Lyme Disease: Prevalence, Diagnosis, and Comprehensive Treatment

by David I. Minkoff, MD

A recent autopsy on a 5300-year-old mummy revealed the presence of the bacterium that, in modern times, is known to cause Lyme disease. Suffice it to say that Lyme disease and ticks have coexisted for thousands of years.

In 1909, a Swedish dermatologist, Arvid Afzelius, presented his research into an expanding ringlike lesion, erythema migrans (EM), that would later be a hallmark of Lyme disease. By 1921, he suggested that the disease might be transmitted by the Ixodes scapularis tick, better known as the deer tick.

By the 1940s, people were receiving house calls from their family physicians for signs of a similar tick-borne illness that usually often started with a ringlike rash and then developed into multisystem problems. In the same decade, spirochete-type organisms were found in skin samples, which led to the use of penicillin as a treatment.

Fast-forward to the 1970s, when children and adults in Lyme and East Haddam, Connecticut, presented with crippling joint inflammation, headaches, paralysis, and severe chronic fatigue; 25% of them reported having had an EM rash.

In 1981, a scientist studying Rocky Mountain spotted fever (also caused by a tick bite), Willy Burgdorfer, PhD, MD, definitively made the connection between the adult deer tick, Ixodes dammini (originally referred to as I. scapularis), and the thin, spiral-shaped Lyme-disease-causing bacterium that it carried, which would in 1982 be named Borrelia burgdorferi in his honor.

Conclusive proof that B. burgdorferi causes Lyme disease was unveiled in 1984, when spirochetes were cultured from the blood of people with the EM rash, from rash lesions and from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a patient with meningoencephalitis who had an EM rash.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began surveillance for Lyme disease in 1982, and the US Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) designated Lyme as a nationally notifiable disease in 1991. In 2012, Lyme disease was included as one of the top 10 notifiable diseases by the CDC.

Lyme Disease

Lyme disease can be a devastating illness, one that masquerades as, among others, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and brain cancer. It can cause meningitis, congestive heart failure (CHF), depression, schizophrenia, and a range of other neurological disorders.

In fact, 93% of those with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and most of those with fibromyalgia have Lyme, a disease which was linked to 4,396,900 officially diagnosed cases in the US between 1982 and 2012, and that is according to the restrictive surveillance criteria established by the CDC.

If we use a broader, more diagnostically appropriate definition, then that would take our estimated number of cumulative US cases up to 30 to 36 million, according to Daniel Kinderlehrer, MD. In terms of global spread, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that Lyme disease “is now the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere.”

Today we also know that there are five subspecies of B. burgdorferi, over 100 strains in the US, and 300 strains worldwide. According to the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), bacterial “diversity is thought to contribute to its ability to evade the immune system and antibiotic therapy, leading to chronic infection.” In addition, the bacterium has 21 plasmids, 3 times more plasmids than any other known bacterium.

This species diversity and genetic repertoire vitally contribute to B. burgdorferi’s antigenic variability and its antibiotic resistance. On top of this, there are related Borrelia species that also cause Lyme disease in North America, including B. bissettii. Other related Lyme-causing species outside North America include B. garinii, B. afzelii, and B. spielmanii.

Of note, there are other related species that cause different tick-borne diseases, notably B. miyamotoi from Japan, a bacterium that causes borrelia miyamotoi disease (BMD), a tick-borne infection that can inflict even more severe symptoms than those of Lyme disease. In addition to bacterial species and plasmid-caused genetic diversity, there are several different ticks known to carry Borrelia; namely, deer ticks, the Western black-legged tick (Ixodes pacificus), Ixodes angustus (no common name), the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum), and the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus).

The Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni) is not believed to carry Lyme; however, this nasty critter does transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, Colorado tick fever, and tick paralysis. Likewise, its biting cousin, the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), also transmits Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia.

In terms of tick carriers, in addition to deer, experts now also believe that infected ticks are hitching a free ride via approximately 100 species of migrating birds as well as chipmunks, foxes, hedgehogs, rabbits, sheep, voles, and the white-footed mouse.

How do the Lyme–disease carrying ticks pass on the disease? After latching on, the deer (or other) tick takes a blood meal and, in so doing, transmits the Lyme–disease causing spirochetes to the bloodstream. The tick must remain attached for as long as two to three days in order to take a complete meal – it is able to transmit the spirochetes during this time.

Our Approach to Chronic Disease

Before we get to our approach to Lyme disease, let’s take a look at what I refer to as the three causes of illness, to wit:

1.

Nutritional deficiency

: through suboptimal diets and compromised metabolisms, we are typically deficient in many micronutrients and some macronutrients.

2.

Toxicity

: we are all exposed to chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides, and other toxins throughout our lives.

3.

Allergy

: the body is mobilizing immune, inflammatory, and allergic responses to agents that it should not be reacting to.

Along with the three causes of illness are seven basic assumptions with which my team and I approach all patients visiting our center:

• Every patient is toxic

  : the body has a cumulative toxic burden that has been building for a lifetime.

• Every patient is deficient

  : the body is missing nutrients and functions.

• Most patients are allergic

  : most patients have a level of sensitivities, intolerances and allergies.

• Correcting 1, 2, and 3 will result in significant improvements in most, if not all, patients.

• Without intravenous (IV) nutrients, our efforts don’t work very well.

• Modalities such as PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic field therapy), stem cells, ozone, and homeopathics move healing along faster.

• Without some form of autonomic testing, our approach will not produce the results we would like.

In addition to these foundational causes and basic assumptions, we find some combination of the following body-load problem areas in patients with chronic conditions, some of which are touched on above:

1.

Genetic problems

; e.g. methylation defects.

2.

Nutritional deficiencies

; e.g., essential amino acids (EAAs), essential fatty acids (EFAs), vitamins, and minerals.

3.

Toxic load

: chemicals, vaccine residue, heavy metals, pesticides, electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation, prescription drugs.

4.

Coinfections

: viral, bacterial, parasitic, fungal.

5.

Hormonal deficiencies.

6.

Dental problems

; e.g., root–canal treated teeth.

7.

Gut issues

; e.g., toxic gut.

8.

Allergies

.

9.

Autoimmunity

.

Our Approach to Lyme Disease

While acute, recently diagnosed Lyme disease often responds well to antibiotics, chronic Lyme disease – patients were bitten years before and have developed multiple problems and coinfections – is not very responsive to antibiotics, antifungals, and antiparasitics, and so we take a much more comprehensive approach.

In fact, we have found that good clinical outcomes only occur when nutritional deficiencies, electromagnetic pollution, toxic load, gut dysbiosis, immune dysfunction, coinfections and hormonal imbalances are addressed.

When patients come to our center, Lyme disease has already disseminated to multiple organ systems and is often marked by arthritic, emotional, and neurological symptoms.

A few of the many observations that we have been able to make in our experience with patients presenting with chronic Lyme disease are:

• Patients with early disseminated or late-stage disease usually have strong serological activity, although seroreactivity alone cannot be used as a marker of active disease in the absence of other signs and symptoms.

• Lyme antibodies often persist for months or years following successfully treated or untreated infection. Western blot must be used if the Lyme IgG/IgM antibody serology is equivocal or positive.

• Lyme has immune-blocking secreted factors, such as nagalase (which blocks GcMAF, globulin component macrophage activating factor).

• Patients with chronic Lyme and who have root–canal treated teeth must have the failed tooth/teeth removed.

• Lyme patients always have some combination of coinfections that we look for, including (but not limited to): Ehrlichia, Babesia, Bartonella, Rickettsia, Spirocheta, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus, herpes type 6 and 7, varicella-zoster virus (VZV), human papillomavirus (HPV), Candida, MARCoNS (multiple antibiotic resistant coagulase negative staphylococci), Mycoplasma, and Chlamydia.

Over the years, we have been able to establish what I refer to as our “Mainstays of Treatment,” modalities that are the foundation of our treatment protocols for patients with chronic Lyme disease, which include:

• Ozone

  (intravenous [IV] and HOCATT [hyperthermic ozone and carbonic acid transdermal therapy]);

• Argentyn 23

  silver hydrosol;

• Kaqun

  oxygenated water;

• Herbals

  (Monastery of Herbs, Nutrimedix);

• PEMF

  therapy and

  MAS Mat

  (pulsed magnetic field) therapy.

• Nutritional Reconstitution

  with Perfect Amino, BodyHealth Complete+ Detox,

Prior to, and in addition to, these treatment cores, we conduct: a careful and comprehensive medical exam , autonomic reflex testing (ART) with direct resonance testing and darkfield microscopy, neural therapy scar treatment and autoimmune disease treatment (if needed), and ALCAT food-allergy testing (if needed). We provide a dental referral (if needed) and carry out extensive laboratory tests to uncover toxicities and deficiencies.

We focus on gut restoration, hormone balancing and metal detoxification (when ready). We recommend: an IV Myers cocktail plus glutathione, oral supplements (BodyHealth Complete + Detox, BodyHealth PerfectAmino, vitamin D, iodine, NanoGreens, magnesium), and a Paleo diet.

Conclusion

Lyme disease is often not diagnosed or is confused with the symptoms of the many comorbidities and coinfections with which it is associated and, thus, misdiagnosed. While patients with chronic Lyme disease often begin their healing journey filled with pain, despair, and confusion, a comprehensive workup and diagnostic battery are critical to uncover each patient’s very specific clinical problems and deficiencies. A complete Lyme disease treatment program – one focused on correcting the core problems of nutritional deficiency, toxicity, and allergy/immunity – will not only offer patients health and freedom from the shackles of this multipronged and devastating disease but can also offer something infinitely more valuable: hope and a brand new life.

David I. Minkoff, MD

Dr. Minkoff’s wife became ill in 1995, and her physicians couldn’t find what was wrong. Not accepting their “no hope” conclusion, Dr. Minkoff went on a search to help her, which led him out of emergency medicine into complementary and alternative medicine to find the answers. In the process he gained expertise in biological medicine, heavy metal detoxification, anti-aging medicine, hormone replacement therapy, functional medicine, energy medicine, neural and prolotherapy, homeopathy, and optimum nutrition. He studied under the masters in each of these disciplines until he became an expert in his own right. The answers he found were soon in demand when others learned of his wife’s return to good health. In response to this, he and his wife, Sue Minkoff, RN, established Lifeworks Wellness Center in 1997, and it quickly became one of the most comprehensive complementary and alternative medicine clinics in the US. The demand for the products and protocols he discovered became a catalyst for founding BodyHealth in 2000, a cutting-edge nutritional products company. Dr. Minkoff is an avid athlete and has completed 41 Ironman triathlons. To keep his fitness maximal, he lives the lifestyle that he teaches, and tries to set an example for others so that they can enjoy a life free of pain and full of energy.