HEALING LYME BEYOND ANTIBIOTICS

Treatments for Lyme disease are an ongoing evolving process. With each patient, the disease gives us new symptoms custom tailored by that particular person’s immune system and bodily response. Often Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium causing Lyme disease, is not the only bacterium transmitted through a tick bite. There are other intruders, like Bartonella, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Powassan virus, mycoplasmas, Chlamydia-like organisms (CLOs), and several more that we know of. New strands are still being discovered. These can be transmitted at the same time as the Lyme bacteria through a bite by arthropods. Some ticks can carry as many as two hundred known infectious microorganisms. Each host presents a very specific ecosystem to these organisms. The response to an infected bite entirely depends on the ability of the host’s immune system to fight the organism. Should the immune system be weakened already, the patient, unable to fight off the intruders, may not only suffer from the effects of Lyme disease but can also become susceptible to a variety of coinfections. Treating Lyme disease is not a straightforward process where a certain pharmaceutical or one specific herb is the cure-all. For the practitioner it is rather a process of discovery not unlike the work of a detective. It often involves continual treatment adjustments to a patient’s particular symptoms. What works for one person may not work for another person. Nature’s pharmacy of healing offers innumerable options for a successful path to recovery. Over the millions of years that plants have been around, bacteria have been around as well. During their coexistence, bacteria and plants have had a mutual exchange of information. Plants have learned how to deal with bacteria and their various forms, including biofilms. Plants understand how to tune into their environment, read temperature and climate, distinguish between characteristics of their bacterial attackers as well as benefactors, and change their plant chemistry accordingly. Being able to understand what is happening in their environment, plants are able to respond in a self-preserving way and communicate this information not only to each other but also to other plant life and possibly to certain microorganisms. They know how to fine-tune their defense mechanisms. There is more going on than just a local response to environmental conditions among plants. There is an intelligence at play that encourages plant migration. Plants migrate not only because of weather and temperature changes but also for other, more subtle reasons. It has been observed that the invasive plant Japanese knotweed, a plant that is highly effective in treating Lyme disease, moves into an area, or, if already present, begins to spread rapidly about five to ten years prior to the appearance of Lyme disease. Where Japanese knotweed has become invasive in the United States happens to be the same states where Lyme disease has moved in. Japanese knotweed is a powerful healing plant for us, but also for the environment. It loves to grow along roadsides, former waste sites, and along wastewater runoffs. It has the ability to absorb zinc, lead, and copper in its plant body. It is a virtual vacuum cleaner for pollutants. Plants’ enormous databank of information on how to navigate their way around bacteria can be a powerful tool and is the reason for our using them as a healing modality. Understanding their power, we use plants for various purposes. Medicinal plants can function on their own as a healing herb, or they can function as a support for the healing properties of other herbs. They can also assist the function of pharmaceuticals––literally intensifying the effects of an antibiotic. Whereas an antibiotic works with a single chemical compound, or possibly two or three compounds, herbs have multiple chemistries at play. Because of their immense experience with bacteria, they have hundreds of different compounds which work synergistically together to address an infection. Herbs can be anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antispirochetal, antioxidant, antiulcer, and so many more properties all in one! They work with a person’s immune system with an array of compounds and fight an infection holistically. They support the body’s own immune system and aid in the detoxification process at the same time. Plants have stored the information on how to address disease in the databank of their DNA. For this reason, plants have been used by humankind for thousands of years through various cultures and have left us with quite a bit of history to work with. Plants have millions of years of experience, and they are good at what they are doing. We are lucky to have them available to support our wellbeing. Bacteria have not been idle either, over the course of history. They have absorbed the changes of the environment and the changes in their food sources, continually adding information to their extensive resource library. They have learned how to circumvent the defense mechanisms of plants and, later, animals, and finally humans. The challenge for us is to understand which herb has what quality and healing potential to fight off the bacteria. Luckily, much of this wisdom has been passed down through generations, first orally and then in writing, and is available to us today.