Lyme Disease

DO I TRULY HAVE ‘LYME’ DISEASE Or Is My Diagnosis Really A Lemon?

Despite over twenty years and hundreds of articles I have written, I found it hard to present the readers this month with an informative and helpful topic that I have yet to discuss. That is until today . . .

Did You Know:

1. The diagnosis of LD is both over and under diagnosed by most healthcare professionals. The reasons are numerous but the most compelling is the lack of reliable lab testing. I know of only one lab that can, with some certainty, confirm or exclude the diagnosis with any accuracy and it costs over $500.
2. Less than 50% of patients having symptoms and carrying the diagnosis of LD recall a tick bite.
3. Less than 50% ever develop a rash.
4. When a rash develops, it is only present 50% of the time at the site of the bite.
5. Only 50% of patients present with the classic “bull’s eye”rash that has become synonymous with LD.
6. It is very possible that 50% of patients are misdiagnosed as well but I think it is far more than that. An important consideration when treating Lyme patients is understanding they share the exact symptoms seen in over a dozen other commonly diagnosed (or misdiagnosed) medical conditions! So then, how do you know if you do or don’t have Lyme? I wish it were as easy to answer as it is to ask but it just isn’t so.

Do you ever wonder why some individuals with multiple tick bites never develop symptoms or disease? Or, why do some people treated with antibiotics recover without incident while others “require” years of antibiotic therapy? Could it be that their chronic, recurring and flighting symptoms are a result of an altered immune system rather than active infection with Borrelia from Lyme Disease?

Regardless of the reason(s) for the symptoms (i.e. cause or effect of the primary invasion to the body), the most effective and least invasive treatment for any disease, is to correct the underlying damage or defect that occurred to the body’s host defense or immune system. Once this is done, the body can fight off anything—including: Cancer, AIDS, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, MS, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Bacterial/Viral Infections and yes, Lyme Disease.

Often, after repairing the immune system, symptoms will spontaneously resolve. Treating disorders in this fashion addresses the underlying cause(s) of disease rather than just the symptoms. And, although this scenario is often not the exception, it surely isn’t always the rule. In these stubborn cases where “the usual” treatments fail and boosting the immune system isn’t enough we must look to other damaged organ systems to regain optimal health. (i.e. adrenal, neurological, thyroid, reproductive and neuromuscular systems).

Look at it this way. While driving your car you hit a large metal object lying in the road. You instantly rupture your front tire and lose control of your vehicle, hit a guardrail and flip over. Your car sustains severe damage but unrelated to the primary event, which was the blown out tire. The damages done were a result of what happened after the tire blew not because of the blown tire directly. Replacing the tire is not going to address the other damages done as a result of the initial insult!

Wouldn’t it be nice if mainstream medicine looked at health and illness in this way? There would certainly be a much better end result and much less patient/physician frustration.

BOTTOM LINE: Whether you have been correctly or incorrectly diagnosed with LD or any chronic illness, following the above principles will nearly always promote recovery and bring back optimal health. For more information on how Dr. Bartiss does this, contact his office for a consultation. Once there, he will develop with you a plan that is tailor made to address your clinical situation.