By Sarah A LoBisco, ND

The prevalence of Lyme is reaching an all-time high. According to various experts, Lyme Disease isn’t just a tick-borne disease we thought it was. Lyme disease and its co-infections can now be spread through mosquito, spiders, and more. I wrote about Lyme and my philosophy a few years ago. However, as with every topic in medicine, as more information is discovered, more solutions and more controversy heats up!

There are various philosophies with Lyme. One international Lyme expert, Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, was recently interviewed by integrative Osteopathic Doctor and whistle blower, Dr. Mercola. I have much admiration for both of these physicians and listened to the entire 90 minute interview, summarizing it’s key points below. I feel it’s important, because more and more of my patients are effected by Lyme, if not as the primary problem, a contributor to immune imbalance that makes healing more difficult. As a Naturopathic and Functional Medical Doctor, I agree with Dr. Klinghardt that the environment and the whole person need to be considered in treatment. It’s not about just killing the spirochete with antibiotics-natural or otherwise.

Here is a summary from this world-renowned, yet humble, talented, and kind Modern-Medicine-Man:

The Lyme Paradox:

Lyme is a two-fold Paradox:

1. According to Klinghardt, Lyme may have been part of our human genome for a long period time. It’s only when the body is chronically hit with stressors that the opportunistic bug and its co-infections create symptoms and chronic problems in a biten individual. (Hence, he believes ‘tis the terrain not the bug that creates the opportunity for the disease, I concur).

2. Lyme disease is notoriously difficult to diagnose using conventional tests. This is due to various reasons. First, many are infected with Lyme and the test to verify its presence is based on an immune system strong enough to produce a defense against it! Furthermore, many co-infections and the tick itself are not found in the blood, but instead hide in tissues. Therefore, blood testing has flaws in diagnosing.

For these reasons, Dr. Klinghardt builds up his patients for 6 months before he will even test them for Lyme. After this, he will use more sophisticated tests through specialized labs that look into other means for diagnosing, including Isagenix and Frye Labs. He monitors progress using CD57 counts, immune cells that are specific for Borrelia.

LYME: the Great Mimicker

Lyme has great variation in its presentation, depending on where you contracted it, and whether or not you have any other coexisting infections. There is a group of seven or eight microbes that are the most common. According to Klinghardt, the worst ones are Babesia microti and the different forms of Bartonella.

“Underneath that, there’s often an infection with Mycoplasma. We still don’t know if it’s really transferred with the same bite or if the people had it all along and become symptomatic when the immune system is suppressed by the spirochetes,” Dr. Klinghardt says.

Other than the co-infections, there is what I call the “opportunistic infections.” The combined effect of the initial infection is an immune suppressive effect, and then the patient becomes vulnerable to all sorts of other things. The most common things people contract early on in the course if the illness are different forms of parasites, such as protozoa; Babesia itself being one of them.

There is Giardia, amoebas, Trichomonas, malaria, and different forms of infections that aren’t labeled yet. There is a new one, called FL1953. Stephen Frye discovered that. It’s a protozoan organism that’s causing severe fatigue and illness in chronically ill people. It’s almost always present in a patient with Lyme disease.

And then we find a lot of worms in people. They may be microscopic and they may be macroscopic. That means they may be visible in the stool or they may not be visible.”

Treatment Approaches by Klinghardt:

1. Get Rid of Mold-Lyme and mold are very commonly found together.

I must interject here. There are 600 species of mold and most testing is not accurate or sophisticated enough to find it. If you have water damage or you can see it, it’s a problem!

Mold depletes the immune system making any infection or chronic disease hard to fight, creates imbalances in the hormones, neurotransmitters, and biotransformation of the liver. Bottom line-if you have mold, you have to address this in any treatment protocol!

2. Protection in an Electromagnetic Smog the body can’t get better when its nervous system is chronically depleted and stimulated by cell phones, Wi-Fi, and IPads. Read more about EMF exposure here.

3. Treat emotional issues-Chronic emotional stresses deplete the immune system and cause hormonal imbalances.

4. Treat the Parasite for fatigue- Dr. Klinghardt addresses the parasites before hitting the spirochete.

5. Natural Solutions of Klighardt for bugs:

Liposmal Lyme Cocktail:

  1. Artemisinin kills spirochete and is antimicrobial, anti-parasitic
  2. Apple Pectin to bind its toxins
  3. Vitamin C for immune health and antioxidant power

Anti-Viral: Artemeisin (affective against SPV), Berebine

Remember, antibiotics create relief, but hit a plateau in a worn out system, hence you must treat the terrain of a whole person. In Naturopathic terms, this means address the gut, the home of the immune system! You also want to monitor blood sugar, neurotransmitters, adrenals, and hormones!

Summary: Treat the bacteria and virus, but also treat the person. “It doesn’t matter what sort of disease has the person, rather, what kind of person has the disease!”

Sources:

Mercola, J. Why is Lyme Disease Not JUST a Tick-Borne Disease Any More? February 5, 2012. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/05/dr-dietrich-klinghardt-on-lyme-disease.aspx?e_cid=20120205_SNL_Art_1

DFH Clinical Rounds Teleseminar: Functional Neurology Update: Lyme and other Weird Neurological Symptoms. Featuring: Helena Kerekhazi, M.S., N.R.N.P. February 8, 2012

Be sure to check out more on the subject of weight loss in my  Naturopathic Fun Facts on Saratoga.com!