JULY 4, 2011 PART V: LYME WARS

"It is sad to grow old but nice to ripen" - Brigitte Bardot

Unfortunately I see many people suffer in their old age. This is one of the hardest aspects of medicine. Some of you have seen your own family members wither away from cancer, heart disease, HIV and many other diseases. I do not like the devastation that certain diseases bring with them. I try to ease the patient's pain as well as the pain of their family.

Some people without disease feel old at thirty or forty. This is unfortunate. Take a look around you before you say you feel old. I have taken a different attitude which makes me feel young all over again.

I have learned to embrace life enthusiastically. I look forward to the next day. I always see the good in life these days. I look forward to completing my next project which might be another needlepoint canvas, a knitted scarf or doing a watercolor greeting card. These are my hobbies. I have fun doing these things. At any age you also can have fun. I never thought I would have fun when I got sober but I have had the much more fun being sober, than I did in those darker days. Get rid of your old mind-set; start anew and remember each day is a new beginning.

There is so much to write about Lyme Disease. Another herb used in the core protocol of treatment is Andrographis. Every culture has a different name for this plant. The herb has many properties. For Lyme it is mainly antispirochetal. It treats most of the clinical manifestations of Lyme including cardiac issues and arthritic issues of joint swelling/pain and stiffness. Andrographolides are the active chemicals that clear the body of infection. Other diseases on which Andrographis exerts it medicinal benefits are leptospirosis, filarial infections, roundworm infections and many other parasitic diseases.

In the past I have used Wormwood (Artesmesia) but I definitely find Andrographis to be more effective. We do not see many filarial infections in the United States, but when I studied abroad I saw many. If I had only known then what I know now. I do remember a local medicine woman using herbs to treat a patient with elephantiasis (a parasitic disease that causes very swollen legs) with a remarkable result.

There are many clinical studies on this herb for Hepatitis A and B, infant cutaneous gangrene, bacterial tonsillitis, leprosy, chicken pox, mumps, herpes and pneumonia. The list goes on.

The dosing with this herb must start low due to the gastrointestinal side effects. It is used as a preparation standardized to 10% andrographolides. Start with 1 - 400mg capsule four times a day (q.i.d.) and gradually increase to 4 -400mg four times a day. Then once you reach 4-400mg four times a day start to increase to 2-400mg four times a day, then 3-400mg four times a day and so on. When you get 4-400mg four times a day you have reached the maximum. Maintain this for 60 days according to Buhner. I find this a lot, and honestly I have not seen a patient tolerate more than 3 -400mg capsules three times a day. Once the symptoms of Lyme are better start to reduce the number of capsules in each dose. When you reach 1- 400mg four times a day maintain this for 6-12months

Treating Lyme is a commitment for the physician and the patient. It is not a simple dose of an antibiotic and the patient is on their way.

I will caution that although it is described I have never seen a severe skin reaction to this herb. It is reported that it occurs in 1% of people using andrographis. I have never seen this and I do use andrographis a lot. I do lower the dose for older people (above 65 years old) with Lyme.

Until tomorrow...