Tick Saliva With Healing Powers
Many ticks transfer bacteria or viruses that can lead to serious illnesses. If you get bitten by a tick in Germany, you could contract Lyme disease or Encephalitis. But the small animals can also do good. Oxford researchers have recently found out that a protein from the tick’s saliva can block infections, which makes it a potential cure for a certain type of heart disease.
Ticks – a plague for humans and animals alike
How To Prevent Post
While you may not be able to prevent post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, you can take precautions to prevent coming into direct contact with infected ticks. The following practices can reduce your likelihood of getting Lyme disease and developing persistent symptoms.
If a tick bites you, contact your doctor. You should be observed for 30 days for signs of Lyme disease. You should also learn the signs of early Lyme disease and seek prompt treatment if you think youre infected. Early antibiotic intervention may reduce your risk of developing chronic symptoms.
The signs of early Lyme disease can occur from 3 to 30 days after a bite from an infected tick. Look for:
- a red, expanding bulls-eye rash at the site of the tick bite
How Is Lyme Disease Diagnosed
Diagnosing Lyme disease can be difficult as symptoms vary from person to person. Symptoms can also be similar to other illnesses.
A diagnosis of Lyme disease is based on:
- the outcome of laboratory testing
Laboratory testing may be recommended for patients with signs, symptoms and history of exposure to tick bite to support a clinical diagnosis.
Seek your health care provider right away if you develop symptoms of Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick or if you visited a known at risk area for Lyme disease. The earlier a diagnosis is made, the greater the chance of a successful treatment.
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Hunting For Alternative Drug
Frustrated by the lack of treatment options for Lyme disease patients with lingering symptoms, Rajadas and his team began hunting for a better alternative in 2011. In 2016, they published a study in Drug Design, Development and Therapy that listed 20 chemical compounds, from about 4,000, that were most effective at killing the infection in mice. All 20 had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for various uses. One, for instance, is used to treat alcohol abuse disorder.
Jayakumar Rajadas
In this most recent study, azlocillin, one of the top-20 contenders, was shown to eclipse a total of 7,450 compounds because it is more effective in killing B. burgdorferi and causes fewer side effects. Lyme disease affects more than 300,000 people annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can affect various organs, including the brain, skin, heart, joints and nervous system, and cause heart problems and arthritis if untreated. Symptoms include fever, headaches, chills, and muscle and joint pain.
Traditional antibiotics, such as doxycycline, are effective as an early course of treatment for the infection in the majority of patients, but it remains unclear why these drugs fail to treat 10% to 20% of patients, Rajadas said.
Antibiotics For Lyme Disease Treatment
Every year, a campaign is launched in the media to raise awareness of what Lyme disease is and what its effects may be. It should be emphasized that Lyme disease can consequently lead to inflammation of the encephalitis and meninges. In the spring and summer period, when the most ticks are found in forests, parks, and meadows, you need to be particularly vigilant and observe your body with the signals they send. If you develop erythema on your skin, you should see your doctor immediately, as this may be the first symptom of a tick bite and possibly Lyme disease. It is not recommended to remove the forceps from the body on your own. Unfortunately, this will not protect us from Lyme disease, if the tick was its carrier. It is better if the doctor assesses the risk of a tick bite.
Infection with Lyme disease of the human body can take several forms, due to the fact that the insects carrying this disease have the form of an oval spirochete without a cell wall, in the form of a cyst, and as spores. If a tick bites a persons skin, Lyme starts living inside the cells of the human skin and is also able to cross the blood-brain barrier in a short time. This is a big problem when treating patients with Lyme disease.
Most often, Lyme disease is identified in:
- Connective tissue skin, tendons, walls of blood vessels, including those in the brain
- Muscle tissue
- Nervous tissue
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Medical Experts Publish New Guidelines In Hopes Of Reducing Tick
In response to the growing number of TBIs, the Wilderness Medical Society convened a panel to develop guidelines for their prevention and management. “In the United States, 95 per cent of human vector-borne diseases reported to the CDC per year are attributable to tick-borne pathogens,
YAHOO!News
What Is The Treatment
Most cases of Lyme disease can be effectively treated with 2 to 4 weeks of antibiotics. Depending on the symptoms and when you were diagnosed, you may require a longer course or repeat treatment with antibiotics.
Some people experience symptoms that continue more than 6 months after treatment. Research continues into the causes of these persistent symptoms and possible treatment methods.
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Transmission Of Bb Via Ixodes Spp Vectors
The black-legged ticks, Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus on the West Coast, are the primary vectors of Bb in the USA. In endemic areas, the proportion of Ixodes spp. ticks infected with Bb can be remarkably high. One recent survey of the pathogen burden of 197 Ixodes scapularis ticks collected from New York and Connecticut where LD is endemic, revealed 111 ticks were infected with Bb and 37 were co-infected with more than one human pathogen . The high pathogen burden is consistent with previous tick surveys in the same region . In contrast, the percent of infected ticks in other regions of the USA is much lower. In recently published surveys across California, for example, fewer than 5% of Ixodes spp. ticks were infected . Ixodes ticks sometimes carry multiple strains of Bb that may impact the course of disease in people that are co-infected. One tick survey showed that 39% of Ixodes ticks in North America are infected with multiple genotypes of Bb .
What Did It Find
- Compared to doxycycline, there was no difference between the following antibiotics for treatment response by 12 months: penicillin V , azithromycin , cefuroxime axetil , amoxicillin or ceftriaxone plus doxycycline .
- More than 80% of patients showed a treatment response, 84% at two or fewer months after starting treatment and 80% at 12 or more months following treatment initiation. There was no available data on outcomes for around 15%.
- There were few treatment failures in those people who were followed up 4% by two months and 2% by 12 months.
- Treatment-related adverse effects occurred in around 31% of people and included vomiting and diarrhoea as well as a Herxheimer-like reaction . Only 1% experienced haematologic adverse events, such as low platelet counts.
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New Antibiotic A Possible Alternative To Treat Lyme Disease
Posted: 20 October 2021 | Anna Begley |
The antimicrobial hygromycin A was shown to clear Lyme disease in mice, representing a promising therapeutic against the disease.
Researchers at the Northeastern University in Boston and the University of Oklahoma, both US, have identified an antibiotic that may not only work to cure Lyme disease but may also help eradicate its occurrence from the environment.
NEWS: Novel living medicine could treat antibiotic-resistant infections READ HERE
Lyme disease affects an estimated 300,000 people in the US alone. Although early antibiotic treatment is effective for most patients, some 10 to 20 percent of patients continue to suffer from symptoms that may include fatigue, muscle pain and cognitive impairment for over six months after therapy. The significance of this debilitating disease has been recently brought into focus by a set of very similar symptoms in patients with long COVID.
Furthermore, the antibiotics currently used to treat Lyme disease are broad-spectrum with significant effects on the human gut microbiome and the potential for increasing resistance in non-target bacteria. The team therefore sought to identify a compound acting with a narrower spectrum of activity against B. burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
This selective antibiotic holds the promise of providing a better therapeutic for treating Lyme disease and eradicating it in the environment
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Tetracycline Plus Rifamycin Plus Disulfiram
- minocycline 100 mg 1 pill 2 times a day
- rifampin 300 mg 2 pills 1 time a day
- disulfiram 4 to 5 mg/ kg body weight. Work up to this dose slowly over 2 months then remain on the disulfiram at the peak dose for 4 months before tapering off.
Key Points:
- This minocycine and rifampin in this combination are as useful for treating a Bartonella co-infection. Co-infections are other germs passed on during a tick bite. If someone has a co-infection, when possible I choose antibiotic combinations that simultaneously treat Lyme germs and the co-infection germs.
- The disulfiram is added here to treat persister Lyme. Note disulfiram does not appear to treat Bartonella.
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Questions To Ask Your Doctor
- I found a tick embedded in my skin, but I cant get it out. What should I do?
- Ive been bitten by a tick. Do I need to be seen?
- Do I need a blood test to confirm Lyme disease?
- Which antibiotic is best for me?
- How long will I have to take the antibiotic?
- What tick or insect repellent should I use for me or my child?
- How long will the symptoms last?
- What should I do if I still dont feel well a long time after I was bitten?
Ongoing Symptoms Of Lyme Disease
A few people who are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease continue to have symptoms, like tiredness, aches and loss of energy, that can last for years.
These symptoms are often compared to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
It’s not clear why this happens to some people and not others. This means there’s also no agreed treatment.
Speak to a doctor if your symptoms come back, or do not improve, after treatment with antibiotics.
The doctor may be able to offer you further support if needed, such as:
- referral for a care needs assessment
- telling your employer, school or higher education institution that you require a gradual return to activities
- communicating with children and families’ social care
Page last reviewed: 05 July 2021 Next review due: 05 July 2024
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Johns Hopkins Team Creates Lyme And Tick
A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has created and posted online a free Lyme and tick-borne disease dashboard. The group has published a paper describing the information available on the dashboard and how to use it on the open-access site PLOS ONE.
Medical Xpress
Tetracycline Plus Macrolide Plus Grapefruit Seed Extract Plus Japanese Knotweed
- doxycycline 100 mg 2 pills 2 times a day
- clarithromycin 500 mg 1 pill 2 times a day
- grapefruit seed extract 250 mg 1 pill 2 times a day.
- Japanese knotweed½ tsp 3 times a day
Key Points:
- Tetracyclines and macrolides both block protein production by binding to the protein production apparatus in germs called ribosomes. But they each bind to a different part of the ribosome improving the blockade of protein production.
- Japanese knotweed is added here to treat persister Lyme. It also may treat growing Lyme and can lower inflammation cytokines.
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Penicillin Plus Azole Plus Lipsomal Cinnamon Clove & Oregano Oil
- amoxicillin 500 mg 4 pills 3 times a day
- tinidazole 500 mg 1 pill 2 or 3 times a day for 4 days on and 3 days off in 7-day cycles.
- liposomal cinnamon, clove, and oregano oil capsules 1 pill 2 times a day.
Key Points:
- This is a very high dose of amoxicillin, which is four times stronger than physicians prescribe for other infections like ear infections. I consider this dose to be nearly as effective as IV antibiotics.
- This is a pulse dose regimen of the tinidazole. It may be more effective than continuous regimens.
- The essential oils are added to treat persister Lyme.
What Should I Do If I Find A Tick On My Child
Don’t panic. First Lyme disease is spread by the black-legged tick, not by the larger and more-common dog tick. The risk of developing Lyme disease after a black-legged tick bite is low, especially if the tick has been attached for a short time.
If you find a tick on your child, remove it using a fine-tipped pair of tweezers. Grasp the body of the tick and pull in an upward motion until the tick comes out. Do not squeeze or twist the ticks body. Take note of the ticks size and color, and how long you think it has been attached to your child.
If your child has been bitten by a black-legged tick that has been attached for more than 24 hours and you are in a Lyme disease endemic area, consult with your pediatrician. In some cases, your child may be prescribed antibiotics to prevent Lyme disease from developing.
The commitment and compassion with which we care for all children and families is matched only by the pioneering spirit of discovery and innovation that drives us to think differently, to find answers, and to build a better tomorrow for children everywhere.
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Macrolide Plus Quinine Derivative Plus Azole Plus Methylene Blue
- azithromycin 500 mg 1 pill 1 time a day
- hydroxychloroquine 200 mg 1 pill 2 times a day
- metronidazole 500 mg 1 pill 2 or 3 times a day
- methylene blue 50 mg 2 times a day
Key Points:
- Since azithromycin is not as effective as other macrolides like clarithromycin, hydroxychloroquine is used to increase the effectiveness.
- Tinidazole could be substituted for the metronidazole because it may remove biofilms more effectively.
- Methylene Blue can treat persister Lyme.
Quinine Derivatives To Boost Intracellular Antibiotics
Intracellular
Inside of cells, Lyme may live in cave-like structures called vacuoles. In these vacuoles, Lyme germs create a hostile acidic environment that can limit the effectiveness of various antibiotics. Quinine derivatives, like hydroxychloroquine , can make the inside of cells more basic which can help the tetracyclines and macrolides mentioned above work better.
- Hydroxychloroquine 200 mg 1 pill 2 times a day
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Essential Oils For Lyme Disease
It is believed that many essential oils have antimicrobial activities, and some people with persistent Lyme disease symptoms have turned to essential oils to help reduce symptoms of the disease.
Researchers tested 34 essential oils against B. burgdorferi in the lab and found cinnamon bark, clove bud, citronella, wintergreen, and oregano show strong activity against the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, even more effectively than daptomycin, the gold standard antibiotic many people with Lyme disease are prescribed.
These results indicate that essential oils show promise as treatments for persistent Lyme disease, but clinical trials are needed in order to show their effectiveness in humans.
When used properly, most essential oils are safe and free of adverse side effects. However, it is important to use them carefully. They can irritate the skin if not properly diluted, and some should not be taken internally.
Purchase high-quality essential oils that go through testing to ensure the product is safe to use. Follow the usage and dilution instructions on the label carefully. Talk with your healthcare professional before using essential oils to avoid drug interactions with any medications you are taking.
Tackling Lyme Disease: How Researchers Plan To Disarm Ticks
The treatment options for chronic Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness, are still limited. But now, researchers are pursuing a new approach: Eliminating the cause directly at the source.
Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria can trigger chronic diseases but a remedy may be in sight
Lyme disease may eventually be a thing of the past, says Kim Lewis, professor of biology and director of the Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern University in the US city of Boston.
The reason for this optimism is the rediscovery of a chemical that is deadly to the bacterium causing the tick-borne illness but harmless to animals. But more on that in a moment.
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi, which lurks in small rodents such as rats or mice, as well as in deer. They do not show symptoms of the disease. Ticks serve as vectors, meaning they become infected when they feed on blood from these animals and transfer the bacteria to new hosts such as humans.
Herbal And Rx Antimicrobials That Treat Persisters
This is a newer area in Lyme treatment. To help justify these various antimicrobial options, I describe the experimental basis behind my recommendations. These options are ones I am using with various degrees of success in my Seattle practice. They all have either laboratory experiments supporting their use or published human experiments.
Laboratory-Based Experiment Options
Here is a list of prescription and herbal medicine options shown in lab experiments to kill persisters that I am incorporating into my treatments of Lyme and/or Bartonella.
- Disulfiram – work slowly up to 4 to 5 mg/kg body weight 1 time a day.
- Methylene Blue 50 mg 2 times a day.
- Liposomal Oregano, Cinnamon, and Clove Oils 1 capsule 2 times a day.
- Cryptolepis 5 ml 3 times a day.
- Japanese Knotweed½ tsp 3 times a day – start at ¼ tsp 1 time a day and then increase after two weeks to ½ tsp 3 times a day.
- Cats Claw 30 drops 2 times a day.
Human-Based Experiment Options
Here is a list of prescription medications shown in human experiments to help with persister Lyme.
- Disulfiram – work slowly up to 4 to 5 mg/kg body weight 1 time a day.
- Dapsone – work up to 100 mg or 200 mg 1 time a day.