JUNE 30, 2011 PART III: LYME WARS

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." Mark Twain

How profound is that statement! I have used this statement on medical rounds with students when entering a patients room who has unconscious, had a stroke or terminal cancer. You must talk to the patient knowing in your heart that she/he can hear and see you even if physically they cannot. I usually hold the patients hand as I talk about the case. I say statements which are uplifting, hopeful and happy. It is the right way to handle yourself. The patient who is unconscious or dying of a terminal illness is a human being and should always be treated with respect, love and kindness. Kindness goes a long way.

Yesterday I was talking to a patient who lost her husband. Her husband was also my patient. As she spoke, tears swelled in her eyes. My eyes became moist and my heart saddened after she said, "You were so kind to my husband even at the darkest hours." I miss his jovial smile and laughter. The world still has him through his many famous photographs. I am grateful to have met him. I kissed her good bye as she will be traveling to a place they had been together many times.

It is called Kindness. Never forget that!

A plant that is used for Lyme Disease with success is Fallopia japonica. it has another name Polygonum cuspidatum. This is native to Asia, Japan, China and Korea. This plant is commonly known as the Japanese Knotweed. Other names for this plant are monkeyweed, elephant ears, and even donkey rhubarb.

Many of us take a form of Japanese Knotweed and do not even know it. It is plant which has a large concentrated of resveratrol. The main use of Japanese knotweed in Lyme is for the CNS effects. This plant can cross the blood brain barrier. For those who have Lyme cerebritis or any neurological manifestation of Lyme it is a great herb.

It is also good the the cardiac manifestations of Lyme Disease (chest pain, palpitations and arrhythmias). As a cardiologist, I see many patients with bradycardia ( slow heart rate) and heart blocks related to Lyme Disease. This herb is thus used for the 3rd stage of Lyme. It is unique that it stops the inflammatory pathways. For those with ocular (eye) manifestations of Lyme it stimulates blood flow to the eye. In Healing Lyme by Buhner this herb is used with another herb, Stephania. Knotweed contains more reveratrol than any other plant.

The spreading of the plant has curiously followed the same path of the spread of Lyme across the Northeast. Is this a coincidence? Or is the plant trying to tell us something about its use?

Much of this research can be found in Buhner's Healing Lyme, Dr. Joseph Burrascano's book, Diagnostic Hints and Treatment Guidelines of Lyme and other Ticks and Wolfe's Healing Lyme Disease Naturally-Most conventional doctors dealing with Lyme do not know about these herbs. I feel our attack on this epidemic could be better served if all healers (conventional and integrative) started to embark on a collaborative treatment.

I must mention the honeybees. The Japanese knotweed is valued by beekeepers as it is an important source of nectar. The plant flowers when no other plants are flowering so it is important to the bees and the beekeeper. The flower yields a Monofloral honey called Bamboo Honey.

I have never tasted bamboo honey. I have asked some beekeepers about its taste. One friend said it taste like a milder version of Buckwheat honey. I smiled and said thank you. This doesn't help me because as a new beekeeper I have NOT even tasted buckwheat honey. I have had the pleasure of tasting dark cacao honey and even spearmint honey, but no buckwheat or bamboo yet.

Until tomorrow...