How Mast Cell Activation Disorder and Histamine Intolerance May Be Affecting Your Recovery From Lyme Disease

When Infection Triggers an Auto-Inflammatory Reaction

Lyme disease is the fastest growing vector-borne disease in the U.S. today with an estimated 329,000 Americans affected annually. Studies have shown that anywhere from 10-60% of patients who are treated with a standard course of antibiotics for Lyme Disease, will have continuing, sometimes debilitating symptoms. The CDC calls this chronic condition "Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome" (PTLDS). There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the reason for this condition may be due to an undiagnosed co-infection (like babesia bartonella, ehrlichia or anaplasma)[1] and/or treatment resistant Lyme bacteria, also known as persistent infection. (see my prior post on Lyme Persisters) The other possibility is that the infection triggers a dysfunction within the immune system. This can lead to an autoimmune or auto-inflammatory disease separate from or in addition to the infection. In this post I will be exploring how Lyme Disease can trigger an auto-inflammatory reaction through Mast Cell Activation.

How My Daughter Became a Motivational Speaker

"Last week, I got a phone call out of the blue from my old principal. He called, saying that the superintendent of our school district specifically asked for me, because he wanted me to come speak at the teacher assembly. He thought my graduation speech was by far the best of all the ones he saw this last June, and he in-fact he said that my speech was his "favorite speech ever!"...

Link: "How I Became a Motivational Speaker"

The Latest Research in Lyme Disease Treatment

Note: I will be using this page to catalog the most recent published science in Lyme Disease treatment. I will be updating as new research becomes available so check back often.
<<Skip to "New Drugs and New Drug Combinations" below for the latest on Lyme treatment. >>

In my previous post I give a detailed background on Borrelia Burgdorferi persister cells and why many researchers now feel the only way to eradicate Late Stage (disseminated) or persistent Lyme Disease (PTLDS) is through the use of multi-drug combinations like they do for Tuberculosis and Leprosy.

'New Hope' For Patients Suffering from Chronic Lyme Disease?

Every year science learns more and more about how bacteria affect the human body, but what do we really know about Borrelia Burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme and Lyme-like illness? 

A Little Background 

If you read the research of Dr's Burgdorfer, Barbour, Steere and others, you learn a great deal about Lyme. Believe me, there is no shortage of research on Borrelia Burgdorferi (B.b)--A quick Pubmed search reveals nearly 12,000 published research articles on Lyme Disease. However, with the advent of better DNA and Genetic testing scientists are now able to identify new keys to persistent infection. As science evolves, so must our approach to treating all diseases. I believe we are truly on the verge of a whole new discovery of Lyme Disease.

Dr. Kenneth Liegner says it best,

"It took medical science roughly 500 years to gain a good understanding of syphilis. We are but 40 years in to Lyme disease, caused by a spirochete considerably more genetically complex than Treponema pallidum, the organism causing syphilis.”