Business Report: Handling Troublesome Lyme Disease

BY DIANE MACDONNELL AND JACQUELINE MCMURRY

Lyme disease, the most common American
tick borne infectious disease, is one of the most
troublesome conditions challenging patients and
their physicians today. It is estimated that up to
300,000 new cases per year of Lyme disease are
reported to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).

This does not include non-reported or undiagnosed
cases and it does not include infection
with other tick-borne diseases such as babesiosis,
ehrlichia, anaplasmosis or bartonella.

Lyme disease is caused by the bite of an infected
deer tick, although 50 percent of people
with documented Lyme do not recall having
been bitten and not all of those infected display
the classical bulls-eye rash associated with Lyme.
To complicate the diagnosis even further, the
conventional testing for Lyme disease–a combination
of the ELISA and Western Blot tests–may
miss up to 60 percent of early stage Lyme since it
can take weeks for the body to develop measurable
antibodies against the infection.

What makes Lyme disease so difficult to detect
is not only the inaccuracy of the conventional
tests but the fact that its symptoms –headache,
fevers, joint pain, brain fog, fatigue–are often
non-specific and can mimic many other illnesses
such as flu, fibromyalgia and other inflammatory
conditions. Unfortunately the borrellia
bacterium, the causative agent of Lyme disease,
can meanwhile multiply undetected in the body
causing severe inflammation and compromise to
the immune system.
What makes Lyme disease so difficult to detect

is not only the inaccuracy of the conventional
tests but the fact that its symptoms –headache,
fevers, joint pain, brain fog, fatigue–are often
non-specific and can mimic many other illnesses
such as flu, fibromyalgia and other inflammatory
conditions. Unfortunately the borrellia
bacterium, the causative agent of Lyme disease,
can meanwhile multiply undetected in the body
causing severe inflammation and compromise to
the immune system.

Even with antibiotic treatment there is
evidence that the borrelia organism may hide in
the body during treatment and reemerge when
treatment is completed. A person struggling with
Lyme disease undergoes a continual assault on
their immune system. There is evidence that immune
cells (T and B lymphocytes) from patients
with chronic Lyme disease are often reactive not
only against borrelia or other tick borne disease
antigens but also against various host (self) tissue.

Thus, it seems that Lyme disease gradually
transitions from an infectious disease to an autoimmune
disease. That is, the body now mistakes
self for non-self and as in other autoimmune illness
such as thyroid disease, Lupus, rheumatoid
arthritis and multiple sclerosis, our own cells
come under attack from the “friendly fire” of our
own immune system.

This has led many clinicians to make a distinction
between acute, classic Lyme disease and
“Lyme Syndrome” – a multi-system, inflammatory,
impaired immune and repair system.

Antibiotics are the preferred treatment for
most practitioners working with Lyme disease
and this is appropriate and necessary. However
without improved immune defense and repair
functions, the remissions obtained with antibiotics
alone may be temporary. Doctors specializing
in Lyme disease often use extensive, varied and
complicated courses of antibiotics in attempts
to eradicate the Lyme organism in all its forms
and hiding places in the body. These methods
meet with varying success and unfortunately
subject the body to the toxic effects of powerful
antibiotics.

What to do? If you believe you may have Lyme
disease, by all means request testing for Lyme
and other tick-borne diseases from your doctor.
It is important to request both the ELISA and
Western Blot tests, as this improves the likelihood
that the organism will be detected. Keep
in mind that a negative test does not necessarily
mean that you do not have the disease because,
as mentioned, the testing can be unreliable. Labs,
such as IgeneX, specializing in Lyme testing, offer
a more detailed analysis of strains of Borrelia to
which you may have been exposed.

In addition to appropriate antibiotic treatment
it becomes critical to unburden the immune
system so that it can function optimally. A wholesystem
approach to healing with careful attention
to nutrition, identification of food sensitivities or
allergies, reducing exposure to environmental
toxins, molds and metals, improving sleep quality,
attention to stress and mind/body issues
and judicious use of supplements can allow the
immune system to begin to recover and the body
to move toward balance.

As overall health improves, people become less
hospitable to the organism that triggers Lyme
disease. The immune system thus becomes better
able to eliminate all invading organisms and do a
better job of distinguishing self from non-self. This
approach reflects a shift that is occurring among
some researchers and clinicians who believe that
once we are infected with the Lyme disease organism
it remains in our system, much like chicken pox
that can erupt as shingles, or the herpes virus that
can produce a cold sore.

Once infected with these organisms they lie
dormant until the immune system is weakened
by another condition, frequently stress or another
illness.

The healing process in Lyme as in any other
serious illness can be frustrating and may at times
seem unattainable, but with the right information
and treatment it is possible. Recovery from Lyme
disease can be achieved, particularly when it is
diagnosed early, and when measures are taken to
support a healthy immune system.

MacDonnell, M.D., and McMurry, RPAc., offer
individualized, integrative approach to wellness at
North Country Holistic Care Center in Glens Falls.