Buhners Herbal protocol mentions Cats Claw, Astragalus and Andrographis

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HEALING LYME:

Natural Healing and Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis and Its Co-infections by

Harrod Buhner, Raven Press, 2005.

Reviewed by lind Michahelles, Health Counselor

Spiky fever…Achy shoulders…Achy left arm…Persistent dry cough……

I had this flu imposter last summer and it took a while to realize it must be

Lyme disease. Without the usual telltale bull's eye rash, many who get it Lyme

disease don't know it. The symptoms are

many and so varied among individual, that doctors can be fooled. Is it

osteoarthritis or is it Lyme? Is it M.S. or is in Lyme? Is it flu or is it Lyme?

Fortunately, Harrod Buhner, an experienced herbalist, has written an

intensely informative book on how to

manage Lyme disease – its prevention, the onset, and development of later

stages. He details the usefulness of antibiotics, referring to studies that show

them to be 70%-95% effective, but with a 35%

relapse rate. To cope with this shortfall, he then gives dose-specific

recommendations for many herbs and other supplements to support the immune

system both in general and for the particular symptoms that occur over the

course of the disease, e.g., repeated flu-like

feelings, headaches, stiff neck, fevers, revolving muscle aches, deep fatigue,

severe brain-fog, neurological symptoms, as well as arthritis, Bell's palsy and

bladder problems.

Buhner's core protocol includes:

• Andrographis (andrographis paniculata) for general immune support, a powerful

anti-toxin, used for " heat-and-damp clearing, " and has been shown to alleviate

pain and swelling.

• Japanese knotweed (polygonum cuspidatum) for anti-inflammatory effects and

protects the body against neurotoxin damage, so that central nervous system

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symptoms are reduced, at the same time that it increases blood flow and

transport of Lyme treatments to hard-to-reach areas of the body, such as the

eye, heart, skin and joints.

• Cat's claw (uncaria tomentosa), a powerful anti-inflammatory that also reduced

the secondary bacterial toxins.

• Astragalus (astragalus membranaceous),

an herb that is used for immune enhancer, a restorative, a stimulator, and a

modulator. It has anti-viral and anti-

bacterial properties, adaptogenic-rebalancing properties and is an

anti-inflammatory agent.

• Sarsaparilla (smilax glabra), found useful in the treatment of LD for the

infection and resulting inflammation.

Buhner describes half a dozen available tests for Lyme, listing their

shortcomings and explaining why no test can yet give a truly definite diagnosis.

Without the bull's eye or an autopsy, you can never be

absolutely sure. Why is it so hard to diagnose? That is the truly

fascinating part of the book.

Positively fascinating to me is the description of the spirochetes

themselves. First they infect us thanks to a tick bite, a mosquito

bite, or a fleabite. Make no mistake -- these spirochetes -- of

ancient lineage, much older than mankind -- are brilliant.

Somewhere between bacteria and protozoa in complexity, they have

many tricks up their sleeve, so to speak. It has been shown that the spirochetes

• They can alter their DNA to suit the challenge posed by

their host's immune system

• They can exchange information with each other in order

to baffle the host

• They have an outer coat which they can shed to further

obfuscate the situation

• They can hide inside our cells by constructing what's

called a 'shielding membrane.' That last trick is known as

'intracellular sequestering.'

The Bull's Eye Rash

So what hope is there for us? Buhner points the way to symbiosis. If we

strengthen our immune systems in ways he recommends, we can probably live

happily with a few spirochetes sequestering themselves somewhere inside us.

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Where are they likely to be hiding? Apparently, unlike bacteria, they prefer a

viscous environment, not a fluid one. They only use the blood as a highway to

get to their destination. Some favorite spots are soft tissue in the knee (feels

like arthritis) the aqueous humor (eye problems), myelin sheaths (nerve damage,

Bell's palsy), and

soft tissue around the heart (carditis).

Assuming you don't already have active Lyme disease, what should you do to

prevent it?

That depends where you live. If it's in a tick-infested area, astragalus all

year long is the recommendation with andrographis

and cat's claw during tick season.

Homeopathic

remedies are also mentioned. For each remedy, Buhner gives what seems a very

thorough run down of its properties and its treatment in scientific journals and

in traditional lore.

Apparently, Lyme disease isn't new. The ancestors of today's

spirochetes infected our ancestors. Other spirochetal diseases,

of which syphilis is the most famous example, have also

been around.

Incidence of Lyme disease per 100,000 population, by county of residence –United

States, 2002. (Source: www.nathnac.org/travel/factsheets/lyme.htm)

Why is Lyme increasing? Probably because we have disturbed the ecology: fewer

predators, resulting in more deer; more suburbanites, thus more tick-bites. So

look for that bull's eye rash and, if you get one, find a copy of Healing Lyme

by Mr. Buhner.

NB-- To read further about tick behavior, tick-borne diseases, and personal

protection you can go to the web for a copy of the Tick Management Handbook,

authored by

Kirby C. Stafford, PhD, Chief Entomologist, the Connecticut Agricultural

Experiment

Station:

http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/publications/bulletins/b1010.pdf

lind Michahelles is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor in Cambridge.

For questions about this essay or related issues please email

rosalind@... or call 617-491-3239 or visit www.nutrition