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This is an oppotunity to watch "Under Our skin" for free.
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By Dr. Mercola
Unrelenting pain. Headaches, muscle aches, swollen joints, rashes. Loss
of coordination and muscle spasms. Intermittent paralysis. Cycles of
disabling symptoms that persist for years, causing ceaseless suffering
and frustration for patients and their families.
This is the picture of chronic Lyme disease. And yet, many physicians
tell their patients there is "no such thing," referring them to
psychiatrists, misdiagnosing them, or even accusing them of fabricating
an illness or simply seeking attention.
An award-winning documentary called "Under Our Skin" exposes the hidden
story of Lyme disease, one of the most serious and controversial
epidemics of our time.
Each year, thousands go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, often told their
symptoms are all in their heads. This film brings into focus a troubling
picture of a health care system that is far too willing to put profits
ahead of patients.
The History and Discovery of Lyme Disease
Lyme disease rates are escalating at breakneck speed, among humans as
well as animals. Today, Lyme disease the most common vector borne
disease in the U.S., far more common and dangerous to the average
American than West Nile virus. In fact, there were almost 40,000
reported cases of Lyme in 2009,1 which by all accounts is a gross
underestimate.
The CDC estimates the real number of cases may be up to 12 times higher,
suggesting as high as 480,000, making Lyme far more prevalent than
AIDS. The number of Lyme cases reported annually has increased nearly
25-fold since national surveillance began in 1982.2
Lyme disease was named after the East Coast town of Lyme, Connecticut,
where the disease was first identified in 1975.3 The disease was first
referred to as "Lyme arthritis" due to the presentation of atypical
arthritic symptoms. By 1977, the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis,
also known as the deer tick) was linked to transmission of the disease.
Then in 1982, Willy Burgdorfer, PhD, discovered the bacterium
responsible for the infection: Borrelia burgdorferi. The bacteria are
released into your blood from the infected tick, while the tick is
drinking your blood.
We now know there are five subspecies of Borrelia burgdorferi, more than
100 strains in the U.S. and 300 worldwide, many of which have developed
resistance to our various antibiotics. Although many still attribute
transmission exclusively to ticks, according to Dr. Deitrich Klinghardt,
one of the leading authorities on Lyme disease, the bacteria can also
be spread by other insects, including mosquitoes, spiders, fleas, and
mites. This may be the reason so few Lyme sufferers recall being bitten
by a tick.
Borrelia burgdorferi is a spirochete,4 a cousin to the spirochete
bacterium that causes syphilis. In fact, they look very similar under a
microscope. B. burgdorferi's corkscrew-shaped form allows it to burrow
into and hide in a variety of your body's tissues, which is why it
causes such wide-ranging multisystem involvement.
The Invisible Illness
Many Lyme patients who battle this disease on a daily basis appear
healthy, which is why Lyme disease has been called "the invisible
illness." They often "look good," and their blood work appears normal,
but their internal experience is a far different story. Patients
struggling with Lyme disease usually become adept at hiding their pain
from others as a way to cope and restore some degree of normalcy to
their lives.
Part of the problem with diagnosing and treating Lyme disease is that it is so easy to misdiagnose.
Lyme disease is called "the great imitator,"5 mimicking other disorders
such as multiple sclerosis (MS), arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome,
fibromyalgia, ALS, ADHD and Alzheimer's disease. In some cases, Lyme
patients can even develop paralysis or slip into a coma. The only
distinctive hallmark unique to Lyme disease is the "bulls eye" rash, but
this is absent in nearly half of those infected. Laboratory tests are
notoriously unreliable.
Fewer than half of Lyme patients recall a tick bite. In some studies,
this number is as low as 15 percent. So, if you don't recall seeing a
tick on your body, that doesn't rule out the possibility of Lyme
disease. According to TBDA:
"Although the bulls eye red rash is considered the classic sign to look
for, it is not even the most common dermatologic manifestation of early
Lyme infection. Atypical forms of this rash are seen far more commonly.
It is important to know that the Erythema Migrans rash is a clear,
unequivocal sign of Lyme disease..."
Besides the rash, some of the first symptoms of Lyme disease may include
a flu-like condition with fever, chills, headache, stiff neck, achiness
and fatigue. For a complete list of symptoms, refer to the Tick-Borne
Disease Alliance6 (TBDA), but some of the more frequent symptoms include
the following:
Muscle and joint pain
Neurological problems
Heart involvement
Vision and hearing problems
Migraines
The "Lyme Paradox"
Dr. Klinghardt believes one of the factors that's led to increased
Borrelia virulence is the dramatic increase in electromagnetic fields
(EMFs) and microwave radiation from cell phones and towers, wireless
Internet, power lines, household electrical wiring, etc. Reduction of
exposure to these fields is a key part of his Lyme treatment protocol,
which I'll be discussing shortly.
One of the reasons blood tests are so unreliable as indicators of Lyme
infection is that the spirochete has found a way to infect your white
blood cells. Lab tests rely on the normal function of these cells to
produce the antibodies they measure.
If your white cells are infected, they don't respond to an infection
appropriately. And the worse your Borrelia infection is, the less likely
it will show up on a blood test. In order for Lyme tests to be useful,
you have to be treated first. Once your immune system begins to respond
normally, only then will the antibodies show up. This is called the
"Lyme Paradox" – treatment before diagnosis.
Dr. MacDonald's Syphilis Model
The behavior of Borrelia may be more similar to its cousin
Treponemapallidum, the spirochete responsible for syphilis. Both take
different forms in your body (cystic forms, granular forms, and cell
wall deficient forms), depending on what conditions they need to
accommodate. This clever maneuvering helps them to hide and survive.
Perhaps the most compelling evidence for Borrelia as a far greater
player than previously thought comes from the work of Alan MacDonald,
MD, who's been studying parallels between Lyme disease and syphilis for
the past 30 years. MacDonald found the DNA of Borrelia in seven out of
ten brain specimens from people who died of Alzheimer's disease.7
Astonishingly, the DNA was "fused" with human DNA, into one molecule!
Syphilis is well known for causing symptoms across multiple body
systems, including neurosyphilis, the psychiatric form of the illness.
Syphilis remains relatively easy to treat, as long as it's diagnosed
early. But its cousin Borrelia seems to be upping the ante. Dr.
Klinghardt stated in one of our interviews that he's never had a single
patient with Alzheimer's, ALS, Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis
who tested negative for Borrelia. Those are all diseases with no known
cause. Could Lyme disease be the missing link? And if it is, why hasn't
there been a stampede of researchers in pursuit of the truth?
Attorney General Finds IDSA Lyme Guidelines Flawed and Panel Corrupted
A handful of people are the gatekeepers for information about Lyme
disease. Most of those occupy positions within the Infectious Diseases
Society of America (IDSA), which publishes guidelines for a number of
infectious diseases, one of which is Lyme.
The IDSA's most recent clinical practice guidelines for Lyme disease8
they claim Lyme is easily cured with, typically, two weeks of
antibiotics, requiring 28 days in rare cases. They also claim there is
no scientific evidence for chronic Borrelia infection. However, the
literature choices they list in their reference section clearly reflect
their bias. Of the 400 references they cite, half are based on articles
written by their own people.
Their literature review in no way represents the total body of science related to the study of Lyme disease.
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal has long been a strong advocate
for people with Lyme disease.9 While he was Connecticut, Attorney
General Blumenthal conducted an investigation into the IDSA's panel
members and 2006 Lyme disease guidelines.
These guidelines have sweeping impacts on Lyme disease medical care.
They are commonly applied by insurance companies to restrict coverage
for long-term treatment and strongly influence physicians' treatment
decisions. Insurance companies have denied coverage for long-term
treatment, citing these guidelines as justification that chronic Lyme
disease is a myth. Blumenthal's investigation found conflicts of
interest were rampant in the IDSA, with numerous undisclosed financial
interests among its most powerful panelists.
The IDSA agreed to create a new panel to review the ethics of the 2006
IDSA panel, overseen by Blumenthal's office. But this ended up being
nothing more than a pacifier. The end result was a Final Report
published on the IDSA site10 finding the original guidelines "based on
the highest-quality medical/scientific evidence available," stating the
authors "did not fail to consider or cite any relevant data." Senator
Blumenthal continues to fight the establishment, however, and has taken
his battle to the Senate.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/10/13/under-our-skin-documentary.aspx
Watch "Under our Skin" for free at above link I think offer is on for a short time only not sure try watching asap.
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