care of our body, then our bodies can take care of us.

You can read the story here: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthteam/story/8331364/ about Dr. Neil Spector, a cancer researcher who suffered with all the classic symptoms of Lyme – was diagnosed with arthritis years back, and given Doxycycline until it “went away”.   Then the Lyme attacked his heart and almost killed him.

A new heart has him back on his feet feeling great but one must ask the question whether or not the Lyme symptoms will return….

The article describes the Lyme as “undetected and untreated”, however, in the truest sense of the word, he was treated with antibiotics which is the treatment for Lyme and his symptoms not only persisted, but got worse.

These stories happening in the heart of the medical community will eventually open doors (minds) to the truth that Lyme researchers have understood all along.

Those of us who suffer, should take heart that it is only a matter of time before the big egos get pushed aside in favor of truth and Hippocratic Oath.

What is ACA?

It is Acrodermatitis Chronica Atrophicans, a skin condition that frequently accompanies late stage Lyme borrelliosis (afzelii) but almost exclusively by those of  European heritage.

Originally discovered and documented by Dr. Buchwald in 1883, it was not until 1902 when Dr’s Herxheimer and Hartmann began to study the phenomena in earnest that clear evidence began to mount.  (The full name of the disease now carries the name of Dr. Herxheimer  in most references.)

Now it is estimated that close to 10% of all Europeans with Lyme disease  have ACA and in fact it is the most common late and chronic manifestation of  European Lyme disease.

However, given the fact that most doctors in North America do not believe in chronic Lyme disease, it is not surprising that dermotologists would not be trained to recognize ACA, and even Lyme literate doctors are sadly lacking any significant training about ACA.

Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is a skin condition that takes a  progressive course that leads to atrophy of the skin in a variety of ways but sharing certain common characteristics.

Not surprisingly, involvement of the peripheral nervous system is frequently observed as a part of ACA (numbness, tingling, pain…)

As we know, clinical manifestations of Lyme borreliosis are almost unlimited. They can affect the skin, nervous system, muscles, joints eyes, ears, any organ including the heart.  With ACA, the skin becomes papery thin and almost shiny and transparent so that the blood vessels, veins, arteries and tissue can be seen through the skin in various degrees which give the skin a pinkish/bluish color.

ACA is most commonly found on the hands and feet but can be found most anywhere on the body.  Unfortunately, if you think you have it, there isn’t a very good chance of diagnosis.

Doctors absolutely despise patients who come into their office armed with information from the internet.  However, you may have a chance if you come armed with the following article from WebMD: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1051695-overview.  This site also has some remarkable pictures here.

For your own understanding of ACA, a picture is worth a thousand words.  There is a remarkable collection of pictures from Dermis.net (the lead picture for this post is from their site), make sure to click on your flag of nationality to read the text in the correct language: DERMIS.net.

Finally, there is a glaring and  amazing point I would like to make -  above and beyond the possible diagnosis that many may have been suffering with for years without a clue of its connection to chronic Lyme disease.   Perhaps you will have jumped ahead to the obvious question this post raises by the accepted and even honored  research byDr. Hartmann and Dr. Herxheimer over one hundred years ago.

Why and how can it be that the respected doctors of the day believed witout a doubt in chronic Lyme disease and studied symptoms and treatment of such while our “advanced doctors have disregarded over a century of research and documentation to cling to their platform of “there is no such thing as chronic Lyme disease.”

The next time you are challenged about chronic Lyme disease, you may want to bring up this ignored fact – that chronic Lyme disease is not debated in Europe.  Do we even need to ask why?

I try to keep personal bitterness and skepticism out of my blog, and to stick to the facts.  But when this news flash popped up recently I could hardly believe my eyes.

The following presentation was given by Dr. Benjamin Luft, Professor, and Chair (acting) Department of Medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook at the Copley Hotel in Boston Massachusetts, at the 9th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other Tick-Borne Disorders in April of 1996 – Thirteen years ago! The following abstract was recently published on an internet medical forum called “Mombu” (http://mombu.com):
from Stony Brook.

Chronic Lyme Disease: An Evolving Syndrome
by
Benjamin J. Luft, M.D.

Lyme disease, initially described as an arthritic disease, has unfolded over the past 15 years as a multistage, multisymptom disease of great complexity and variability. Several key factors are involved in the development of Lyme disease; the spirochetal agent,  the tick and the host.

The spirochete shows strain heterogeneity with at least three major genospecies: Borrelia burgdorferi, B. garinii and B. afzelii. Different genospecies appear to be associated with distinct clinical manifestations.

Multiple strains of B. burgdorferi can infect the same tick and human infection can include single or multiple spirochete strains. In the case of the ticks, environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and source of blood meal may alter the major outer surface proteins (Osp) of the spirochete within the tick vector. This can affect the spirochete infectivity.

Ticks can be co-infected with multiple organisms, including Babesia and Ehrlichia species. The immune response plays a definite role in the infectivity and athogenesis of B. burgdorferi. Osp A, a major outer surface protein with relative molecular mass of 31,000, stimulates B cells and cytokine production.

Humans with chronic arthritis are more likely to show an immune response to Osp A.

Chronic Lyme disease has become an increasing concern for health care providers. Retrospective studies confirm that a proportion of patients treated for Lyme disease experience prolonged post treatment problems. Persistent complaints are generally non-specific and include arthralgias, myalgias, cognitive difficulties, fatigue, malaise, dizziness, stiff neck and photophobia.

Chronic Lyme disease patients may be seropositive or seronegative with or without a documented history of Lyme disease. Since Lyme disease is a clinical diagnosis, research must continue to improve diagnostic assays using recombinant proteins which are more sensitive and specific than the whole organism used for both ELISA and Western blots.

Possible biological markers of chronic Lyme disease, such as positive Borrelial antigen, Borrelial DNA and pleocytosis in the CSF or synovial fluid, need to be assessed and validated.   Elimination of biological markers in combination with sensitive indices of neuropsychological symptoms will be useful for the evaluation of treatment modalities.”

~~~

One would think that after thirteen years of continuous and exhaustive research that medical doctors would accept the existence of chronic Lyme and work together to try to develop a cure, or at the very least, an effective vaccine or foolproof diagnostic test.

Instead, hours of egocentric arguments given by infectious disease “leaders” compete for study research dollars to try and prove their position – selecting trial candidates for their likelihood of swaying study results instead of the medical scientists who are actually unlocking the mystery surrounding the bacteria and trying new tests with open minds to find help for the growing horde of suffering victims.

It is one thing to lump a couple hundred of sufferers into a group of psychosomatic patients…but how do medical doctors respond to the hundreds of thousands of Lyme sufferers from all 50 states who are becoming more ill and increasingly fragile?

It is time for medical doctors to take their heads out of the sand and re-commit their allegiance to the Hippocratic Oath:

Original, translated into English:

Recently, also from Mombu.com, this essay landed on my list of articles about Lyme disease. I welcome your responses on this attack regarding the existence or non-existence of chronic Lyme disease:

The fact that Lyme disease is usually curable has not discouraged the formation of over a hundred support groups and nonprofit foundations, some with financial backing from intravenous services hoping to promote further long-term antibiotic therapies.

These groups and their ardent followers have used the Internet and other media to barrage politicians and the general public with misinformation, dire personal stories, rumors, and exaggerated claims about thousands of people being maimed, killed and bankrupted each year by Lyme disease.

The core message is that Lyme is a deadly chronic disease that requires long-term antibiotic therapy paid for by insurance companies. Despite its alleged frequency, NIH-funded clinical trials in Boston and Bethesda were hampered by a lack of patients who met science-based criteria for chronic Lyme disease.

A third trial underway at Columbia University has had to modify its patient entry criteria in order to find enough patients to carry out the study.

Support groups and individual patients have created many Web sites that contain unsubstantiated assertions, inaccurate medical information, and personal testimonies for the dubious treatments described above. Indeed, the Internet has provided a powerful mechanism for organizing patients and presenting poorly documented information to the public and the press.

Internet newsgroups have posted wild criticisms of physicians and researchers who disagree with their claims and concerns. Research reports that run counter to the claims of Lyme activists are denounced and their authors accused of incompetence and financial conflicts of interest.

Magazines and news organizations whose stories on Lyme disease are not sufficiently hysterical are barraged with e-mail complaints and urged to contact certain organizations for “the truth.” Protests have been organized to denounce Yale University’s research meetings and Lyme clinic because, according to the protesters, Yale “ridicules people with Lyme disease, presents misleading information, minimizes the severity of the illness, endorses inadequate, outdated treatment protocols, excludes opposing viewpoints, and ignores conflicts of interest.”

Researchers have been harassed, threatened, and stalked. A petition circulated on the Web called for changes in the way the disease is routinely treated and the way insurance companies cover those treatments. Less radical groups have had their
meetings invaded and disrupted by militant Lyme protesters.

Some Lyme organizations have tried to raise funds for their own research on hyperbaric oxygen treatments, pregnancy-related Lyme, and a clinical trial of chronic Lyme patients. Others have organized “scientific” meetings that include anecdotal reports by physicians friendly to their cause, and one group has launched a journal that reflects its leaders’ beliefs.

…The Lyme Alliance later circulated a petition stating that, “Lyme disease can and does exist as a chronic illness with persisting infection, and that the disease is greatly underdiagnosed and undertreated.” The petition demanded that, “Physicians who are on the front lines of Lyme disease patient care not be harassed, persecuted or made to fear for their  medical practices because they do not adhere to the conservative “short term” care for Lyme disease.”

So, the battle continues to rage, benefiting the large egos of certain doctors and hampering help for those who are ill. It will be a happy day when medical doctors catch up with scientific doctors to: “… prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.”

I continue to hope and pray that those who suffer as I do find medical doctors who take their oath seriously.