Lyme Disease and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
What is lyme disease?
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted to humans by infected deer ticks. A large number of cases are misdiagnosed and quickly develop into a more serious condition known as late disseminated Lyme. The condition may also be complicated by a number of co-infections transmitted from ticks carrying the lyme bacteria.
Who does lyme disease typically affect?
Lyme disease has been reported in all 50 states and is a growing silent epidemic around the world. Lyme-infected ticks have been found in 42 of 58 counties in California. The CDC speculates that because the condition mimics so many other illnesses, the actual number of people with Lyme disease may be 5 to 10 times higher than the estimated 150,000 of reported cases coping with the disease.
What are the most common symptoms of lyme disease?
Early signs of Lyme disease include flu-like symptoms and a Bull?s eye rash appears in about 50% of patients. When Lyme disease goes undiagnosed for months or years following infection, the bacteria can spread to the nervous system, the heart and other organs, tendons and joints. This late-stage infection can result in a wide variety of symptoms including arthritis, fatigue, heart abnormalities, Bell's palsy (paralysis of one or both sides of the face) and severe cognitive and/or mental dysfunction. Lyme disease is considered very difficult to treat by the medical community.
What are the traditional treatments for lyme disease?
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection and like other bacterial infections it is treated with antibiotics. Physicians often prescribe a combination of drugs to take advantage of the diverse ways that individual antibiotics affect the Bb organism. Special attention to nutrition and diet are part of the overall traditional treatment plan and may include herbal supplementation.
Why is lyme disease amenable to oxygen therapy?
Hyperbaric oxygen treatments infuse the body with oxygen, increasing oxygen 10 times normal levels in body tissues through the increased pressure. Lyme bacteria are microaerophilic, meaning they die in high oxygen environments. A study was completed in 1997 by William Fife, Ph. D. at the Texas A & M Hyperbaric Laboratory. The results of the study were significant: improvement in approximately 85 percent of the 66 patients treated with HBOT.
What benefits can I expect from oxygen therapy for lyme disease?
Hyperbaric oxygen has been shown to reduce pain significantly, stimulate the immune system, increase energy, alleviate sleep dysfunction, and reduce cognitive impairment. In most cases, patients are also able to discontinue use of antibiotics or other pharmaceuticals.
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Testimonial
In 1981, I contracted Lyme disease from a deer tick bite while living on Cape Cod Massachusetts.
My Lyme disease went untreated for twenty years, but in 2000 I began to experience severe arthritic symptoms and a perpetual "brain fog". At that time, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and I underwent thirty days of IV antibiotic treatment. I felt immediate improvement in my condition and it kept improving throughout the thirty days of IV treatment.
In 2004, the joint pain symptoms started to return so my doctor at the time started me on a ninety day oral antibiotic regimen. I felt better during the treatment, but the improvement was nothing like the initial IV treatment in 2000.
In 2005 I moved to San Francisco and immediately sought out a Lyme physician who prescribed various antibiotic regimens over the next three years. My symptoms were kept at bay, but never completely alleviated; the symptoms would wax and wane throughout this three year period.
Tiring of the on again off again symptoms, I visited the San Francisco Institute for Hyperbaric Medicine with a prescription in hand for forty HBO treatments. After the first week of HBO treatments, the perpetual "brain fog" (feels like a mild hangover) disappeared. Over the next seven weeks of treatment, the joint pain in my knees lessened and my joints began to feel stronger overall. Since completing the treatments, I workout at the gym for ninety minutes a day and can easily walk up and down the four flights of stairs in my apartment building. Four weeks after ending the HBO treatments, I went on a three hour/nine mile walk.
I'd recommend HBOT at the San Francisco Institute for Hyperbaric Medicine to anyone experiencing Lyme disease symptoms; the staff is knowledgeable and extremely helpful. HBO treatments may not cure Lyme disease, but in my case, it discernibly lessened the symptoms.
Bruce S.
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Disclaimer:
The information provided does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.