Treating Lyme Disease by Dr. Marina Yanover, N.D., Gonzalez Guardian Doctor
Lyme disease could be a devastating illness.
Caused by a tiny spirochetal bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, it is transmitted to humans though bites of the infected ticks. Lyme disease was identified in 1976 in Lyme, Connecticut, where a lot of children were thought to have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. It then became apparent that Lyme arthritis was a late manifestation of a tick-transmitted disease.
Since its identification, Lyme disease continued to spread, affecting now most of the United States, especially northeastern, and upper midwestern states and its rapidly spreading worldwide.
After transmission of the bacterium, Lyme disease generally occurs in stages, with remissions and exacerbations and different clinical manifestations at each stage. Early infection consists of localized infection of the skin. If treated timely and properly at this stage, it could be completely irradiated from the human body. The problem is that most of the times the infection is missed and not treated timely. In order to treat Lyme disease at this stage, one needs to correctly identify it, which ideally would show up as a rash on the skin with a typical clearing at the center, called “bull’s eye rash.” Unfortunately, most of the time, the rash is not identified, either because there is no strong immune response to produce a reaction in a particular patient, or because a patient simply missed the rash due to its location where it cannot be easily seen. If left untreated for more than 48 hours, the disease may progress to the next stage, disseminated infection, where it becomes systemic, and affects various organs and systems. Even then, a patient may not develop any apparent symptoms and so the infection goes untreated even further. Finally, months to years later these patients develop persistent or chronic infection.
Patients who come to see me usually have chronic infection and multiple symptoms associated with it. It could present differently for everyone but general symptoms are chronic fatigue, joint and muscle pain, frequent infections, digestive disorders, brain fog, depression, neuropathy (tingling, numbness, burning), headaches, memory loss, palpitations, adrenal fatigue, dizziness, insomnia.
Patients may develop symptoms resembling autoimmune diseases, and could be diagnosed as such because their blood tests may show markers associated with various autoimmune diseases: ANA for lupus, RA for rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
Just like an autoimmune disease, this infection causes immune dysfunction, and that invites other infections: bacterial, viral, parasitic, and fungal. Most patients have several of these infections at once. Bacterial infections include Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections like Bartonella, Mycoplasma, Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Viral infections often manifest as reactivation of the mononucleosis, or /and herpes viruses. The parasitic infections, like babesia, can suppress the immune system’s ability to eliminate intestinal parasites, so there is more burden on the immune system.
Because of frequent infections and the need for antibiotic use, often these patients have fungal infections or Candida. The antibiotics get rid of beneficial bacteria in the gut and that promotes growth of yeast and fungal infections.
It is often difficult to diagnose Lyme disease as many available commercial tests are not reliable, and mostly turn out to be false negative. Patients may go undiagnosed for years, and when finally get diagnosed either clinically or via specialized tests, try many kinds of therapies including long term antibiotic use. Often, they develop side effects from the antibiotics or resistance towards them, and either unable to continue their treatments or the treatments do not work for them.
Lyme disease, is a dysregulation of the immune system and therefore the idea of its treatment is like most autoimmune diseases involves bringing the system back to balance, eliminating toxins, finding the individualized diet and supplement plan for patients where they could thrive, in addition to using various antimicrobial agents.
Most patients with Lyme disease have autonomic dysregulation. The autonomic nervous system regulates involuntary physiologic processes including heart rate, temperature equilibrium, blood pressure, respiration, digestion, urination, and sleep. When the autonomic nervous system goes out of balance, patients suffer from a condition called dysautonomia. They present with symptoms such tachycardia, intolerance to cold and/or heat, frequent urination, night sweats, low blood pressure, dizziness, insomnia.
Choosing the right metabolic diet and supplement protocol is an essential part of The Gonzalez Protocol®, and an essential part of treating a Lyme disease patient. It helps balance the autonomic nervous system, so any treatment directed against bacteria works better as a result.
In treating Lyme disease, I address each patient comprehensively. I find The Gonzalez Protocol® to be the most instrumental: it uses individualized diet, individualized supplement protocol, and aggressive detoxification routines.
Inflammation is a big problem in Lyme disease. I treat Lyme disease with pancreatic enzymes which have strong anti-inflammatory and immune modulating effects.
Also, there are certain conditions that directly impact inflammation, like GI dysbiosis (an imbalance of the intestinal bacteria), food allergies and/or sensitivities, mineral deficiencies, and sleep disorders. Inflammation from these multiple sources can cause mitochondrial dysfunction. The mitochondria are the parts of the cell responsible for energy production, and that explains why patients with Lyme disease feel tired. That is where individualized supplement protocol comes in. It focuses on cellular regeneration and treats mitochondrial dysfunction with essential nutrients necessary for that patient. Among those nutrients are CoQ-10, magnesium, b vitamins, and other nutrients depending on one’s metabolic type.
Detoxification is an extremely important component of the program for all my patients. In patients with Lyme disease, in addition to regular detoxification routines that are part of The Gonzalez Protocol®, I like to include infrared saunas, heavy metal detoxification (if needed), parasite elimination (if needed), and various other cleanses. It is useful to support multiple detoxification pathways simultaneously, by helping to excrete toxins through the skin, liver, lungs, kidneys, and colon. Coffee enemas, which are part of our protocol, help rid of toxins built up in the liver and simultaneously build glutathione, which is an essential part of most detoxification pathways.
Sometimes glutathione supplementation is indicated as glutathione itself, or in the form of NAC (N-acetyl cysteine), which is a precursor to glutathione.
All the above therapies are the building blocks to successful recovery from Lyme. Without these building blocks, the antimicrobial therapies, whether its antibiotics or herbal remedies, often fail.
Finally, when all the building blocks are in place, I add antimicrobial remedies. When the patient has done all the above, often antibiotics are not needed. With antibiotics, often there are concerns about superbugs and antibiotic resistance. Many patients cannot tolerate antibiotics. Herbal remedies are often just enough to complete the treatment of Lyme disease.
One of the herbs that I use, that Dr. Gonzalez used in treatment of Lyme disease is called Lomatium or in Latin, Leptotania dissectum. Dr. Gonzalez always included this herb in his Lyme protocol. I became familiar with this herb when studying herbal medicine at my school with William A. Mitchell, ND, a famous naturopath and herbalist, one of the founders of Bastyr University, a naturopathic school in Seattle WA. In his book Plant Medicine in Practice, Dr. Mitchell says “This plant is effective against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. It is effective against Shigella, Salmonella, Pseudomonas, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Streptococcus viridens. Dr. Bastyr used Lomatium to treat flu “.
It is important to note that Lomatium in some people may cause a full body one-time detox rash. It is usually not a problem in my patient population since they are already on detox protocols.
I find weak thymus function in many of my patients diagnosed with Lyme disease. The thymus gland regulates the immune system, and with Lyme and co-infections, it can become overworked and eventually weak. I often use thymus glandular supplement as part of the treatment protocol for Lyme disease which helps thymus gland to regain its strength.
Other important part of Lyme disease presentation is hormonal dysfunction. One of the most common glands being affected is the adrenal gland. I use adrenal glandular products to restore the adrenal function which helps with inflammation, energy, and stamina. It also helps with allergies, which is often a problem in Lyme patients.
I use animal derived hypothalamus, which helps to restore the hypothalamus gland, a regulator of the entire hormonal system in the human body: I call it the conductor of the orchestra, orchestra being the rest of the hormones. Hypothalamus being out of balance, can often directly result in dysautonomia. Supplementation with animal derived hypothalamus not only helps to strengthen the gland but also, in addition to having the right metabolic diet and supplement protocol in place, helps in reversing dysautonomia.
Reproductive health is often a problem in Lyme patients and many times glandular products such as ovary or testes are important part of the supplement protocol.
There is often a question that comes up whether one can get rid of Lyme completely to every bit of organism? The way I see it is - if I get the patient to eliminate toxins, get the immune system to work properly, achieve the autonomic balance, significantly reduce the number of pathogenic organisms, and find homeostatic balance with these organisms; get them to sleep, help them achieve emotional health - the patient will recover, will be able to enjoy life, become free of pain, be productive and thrive in the society, and ultimately this is what matters most in calling someone healthy.
By Dr. Marina Yanover, N.D., Gonzalez Guardian Doctor
