A Potential Lyme Vaccine?

by Mila McManus, MD

According to the Associated Press, researchers are looking for volunteers, age 5 and above, in the United States and Europe to test a potential Lyme vaccine made by Pfizer and French Biotech Valneva. It aims to target six Lyme strains by attacking an “outer surface protein” of the Lyme bacterium called OspA that is present in the tick’s gut. It is estimated that a tick feeds on a person for about 36 hours before the bacteria from the tick spreads to the victim. (this time delay is controversial, though, as many believe that microbes from ticks can be transmitted much earlier) That delay gives time for antibodies the tick ingests from the vaccinated person’s blood to attack the germs right at the source. According to Dr. Gary Wormser, a Lyme expert at New York Medical College who is not involved in the new research, most vaccines work after a person is exposed to the germ. This new Lyme vaccine, however, works a step earlier by preventing the transmission of infection in the first place.

This is not the first vaccine for Lyme. In 2002, the first Lyme vaccine for humans was pulled off the market for lack of demand. Made by GlaxoSmithKline, it was controversial with about a 75% effectiveness rating and unsubstantiated reports of joint-related side effects. It had also not been tested for safety with children. Since then, people have had to rely on toxic bug spray and careful physical examination.

Lyme disease, the tick-born illness, is a rapidly growing problem as cases rise and warm weather helps ticks to expand their territory. Black-legged ticks, also called deer ticks, carry Lyme-causing bacteria and are present in Texas. The infection initially causes fatigue, fever, and joint pain. Sometimes, but not always, the first sign is a red, round bull’s eye rash. Early antibiotic treatment is crucial, but it can be hard to tell if you have been bitten by a tick because the sneakiest ticks are in the nymph stage of growth and are the size of a pin head. Untreated Lyme can cause severe arthritis, damaged heart and nervous system. Symptoms can linger even after treatment. Moreover, ticks carry numerous disease-causing microbes, not just Borrelia bacteria that cause Lyme disease.

Lyme disease, both acute and chronic, is more rampant than ever, and the incidence has been grossly under-estimated by the CDC. Obviously if Big Pharma is interested in a vaccine, the disease is a big enough problem to warrant solutions. We will be watching to see how this story evolves and if a vaccine gets FDA-approved.

We have a number of therapies and approaches to strengthen the immune system and support the body’s natural immune defenses to manage and reduce the symptoms caused by Lyme disease.

For more information regarding symptoms, testing, and treatment, contact one of our Wellness Consultants by calling 281-298-6742.

Ref:

https://apnews.com/article/science-health-ticks-73fab8e29f3e2243c2db5bc33b3265e1

Could it be Lyme?

By Mila McManus MD

Are you dealing with health issues and seeing specialist after specialist with no answers? Or unable to tolerate medications that have been prescribed to address your health issues? Are you an enigma to your doctors? Do you suffer with physical as well as mental health issues?

Several years ago I began researching Lyme disease, as well as the other microbes that travel with the Lyme bacteria, called co-infections. Lyme disease is known to be transmitted by a tick bite, but there’s also some controversy surrounding whether it can be transmitted by mites, fleas, mosquitos, etc. Also controversial, it’s been alleged that Lyme-causing bacteria (Borrelia) can be transmitted sexually and from mother to child in the womb.

It’s so frustrating how controversial the existence of chronic Lyme disease is between the conventional medical establishment and functional medicine specialists. In conventional medicine, it’s rarely even thought of as something to test for that may be the underlying cause of symptoms and diseases such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, mental health disorders, and neuropathies. In addition, testing for Lyme is so unreliable that most people have negative test results and are assured that they don’t have Lyme, and are subjected to taking numerous prescription medications to band-aid their myriad symptoms.

Reasons why testing is unreliable include:
1. Typical labs such as Quest and LabCorp test for only one strain of Borrelia (the bacteria that causes Lyme), namely Borrelia burgdorferi. The problem is that there are 300 strains of Borrelia worldwide!
2. Lyme can evade and suppress the immune system. The conventional tests for Lyme are looking for immune system reactions to the bacteria, so if Lyme has evaded and suppressed the immune system, it may not have mounted a response and, therefore, would show up negative on the test.
3. FYI, co-infection tests have the same issues. There are often numerous strains of microbes and the labs are only testing for one or a few.

Why the controversy?
1. As stated above, conventional testing is often negative, so the diseases are ignored as the test results are taken at face value.
2. Insurance companies are surely playing a role! Insurance companies want to avoid paying out anything they don’t have to, and if people are getting the diagnosis of Lyme, conventional doctors will want to prescribe IV antibiotics for possibly months at a time. That would be very costly for insurance companies. Why do you think insurance companies won’t pay for anything we functional specialists do? Sigh.
3. In depth training on this subject is not taught in medical school, at least not when I was there. There’s no consensus on how to treat it because the only guidelines revolve around acute Lyme diagnosis. Acute Lyme is diagnosed when a person with a known tick bite gets the typical bullseye rash and goes to the doctor, and then gets prescribed antibiotics for a few weeks. Well, what about the patients who don’t recall a tick bite and never got the rash? This happens more than people realize. The size of the tick that transmits Lyme, by the way, is the size of a pin head and could easily be missed. So, these people with no known tick bite and no rash aren’t rushing to the doctor for antibiotics. Perhaps the immune system has been able to handle it for years and years, and then, e.g., 20 years later, due to diet and toxins and stressors, etc, it gets the upper hand and begins to manifest as symptoms and disease. Is that NOT plausible? Does it seem to you more plausible to just be told you have a disease without any reason and are just medicated for it? If you are told you have a neuropathy, don’t you want to know why? Sure, it could be a vitamin or other nutrient deficiency, or related to an injury, or a consequence of diabetes. But you shouldn’t assume otherwise that it just may be genetic. I’m a detective and I will always continue to dig deeper until I find answers for my patients.

As I mentioned above, there’s NO consensus on how to treat suspected chronic Lyme (aka “post-Lyme syndrome”, according to the conventional medical establishment). Some doctors use multiple antibiotics for months at a time. Others try using only herbals, homeopathic remedies, supplements, and nutrition to treat the symptoms (and suspected microbes involved). Others are very aggressive with all the above, as well as with other modalities such as IV vitamin C, ozone, hyperbaric oxygen, energy medicine, colloidal silvers, and peptide therapy.

From all the research I’ve done over the years, I’ve determined that, while there is no consensus on how to treat, there IS a consensus on what must be addressed in order to recover:
1. Critter control—destroy bacteria, parasites, fungi, and viruses that have overrun the body.
2. Break up the biofilm. Biofilm is a protective layer of substances under which the microbial community hides and communicates with one another. Some biofilm disruptors include proteolytic enzymes (proteases), stevia, DMSO, curcumin, oregano oil, garlic, N-acetyl cysteine, and apple cider vinegar.
3. Address toxic burden, including heavy metals, mycotoxins, and environmental pollutants.
4. Address unresolved or ongoing emotional trauma, such as being abused as a child, or being stuck in a bad marriage. 5. Mitigate exposure to dangerous EMFs and dirty electricity in your environment, known as electropollution. For example, turn wi-fi off in your house at bedtime. Put your phone in airplane mode when not using it. I read an article that mentioned that molds increase mycotoxin production 600-fold when exposed to EMF. If you are sensitive to EMFs, it may be because you have mold in your system.

Of course there are other aspects that are foundational to achieving and maintaining good health, such as addressing gut health, nutrition, and hormone imbalance. When you do this, as well as address the above 5 things, that could certainly go a long way with improving whatever ails a person, whether there’s a firm diagnosis or not! Stop suffering and get well HERE!