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May Awareness Guest Blog – An Interview with Richard Horowitz, MD
May Awareness LDA Guest Blogger
Dr. Richard Horowitz is a board-certified internist and the medical director of the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center, an integrative medical center specializing in the treatment of Lyme and other TBD’s. He has treated over 13,000 Lyme and TBD patients in the last 30 years and is one of the founding members and past president elect of ILADS. Dr Horowitz also previously served as a member of the HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group and was recently elected to the NYS Department of Health TBDWG. For dedicating his life to helping those stricken with this devastating illness, he has been awarded the Humanitarian of the Year award by the Turn the Corner Foundation and awards from Project Lyme. Dr. Horowitz is also the author of two best-selling books on Lyme disease and chronic illness, Why Can’t I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease (2013, St Martin’s Press, NY Times Best Seller), and How Can I Get Better? An Action Plan for Treating Resistant Lyme and Chronic Disease (2017, St Martin’s Press, National bestseller). He recently released his first science fiction/climate change novel, Starseed R/evolution, The Awakening. He will be releasing his third science book through Simon and Schuster on comprehensive answers for chronic disease late in 2025.
In this May Awareness Guest Blog, we share an interview with Richard Horowitz, MD, Medical Director of the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center. As a board-certified internal medicine specialist and a key member of various tick-borne disease working groups, Dr. Horowitz has dedicated his work to understanding and treating Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. His experience spans from the early days of Lyme research in the 1990s to current advancements. Dr. Horowitz shares with us his journey into the field, the evolution of Lyme disease treatment, and his hope for finally finding a solution for chronic infections. This interview delves into his motivations, breakthroughs, and the critical role of compassion in patient care. Read on to discover Dr. Horowitz’s invaluable insights driven by scientific innovation and heartfelt advocacy.
An Interview with Richard Horowitz, MD
1. How did you get interested in specializing in Lyme and tick-borne diseases?
When I finished my internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai services at Elmhurst hospital in New York City in 1987, I then moved to one of the highest Lyme endemic areas in the United States, Dutchess County, New York. At the time, very little was known about Lyme disease. I clearly remember the lecture we received in our third year of internal medicine residency, in a large auditorium at Elmhurst hospital. It was from a Professor at Stony Brook University who described this unusual “bull’s-eye rash” associated with Lyme disease. I clearly remember turning to my friend Howie, after hearing the lecture, and telling him “Yeah, I think it’s unlikely that we are going to see any of these in our lifetime!” Oh well. I was making plans, and God was clearly laughing. A whole lot.
When I moved to Hyde Park after Vassar Brothers Hospital helped me to open my internal medicine practice, it was shortly afterwards in the early 1990s, that patients began coming in with this unusual EM rash, complaining of fatigue, migratory aches and pains, cognitive difficulties, mood, and sleep disorders. The classical thinking at the time was that several weeks of antibiotics would cure the disease, but it became apparent after a short period of time, that although 75% of infected individuals would get better when treated early on in the course of the illness, approximately one quarter of all patients went on to develop chronic symptoms. As a board-certified internist, we were taught to refer to subspecialists for complex disease presentations if we didn’t have the answers. I therefore sent my patients to infectious disease doctors, neurologists, psychiatrists, and even immunologists. No one had any solutions. I then started searching through the medical literature and attending Lyme conferences to discover how to help my sick and suffering patients. The first Lyme conference I attended was by the LDF, and it was Sandy Berenbaum who suggested I go there. It was at that fateful conference that I met Joe Burrascano, Ken Liegner, and Sam Donta. These were the ‘giants’ in medicine on the stage, who gave me the first clues as to how to help my patients. I am forever grateful for these pioneers who led the way.
There was, however, one important underlying philosophical tenant that resonated in my mind each time I was seeing these chronically ill patients, that was given to me by my spiritual teacher Lama Guendun Rinpoche. His teaching guided my future actions, and I believe that whatever success I’ve had, was due in large part to this important advice he shared with me. When I was finishing my seventh year of medical training at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium, I went to him and asked: “Rinpoche, what is the most important thing I need to know when I go out into the world as a physician?” He replied: “Richard, it is compassion. Exchange yourself with others. Put yourself in people’s shoes and do for them as you would do for yourself. If you do this, everything will go well.” Forty years later, looking back at my clinical career in medicine, his advice was not only accurate, but key in my finding solutions, by never giving up.
2. What do you see as the biggest difference(s) from when you began focusing on Lyme and where we are today?
When I first started treating Lyme disease back in the early 1990s, our scientific understanding was that the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, had a cell wall form which was responsive to cell wall drugs like penicillins and cephalosporins; an intracellular form, responsive to intracellular antibiotics (tetracyclines, macrolides, quinolones); and cystic forms, otherwise known as cell wall deficient forms/L-forms/S-forms/round bodies. I published in a scientific abstract, during the 12th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and Tickborne Disorders, April 1999, the first article on the use of Flagyl/metronidazole for the treatment of chronic Lyme disease, based on work that I did with Dr Martin Atkinson Barr.
Metronidazole Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease. Horowitz, R.I., M.D. 12th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and Tick-Borne Disorders, April 9-10, 1999. New York, New York.
We didn’t know at the time that metronidazole hit the cystic forms of Borrelia, and Dr. Brorson confirmed that approximately six months later in a scientific publication. So for years, I was combining a cell wall drug (Ceftin, Omnicef, Bicillin injections, IV Rocephin), finding that longer acting antibiotics like Bicillin were effective when mixed with Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) and/or Flagyl for the round body forms of Borrelia (Plaquenil also was also shown to be effective in hitting the cystic forms of Borrelia, according to Dr. Brorson), along with an intracellular drug like Zithromax.
Bicillin Therapy and Lyme Disease: A Retrospective Study of the Safety and Efficacy of High Dose Intramuscular Bicillin in the Treatment of Chronic resistant Lyme Disease. Horowitz, R.I., M.D. 12th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and Tick-Borne Disorders, April 9-10, 1999. New York, New York
This was effective in helping patients, but many times, patients relapsed shortly after stopping treatment due to persistent infection and required herbal therapies to reduce their symptoms and/or help some of them stay in remission.
Chronic Persistent Lyme Borreliosis: PCR Evidence of Chronic Infection Despite Extended Antibiotic Therapy- A Retrospective Review Horowitz R.I., M.D. Abstract, 13th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease and other Tick-Borne Disorders. Hartford, Connecticut, March 25-26,2000.
Then over the years, one by one I found overlapping sources of inflammation with downstream effects that were keeping my patients ill. First it was co-infections, especially Babesia. Joe Burrascano encouraged me to publish my findings (thank you, Joe!). We found Babesia microti in both ticks and in my patients. One of my patients who was in a wheelchair for five years unable to walk, began to ambulate for the first time after taking 10 days of Mepron and Zithromax. The abstracts are listed below.
Babesiosis in Upstate New York: PCR and RNA Evidence of Co-Infection with Babesia Microti Among Ixodidae Ticks in Dutchess County, NY. Horowitz, R.I., M.D. 12th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and Tick-Borne Disorders, April 9-10, 1999. New York, New York
Atovaquone and Azithromycin Therapy: A New Treatment Protocol for Babesiosis in Co-Infected Lyme Patients. Horowitz, R.I., M.D. 11th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and Tick-Borne Disorders, April 25-26, 1998. New York, New York.
Chronic Lyme Disease: A Symptom Complex of Multiple Co-Infections: New Diagnostic & Treatment Protocols. Horowitz, R.I., M.D. 12th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and Tick-Borne Disorders, April 9-10, 1999. New York, New York.
Lyme Disease and Babesiosis: New Therapeutic Options for Chronic Persistent Disease. Horowitz R.I., M.D.. Abstract, 13th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease and other Tick-Borne Disorders. Hartford, Connecticut, March 25-26,2000.
Mefloquinine and Artemesia: A Prospective Trial of Combination Therapy in Chronic Babesiosis Horowitz R.I., M.D. Abstract, 13th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease and other Tick-Borne Disorders. Hartford, Connecticut, March 25-26,2000.
High Dose Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Therapy: A Useful Adjunct to Combination Therapy in the Treatment of Resistant Babesiosis. Horowitz, R.I., M.D. 12th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and Tick-Borne Dis-orders, April 9-10, 1999. New York, New York
Then after discovering Babesia was playing an important role in keeping patients ill, we found that Bartonella was doing the same. A patient who couldn’t speak for years, who had been to a major university hospital and told that she had an ‘atypical migraine’ began talking for the first time in several years after giving her tetracyclines and a quinolone when we found she had Bartonella! This was 21 years ago! We are still finding Bartonella is playing a major role in keeping our patients ill, with new species being discovered all the time. The abstracts below discuss the problems with testing and treatment for Bartonella, back in 2003:
Bartonella Henselae: Limitations of Serological Testing: Evaluation of Elisa and Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing In a Cohort of Lyme Disease Patients and Implications for Treatment. Horowitz R.I., M.D. et.al. Abstract, 16th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other Tick-Borne Disorders. Hartford, Connecticut, June 2003.
Borrelia Burgdorferi & Bartonella Henselae: A Study Comparing Tetracyclines In Combination with Quinolones in Co-Infected Patients. Horowitz R.I., M.D. et.al. Abstract, 16th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other Tick-Borne Disorders. Hartford, Connecticut, June 2003.
And if it wasn’t Babesia and Bartonella, we then found atypical Mycoplasma species contributing to ongoing inflammation:
Mycoplasma Infections in Chronic Lyme Disease: A Retrospective Analysis of Co-Infection and Persistence Demonstrated by PCR Analysis Despite Long Term Antibiotic Treatment. Horowitz R.I., M.D. et.al. Abstract, 16th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other Tick-Borne Disorders. Hartford, Connecticut, June 2003.
Chronic Lyme Disease: A Symptom Complex of Multiple Co-Infections: New Diagnostic & Treatment Protocols. Horowitz, R.I., M.D. 12th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and Tick-Borne Disorders, April 9-10, 1999. New York, New York.
So year after year, we kept discovering new factors that were contributing to chronic illness, whether it was heavy metal toxicity or mold…
A Prospective Study of Heavy Metal Exposure Among Lyme Disease Patients with Chronic Persistent Symptomatology: Implications for Treatment. Horowitz R.I., M.D. et.al. Abstract, 16th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other Tick-Borne Disorders. Hartford, Connecticut, June 2003.
Or an increase in the acidic byproducts from infections contributing to Herxheimer reactions:
Effects of Shifting the Acid-Base Balance Among Lyme Patients during Jarish Herxheimer Flares: A Small Prospective Study. Horowitz R.I., M.D. et.al. Abstract, 16th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other Tick-Borne Disorders. Hartford, Connecticut, June 2003.
Or finding that we needed to protect our pregnant patients because of maternal-fetal transmission and chronic persistence of Borrelia:
Lyme Disease and Pregnancy: Implications of Chronic Infection, PCR Testing and Prenatal Treatment. Horowitz R.I. et.al. Abstract, 16th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other Tick-Borne Disorders. Hartford, Connecticut, June 2003.
That is how I developed the 16-point MSIDS model (Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome). One by one, I kept finding overlapping factors that contributed to my patient’s chronic illness, some of them causing inflammation directly (infections, toxins, imbalances with the microbiome with or without mast cell activation, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, sleep disorders) or downstream effects of the inflammation (mitochondrial dysfunction, POTS/dysautonomia, autoimmunity, pain syndromes, physical deconditioning, hormonal dysregulation, liver dysfunction, and/or neuropsychiatric illness).
I published the results of my findings on the MSIDS model in Healthcare in 2018, as well as in my NY Times Bestseller, ‘Why Can’t I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease’ and National Bestseller ‘How Can I Get Better? An Action Plan for Treating Chronic LD and Resistant Illness’.
Horowitz, R.I.; Freeman, P.R. Precision Medicine: The Role of the MSIDS Model in Defining, Diagnosing, and Treating Chronic Lyme Disease/Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and Other Chronic Illness: Part 2. Healthcare 2018, 6, 129. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30400667
Why Can’t I Get Better? Richard Horowitz, M.D. HC ISBN-13: 978-1-250-01940-0 ISBN-10: 1-250-01940-0 6 1/8 9 ¼ ● 526 pages EISBN-13: 978-1-250-03848-7
How Can I Get Better? Richard Horowitz, M.D. HC ISBN 978-1-250-07054-8 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-250-11144-9 (e-book)
What saddens me looking back at all of my work and publications, is that I was outlining the factors keeping my 13,000 + patients ill over 20 years ago, and we are still debating whether Lyme is a chronic persistent infection; the role of co-infections like Babesia and Bartonella in chronic illness; whether Borrelia can be transmitted from mother to child, or whether functional medicine approaches are helpful, and should be the new standard of care. I know that advances in the field of medicine can be slow, but considering the significant increase in the number of affected individuals who are sick and suffering from chronic Lyme disease and associated infections, in large part due to vector-borne infections rising with climate change, when mixed with blatant disregard for published science by certain key organizations…this situation has left us in a medical-political quagmire that has effectively stifled comprehensive patient care. Dr. Ken Liegner accurately described this situation many years ago when he said, “In the fullness of time, the mainstream handling of chronic Lyme disease will be viewed as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of medicine because elements of academic medicine, elements of government and virtually the entire insurance industry have colluded to deny a disease.”
3. What are you most excited about in today's treatment and/or hope for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases?
Several years ago, university based researchers from Johns Hopkins, Stanford, the University of New Haven, and Northeastern University began to publish on Borrelia burgdorferi being a ‘persister’ bacteria. What this meant was not simply that the bacteria could chronically persist (we knew that), but that it persisted in biofilm aggregates, which made it resistant to treatment. The following quote about the importance of biofilms and persisters, and their importance as one of the causes of chronic persistent symptoms in Lyme disease and Bartonella, is from our recently published 3 case studies and literature review in the journal Microbiology. It was just published in time for Lyme Awareness month!
Horowitz, R.I.; Fallon, J.; Freeman, P.R. Combining Double Dose and High Dose Pulsed Dapsone Combination Therapy for Chronic Lyme Disease/Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and Co-Infections Including Bartonella: A Report of 3 Cases and Literature Review. Microorganisms 2024, 12, 909. 10.3390/microorganisms12050909
“Emerging research indicates that biofilms are likely part of many, and probably most, chronic infections, providing a protected niche for pathogenic bacteria to survive, contributing to the burden of inflammation [74]. In our previously published research, dapsone therapy, using dapsone alone, or with combination antibiotic therapies, including a tetracycline, rifampin, and/or azithromycin, has demonstrated efficacy against the biofilm/persister forms of Borrelia burgdorferi [75]. Each additional intracellular antibiotic added to dapsone in culture increased the drug’s ability to reduce the mass, viability, and protective mucopolysaccharide layers of the B. burgdorferi biofilm [75]. The four-drug combination of dapsone, a tetracycline, rifampin, and macrolide (azithromycin) had the most significant effect on the Borrelia biofilm, and this was the protocol we used in our three case studies discussed here. Johns Hopkins researchers had also published that 6 days of combination antibiotic therapy using rifampin, azithromycin, and methylene blue were effective in killing Bartonella stationary-phase persisters, lowering the biofilm forms of Bartonella henselae in culture [76], completely eradicating the infection. Methylene blue was therefore added to our treatment protocol, both for its effect as a persister drug against Bartonella and Borrelia [76,77] and because of its effectiveness in lowering methemoglobin levels, a known side effect of dapsone, where oxidative stress impairs the oxygen-carrying capacity in the blood [78]. Finally, pyrazinamide, a tuberculosis drug used to decrease the length of treatment of mycobacterial infections by killing non-replicating persisters [79], was added when Bartonella was present, based on a prior published case study showing that the medication increased the efficacy of dapsone combination therapy in an autoimmune patient with Behçet’s disease [72].
Next-generation sequencing technologies have demonstrated that polymicrobial infections are also more frequently implicated in chronic infections now, often associated with biofilm formation, thus changing antimicrobial susceptibility patterns due to resistance and tolerance mechanisms [80]. Both Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, and Bartonella spp. have been discovered to be stationary-phase persister bacte-ria [81,82], located in biofilms [77,83,84], and co-infections of these two bacteria in ticks are not only being reported in the medical literature [85–88] but both bacteria have also been identified as co-localizing infections that may impact the severity of the infectious process [63,89,90]. This was the circumstance with the three patient case studies we out-line below, who not only had symptoms of CLD but also active Bartonella infections, worsening their clinical status, along with evidence of exposure to other co-infections, including Babesia spp. All three patients also had exposure to COVID-19 during the course of their illness, along with evidence of exposure to environmental toxins, including heavy metals and mold toxins. Broad exposure to environmental toxins may impact susceptibility to these rising infectious diseases by increasing inflammation, weakening the immune system, and reducing vaccine effectiveness [91].”
We just published our 9th article on the safety and efficacy of dapsone combination therapy. Our article discusses in great detail how we managed to get 3 chronically ill women better, and stay in remission, using double-dose dapsone combination therapy (DDDCT) and pulsed high-dose dapsone combination therapy (HDDCT). This is an 8-9 week oral, generic antibiotic protocol, followed by two week pulses of antibiotics every several months, especially when Bartonella is active. Our article highlights the importance of co-infections, pulsing antibiotics, the superior efficacy of short-term, oral, generic persister drug regimens (dapsone combination therapy) to effectively treat chronic Lyme disease and associated co-infections, like Bartonella, and illustrates why the 16 point MSIDS model is so important in getting chronic LD patients better. If you don’t find all the overlapping sources of inflammation making patients ill, nor treat all the downstream effects of the inflammation, patients will have a hard time regaining their prior state of good health.
Here is the paper and abstract:
Abstract: Three patients with relapsing and remitting borreliosis, babesiosis, and bartonellosis, despite extended anti-infective therapy, were prescribed double-dose dapsone combination therapy (DDDCT) for 8 weeks, followed by one or several two-week courses of pulsed high-dose dapsone combination therapy (HDDCT). We discuss these patients’ cases to illustrate three important variables required for long-term remission. First, diagnosing and treating active co-infections, including Babesia and Bartonella were important. Babesia required rotations of multiple anti-malarial drug combinations and herbal therapies, and Bartonella required one or several 6-day HDDCT pulses to achieve clinical remission. Second, all prior oral, intramuscular (IM), and/or intravenous (IV) antibiotics used for chronic Lyme disease (CLD)/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS), irrespective of the length of administration, were inferior in efficacy to short-term pulsed biofilm/persister drug combination therapy i.e., dapsone, rifampin, methylene blue, and pyrazinamide, which improved resistant fatigue, pain, headaches, insomnia, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Lastly, addressing multiple factors on the 16-point multiple systemic infectious disease syndrome (MSIDS) model was important in achieving remission. In conclusion, DDDCT with one or several 6–7-day pulses of HDDCT, while addressing abnormalities on the 16-point MSIDS map, could represent a novel effective clinical and anti-infective strategy in CLD/PTLDS and associated co-infections including Bartonella.
This article also discusses the successful treatment of a chronically ill pediatric patient with a biofilm/persister drug regimen who is now over one year in full remission after doing DDDCT and HDDCT. She was sick for many years, and it took over 50 doctors to diagnose her. This is the first time in the peer-reviewed medical literature that a pediatric patient is being reported a having achieved long-term clinical remission with dapsone combination therapy, addressing co-infections and MSIDS abnormalities. Lyme community, have hope!
I am obviously very excited to share these excellent results with all of you. Lyme patients have suffered for way too long, searching everywhere for answers, and you can hear 18 patients describe their experience with dapsone combination therapy during the Healing from Lyme Disease Summit, sponsored by Doctors Talks. This is a free, on-line summit airing June 4th-June 10th. Stay tuned for more information. The link to sign up will be live on my Facebook page as of May 21st.
4. Why is it important for LDA and other nonprofits to increase awareness for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses?
Unfortunately, the medical politics surrounding Lyme disease has impaired progress for decades. In some cases, the dysfunctional politics has resulted in doctors losing their medical license and/or in many cases, doctors refusing to treat their ill patients when they find out they have a diagnosis of ‘chronic Lyme disease’. It is a terrible situation. The LDA and many other non-profits have done an excellent job fighting for the rights of Lyme patients and also fighting for physicians such as myself, and I am very grateful for the support. Pat Smith and I served on the first round of the HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group (HHS TBDWG), and I personally witnessed her hard work fighting for the rights of Lyme patients and Lyme doctors. She called out mistakes where they were present and spoke truth where it needed to be spoken. So we need advocates on the ground to raise awareness of the severity of the disease and improve prevention through awareness; advocates who can speak truth to power; advocates who can raise funds for those who cannot afford treatment; advocates who help fund university studies where government funding is inadequate, in order to find novel solutions for Lyme and associated infections. If Lyme groups had not funded the university based research I discussed earlier, I would not have been able to discover dapsone combination therapy, which is now the first effective oral, generic, short-term treatment to be published in the medical literature, giving hope to those who suffer. Please see the range of dapsone articles listed below, and when you read them in order from the first one in 2016, you will understand how I arrived at the present protocol we are using at the HVHAC. The last one is from Monica Embers group at Tulane, that proved that rifampin and dapsone has the ability to cure an infection with Borrelia in mice.
Horowitz, R.I.; Fallon, J.; Freeman, P.R. Combining Double-Dose and High-Dose Pulsed Dapsone Combination Therapy for Chronic Lyme Disease/Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and Co-Infections, Including Bartonella: A Report of 3 Cases and a Literature Review. Microorganisms 2024, 12, 909. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12050909
Horowitz, R.I.; Fallon, J.; Freeman, P.R. Comparison of the Efficacy of Longer versus Shorter Pulsed High Dose Dapsone Combination Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease/Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome with Bartonellosis and Associated Coinfections. Microorganisms 2023, 11, 2301. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11092301
Horowitz RI, Freeman PR. Efficacy of Short-Term High Dose Pulsed Dapsone Combination Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease/Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) and Associated Co-Infections: A Report of Three Cases and Literature Review. Antibiotics. 2022; 11(7):912. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11070912 https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/7/912/htm
Horowitz, R.I.; Freeman, P.R. Efficacy of Double-Dose Dapsone Combination Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease/Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) and Associated Co-infections: A Report of Three Cases and Retrospective Chart Review. Antibiotics 2020, 9, 725. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9110725
Horowitz, R.I., Murali, K., Gaur, G. et al. Effect of dapsone alone and in combination with intracellular antibiotics against the biofilm form of B. burgdorferi. BMC Res Notes 13, 455 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-020-05298-6
Horowitz, R.I.; Freeman, P.R. Precision Medicine: retrospective chart review and data analysis of 200 patients on dapsone combination therapy for chronic Lyme disease/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome: part 1. International Journal of General Medicine 2019:12 101–119
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30863136
Horowitz, R.I.; Freeman, P.R. Precision Medicine: The Role of the MSIDS Model in Defining, Diagnosing, and Treating Chronic Lyme Disease/Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and Other Chronic Illness: Part 2. Healthcare 2018, 6, 129. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30400667
Horowitz RI, Freeman PR (2016) Are Mycobacterium Drugs Effective for Treatment Resistant Lyme Disease, Tick-Borne Co-Infections, and Autoimmune Disease?. JSM Arthritis 1(2): 1008.
Horowitz RI, Freeman PR (2016) The Use of Dapsone as a Novel “Persister” Drug in the Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease/Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. J Clin Exp Dermatol Res 7: 345. doi:10.4172/2155-9554.1000345
Tardo AC, McDaniel CE and Embers ME (2023). Superior efficacy of combination antibiotic therapy versus monotherapy in a mouse model of Lyme disease. Front. Microbiol. 14:1293300. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1293300
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1293300/full
5. Please share any past reflections or your experiences with the LDA. . .
I’ve known Pat Smith for a long time, as well as many of the people who work at the LDA, or affiliate organizations under the umbrella of the LDA. They are wonderful people. The LDA conferences are great, and Pat is a tireless fighter for the rights of Lyme patients. She joked with me one time how her husband Richard (like my wife Lee) have to be patient while we work our behinds off trying to help those suffering with CLD. That comment came after she signed up to be on the second round of the HHS TBDWG. I can tell you from personal experience, that first round of the HHS TBDWG was a lot of work, and I’m no slouch (according to my wife), so to have at the head of an organization someone who tirelessly fights for others is not a small thing. And like most mama bears, it came from personal experience with her daughter getting a TBD. In fact, many of the heads of Lyme organizations or people on their board, had Lyme and TBDs themselves, or their loved ones had it. They signed up to work hard and find solutions so no one would ever have to suffer like they did, or like their children did. That is a solid foundation for benefitting others.
I can’t speak for how much Pat is still trying to accomplish after her decades in the trenches doing so much, but I’m trying to find a better work/life balance as I get older. This is my 40th year in medicine without a break, yet I’m not sure long extended beach vacations are going to come anytime soon. I am now preparing for the first multicenter-randomized, placebo-controlled study on dapsone combination therapy to finally convince the world what I know to be true, so we can end the dysfunctional medical politics surrounding Lyme disease once and for all. Stay tuned. I’m in the process of working with a grant writer to help me submit a grant for the DoD to do the study. Maybe the blog in next year’s newsletter will have some more good news for everyone in the Lyme community.
I’m grateful to all of you for your courage and perseverance. I’m also grateful to my co-authors Dr. Phyllis Freeman, John Fallon and the MSIDS Research Foundation that helped fund our new study; my office staff that has helped all our Lyme patients over the years, as well as my wife Lee who stands by me and supports all of my work. We are moving towards finally finding a durable solution for Lyme disease and chronic infections like Bartonella and it’s an exciting time to be in medicine.
Blessings to you all.
Dr. Richard Horowitz, May 15, 2024
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON UPCOMING EVENTS:
Healing from Lyme Disease Summit
June 4-10, 2024
Dr. Horowitz will be co-hosting the Healing From Lyme Disease summit this year with Dr Myriah Hinchey, and we will be interviewing up to 50 of the top experts in Lyme, co-infections, and functional medicine to bring you answers to help you heal from your disease. You will also hear patients describe their experience and healing, many going into long-term remission from chronic Lyme disease and associated co-infections. On Day 1 of the Healing from Lyme Disease Summit, 18 individuals will be describing their experiences with dapsone combination therapy. This is the last talk on day one. You won’t want to miss this! Click the button below to sign up and attend the summit: