Lyme Disease Association Newsletter

Dunno if anyone is interested but, here's our local LDAESM newsletter for this month...it always includes some helpful info. and links. We're lucky in this area to have a very active community - of course, we are in Lyme Central Station here, too. I have removed references to docs names who are not "known" Lyme docs and people's names for privacy purposes. ============== Happy Spring in February everyone!   The ticks are out already with this warmer weather, so be careful and take preventative measures.   NEXT MEETING   This month, we will be concentrating on how tick-borne diseases affect our gut, and how our gut affects our disease process and our symptoms.   We will be watching a DVD presentation given by Dr. M F, a gastroenterologist who gave a presentation at the conference we held last July.   At the conference, Dr. F helped us understand the damage that tick-borne diseases can cause in our stomachs and intestinal tracts, and how he treats these issues in his practice.   Since 70% of our immune system is based in our gut, it is imperative that we have good gut health in order to heal from Lyme.   However, maintaining a good balance in our digestive system takes work.   At Monday’s meeting, we will also be giving practical advice on how to make dietary changes and still be happy eating.   After all, if something makes you miserable – like doing without your favorite foods – then chances are, you won’t follow it very long.   If, however, you could have your favorite foods fixed a different way so that they weren’t so bad for you, you will be more inclined to eat healthier.   That’s where our resident food-for-good-gut-health experts will be able to give you some practical help.   As we’ve found out with many aspects of Lyme disease, some of the best help often comes from those who have had to go through exactly what you are going through.   Monday, February 27 th 6:30 p.m. Greater Salisbury Building 200 Camden Street downtown Salisbury, Maryland   To get you started on learning more about gut health, here’s some great articles to read before the meeting:   GLUTEN CAN CAUSE “LEAKY GUT” SYNDROME   One of the hardest things about having chronic Lyme disease is the need to make lifestyle changes.   And the hardest lifestyle change for most Lyme patients to make is the dietary ones.   A good Lyme diet is free of sugar, gluten and dairy products.   [See the excellent book “The Lyme Diet” by Dr. Nicola McFadzean for help with putting this into practice.]   Recently, Dr. Mercola – an advocate for what you eat determines your state of health – addressed gluten and its role in producing a “leaky gut”.   In the article, he explains that “Leaky gut is a condition that occurs due to the development of gaps between the cells (enterocytes) that make up the membrane lining your intestinal wall.   These tiny gaps allow substances such as undigested food, bacteria and metabolic wastes, that should be confined to your digestive tract, to escape into your bloodstream – hence the term “leaky gut syndrome”.   Once the integrity of your intestinal lining is compromised, and there is a flow ot toxic substances ‘leaking out’ into your bloodstream, your body experiences significant increases in inflammation.   Also, your immune system may become confused and begin to attack your own body as if it were an enemy (autoimmunity).”   The article goes on to explain the role that gluten and grains play in causing and/or promoting a leaky gut situation.   Many, many chronic Lyme patients have digestive issues, food sensitivities and Candida overgrowth – all of which contribute to a leaky gut.   Many times, however, these issues can occur without apparent signs.   Lyme patients need to be aware of these issues, and they need to take the proper steps to prevent digestive problems by following a good Lyme diet.   It is important for Lyme patients to understand that if you don’t get better taking antibiotics for Lyme, you may need to consider the possibility that you have a leaky gut and cannot adequately absorb the antibiotics.   You will need to be your own advocate and discuss this issue with your Lyme-literate physician if you suspect that you have a leaky gut – don’t wait for your doctor to bring it up.   Be your own advocate   I have personally known some Lyme patients who didn’t get better when taking antibiotics.   It wasn’t until they stopped taking the antibiotics and made drastic dietary changes (following the specific carbohydrate diet described in the book “Breaking the Vicious Cycle”) that they actually started seeing some improvements in their symptoms.   These patients could never take antibiotics and had to treat their tick-borne diseases with herbs, because their guts would never heal on the antibiotics.   Here’s a link to the article entitled “Eating This Can ‘Tear Holes’ in your Gut” which describes how gluten-containing grains, such as whole wheat products, can cause a leaky gut:   http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/01/21/grains-causing-gut-leaks.aspx?e_cid=20120121_DNL_art_1   Also, a few years ago, there was a great article in the “Public Health alert ” newspaper that addressed how a leaky gut can cause all kinds of neurological problems.   Here’s a link to that excellent article, entitled “NeuroImmunology:   From Leaky Gut to Leaky Brain”:  .org/Articles/scottforsgren/neuroimmunology.htm" rel=nofollow target=_blank> http://www.publichealthalert .org/Articles/scottforsgren/neuroimmunology.htm   Reinforcing this idea that your gut health can effect your central nervous system, as well as cause all kinds of psychiatric symptoms, such as increased depression and anxiety, is a recent article which recently appeared in “The Wall Street Journal”.   The article entitled, “A Gut Check for Many Ailments” states, “ What you think is going on in your head may be caused in part by what's happening in your gut.   A growing body of research shows the gut affects bodily functions far beyond digestion. Studies have shown intriguing links from the gut's health to bone formation, learning and memory and even conditions including Parkinson's disease. Recent research found disruptions to the stomach or intestinal bacteria can prompt depression and anxiety—at least in lab rats.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204468004577164732944974356.html?utm_source=Himalayan+Institute+%26+Yoga+International+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1e03f55f24-YI_Feb_2012&utm_medium=email   PSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS MISSED SAYS IDSA   When you read things like excerpts from Dr. Eugene Shapiro’s recent talk at a conference on pediatric infectious diseases, you get a better understanding of why the pediatricians (and other doctors) in our area, as well as the rest of the country, fail to recognize Lyme disease, refuse to treat Lyme for more than two to four weeks, and simply don’t believe in “chronic” Lyme disease.   In fact, after reading Dr. Shapiro’s comments at the pediatric conference, one has a better understanding of why so many Lyme patients – children and adults alike – are diagnosed with psychiatric issues.   Dr. Shapiro is “the official media spokesperson on Lyme disease” for the Infectious Diseases Society of America (the “IDSA”) – the medical organization which is responsible for writing most of the medical guidelines used by the majority of the medical community.   If you have seen the movie, “Under Our Skin”, you will remember Dr. Shapiro as being the doctor who testified against Dr. Jones.   In fact, Dr. Shapiro makes a habit of testifying against doctors who treat chronic Lyme disease.   [Note to new readers:   The problem with the IDSA’s guidelines on Lyme disease is that they believe the current two-step testing process is completely accurate.   This two-step process includes an ELISA test   - or general antibody test – and if the ELISA is positive, the doctor then orders a Western Blot test.   The IDSA’s guidelines say that for a Western Blot test to be positive, 5 bands in the IgG or 3 bands in IgM must be positive.   These guidelines contradict those established by the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (the “ILADS”) which state that the ELISA test misses up to 60% of positive Lyme cases and should not be relied upon; and that one Lyme-specific band on the Western Blot test is sufficient to suspect Lyme disease.   Unfortunately, most doctors follow the IDSA’s guidelines since our government supports that set of rules.   Lyme patients around the world know that the IDSA’s guidelines are responsible for needless suffering due to un-diagnosed Lyme and the mis-diagnosis of other chronic conditions.]   Thee following are excerpts from a report of Dr. Shapiro’s presentation at a recent conference on pediatric infectious diseases:   “Lyme disease can create confusion for clinicians, especially when patients think it is causing their chronic, nonspecific symptoms.   Patients with genuine Lyme disease may indeed have nonspecific symptoms, but – given that the disease does not cause chronic, nonspecific symptoms in the absence of objective signs of the illness – patients must also have an objective sign of Lyme disease . [In other words, they must test positive to Lyme according to the IDSA’s guidelines.]   ‘We doctors are very good at treating diseases, but we are very poor at managing symptoms without a diagnosis,’ he added.   His advice for managing such patients is to focus on treating the symptoms with a combination of counseling, increased exercise, improved sleep, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and in some cases, medication.   ‘Associated pathology is rare and rarely missed [meaning that the ELISA and Western Blot are infallible] whereas psychiatric diagnoses are common and often missed’ in these patients he said.”   Isn’t that last line great?   And we wonder why our doctors prefer to diagnose us with psychiatric disorders rather than helping us get better by treating the chronic infection!   What is so very disappointing about Dr. Shapiro’s push to diagnose Lyme patients with psychiatric disorders is that this presentation was made to so many pediatricians.   It is truly sad to see so many children – right here on the Delmarva Peninsula – being diagnosed with all kinds of issues and being prescribed all kinds of medications – often for behavioral problems or ADD - when it’s clear that they have undiagnosed tick-borne diseases.   AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. KLINGHARDT   Dr. Mercola also had a great article recently, in fact, it’s an article and a video interview with one of the leading alternative Lyme-literate physicians in the country – Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt.   Those of you who saw the movie, “Under Our Skin” will remember Dr. Klinghardt as the physician who treated the girl who worked on the U2 band tour.   Dr. Klinghardt’s approach to treating Lyme is very different from many doctors’ approach.   Dr. Mercola does an excellent job of describing Dr. Klinghardt’s philosophy toward microbes and disease.     Dr. Klinghardt is convinced that some diseases, such as Lyme, are so much worse than they were years before, because our environment is making the bugs crazy.   He adamantly believes that the waves created by all our electronic devices are stirring the bugs up so that they can no longer live in harmony with their hosts.   I will never forget one practitioner I went to telling me about a seminar that she attended put on by Dr. Klinghardt.   She said that they all looked at Lyme bacteria under a microscope and saw the little spirochetes moving around in the slide.   Then Dr. Klinghardt moved a cell phone next to the microscope and the doctors were all to look at the same slide under the microscope and see what happens to the bacteria when the cell phone is moved near it.   To this practitioner’s amazement, the spirochetes began moving rapidly and rapidly reproducing.   The same thing happened when a laptop computer was moved next to the microscope.   You will read in this article how Dr. Klinghardt has his patients remove electromagnetic fields from their homes during the Lyme treatment, and what a profound effect it has on their healing.   Here’s a link to this enlightening article:   http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/05/dr-dietrich-klinghardt-on-lyme-disease.aspx?e_cid=20120205_SNL_Art_1   YARD SALE   The date of our yard sale has been moved to Saturday, May 19 th to give everyone more time to get their donations of goods together.   I don’t know about you, but it seems that we all have been so busy lately, that a March date was just pushing it.   Please don’t wait!   We’re accepting donations now so please don’t wait until the last minute to give us a call.   It takes many countless hours to clean, price and organize all the many wonderful things donated to us, and we’d like to begin working on this process now.   If you have anything to donate, please give us a call .   Clothes you don’t wear anymore, household goods, books you won’t read again, office supplies, craft supplies…..nothing is too small (we sell things for a nickel) and nothing is too big (we’ll take appliances and furniture, too!).     We’ll even pick up your goods – anywhere in Sussex, Wicomico, Worcester, Somerset or Dorchester Counties!    One of the wonderful things about having a yard sale is that we are able to make money to keep providing our monthly meetings and community presentations, and we also help others by providing them with things they can use at really low prices.   It’s a win/win situation, but it only works with your help and donations.   Please take the time to clean out your attics, sheds and closets and donate today!   NEW COMMERCIAL   WMDT-TV has been so gracious to our organization – first by granting us a full year of free advertising – and then working with us to produce great commercials.   They even took it one step further by extending our year since we didn’t get started until March or April last year.   Our latest commercial features Lyme patient Melissa XXXX and her daughter, who did an excellent job of telling viewers how the LDAESM helped point them in the right direction to get help.     Melissa is one of those real miracles that seem to happen so often in our work with the Lyme association.   A couple of years ago, she was very sick and was told conflicting stories from different doctors.   A friend of hers drove by The Good Earth Market near Ocean View, Delaware about 15 minutes before we were to give a presentation on Lyme disease, and she called Melissa to say she just saw a sign out front of the store saying they were talking about Lyme disease that Saturday.   Melissa came right over to the store, heard the presentation given by the LDAESM, and went to a Lyme-literate physician who helped her and her daughter get the treatment they needed.     Every time we go out in the community to give a presentation, we know that there will be those one or two people who will come up to us to talk about what is going on in their life, and we’ll know – that’s why we were supposed to be here in this place at this moment!   Melissa was one of those people, because not only did she and her daughter get the help they needed, but she also helped two of her close friends get the help they needed, and she continues to help others with her story.   If you haven’t seen it on WMDT-TV, here’s a link to this wonderful commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKwVg3MoWP4     CALENDAR   Sunday, March 11 th – Presentation at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Berlin, MD at 10:30 a.m.   Monday, March 26 th – Regular monthly meeting in Salisbury.   We will be viewing a DVD presentation provided by Dr. Burrascano which he gave at last Fall’s ILADS conference.   This is a very special presentation – full of incredible information that you will not want to miss! – and we will be viewing it by special permission from ILADS.   Thanks ILADS!   Tuesday, April 24 th – Community presentation at 6:30 p.m. at Stevenson United Methodist Church on Main Street in Berlin, Maryland.   Lyme Disease Association of the   Eastern Shore of Maryland P.O. Box 5360 Salisbury, Maryland   21802 410-749-LYME