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A New Look at Chronic Lyme by Pamela Weintraub
Pamela Weintraub’s article in Experience Life, A New Look at Chronic Lyme, on May 25, 2022 addressed the complex issue of Lyme disease and treatment ideology. “Many physicians who treat tick-borne diseases now combine conventional medicine with gentler integrative strategies — and more long-term patients are getting well.”
Lyme disease is divided between acute and chronic illness. Acute Lyme patients typically recover after a few weeks of oral antibiotics, or one to two months of IV antibiotics. Patients dealing with chronic Lyme have an uphill battle as this form is more controversial and physicians are hesitant to treat. “The controversy may stem partly from the inadequacy of Lyme tests, which don’t reliably register Lyme antibodies for about six weeks. And a significant subset of people with Lyme may never test positive on standard serologies. The disease can lie dormant within tissues, and some tests can’t register certain strains of Borrelia.”
Lyme disease cases become more complex when a person is infected with multiple co-infections from the same tick bite. Babesiosis, bartonellosis, Anaplasma, Powassan virus and other Borrelia microbes can make symptoms more severe and difficult to treat. “Researchers assessed 104 people with chronic-Lyme symptoms. They found that 48 percent had been infected by more than one microorganism, and 25 percent showed evidence of at least three.”
Physicians and patients are turning towards a more integrative approach to treatment. Shorter courses of pharmaceuticals are being used, herbal treatments are added and overall health is considered. Research is being done with persister cells, biofilms, different drug combinations and length of treatment.
Each patient’s “Journey is Unique” and treatment protocols have become more individualized.
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