Spring has arrived, bringing with it new growth, warmer weather, and unfortunately, tick season (April to September) in most parts of the country. As Lyme Disease Awareness Month approaches in May, now is the perfect time to discuss Lyme’s causes, complications, and treatments. Lyme disease affects 20,000 to 30,000 people each year, mostly in the northeast and northwest United States, as well as in Minnesota and Wisconsin. However, it’s believed to be present in all 50 states. If detected early, the infection can be treated with a heavy round of antibiotics. But delayed diagnosis and treatment can lead to a chronic, degenerative, and highly debilitating condition that often persists for years, with many cases initially misdiagnosed.
A Stealthy Intruder: Borrelia burgdorferi
The Lyme disease culprit is a specific type of bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, carried by infected deer ticks. In its early stages, Lyme disease is often recognizable by a telltale bull’s-eye rash at the site of the tick bite. The condition can result in a plethora of difficult symptoms, including neurological problems, severe headaches, flu symptoms, fatigue, joint pain, heart palpitations, dizziness, and paralysis of facial muscles.
Unfortunately, the rash is often not noticed, hidden in places like the top of the head or may not appear at all. In these cases, diagnosis is often delayed or missed entirely until much later when the infection is already chronic.
Proper Tick Removal
Upon finding a tick on your body, it’s essential to remain calm and not rush the removal process. Follow the CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) instructions for proper tick removal. Many county health departments will test your tick for the Lyme bacteria. However, even if the tick tests negative, they are often carriers of other organisms that can cause “co-infections,” so taking a course of antibiotics is still a good idea.
Lyme disease is essentially a stealthy intruder that doesn’t act alone. While the bacterium triggers the initial flu-like symptoms, underlying health complications advance this degenerative condition. Chronic inflammation, immune suppression, co-infections from viruses, parasites, other bacteria and fungi, as well as elevated levels of heavy metals and toxins, can create a complex pathology of Lyme disease.
This means that with Lyme, we’re dealing with more than just B. burgdorferi. The co-factors involved need to be diagnosed and addressed with a multifaceted protocol. While antibiotics are important as a frontline approach, they are not enough on their own. Successful treatment requires multi-layered solutions involving strategies such as addressing heavy metals, inflammation, and immunity.
Detox Supplements and Additional Treatments
Lead, mercury, cadmium, and other heavy metals trigger inflammation and suppress immune function. Environmental toxins, such as pesticides, airborne pollutants, and molds, are also a threat. Furthermore, Lyme disease promotes chronic inflammation and hinders the body’s detoxification systems. Elevated toxic body burden, systemic inflammation, and impaired immunity fuel a vicious cycle which allows Lyme and co-infections a stronger foothold, further challenging the body’s well-being.
To halt this destructive cycle, detoxification therapies, anti-inflammatory approaches, and the diagnosis and treatment of co-infections (including other tick-borne microbes such as Babesia) need to be incorporated into an integrative, holistic treatment protocol.
Published clinical studies and reports demonstrate that the supplement modified citrus pectin (MCP), a highly bioavailable and bioactive form of pectin, safely chelates heavy metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic from the body without disrupting essential minerals. MCP also targets systemic inflammation by blocking a pro-inflammatory protein called galectin-3. Other research demonstrates that MCP activates immune cells and increases their functionality in both the innate and adaptive (trained) immune response. Alginates, derived from brown seaweed, have chelating, immune-enhancing, and anti-inflammatory properties.
MCP and alginates also play a critical role in Lyme treatment for those genetically predisposed, diagnosed with HLA DR genetic testing. Patients with certain genes, such as HLA DRB1 15, DQ 6, and/or other HLA genes, are highly sensitive to neurotoxins like mold and fungus, Babesia and other co-infections, and heavy metals. Furthermore, for these patients, antibiotics don’t work as well. With these predispositions, a patient isn’t able to detoxify the neurotoxins produced by Lyme and co-infections. MCP and alginates help by binding to these toxins and eliminating them.
Lyme bacterium, co-infections, and their toxic by-products hide within the nervous system, so compounds that penetrate the blood-brain barrier to address them are critical. Artemisinin, an active ingredient from Artemisia Annua (wormwood) and its derivative Artesunate, can achieve this.
There are numerous integrative strategies that can strengthen immunity, detoxify the system, and reduce inflammation. Phosphatidylcholine helps remove toxins from the nervous system, while glutathione flushes them from the body. Other complementary treatments such as acupuncture, heat therapies, bodywork, and IV therapies can help reduce inflammation, target bacteria, support neurological health, increase vital energy, and aid in restoring balance to the system as a whole.
Seeking Help for Lyme Disease
If you have concerns about Lyme disease, it’s best to seek out an integrative health provider experienced in this area of treatment. Lyme disease is a complicated condition, but that doesn’t mean we are powerless against it. By integrating conventional treatments like antibiotics (especially in the early stages) with naturopathic approaches to modulate immunity, remove toxins, and fight inflammation, we can control this debilitating condition, address potential complications, and restore health and vitality over time. Remember, Lyme disease is a multi-headed foe; we must target every facet of this complex condition to optimize clinical outcomes.
