Oh, these tick borne illnesses! Since we saw three new cases this week of one you may not have heard of, Babesia, I thought I’d share some information. You know, forewarned is forearmed and so forth. It’s estimated that half the ticks in that summer suburb of Chicago the locals call, “Wisconsin” are currently carrying […]
Tag: Lyme disease
LYME TIME…AGAIN!
In H.G. Wells’ novel (and Steven Spielberg’s movie), War of the Worlds, aliens from Mars invade earth, fully intending to destroy it. Earthlings are losing against the Martians until suddenly the Martians start dying off. Scientists later discover the aliens had no immunity against earth’s bacteria and paid the price with their lives. With the […]
The Loneliest, Saddest Patients In America
Imagine this: one night, you awaken from sleep feeling itchy all over. You scratch and scratch, eventually getting back to sleep. The next day, you feel like your skin is crawling. Your hair just doesn’t feel like your hair. A few days later, you see skin lesions on different parts of your body. You go […]
Commonly Missed Diagnosis: The Three Faces of Lyme Disease
It’s midsummer and the tick population is exploding. They can latch onto your ankles and fall into your hair and when they bite (which you won’t even feel), they’ll attach themselves and empty their gastrointestinal tract into your bloodstream. Ticks are a cesspool with legs and this story can end with Lyme disease. The total number of Lyme disease cases, caused by the organism Borrelia burgdorferi, is definitely on […]
Finally! Whole Health Chicago To Open A South Side Office
OK, OK, so it took 20 years, but it will be worth the wait. WholeHealth Chicago’s new location is in the Beverly neighborhood, at 3237 W, 111th Street. The location is actually in Mount Greenwood, but no one except those who live there knows where Mount Greenwood is. (There is also to my knowledge no […]
Commonly Missed Diagnosis: The Three Faces of Lyme Disease
It’s springtime and will soon be nice and warm. We’re so thoroughly tired of being trapped inside that a woodland romp sounds perfectly delightful. But please remember that ticks are lurking. They can latch onto your ankles and fall into your hair and when they bite (which you won’t even feel), they’ll attach themselves and empty their gastrointestinal tract into your bloodstream. Ticks are a cesspool […]
Lyme Disease In Your Nervous System: Three Cases
“Why am I limiting this to only three cases?” I wondered. Physicians who treat Lyme, like our group at WholeHealth Chicago where we see a lot of Lyme disease patients, would tell you there are so many manifestations of Lyme when it invades the nervous system that I really should list as many as possible. […]
Breakthroughs in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
To me, the greatest advance for the estimated 2.5 million adults, adolescents, and children with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been the slow but steady acceptance of its very existence by the conventional medical community. This has been a real uphill battle and we’re encouraged to finally see some (guarded) victories. The first description of […]
Six Beefs With Rheumatologists
If you find yourself in the waiting room of a rheumatologist, you’re likely there because your joints hurt and have been hurting, often for years. You’ve been getting by on aspirin or Advil for the pain, but with things worsening your primary care doctor suggests you should see a joint specialist, a rheumatologist. And because […]
Chronic Lyme Disease: Best Testing, Best Treatment
Last week I suggested if you’ve been suffering longstanding but otherwise unexplained symptoms, a long-ago tick bite might be an overlooked possibility and you could now be dealing with chronic Lyme disease. I added that your recovery may well be delayed by some totally unnecessary and immature bickering among physicians about the correct name for […]
Lyme Disease: A Biological Weapon Gone Awry
Prepare yourself for a genuinely frightening Health Tip. I bought Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons, by investigative reporter Kris Newby, this past Saturday at 10 am and finished it at 8 pm. It reads more like a thriller than non-fiction and is chilling in its implications. First, some background: The […]
Ozone Therapy: What It Is and How It’s Used
I’ll spare you a migraine. Don’t google “ozone therapy” as you’ll get 2.1 million results in 0.35 seconds. And while this is a mere fraction of what happens when you search for “migraine” (80 million in 1.19 seconds), just reading about the controversy over ozone therapy in first 20 entries might be enough to give […]
Here’s What You Should Know About Lyme Disease
In H.G. Wells’s novel (and Steven Spielberg’s movie) War of the Worlds, aliens invade Earth, fully intending to destroy it. Despite our best efforts to defend ourselves, we’re clearly losing until suddenly all the aliens start dying off. Scientists later discover the aliens had no immunity to Earth’s bacteria. The evil aliens were out of their […]
Nutritional IV Therapy, Part One
You’ve probably, at some point in your life, had an intravenous (IV) line. You felt the tiny pinch of the needle, watched as an adept nurse’s hands taped the needle in place, and then stared, perhaps a bit apprehensively, as a bagful of fluid dangling above coursed through a plastic tube and into your body […]
Lyme Disease Fundraiser, Just When We Need It Most
Here are some well known people who have chronic Lyme disease: singer-songwriter-fashion designer Kelly Osbourne, TV star Ally Hilfiger (Tommy’s daughter), singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, punk singer Kathleen Hanna, Marisol Thomas (wife of Rob Thomas), Real Housewife Yolanda Hadid and supermodel Bella Hadid, as well as Alec Baldwin, Amy Tan, and Avril Lavigne. Each of the […]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers!
I’d been reading Ally Hilfiger’s new autobiography Bite Me: How Lyme Disease Stole My Childhood, Made Me Crazy, and Almost Killed Me, preferring the Lyme parts to those devoted to fashion and her MTV “Rich Girl” series. Her symptoms were typical of chronic Lyme and simply dreadful. Hilfiger’s very supportive family watched helplessly through hospitalizations and […]
Stevia and Lyme Disease
Patients often ask me if stevia can treat Lyme disease. The answer is both yes and no. The question stems from a study published in 2015 in the European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology on stevia and the different forms of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The study showed that in a […]
The Saddest, Loneliest Patients In America
Imagine this: one night, you awaken from sleep feeling itchy all over. You scratch and scratch, eventually getting back to sleep. The next day, you feel like your skin is crawling. Your hair just doesn’t feel like your hair. A few days later, you see skin lesions on different parts of your body. You go […]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers!
I’d been reading Ally Hilfiger’s new autobiography Bite Me: How Lyme Disease Stole My Childhood, Made Me Crazy, and Almost Killed Me, preferring the Lyme parts to those devoted to fashion and her MTV “Rich Girl” series. Her symptoms were typical of chronic Lyme and simply dreadful. Hilfiger’s very supportive family watched helplessly through hospitalizations […]
Could Alzheimer’s Be Prevented By Antibiotics or Antivirals?
Quite some time ago during my internal medicine residency, articles began to appear in medical journals advancing the idea that stomach ulcers might be caused by bacteria. Mainly, I remember how dismissive most gastroenterologists were of this idea. “It is utterly impossible,” said one lecturer, “that any bacteria could survive in the intense acidity of […]