Lyme is a “Great Imitator” because its symptoms often are misdiagnosed as other problems such as thyroid disease, lupus, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.
Sadly, some studies show the commonly used tests for Lyme miss up to 50 percent of Lyme cases, presumably as antibodies may not form for 4-8 weeks to allow a positive result and some folks have such damaged immune systems they may not show a large enough response for this testing. Note, that I do carry the immunoblot test by Igenx that bi passes some of these barriers to diagnosing Lyme.
Only 30% of people recall a tick bite and no….you don’t have to see a bull’s eye rash or rash at all have contracted Lyme…although experts state that if you do have a bulls eye rash you MUST be treated as having Lyme asap…..never wait on testing results as again….waiting 4-6 weeks is not appropriate. There is small window of change to kill Lyme while it is still out of the body cells and once the infection digs into the body cells (intracellular), this Chronic phase is much harder to treat.
According to the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), no study has ever shown that a short course of antibiotics effectively treats the infection. Clearly, we need better options. A 2015 study published in the European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology suggests we may need to shift our focus from antibiotics to plant extracts. While more research is needed in humans there are many herbs, most that I have now sourced for my patients to offer treatment….read on…..
Stevia and Lyme:
Eva Sapi PHd
Professor, Coordinator, Cellular and Molecular Biology
Director, Lyme Disease Program
Collective Evolution: Study Finds Stevia Kills Lyme Disease Pathogen Better than Antibiotics. Researchers from the department of biology and environmental science developed a study that found that stevia whole leaf extract, as an individual agent, was effective against Lyme disease…better then standard antibiotics.
In research: after a week of Antibiotic treatment, viable B. burgdorferi (lyme) started to surface again in the antibiotic groups. This did not happen in the stevia group, which appeared to be a complete kill off after seven days.
- The biofilm associated with Lyme (one tactic of how it hides from the immune) actually increased in size with individual antibiotic treatment. Yikes !
- Stevia harbors major antimicrobial activity. University of New Haven researchers found stevia leaf extracted with alcohol kills Lyme disease in all of its forms even the hard to kill round forms,
- The most highly processed form of stevia, the white powder form, did not kill Lyme disease! Make sure you use an alcohol extract from pure Stevia, such as what we have produced for our patients from a Canadian herbalist.
- Caution: Stevia is in the ragweed family, so if you’re allergic to ragweed, you may want to have your tolerance to Stevia tested first.
Xylitol
Think of adding natural toothpaste with this ingredient added and adding it as a sweetener in your drinks and yogurt! But caution that high amounts in baking may cause diarrhea.
Read on to find out why adding small amounts of the sweetener rocks!…..
*Data was gathered from Cochrane reviews: internationally recognized as the highest standard in evidence-based healthcare resources.*
Xylitol and cavity protection:
Some evidence was found that fluoride + Xylitol-containing products were found to prevent cavities in children and adults having more effect than products with fluoride alone.
My Perspective: This research seems to have not included a test on Stevia with no fluoride…I would assume that Stevia alone was the factor that reduced the cavity risk from this data and would encourage you to consider avoiding fluoride….another big topic with some great documentaries made on the topic! I know two holistic dentists that refuse to use fluoride as part of their routine for their patients….reach out to me if you need more information.
Xylitol and Ear infection prevention:
Cochrane reviews researchers found that chewing gum, lozenges, or syrup with xylitol can reduce the occurrence of middle ear infection among healthy children from 30% to 22% !
By Dr.Elisabeth Bastos BSc, ND, RAcu
519.767.9224
www.BastosNaturalFamilyCenter.com
Providing chronic infection care since 2005
