Lyme Disease and Autoimmune Conditions

Autoimmune Disease......Deception and Disability

I wonder how many of you have been diagnosed with autoimmune disease or know someone else who has? I am willing to bet that just [many people]... fit into this category. Ask yourself, "How many of the chronic diseases have known or admitted causes, definitive tests or cures?" Off hand, I can't think of many.... I always thought the main purpose of a charity organization was to fund research into cures for all these separate diseases. Doesn't seem as though they are having much luck.

Perhaps you are already aware that Lyme disease, as well as Syphilis (a close spirochete cousin of lyme), are known as the "Great Imitators". The question we must ask is...How often does Lyme disease imitate other diseases. such as Multiple Sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Alzheimer's, Attention Deficit Disorder, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, etc...?

Unfortunately Yale University is considered a major authority on Lyme disease. Their position is that 4 weeks of antibiotics is more than enough to cure the illness. If one still has the exact same symptoms on the day after this arbitrary time limit, then we are told we are no longer actively infected with the lyme spirochete but that now we either have an autoimmune disease, depression or antibiotic seeking behavior. I've spoken to so many people who "once had lyme" and they now supposedly have Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, ALS, Fibromyalgia, etc.
There is a basic misconception that Lyme disease is primarily an arthritic disease. Simplistic stereotypical impressions are encouraged by the mainstream medical system and result in gross ignorance of the true symptom complex of Lyme disease. I know this from first hand experience and from the experience of others trying to effectively deal with these medical and government agencies.... but to no avail. Late stage or tertiary Lyme disease presents with a plethora of symptoms....
One can present with any of the following symptoms . Of course, having any of these symptoms does not mean you definitely have Lyme disease but it does mean that the possibility should be looked into. If a patient has over 7 symptoms then there is a strong possibility they may have lyme.
Rashes, chills, fever, sweats, weight change, fatigue or exhaustion, sore throat, hormone irregularities, swollen glands, change in bowel habits, irritable bladder, loss of libido, gastrointestinal problems, heart skips or palpitations, heart block, neck stiffness, shortness of breath, chest pain or rib soreness, joint pain, muscle twitching, tingling in the face and or extremities, headache, numbness, burning and or icy cold skin sensations, Bell's Palsy, an infinite number of eye problems, ringing in the ears, poor balance, bumping into things, dizziness, inability to stand upright for very long, cognitive problems such as short term memory loss, organizational difficulties, confusion, ADD type symptoms, reading problems, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, bloated stomach, worsening of allergies, increased sensitivities to noise and odors, a feeling that your brain is swollen, lassitude, muscle cramps, nausea, swallowing problems, tooth and jaw pain, anorexia, loss of muscle tone, obsessive compulsive disorder, temperature control problems, myoclonus, seizure like episodes and more.

The Center For Disease Control (CDC) tells us that lyme is a clinical diagnosis, but yet they do not encourage the promotion of this information to health departments, doctors or labs. The CDC criteria for diagnosing Lyme Disease is very restrictive and the CDC specifically states in writing that their criteria is to be used for surveillance purposes only and not for the purpose of diagnosis. A clinical diagnosis is based on the history and the symptoms of the patient. Tests can be used as an adjunct in concluding the diagnosis but it should never be used as the sole determining factor. Due to the over restrictiveness of CDC criteria, most patients remain undiagnosed. The solution is as simple as launching a campaign to educate doctors, labs and health departments concerning this information...but...
In February of 2004, Lyme activists in Connecticut organized a Lyme Disease Hearing along with Attorney General Blumenthal. The CDC, the NIH (National Institutes For Health) and physicians from Yale were all invited by the Attorney General. The purpose of the Hearing was to bring to light the vast underdiagnosis and non-treatment of Lyme disease. All three of these institutions said they were too busy to come. We had to ask our representatives and senators to insist that these institutions be represented.

The CDC finally accepted but not so for the NIH and Yale. At the Hearing Blumenthal strongly suggested that the CDC distribute some sort of warning or notice to health departments, labs and physicians that would state that the CDC surveillance criteria should not be used for diagnostic purposes. It has now been several months and we have yet to see any response from the CDC. It certainly appears that these government agencies are trying to keep the proportions of this epidemic under wraps. We need to ask ourselves some difficult questions as to why this is so. Why are we being denied proper diagnosis and treatment for Lyme disease ...?
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Important data on Alzheimer's and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) has recently been brought to my attention.... A study from Neuro Report vol. 4 No. 7, July 1993 focused on autopsies of 14 Alzheimer's patients. It was entitled "Alzheimer's Disease - A Spirochetosis?" by Judith Miklossy. The report revealed that spirochetes were found in the blood, cerebrospinal fluid and brains of 14 Alzheimer's patients during autopsy. Thirteen age matched control cases were without spirochetes. To summarize, the observations suggested that perhaps several strains of spirochetes, including borrelia burgdorferi (the causative agent of lyme disease), are responsible for Alzheimer's disease. One would think that researching the role of antibiotics in the treatment of Alzheimer's would be a reasonable consideration and a prime concern for all interested in curing this horrible disease.
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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) appears to be another very common misdiagnosis. A very concerned and distressed microbiologist contacted me recently stating that they were finding the lyme spirochete in numerous ALS patients, many of which are children. After testing positive for lyme, these patients were referred to lyme literate doctors for treatment with appropriate antibiotics. Many lyme patients have to travel far and wide to receive proper treatment. Most physicians are either ignorant concerning lyme or they are too fearful to diagnose and or treat this very controversial disease. The patients who had been diagnosed with ALS and were then treated with antibiotics, gained back their mobility. However, once they had to return to their local doctors, they were predictably taken off antibiotics and subsequently reverted to their previous incapacitated condition.

This dividing of infectious disease into non-treatable or supposedly incurable conditions and disease labels is criminal, unforgivable and must be exposed. Because of certain actions and or lack of action by government agencies, which are responsible for the healthcare of our nation, it is becoming very questionable as to whether or not they have our best interests at heart.

We can no longer expect government health agencies to properly educate our physicians. We need to find our own novel ways of bringing this information to the attention of doctors. Preferably this would need to be done while medical students are still forming their ideas and beliefs. Once they are brainwashed by the medical industrial complex...it is much more difficult. We also need to somehow encourage individual doctors to form their own medical journals...independent of the AMA or government institutions. It would also be in the doctors' best interests to form supportive units with each other. Eventually this could result in less power for those who are now in control...and not doing a very good job. Our current medical system suppresses curative treatment and is much too controlling.... to our detriment. The American people need to take back the responsibility for their healthcare.