Purify Your System Of Toxins
A toxic environment impedes recovery from any illness. And unfortunately, chronic, systemic inflammation and neurological inflammation can compromise detoxification and waste removal processes in the brain and body even further.
Toxic substances can enter the body by three routes oral, respiration, and skin so step one is minimizing the inflow. To reduce oral toxins, avoid processed food products, and eat a fresh, whole food diet weighted toward vegetables . Clean water is also key, and is as simple as installing or purchasing a water filter.
Regularly changing your HVAC air filters and placing free-standing HEPA filters in rooms where you spend the majority of your time can go a long way toward improving indoor air quality. Breathing fresh air in natural places as often as possible can also promote healing.
As for your skin, adopting a practice of using only natural skin care products allows you to avoid a surprising number of toxic substances commonly found in commercial skin care products. The same goes for household cleaning supplies. The Environmental Working Group is a great resource for finding toxin-free consumer products.
Supplements that support detoxification in the body include activated B vitamins for enhanced methylation , and glutathione, NAC, and alpha lipoic acid to support cellular functions and detoxification. Dandelion and milk thistle protect the liver and stimulate bile flow, which is essential for removing toxic substances from the body.
Direct Detection Of The Pathogen Using Molecular Biological Detection Methods And Culture
In exceptional cases ), a Borrelia infection can be underpinned by pathogen detection in CSF , . However, for acute Lyme neuroborreliosis, the sensitivity of the pathogen detection in CSF through culture or a PCR test is only 1030% , . Pathogen detection is expected to have a higher sensitivity when the duration of the disease is short than in prolonged cases. For example, 50% of patients with acute Lyme neuroborreliosis tested positive with PCR compared to only 13% of patients with a prolonged course of the disease . Detection in the cerebrospinal fluid using a PCR test is generally preferred because results can be provided faster than for cultures. If the results are positive, a species diagnosis should be made by analysing the PCR products. Detection of the pathogen in blood is not recommended because this method is even less sensitive . The specificity of the PCR test depends to a large extent on the quality of the laboratory performing it. Therefore, the investigation should be explicitly limited to special, designated reference laboratories, especially as further molecular biological confirmation tests are required when the results are positive . In every case, the PCR result must be interpreted in relation to the symptoms and the serology results. For example, positive PCR test results for patients with a prolonged disease and negative serology are very likely to be false positive .
Recommendations for direct detection using molecular biological methods and culture
When To See A Healthcare Provider
Prompt treatment for Lyme disease reduces the risk of lingering symptoms and complications. If youve already been treated with antibiotics but continue to experience issues, talk to your healthcare provider to determine if additional treatment is necessary. Patience and proactive communication with your healthcare professional will help you get back to your usual state of health.
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Treatment For Neurological Lyme Disease
After defining the problem, she moves on to solutions. The next section deals with pharmaceutical approaches to Lyme disease in the brain, including an explanation of the blood-brain barrier and what drugs can effectively penetrate it. She discusses medications that reduce inflammation, as well as those to stabilize neurological function, balance mood and help people think more clearly.
Section 3 discusses natural approaches to Lyme disease in the brain: antimicrobials, such as Cats Claw and teasel root anti-inflammatories, such as curcumin and stephania root antioxidants, such as glutathione neurotransmitter support and essential oils such as peppermint and frankincense.
Section 4 deals with nutrition. Readers of her earlier book, The Lyme Diet, will find familiar themes: avoid gluten, dairy, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and additives such as MSG.
Ducharme explains about therapies to help the brain, including neurofeedback, Brainwave Entrainment, and hyperbaric oxygen. She covers sleep and exercise. She reviews different kinds of psychotherapy for patients with Lyme brain.
Best Practices For Living With Neurological Lyme Disease
by Lyme Mexico | Jun 13, 2022 | Alternative Treatments |
Lyme disease can have many varying symptoms. Today we dissect and break down the best practices for living with neurological Lyme Disease. Read below for more
When you see or hear the word neurological, it refers to the nervous system or relating to your nerves. It also encompasses the brain and the spinal column and how these vital parts function together to send and receive messages from the rest of your body.
Neurological disorders refer to damage in some part of the nervous system, brain, or spinal column preventing proper functioning. Neurological disorders can be congenital, meaning you are born with them due to genetics.
Some examples of other factors that lead to neurological disorders include environmental toxins, injuries, infections, nutritional deficiencies, lack of oxygen, and metabolic disorders.
Lyme disease is a contributing factor to neurological disorders. Neurological Lyme Disease affects an estimated 15% of all people diagnosed with Lyme disease.
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How Is Lyme Disease Diagnosed
Some Lyme disease diagnoses are straightforward and no specific tests are needed. If you remember that you were bitten by a tick while hiking and see the characteristic bulls eye rash, a doctor will probably prescribe antibiotics without any additional tests.
But sometimes people have no idea that theyve been bitten by a tick. Ticks usually only stick around for a few days before dropping off to look for a new host. In the weeks and months following a bite, a person might develop symptoms that could be confused with another condition.
Some people are misdiagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, Crohns disease, or a variety of other ailments. To know for sure, a doctor will usually order a blood test that looks for the antibodies produced by the bodys immune system to fight the bacterial infection.
Neurological And Psychiatric Issues Associated With Lyme Disease And Tbrf
Chronic illness often has significant impacts on mental health, and Lyme disease is no different. With the accuracy and sensitivity of todays recommended Lyme testing still so lacking, many Lyme patients have to wait too long to get accurate diagnoses and treatment. To compound this problem, many patients with Lyme-like symptoms are not even tested for the similar, but biologically distinct, Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever . That gives infections time to spread throughout the body and cause neurological and psychiatric symptoms.
This article will outline the direct and indirect effects that Borreliosis both Lyme disease and TBRF can have on mental health, including how and why untreated Lyme can develop into neurological Lyme disease.
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Lyme Is Not The Only Threat
As mentioned earlier in this article, there is another group of borrelia that causes a disease that is similar to, but biologically distinct from, Lyme. This disease, called Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever or TBRF, is often characterized by fevers that wax and wane every few days. However, many patients never experience relapsing fevers or any fevers at all. Like those of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, TBRF symptoms can often go undetected or be mistaken for other conditions, which can give the disease time to develop into neurological symptoms.
So, as with Lyme, it is crucial to get an early and accurate diagnosis of TBRF. Be aware that TBRF will not show up on a Lyme test the test must be designed to test for TBRF borrelia in order to show accurate results. If symptoms are Lyme-like but test results are negative, doctors should consider the possibility of TBRF.
Treating What You Dont Know
The other big question is how to treat something with a cause that cant be identified.
Antibiotics are sometimes prescribed on the theory that B. burgdorferi might still be hiding out in the body somewhere. However, although there have been anecdotal short-term successes, Marques said no studies have shown sustained benefits from antibiotics to people with chronic Lyme disease or those with post-Lyme disease syndrome.
The majority of people who contract Lyme and are treated for it with a course of antibiotics do get better with time.
But those who dont 10 to 20 percent, according to Marques review of the research fall into the post-Lyme disease syndrome category.
Those people continue to experience persistent or intermittent symptoms a year after completing the antibiotics therapy.
Children appear less likely to develop long-term symptoms as are those who dont delay antibiotics or have less severe cases of Lyme in the first place.
In cases of chronic Lyme, people who test negative for the disease despite symptoms could be infected with another tick-borne illness or have an autoimmune disorder or other problem.
How to treat these long-term symptoms is still a mystery.
For now, Marques and her team are working on identifying biomarkers and other ways to find out definitively whether Lyme disease is to blame for the symptoms.
That additional research is becoming more critical.
Researchers have predicted higher tick numbers in some parts of the country this summer.
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What Makes Yale Medicine’s Approach To Lyme Disease Unique
The discovery of Lyme disease is actually credited to two Yale physicians, who identified it after a rash of illnesses cropped up during the summer of 1975. That year, two mothers living in Old Lyme, Conn., refused to accept the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis among the children living in their town.
The mothers reached out to the Connecticut State Department of Health and the Yale School of Medicine for help, starting a study that would ultimately uncover the bacterial infection transmitted by ticks. Today, doctors in Yale Medicines neurology department provide care for patients who have infections that affect the nervous system.
Thanks to a powerful partnership with research programs at Yale Medicine, patients benefit from the most recent advantages in treatment.
Symptoms Of Late Stage Lyme Disease
Late stage Lyme disease is usually the resultant stage of poorly treated Lyme disease during the first or second stage of the disease. At this point, the Lyme causing bacteria has spread throughout the body and affected the joints, nerves, and brain. One experiences severe symptoms such as severe headaches, heart rhythm disturbances, arthritis in the joints, brain disorders and numbness in the extremities. In addition to that, one also feels very tired, experiences mental fogginess and poor concentration, facial palsy where one is unable to control their facial muscles as well as sleep problems. Not to mention, pain that migrates and occurs from time to time is usually excruciating because the bacteria has already affected the nervous system.
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Once Youre Inside The Home
- Check your clothing for ticks. Ticks can attach to your clothing outdoors and then crawl onto your skin later. Any time you come indoors, put your clothes in the dryer on high heat for at least 10 minutes to kill any ticks.
- Shower soon after coming indoors. It is encouraged to shower within two hours upon arriving at your house to reduce the risk of Lyme disease. This gives you a chance to wash off unattached ticks and find any ticks that may have crawled onto your body.
- Check your gear and equipment. Ticks can attach to sporting equipment, camping gear, or work tools and be brought into the home. Ticks can also fall off pets and attach to furniture or carpeting, where they can crawl onto a person. Be sure to check gear and equipment before bringing it into your home.
- Check your entire body. Have a full body scan once you get home to see if any body part is potentially tick-infested. Use a full-length mirror to check your knees, hair, arms, legs, waist, and belly button.
Neurological Infections In Travelers/immigrants
Many infectious diseases that affect the nervous system can be acquired from other parts of the United States or other parts of the world. In the United States, several regional viruses and fungi can cause encephalitis and/or meningitis that individuals coming from endemic regions may have been exposed to. Worldwide, neurocysticercosis, poliomyelitis, malaria, schistosomiasis, rabies, chikungunya virus, dengue fever, leptospirosis, Tick-Borne encephalitis virus, cycloviruses, and melioidosis are some of the infections that can be acquired which affect the nervous system.
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Get The Right Diagnosis
Suppose you have neurological symptoms and your doctor has yet to find a way to relieve them. In that case, it is time to seek a second or third opinion, preferably from a Lyme-literate doctor or specialists in the field of Lyme disease. They have advanced testing methods, like analyzing your blood under a microscope to detect bacteria, that general practitioners do not perform.
If you do not get the correct diagnosis, you run the risk of the following:
- Advancing symptoms from mild to severe
- Increasing inability to perform daily functions
- Feeling like you are crazy by clinicians who arent diagnosing you correctly and implying it is all in your mind or that nothing is wrong with you
- Being misdiagnosed with other diseases that appear with similar symptoms, such as mental illness, multiple sclerosis, lupus, hepatitis, and fibromyalgia
Getting the correct diagnosis should include, at a minimum, general lab tests, specific blood examination, physical examination, and an extensive review of your reports regarding your symptoms. Keeping a journal about your symptoms can be very helpful to your doctor.
Why And How Lyme Disease And Tbrf Affect Mental Health
Lyme disease and TBRF can wreak havoc on a patients mental health in the following ways:
- Direct effects As with syphilis, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease and TBRF can invade the central nervous system and cause neurological and psychiatric symptoms that are organic in origin. This is what doctors call neurological Lyme disease or Lyme neuroborreliosis.
- Indirect effects The discomforts and challenges of living with and/or being treated for Lyme disease or TBRF can lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions that are not necessarily caused by the bacteria, but are indirectly caused or exacerbated .
Of course, these effects are not either/or, but rather can coexist and compound one another. Learn more about each below.
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Early Disseminated Lyme Neuroborreliosis
The classic triad of this stage, also known as meningoradiculoneuropathy, includes aseptic meningitis, cranial neuropathy, and painful radiculoneuritis which may occur alone or in combination. Acute encephalomyelitis is seen less frequently. Neurologic signs and symptoms develop from weeks to months after inoculation. The onset is acute or subacute. Accompanying erythema migrans and systemic signs and symptoms characteristic of early disseminated Lyme neuroborreliosis, may be present in up to two-thirds of cases. Neurologic involvement can occur without erythema migrans, however, and can be the first manifestation of the disease. Only 40% of patients recall tick bite. The absence of a history of travel to or residence in an endemic area tends to warn the clinician against the diagnosis of Lyme neuroborreliosis.
About two-thirds of patients with early disseminated Lyme neuroborreliosis have cranial neuropathies which can occur without other neurologic or systemic features and without preceding erythema migrans. The facial nerve is involved most commonly, although any of the cranial nerves may be involved. Remarkably, bilateral facial palsy is seen in approximately one-third of such cases. The differential diagnosis of bilateral facial palsy includes Guillain-Barre syndrome, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , various other causes of meningitis, and Tangier’s disease.
Does Lyme Disease Go Away On Its Own
Its certainly possible for people to get Lyme disease and to clear the infection on their own, without treatment, said Dr. Kuritzkes. But its better to be treated, because some of the complicationslike arthritis and myocarditis and damage to the central nervous systemcan be very serious.
The type of bacteria that causes Lyme disease is in the same general family as the type that causes syphilis, said Dr. Kuritzkes. That doesnt mean anything similar in terms of transmission, but syphilis has several different phases, with primary and secondary and tertiary symptoms, said Dr. Kuritzkes. The infection can hide out in the body for a long time and can cause problems down the road if its not treated.
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Intrathecal Antibody Synthesis Borrelia
3.4.1 Overview
In most patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis the suspected clinical diagnosis can be confirmed by detecting Borrelia-specific intrathecal antibody synthesis related to inflammatory changes in their cerebrospinal fluid , , , . The production of specific intrathecal antibodies is detected by determining the Borrelia-specific CSF/serum antibody index , , .
3.4.2 Determination method
Methods used to determine the AI should take into account the blood/CSF barrier function, as otherwise false negative results may be produced . The determination of the antibody index according to Reiber is a proven method that is recommended , , , . The following formula is used to calculate the Borrelia-specific AI : Antibody index =
If intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis is present in the Reiber diagram , the total IgG ratio must be replaced by the Q-Lim ratio . In this case: Antibody index =
A value of =1.5 is recommended as the cut-off for a positive AI, unless otherwise evaluated , , , previously recommended higher limit values of 2.0 are considered less sensitive when a reliable test performance can be ensured . Quantitative measuring methods are usually used to determine the AI and are implemented in commercial, EDP-supported systems .
It is important to note that there can be considerable fluctuations in the determination of AI . Hence antibody testing and AI determination should be conducted in accredited microbiology laboratories.
Summary
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