Weather's Great! Thinking of heading outdoors?

As we have been consumed with protecting ourselves from Covid and again enjoying  our parks, beaches, gardens and golf course I would like to remind everyone to protect themselves against ticks.  It's important to enjoy nature and the outdoors but do so with safety in mind.  

Lyme is difficult to diagnose and treat and its symptoms can linger for years. Lyme Disease is on the rise because the black-legged ticks that spread the disease are more prevalent.  Reports indicate that tick borne diseases have more than doubled in the last 12 years.  Climate change, mild winters and expansion of the number of animals that carry ticks are several reasons for the increase. 


I have done a fair bit of research on Lyme as I have several clients with Lyme and would like to share some insights about the disease itself:

1. Tick borne disease is underdiagnosed yet ticks carry a variety of diseases.  It  is often the cause of all sorts of auto-immune conditions, gut issues, neurological issues, neurodegenerative, depression, chronic fatigue, heart disease and the list goes on. 
2. These bacteria's suppress the immune system making it hard to fight the disease.  
3. There is something called Chronic Lyme Disease which means that long term infection causes havoc with multiple systems in the body.  Others may have mild symptoms and recover in 2 to 3 weeks.  
4. The traditional approach involves a course of antibiotics but little help if symptoms such as inflammation, sleep issues, neurological symptoms, heart and cognitive symptoms persist beyond these few weeks.
5. Many autoimmune diseases including fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue  are symptoms of Lyme disease.  Lyme disease is a great mimic of other diseases such as Parkinsons, MS, and Alzheimer's
6. There are many weird symptoms that come with Lyme and one of the little known symptoms of Lyme Disease is Bell's palsy of the gut which causes severe digestive symptoms.  These symptoms gradually appear over time.
7. Traditional medicine has limited resources for treating Lyme. Functional, Chinese, Ayurvedic and Naturopathic Medicine all have alternative protocols that show promise in reducing symptoms.  
8. Nutrition, lifestyle choices, herbs and vitamin therapies are useful in treatment. It is important to get the levels of Lyme down and at the same time boost the immune system It is important to treat your whole systems.  Garlic, medicinal mushrooms, sauna and infra-red therapy, Vitamin D, sunshine exposure are a few  effective treatments.   

 
Here are some tips on how to prevent getting bitten:

1. First, realize that ticks are found almost everywhere in North American and can be found  in the long grass and low vegetation.  Avoid walking in long grasses. That golf ball in the rough isn't worth a tick bite.  
2. Cover up or use insect repellents.  If you are going in the woods, wear long pants, shoes with socks, a hat  and a long sleeved shirt.     Ticks hang out on vegetation waiting for you to brush against them so they can latch on.  If that seems like too many clothes to wear on a hot day, apply insect repellent with at least 20 percent DEET.  (Yes, I  know it's toxic but getting Lyme is no FUN!, so it's the lesser of two evils) 
3. Check yourself and your pets for ticks after your adventure in the woods or your backyard.  Showering as soon as you come in is recommended.  
4. If you find a tick, remove it carefully with tweezers and store it in a plastic bag and keep it to be analyzed for disease.  

This is just some information regarding a very serious disease that is much more rampant than people realize.  Please, first protect yourself but if you do get bit, get help beyond the traditional antibiotic approach.  


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