Chronic Lyme Disease: A Modern Plague the Government Chooses to Ignore

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

A silent epidemic is spreading across every continent on the planet, one that is difficult to diagnose and mimics a spectrum of diseases. It’s mistaken for chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, autism, Crohn’s disease, attention deficit disorder (ADD), Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), colitis, thyroid disease, chronic inflammation, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Food sensitivities, insomnia, depression, anxiety and a host of other psychological disorders may accompany the affliction.

It’s taken root as climate changes and damage to the natural world have become more prominent. Considered the most common vector-borne disease in America, it’s believed there are upwards of 420,000 new cases each year in the United States. It destroys lives and families, while decimating finances. Treatment can take years.

Yet, for sufferers of Chronic Lyme Disease, both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) claim it doesn’t exist.

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Anatomy of a Stealth Illness

Lyme is most widely known as a disease contracted from a tick bite that infects the host with Borrelia burgdorferi, a corkscrew-shaped bacterium that’s a distant cousin to Treponema pallidum — a syphilis causing spirochete bacteria.

However, researchers are beginning to suspect Lyme disease isn’t just a disease from ticks. Mounting evidence from leading authorities on Lyme believe the bacteria is also spread by other biting insects — such as spiders, fleas, mites and mosquitoes. There is also concern it’s spread through bodily fluids and during pregnancy as well. It’s common for entire families to test positive for Lyme.

Dr. Klinghardt, MD, one of the foremost Lyme literate physicians in the United States, notes that he’s “never had a single patient with Alzheimer’s, ALS, Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis who tested negative for Borrelia.”

The classic “bull’s eye” rash that occurs when bitten by an infected tick is only present in 50% of Lyme cases. Other symptoms can include:

Persistant fatigue
Cyclical fever
Migraines and headaches
Sore muscles and/or joints

The reason a Lyme infection can be so difficult to diagnose is that the spirochete has the ability to infect white blood cells. When these cells are infected, they won’t respond to a Borrelia infection with antibodies. Apparently, “the worse your Borrelia infection is, the less likely it will show up on a blood test,” remarks Dr. Joseph Mercola. Another tactic the bacterium uses to avoid detection is to colonize as a biofilm cyst. This is why, if you suspect Lyme disease, it’s important to start treatment before being tested. When the immune system kicks-in and responds normally, antibodies will show up on a blood test. Dr. Mercola recommends a specialized lab called IGeneX.

To avoid the complications associated with intensive antibiotic treatment, several herbal protocols are available which have proven to be effective at healing Lyme infections. The Cowden Support Program (CSP) is a system created by William L. Cowden, MD, for the treatment of chronic Borrelia and Lyme co-infections. Likewise, herbalist Stephen Buhner has published several books on treating Lyme that include detailed instructions on how to use specific herbs to combat the disease. Further information can be found here. And Dr. Klinghardt, MD, offers this herbal and lifestyle plan.

A Political and Economic Firestorm

One of the biggest obstacles for those suffering from Lyme is to get the help they need. Case histories abound of patients seeing 30+ doctors in an attempt to receive a proper diagnosis. Many were told — with absolute certainty — that their disease was something entirely different than Lyme, or that they needed to see a psychiatrist because it was a psychosomatic illness. Sick children were thought to be only looking for attention. Insurance companies balked about the length of Lyme treatment and flat-out refused to to cover the disease beyond a short round of antibiotics.

Justifying their stance, health insurers would refer to the IDSA’s guidelines published in 2006, which claim Lyme is an easily treated bacterial infection, only necessitating 4 weeks of antibiotic’s. Any illness that persists beyond this standard protocol cannot be Lyme disease because chronic Lyme doesn’t exist, according to the IDSA and the CDC.

Tell this to the tens of thousands who have suffered from the debilitating effects of Lyme disease for years.

It just so happens that 9 out of the 14 authors who created the IDSA Lyme Guidelines have direct conflicts of interest. As reported in “Lyme Disease: The CDC’s Greatest Coverup and What They Don’t Want You to Know”:

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal investigated the IDSA panel members for possible violation of antitrust laws and conflicts of interest.

Of the 14 panel authors of the first edition guidelines: 6 of them or their universities held patents on Lyme or its co-infections, 4 received funding from Lyme or co-infection test kit manufacturers, 4 were paid by insurance companies to write Lyme policy guidelines or consult in Lyme legal cases, and 9 received money from Lyme disease vaccine manufacturers. Some of the authors were involved in more than one conflict of interest.

One physician in the documentary Under Our Skin noted that the guidelines were written in legalese, almost as if it could be used in court cases against doctors treating Lyme or to help insurers deny care. And this is exactly what has happened. The guidelines have been misused by insurance companies to discredit doctors who are using long-term antibiotic treatment for chronic Lyme. In numerous cases against Lyme literate physicians, original complaints to state medical boards didn’t come from patients or other physicians, but from insurance companies protesting about billing. It’s a modern-day witch-hunt for doctors who are actually listening to (and healing) their Lyme patients, instead of turning a blind eye to the epidemic.

With all the political and financial wrangling behind the disease, at the end of the day, the most important focus should be on health and healing. If you’ve been suffering from hard-to-pin-down symptoms, Lyme could be the culprit and it may be time to find a Lyme literate physician.