Lyme Disease

About

There are an estimated 3,000 new cases of Lyme disease reported each year in the UK. Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection: the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria is transmitted to humans when they’re bitten by an infected tick. 

The conventional medicine approach to treating Lyme disease is limited and, while antibiotics have their place in Lyme treatment, they do not correct the immune dysfunction, inflammation, and other metabolic derangements caused by the disease.

Our approach to Lyme disease focuses not only on supporting your recovery from Lyme disease but on helping you create a strong foundation for sustainable, long-term health. 

Types

Lyme disease is called “The Great Imitator,” because its symptoms mimic various different diseases. It can affect any organ of the body, including the brain and central nervous system, muscles and joints, and the heart.

Lyme disease can either be acute (which can in some cases be treated with antibiotics); or chronic, which has a large array of symptoms and is often misdiagnosed for other long-term illnesses.

Symptoms

What symptoms should you be looking for or what conditions could be caused by Lyme disease?

A bullseye rash following a tick bite is a recognisable sign of infection and can lead to early diagnosis and antibiotic treatment, which can be effective in eliminating the bacteria. However, not all infected bites produce a rash (only about 1 in 4).

Early symptoms can be flu-like to begin with and slow to develop, leading to a gradual decline in health.

The bacterial infection can then become systemic; spreading to different tissues in the body and affecting multiple systems, often causing debilitating symptoms including:

• Fibromyalgia
• Migraine
• Labyrinthitis
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and other autoimmune diseases

Treatments

At The London Clinic of Nutrition, we have a team of highly-experienced practitioners who specialise in working with people who have or may suspect Lyme disease.

How we review Lyme disease

1. We take a very detailed case history using extensive forms
2. We use detailed specific Lyme questionnaires (such as those developed by Richard Horowitz MD)
3. Comprehensive blood chemistry
4. Differential diagnosis to rule out any other conditions that may be present
5. Sensitive Lyme testing from specialist Lyme labs in Germany, such as, Armin and Lyme Diagnostics.

How we manage Lyme disease

We treat Lyme as we would any other condition by using the functional medicine approach. This involves understanding which of the bodies systems and processes are not functioning correctly and why. By working with diet, supplements and herbal medicine we are able to improve the function of these systems. After making the body stronger we can then target the Borrelia Burgdorferi and the co-infections.

The approach we take is individualised to each client, but we pay particular attention to gastrointestinal function, detoxification and immunity. We also have to consider overlapping factors such as heavy metal toxicity, bowel toxemia, nutrient deficiencies, endocrine abnormalities, environmental toxins, sleep disorders and mitochondrial dysfunction.

We also offer additional services such as intravenous therapy and immune boosting intravenous cocktails. Using the above approach we have been getting remarkable results with clients – even those who have failed other regimens.

1. There is the assumption that you have to have a bullseye rash when bitten by a tick. Wrong. Only 25% of bites produce a rash.
2. The conventional treatment is 2 weeks antibiotics but this will not address chronic Lyme disease.
3. The standard tests of the Western Blot and ELISA test often produce false negative results.
4. There are few Lyme literate Doctors practicing in the UK currently.
5. Lyme is accompanied routinely by co-infections such as Epstein Barr virus, Babesia, Chlamydia Pneumonaie, or Yersinia.
6. Misdiagnosis with other diseases is incredibly common. For example a diagnosis of MS is often given and the lesions on an MRI appear the same for both diseases.

TESTIMONIALS