Magnesium is one of the most important minerals that you can take when you have chronic Lyme disease.

However, lately in forums it has been blasted as a crucial component of the biofilms that protect colonies of spirochetes from being destroyed by antibiotics and our immune systems.

Which one is true.

First I will tell you my own experience, which I think many of you will relate to.

I have suffered from frequent migraines since I was very young, and when I finally crashed having ignored so many warnings through the course of my equine pursuits and free weight training  “…no pain, no gain!”  I actually thought I was building strength by ignoring all the symptoms until finally I crashed in 2006.

Initially my migraines flared unbearably which added to the long list of pain which had me drugged up and under the covers literally, often barely crawling to the toilet to vomit – if you’ve suffered from migraines, you know what I mean.

Well, when I first stumbled on Dr. Burrascano’s “Treatment Guidelines” I read that magnesium is one of his required supplements.  I didn’t really think about it but over four months I started taking Himalayan Salt, Coral Calcium and mega-doses of Magnesium (1000 mg +) – all of which have magnesium.

Between terrible herxes and intense pain from noises (even whispers) and light (I had to cover all my windows in shades to block out all light – wear sunglasases indoor and put a heavy jacket, towel or blanket over my head when my mother drove me anywhere), I really didn’t think about my migraines – in fact it just dawned on me one day that I hadn’t had a migraine in weeks.

I began to monitor the supplements in a different way and really never figured it out until a very respectable doctor told me that “…all migraines are caused by a lack of magnesium unless otherwise proven.”

Soon afterwards, I had to take a fasting test – with no supplements – and I had a raging migraine worse than ever!

Then after I started the magnesium again, my migraine faded away.

Now, Dr. Burrascano says, “Magnesium supplementation is very helpful for the tremors, twitches, cramps, muscle soreness, heart skips
and weakness. It may also help in energy level and cognition.”

And the Office of Dietary Supplements say, “…Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is essential to good health. Approximately 50% of total body magnesium is found in bone. The other half is found predominantly inside cells of body tissues and organs. Only 1% of magnesium is found in blood, but the body works very hard to keep blood levels of magnesium constant.

Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Dietary magnesium is absorbed in the small intestines. Magnesium is excreted through the kidneys.

The aspect of magnesium that have many of us with chronic Lyme disease fearful of taking it is that the biofilms that protect Lyme (and other pathogens or diseases) are built by grabbing magnesium out of the blood stream.  The magnesium is a key component to the structure of the biofilm.

After extensive research, my belief (although I am not a licensed medical practitioner) are that the potential negative effects of magnesium can be countered by Lumbrokinase and Nattokinase Plus (which includes Serrapeptase also) which are targeted to destroy biofilms and become even more effective when taken together.

Please send comments if you have experience with magnesium and/or biofilm busters.

Nattokinase, another “biofilm buster” is being used more frequently by Lyme doctors for the very difficult cases which don’t appear to improve with any other treatments – conventional or non-conventional.

Unlike lumbrokinase which has been used for less than fifty years, nattokinase has been used for at least 1000 years in Japan.  It is a potent enzyme extracted from a traditional Japanese food called ‘natto” which is a fermented cheese-like food  that has been popular as a folk remedy partly due to its taste, but more so for its ability to correct heart and vascular diseases.  It is produced by fermenting soybeans and adding “Bacillus natto” (shown at beginning of post.)

The resulting enzyme is produced when the bacteria interacts with the fermenting soybeans.

The following quote is taken from Allergy Research Group’s Newsletter (read here) in an interview with Dr.Stephen Hines:

“Lyme Disease is my specialty. I am a Lyme patient myself and I use myself as a test subject for any therapy I use on my patients. When you have a chronic infection that gives rise to Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, you will deposit excess fibrin in your tissues, and that will trigger a secondary immune response. Your body deposits fibrin (defined below) so that organisms are inhibited from being very mobile.

“That is both good and bad. They’re not mobile, so they can’t do as much damage, but you also can’t get antibiotics or other medications to them as easily.

“Ultimately, in order to treat the infection, we want to get deep into the tissues and this is where nattokinase has a powerful role. I start my patients on nattokinase and build them up slowly, and once they have reached a peak level and the pathogens are exposed and vulnerable, I add in the antibacterial, antifungal, or antiviral medications.”

Nattokinase, like lumbrokinase is a powerful anti-coagulant with some amazing medicinal properties.

“Lyme Fog” like Alzheimers is partially caused by the slow build-up of “amyloid deposits.”

NOTE: Nattokinase was first developed into a marketable product in the US by Stephen Levine, PhD who is the founder of Allergy Research Groups.  To sign up for their newsletter about other groundbreaking medicine click here.

According to a recent article by Vitamin Research Products, another cutting edge lab,  Amyloid deposits are particles of oxidized protein that build up inside all non-dividing, or post mitotic cells, such as the brain, heart and other key cells. Amyloid buildup slowly shuts down the ability of the cell to function properly and acts as an irritant, increasing free radical generation. (read full article here)

Evidently, brain cells are especially vulnerable to amyloid buildup during disease processes. Amyloid proteins occur in much greater abundance in Alzheimer’s disease and maturity onset diabetes than in the normal aging cells.

Over the past 40 years, only a few compounds have been reported to dissolve amyloid protein. However in January of this year (2009), researchers have discovered that nattokinase could cleave amyloid and enhance amyloid clearance. The researchers discovered that nattokinase, but not trypsin or plasmin, has the ability to degrade amyloid.

So, nattokinase is showing clear evidence of clearing the brain of biofilms AND amyloid proteins.

Additionally, nattokinase is believed to help cure chronic Lyme disease due to its ability to destroy any infection residing in blood platelets as well as dissolving biofilms. This could be one of the reasons for its current success with the stubborn chronic cases where a variety of co-infections turn the blood into “infectious soup” – as the enzymes seem to clear up a multitude of symptoms very quickly.

“Patients are reporting that they have more energy, less pain and a clearing of mental confusion in the first few days of using nattokinase!” Patricia Kane, PhD tells of her experience using nattokinase with chronic diseases.

This special enzyme also stabilizes blood pressure shown in various studies, and due to the fortifying role of nattokinase as an anti-coagulant, veins and arteries retain better flexibility which plays an important role in preventing and/or treating high blood pressure and hypertension.

Dr. Chris D. Meletis concludes in his article for Vitamin Research Products:

“Hypercoagulation is linked to heart disease, strokes, hypertension, pulmonary embolism, venous insufficiency, inflammatory bowel disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes and migraines. Nattokinase has impressive blood clot dissolving or thrombolytic activity matched by no other enzyme. Consequently, nattokinase is an ideal natural approach to stop excessive coagulation, improve heart health, and reduce factors involved in a host of disorders.”

Look for more information on a third miracle enzyme “serratiopeptidase”, the final article in this three part series.

NOTE:  This is a powerful anti-coagulant so it must be used with care.  If cut while taking this product, contact your physician immediately.

Best place to purchase:  Vitamin Research Products makes a product that is combined with the third enzyme in this series: “serrapeptase” in the correct dosages and with enteric coating to be effective.  Don’t be fooled by bargain basement prices…you will be wasting your money and will not derive any benefit.

Click here for recommended product.