TOUCHED BY LYME: Horowitz publishes on COVID-19 and glutathione

Why is COVID-19 a relatively mild infection for some people—and fatal for others? That’s a mystery facing patients and their doctors these days.

In some cases, it appears that an immune response that’s gone haywire creates a “cytokine storm.” That’s when the body starts to attack its own cells and tissues, instead of just fighting off the virus.

In COVID-19, a cytokine storm can lead to cell death in the lungs. This can lead to pneumonia and starving the blood of oxygen. Sometimes, this results in extensive organ damage, which can be fatal.

Dr. Richard Horowitz, well known Lyme and tick-borne disease expert, has experience dealing with cytokine storms, because they can occur in Lyme patients as well.

He and patient advocate David Roth recently gave a presentation about how Dr. Horowitz’s use of glutathione and other innovative treatments helped Roth recover from a serious case of COVID-19 last month.

Now, Dr. Horowitz and two co-authors have compiled that information—and more—into an article in the open access online journal Respiratory Medicine Case Reports. The title is Efficacy of glutathione therapy in relieving dyspnea associated with COVID-19 pneumonia: A report of 2 cases. [Note: “Dyspnea” is the medical term for shortness of breath.]

In a Facebook post linking to the article, Dr. Horowitz stated, “I also have contacted my state and federal representatives about the article and explained the urgent need to do a randomized, controlled study to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment protocols described in the paper.”

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s Vice-president and Director of Communications. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.

Advice about the coronavirus for people who have Lyme disease

Dr. Steven Bock, a Lyme-treating physician, provides information about the coronavirus–and the risk it poses for people with Lyme disease.

He explains about the immune system and ways that Lyme patients (and others with compromised immune systems) can protect themselves.  https://www.lymedisease.org/bock-coronavirus-lyme-disease/

Seven herbal medicines can kill Lyme disease bacteria in test tube

Researchers have determined that seven herbal medicines are highly active in test tubes against B. burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, compared to the control antibiotics, doxycycline and cefuroxime.

Published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, the laboratory study was funded by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation and supported in part by The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and colleagues at the California Center for Functional Medicine and FOCUS Health Group, Naturopathic collaborated on the study.

“Since traditional antibiotic approaches fail to resolve symptoms in up to 25% of patients treated for Lyme disease and many suffer disabling effects of the disease, there is a need for novel treatment proven effective against B. burgdorferi,” said the paper’s co-author Sunjya K. Schweig, MD, CEO and co-director, California Center for Functional Medicine and Scientific Advisory Board Member, Bay Area Lyme Foundation.

Patients turning to herbal remedies

“Because patients are currently turning to herbal remedies to fill the treatment gaps left by antibiotics, this research is a critical step in helping clinicians, as well as patients, understand which ones may offer the most potential benefit.”

According to this study, carried out by Prof. Ying Zhang’s group at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the seven herbal medicines that have the ability to kill B. burgdorferi in test tubes are:

• Cryptolepis sanguinolenta
• Juglans nigra (Black walnut)
• Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
• Artemisia annua (Sweet wormwood)
• Uncaria tomentosa (Cat’s claw)
• Cistus incanus
• Scutellaria baicalensis (Chinese skullcap)

It is important to note that each of these products have the potential to produce significant side effects in patients, and should be taken only under advisement of a clinician knowledgeable of their capabilities and toxicities.

Of these products, the Cryptolepis sanguinolenta extract caused complete eradication, while doxycycline and cefuroxime and other active herbs did not. This extract has been used for the treatment of malaria as well as the tick-borne infection Babesia, a malaria-like parasite.

This study is believed to be the first time this extract has been documented to have a potential impact on B. burgdorferi, and additional laboratory and clincial studies should be conducted to investigate the potential role Cryptolepis sanguinolenta could play in the treatment of Lyme disease.

Further, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta and Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed) showed strong activity against both growing B. burgdorferi (MIC=0.03%-0.06% and 0.25%-0.5% respectively) and non-growing stationary phase B. burgdorferi.

In contrast, Stevia rebaudiana, Andrographis paniculata, Grapefruit seed extract, colloidal silver, monolaurin, and antimicrobial peptide LL37 had little or no activity against stationary phase B. burgdorferi.

New therapeutic options

“Our hope is that findings from this study could point to new therapeutic options for doctors and their patients, and pave the way for clinical research to help patients with persistent Lyme disease,” said Linda Giampa, executive director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation.

These data may provide a basis for the clinical improvement of patients who take herbal medicines, particularly those whose chronic symptoms may be due to persistent bacteria that are not killed by conventional Lyme antibiotic treatment.

However, it is critical to note that additional studies are needed to further evaluate the seven active botanical medicines identified in the study. Patients should not attempt to self-treat with these herbal medicines due to potential side effects and lack of clinical trials with these products.

About the study

For the study, the researchers tested 14 natural products in test tubes against B. burgdorferi. Plant extracts selected for the study included herbs or agents that: have been previously used to manage the symptoms of patients who do not respond to standard Lyme antibiotic treatment; have favorable safety profiles; and can be absorbed systemically.

Additional criteria for selecting compounds included anti-biofilm effects and ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. To conduct the study, the plant extracts in concentrations of 1%, 0.5% and 0.25% and antibiotic controls were each tested on growing as well as non-growing B. burgdorferi cultures.

The study found that seven of these natural product extracts at 0.25%-0.5% had better activity against the stationary phase B. burgdorferi culture than the control antibiotics doxycycline and cefuroxime, both of which are commonly used to treat Lyme disease.

The paper titled “Evaluation of Natural and Botanical Medicines for Activity against Growing and Non-growing Forms of B. burgdorferi,” was written by Jie Feng, PhD, Jacob Leone, ND, Sunjya Schweig, MD, and Ying Zhang, MD, PhD.

PRESS RELEASE SOURCE: Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Related Posts:

1. New study finds Lyme bacteria survive a 28-day course of antibiotics
2. NEWS: EPA says flea & tick products kill or injure many pets
3. UNH Research Confirms Lyme Disease Bacteria Biofilm in Human Body
4. NEWS: Breakthrough test evaluates drugs for Lyme treatment

https://www.lymedisease.org/seven-herbals-kill-lyme-disease/

Holidays may offer more challenges than cheer for chronic Lyme patients

By Jill Ross

While many people anticipate the holidays with excitement, those suffering with chronic illnesses may approach the holiday season with anxiety and even dread.

A chronic illness can make normal everyday life challenging enough. The extra expectations and demands of the holidays can turn this joyous season into a difficult time that can result in poorer health and, in some cases, a full relapse.

Chronic Lyme disease patients suffer from a myriad of symptoms, including fatigue, brain fog, memory issues, muscle and joint pain, insomnia, anxiety, depression, food allergies and sensitivities. There may also be central nervous system issues, such as Bell’s palsy and muscle twitching and buzzing.

Symptoms may wax and wane as patients follow complex regimens of medications, supplements, alternative treatments and extreme self-care.

New stress on top of old stress

“The holidays add a new stress that you don’t have on a day-to-day basis,” says Robin M., a former financial analyst who has been living with Lyme disease, babesiosis, Bartonella and mycoplasma for more than 20 years.

“And as a wife and mother, most of the work involved with the holidays falls in your lap.”

Robin has experienced all kinds of holidays since she became ill in 1999. From the Christmas she spent at home alone when she was on IV antibiotics and so ill she could only crawl, to the years she overextended herself by entertaining a house full of guests, she has learned that she must put her own health needs first.

“It’s not worth having a six-month recovery,” Robin acknowledges after relapsing multiple times after the holidays. She no longer offers to host the extended family, has scaled back on decorating, and is extremely cautious about traveling.

“I now do everything I can to stay well,” she says. She adheres to a strict gluten-free and organic diet and avoids sugar and grains. “You have to make a choice not to relapse. You have to take care of yourself.”

Scaling back helps

Becky K., a small business owner, agrees. She has been dealing with Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever following a tick bite eight years ago.

“I have scaled back my holidays majorly,” says Becky. She no longer hosts parties for 30 to 40 friends and business associates. Gone also are baking 12 dozen cookies, putting up two Christmas trees, having decorations everywhere and marathon shopping.

“Once I’ve crossed the line and done too much, it’s too late” she says. “Then the Bell’s palsy, fatigue and brain fog set in and can stay for three to four months.”

Becky has learned to listen to her body and take care of her own needs first. When she recently prepared to have her family visiting for Thanksgiving, she took time out for a massage the day before they arrived.

She has also found that doing yoga and practicing tai chi can keep the muscle twitching and buzzing sensation in her body at bay.

Temptations of sugar

Donna W.’s biggest holiday challenge is dealing with the sugary treats that abound during the season. A retired training specialist who has lived with Lyme disease for 26 years, Donna avoids sugar, white flour, dairy products and alcohol. Her challenge is making 120 to 380 cookies for her church and family members without being tempted to eat them.

“Sugar is addictive. It’s the same as drugs or alcohol, so the best strategy for me is to live clean and to stay off it,” says Donna. Some years she does better than others, but she lives in fear of getting ill again. “The idea of a relapse is terrifying.”

Dealing with family at the holidays can be another tricky issue for those with chronic Lyme disease. Family members often don’t understand the illness. Navigating family gatherings can be challenging for the patient who feels misunderstood and the family members who don’t know how to respond.

Family misunderstandings

Beth N., a retired U.S. Forest Service firefighter with Lyme disease and Bartonella that went undiagnosed for 15 years, was too ill to make the trip from California to her home state of West Virginia.

“When I finally made it back East, my in-laws wondered why they had not seen me for three years. They thought I did not like them. They didn’t understand that I was sick,” says Beth.

“Their only experience with Lyme disease was knowing someone who had a tick bite and was fine after a short course of antibiotics.”

Because there are usually no outward signs that one is suffering from Lyme, patients are often told that they “look great” even when they feel poorly.

Rather than trying to explain the struggles going on inside their bodies and brains, many patients smile and act like they are fine,.This distances them even more from their family and friends, adding to the misunderstanding of this complex and challenging illness.

“People think you’re OK because you look normal. In reality, I’m spending all my energy trying to act like I’m OK,” notes Beth.

Need to simplify

Despite the challenges they face, these members of a local Lyme disease support group have learned to prioritize their health and wellbeing during the holiday season and have embraced a simpler and easier approach to celebrating.

“I actually enjoy the holidays more now,” says Becky. “Illness teaches you that life is fragile. Now I am more mindful of people and my moments with them. I really enjoy it.”

Jill Ross is a Lyme patient who leads the North Central West Virginia Lyme Community support group. 

Vitamin C Kills Bacteria Drugs Can’t: Study

Wednesday, 22 May 2013 02:35 PM, By Charlotte Libov

This information can apply to Lyme and other infections as well.

A groundbreaking new study showing that vitamin C can kill drug-resistant tuberculosis could pave the way for the nutrient to go into widespread use as an effective defense against many diseases, says a top holistic physician.

“Vitamin C fell out of favor when antibiotics came in, but this study shows the potential of using vitamin C to kill infection,” David Brownstein, M.D., told Newsmax Health.

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University reported they had discovered that vitamin C kills drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria, a finding that could lead to future disease-fighting applications.

Scientists made the discovery when they were experimenting to learn how TB bacteria become resistant to isoniazid, a first-line TB drug. When pairing the drug with vitamin C they discovered they had killed the bacteria. In doing subsequent experiments, researchers reported in the journal Nature Communications that the vitamin killed off the TB bacteria by itself without the drug.

An estimated 650,000 people worldwide have multi-drug-resistant TB. Based on this study, which showed vitamin C’s effectiveness in the lab, researchers say they next want to test it in the real world. The Einstein College scientists noted that vitamin C is inexpensive, widely available, safe.

Dr. Brownstein said that researchers have generally not taken vitamin C seriously as a disease fighter, but that may now change. “There’s a track record of vitamin C effectively treating diseases like measles as well as pertussis (whooping cough),” said Dr. Brownstein, author of the newsletter Natural Way to Health.
Vitamin C is superior to antibiotics because the nutrient marshals the body’s natural resources to fight off infection, Dr. Brownstein said. Also, he added, “If you look at the history of vitamin C I don’t know of one infectious organism that has grown resistant to it.”

Drug resistance, on the other hand, has emerged as a worldwide problem.  Another new study of vitamin C showed that high doses may stop cancer. Researchers at Cancer Treatment Centers of America reported they had recently completed a trial in which intravenous vitamin C inhibited tumor growth in mice.

IV injection of vitamin C is used in alternative medical centers to treat cancer and other disease but it is generally not recognized by mainstream medicine as an effective treatment.


“Again, the results of this new cancer study does not surprise me because we use vitamin C both orally and intravenously in the fight against many types of disease, including cancer,” Dr. Brownstein said.
He generally recommends 3,000-5,000 mgs a day of supplemental vitamin C to maintain good health.

© 2013 NewsmaxHealth. All rights reserved.

Herbals Outperform Antibiotics in Treatment of Lyme Disease

(c) Simon Martin 2010, all rights reserved.
Originally published in CAM magazine, September 2010: www.cam-mag.com
 
One of the world's leading Lyme Disease researchers has tested a natural treatment protocol based on the Cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa) product Samento and Banderol (from the Otoba plant) and found that it is at least as effective as conventional antibiotic treatment - and for some forms of the disease, more effective, reports CAM editor Simon Martin.

Dr Eva Sapi, PhD, a professor of cellular and molecular biology at the University of New Haven, Connecticut, was the first person to discover that the microbe that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia Burgdorferi (Bb), creates biofilm communities that protect it from the immune system - and from antibiotics.

Lyme Disease is usually passed to humans through the bite of a deer tick infected with Bb. The bite is usually followed by a rash and/or bulls-eye shaped red mark. Additional signs and symptoms include a flu-like feeling, fever, chest congestion, headache, nausea, and joint pain. Unfortunately, the classic bulls-eye rash doesn't always occur - probably only in 30% of cases - and some patients get no rash at all. Medical malpractice lawyers are warning doctors that a Lyme Disease rash is often misdiagnosed as poison ivy or ringworm. Other symptoms are commonly confused with the flu or a musculoskeletal injury.

"The failure to diagnose Lyme Disease can have devastating consequences, including brain damage due to meningitis, heart damage due to infective endocarditis, Lyme arthritis and Bells' Palsy," say leading malpractice lawyers Bottar Leone.

Pleomorph
The microbe is classified as a spirochete bacterium, but is a pleomorph; it cycles between different forms, some of them inactive - one of these a cyst form, as well as the colony-like biofilm - in response to the presence of antibiotics.

"Unfortunately, when Bb is in these inactive forms, conventional antibiotic therapy will not destroy the bacteria,” say Sapi and her colleagues. "The frontline treatment for chronic Lyme disease is administration of tetracyclines (e.g. doxycycline) or macrolides (e.g. clarithromycin). However, even after 3 months of treatment with these drugs, only a 50%-60% improvement rate is observed in patients, with a cure rate of only 20%. Besides this, the conventional antibiotic treatment... has several disadvantages, including relapse of disease, high treatment cost and extremely unpleasant side-effects."


Eliminate all forms
"In this study, our working hypothesis was that for an efficient therapy, we have to find antimicrobial agents that can eliminate all the forms of B. burgdorferi," Prof Sapi and colleagues reported.

"During the course of Borrelia infection, the bacterium can shift among the different forms, converting from the spirochete form to the others when presented with an unfavorable environment and reverting to the spirochete when the condition is again favorable for growth. To successfully eradicate B. burgdorferi, antimicrobial agents should eliminate all those forms, including the spirochetes, round bodies, and biofilm-like colonies.

"Here we have provided evidence that two natural antimicrobial agents (Samento and Banderol extracts) had significant effect on all three known forms of B. burgdorferi bacteria in vitro. We have also demonstrated that doxycycline, one of the primary antibiotics used in the clinic to treat Lyme disease, only had significant effect on the spirochetal form of B. burgdorferi."

Both herbal products are part of the Cowden Condensed Support Program, which has been in use against Lyme since 2006. Dr Cowden's protocol was previously tested in 2007 by Dr Richard Horowitz, who found a 70% rate of improvement, significantly higher than previous clinical trials on pharmaceutical antibiotics.

Sapi - a sufferer leading the charge against Lyme
Before Dr Eva Sapi's brain swelled after she was bitten by a deer tick, she was researching cancer cures. She now sees a naturopathic physician and is relentlessly dedicated to finding agents that reliably kill B.burgdorferi.

"Samento and Banderol are found to be important herbal allies in this study conducted by our friends at the Lyme Disease Research Group of the University of New Haven," commented Suzanne Arthur of the Lyme Disease Research Database. "In our interview with Dr Sapi, director of the graduate program in Lyme disease research, she promised that she was quite determined to find an effective agent that would 'kill the bug - and soon'. So, this study is proof that Dr Sapi is following through with her promise. It is a hopeful note in the battle against the nasty bacterial complex we know as Borrelia burgdorferi."

Testing negative is common
Dr. Sapi was appalled to find that when it came to Lyme diagnosis and treatment, chaos reigned. Despite her own symptoms, she initially tested negative for the infection.

"Researchers don't even know what Lyme Disease is," she says. "I realized that somebody had to go back and test the ticks."

A noted researcher and former Yale post doctoral/operative fellow in therapeutic radiology, Dr. Sapi quickly made a breakthrough: she discovered that deer ticks could be infected with mycoplasma, a rogue life form. The tick passes the mycoplasma onto the human, resulting in all kinds of chaos. Once she began looking, she found other pathogens living in deer ticks.

Such chaos occurring in patients who test negative for Lyme Disease, including a herd of doubting physicians she had consulted for her own illness, moved her to help. "I have been to so many doctors who laughed at me," she said.

One of her research teams is now using nanotechnology to create a new, more accurate detection test. As it stands now, the best test for Lyme Disease still yields a 70% false negative rate.

Improvement
"If you know a person has mycoplasma, you can treat it," Dr. Sapi says. She cited a small New Jersey study of seven patients with Lyme symptoms who tested negative for Lyme Disease. But when the physician handling the cases tested for mycoplasma, all seven patients tested positive. Once treated, they all showed signs of improvement.
Dr. Sapi presented research on mycoplasma at the national Lyme Disease conference at the University of New Haven in May, and has submitted a paper on the topic to the Journal of Medical Entomology. She has also been seeing a naturopathic doctor, whose treatment seems to be working.

Why the herbal program works better than pharmaceuticals
Two leading Lyme Disease experts commented on the New Haven study exclusively for CAM.
Dr Philip Kielman, who conducted the five-doctor study featured in our May 2009 issue, told us that in addition to Lyme Disease the products used in the recent research could potentially be used for other conditions.

The combination of the herbals' properties suggests they would be active against these infections and conditions:
* E-coli
* Mycoplasma
* Rickettsiae
* Salmonella
* Shigella and streptococcus
* Common bronchial infections (acute pharyngitis, bronchitis, sinusitis)
* Infections of the urinary tract
* Stomach and bowel problems.

Dr Lee Cowden, MD, who has developed an extensive treatment protocol for Lyme Disease and who was a keynote speaker at the Rio Health-sponsored CAM conference earlier this year, says that he was not surprised by the results. Dr Cowden and many other colleagues have noticed from their clinical experience that the antimicrobial herbals outperform pharmaceutical antibiotics - which is what you would expect given the herbs' broad spectrum activity, against which microbes find it very difficult to adapt.

Dr Cowden commented: "The recent in vitro research at the University of New Haven, Connecticut, using the Nutramedix herbals Banderol and Samento against Borrelia bugdorferi, when compared to the pharmaceutical doxycycline, confirmed what I and others had observed clinically in Lyme Borreliosis patients.

"Many patients with Lyme Borreliosis fail to improve clinically with doxycycline (or any other pharmaceutical antibiotic), but improve dramatically in a few weeks on the Condensed Cowden Support Program that includes Banderol and Samento as the primary antimicrobials.

Less Recurrence
"Also, patients who use the Program appear to have a lower likelihood of recurrence of Lyme Borreliosis than patients who are on pharmaceutical antibiotics when the therapy is stopped, presumably at least in part because the herbal agents appear to eliminate the biofilm microbial colonies and other hiding forms of Borrelia burgdorferi better than the pharmaceutical antibiotics.

"Richard Horowitz, MD, in New York state, has placed several hundred patients who failed with pharmaceutical antibiotics on the Program and reports that well over 70% improve after several weeks on the all-natural, predominantly herbal program.

Broader Spectrum
"He and I have observed that Lyme Borreliosis patients who eat less junk food, eat less allergenic food, drink more water, plus take the additional organ-support herbs and detox substances found in the Program improve more consistently and more rapidly than those who take only the antimicrobial herbs.

"The other benefit of the herbal program over pharmaceutical antibiotics in these Lyme patients, that I believe future research will prove, is that the antimicrobial herbals have a much broader spectrum of action than any pharmaceutical and are capable of simultaneously eliminating the coinfections including babesia, bartonella, rickettsia, mycoplasma, microfilaria, fungi and viruses."
Revised 2010 protocol for treatment of Lyme Borreliosis (Lyme disease)

Schedule:
* Samento 10 drops, 3 x per day for 60 days (may be combined with antibiotics).

Support:
* Detoxification of the kidneys by drinking enough water (min. 1.5 litres per day). o Burbur detox (works on the kidney, liver and lymph) 8 drops. 4 x per day.

* Green Magma Organic Green Barley Grass Juice extract may be used as further aid to detoxification where required. Suggested dose: 3-6g powder (1-2 teaspoons) or 10 tablets per day

* Caution: Warn of a possible Herxheimer reaction.

Lyme Borreliosis; Chronic Schedule:
* Start with Samento 1 drop, 1-3 x per day.
* Increase dosage with 1 extra drop a week to 10 drops, 3 x per day. (If there is a Herxheimer reaction, or extreme tiredness, stop for 1 day and start slowly again with the lowest dosage with which it was going well).
* Use Samento for 12.5 days and then stop for 1.5 days.

* After 1 month at 30 drops per day - substitute use of Samento with use of Banderol 2 x 20 drops and continue with Banderol for 12.5 days, then stop for 1.5 days, then switch back to use of Samento.

Thereafter, rotate the use of Samento and Banderol. This should prevent the bacteria from building up a resistance to Samento.

* In case of co-infections (present in 45% of chronic Lyme disease cases), add Cumanda (build up to 20 drops, 2 x per day) for 8-12 months. This should be used in addition to either Samento or Banderol.

Support:
* Detoxification of the kidneys by drinking enough water (min. 1.5 litres per day).

* Burbur detox (works on the kidney, liver and lymph) 8 drops, 4 x per day.

* Green Magma Organic Green Barley Grass Juice extract may be used as further aid to detoxification where required. Suggested dose: 3-6g powder (1-2 teaspoons) or 10 tablets per day.

* Other suggested supportive supplements: Magnesium malate (highly recommended), Bromelain, Chlorella, Colloidal silver, Dandelion root.

* Blood group diet.

* Caution: Warn of a possible Herxheimer reaction. The daily dose may be administered in fewer or more doses as required - i.e. 2 x10 drops = 3 x7 drops etc.

Resources:
Akshita D et al, In vitro effectiveness of Samento and Banderol on different forms of Borrelia burgdorferi. Poster presentation.

Akishita D et al, In Vitro Effectiveness of Samento and Banderol Herbal Extracts on the Different Morphological Forms of Borrelia Burgdorferi, Townsend Letter 2010. July.

Horowitz R. Classical and integrative medical approaches in chronic Lyme disease: new paradigms in diagnosis and treatment.

8th Annual International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) Conference; 2007 October.

University of New Haven and wwwlyme-disease-researchdatabase.com

Low Body Temperature & Disease

By Dr. David Jernigan:

In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome there are many theories as to the cause. Some say it is the effects of heavy metal and chemical toxicity. Some say it is chronic infections, while others say it is the side-effects from vaccines and the use of suppressive medicines such as acetaminophen, aspirin, and ibuprofen, still others say it is dysregulated hormones or the effects of emotional trauma.

It this author’s opinion everyone is correct in the same way as the proverbial three blind men describing an elephant from the head, tail, and the side are correct in each one’s description but only from his unique vantage point. However, in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome there is one common overriding finding…low body temperature!

This article deals primarily with the very predictable problems seen in low body temperature and the profound importance of restoring and maintaining normal core body temperature. This is true not just in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but in every degenerative disease of our day.

Your core body temperature is the temperature taken under the tongue. When human physiology books refer to the “normal” core body temperature it is presented as a range sometimes listed between 97.0-99.0°F . Understand that the “Normal Range” for temperature or even the normal ranges in blood tests are based upon the average person of our day. That is why “normal” changes periodically, because as our average population continues to get sicker the normal ranges must be adjusted. So in this discussion I am speaking about what is an optimal core body temperature – 98.6-99.6°F.

Much emphasis in conventional medicine is usually placed upon feverish conditions; however, a low body temperature can be a much more sinister condition. Where a fever can be viewed as an active developmental and corrective process of the healthy body, a low body temperature can never be viewed as a normal or healthy condition, nor is it a mechanism for a learning or developmental process in the body.

A low body temperature creates a happy home for viruses and chronic infections, and is a sign of degeneration and gradual cellular death. The problem with a low core temperature is that no effective immune response can be mounted therefore no fever is generated and infections go undetected. The sickest person is one who gets the same infections but never miss a day of work because there is no response by their immune system, so they have a false sense of wellness as healthier individuals go through healthy fevers and immune responses that may cause them to miss work.

Low body temperature is the plague of the 21st century. People with low body temperature have a weak reaction to even the most ideal medicines and therapies.

As the body’s core temperature decreases all cellular energy also decreases thereby leading to profound and chronic fatigue that is not relieved by sleep.

The effects of low temperature:

The cooperative and collective intelligence of the human organism is short-circuited as the body temperature cools. As a result, all cellular functions decrease. There is a decrease in the production of all hormones, neurotransmitters, and other body chemicals necessary for healthy regulation of energy.

In this mild hypothermia condition there is an increased susceptibility to infectious disease as temperature drops the acidity of the body increases and the normally predominantly negative polarity of the cells become more positively charged.

The colder the body becomes the more prone to depression and other psychological abnormalities and all degenerative illnesses of the body, mind and spirit.

Until the causes of the lowered temperature are addressed and corrected, the best that can be hoped for is only temporary or mild improvement of symptoms and a gradual but steady overall decline in health.

Viruses prefer and promote a cold environment and replicate at a much more rapid rate when the body is cold. Viruses are killed and further replication is impeded by maintaining a warm body. Some bacteria such as Lyme spirochetes also prefer and promote a cold environment and can remain in a chronic state as long as their cold environment is maintained. Therefore, in the interest of the prevention and treatment of any viral, bacterial, or chronic illness, this topic must be understood.

The ultimate body coldness is seen in death. When observing a corpse many clinical gems can be gleaned and correlated to degenerative states of human suffering. In death, the blood and lymph fluid of the body solidify and the body becomes stiff and cold. In the same way many chronic cold illnesses such as, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, cancer, Lyme disease, Multiple Sclerosis, diabetes, and heart disease, we see that the body becomes progressively colder. As the body cools, the electrical oscillations of the fluids in the body slow down and there is a shift in the body’s polarity which promotes infectious microbes and cancer.

We can see the same principle of what happens in the body by observing the same dynamics in a water molecule. When the electrical oscillations of a water molecule slows down it becomes a solid, ice, as we speed up a water molecule’s electrical oscillations it liquefies and ultimately becomes a vapor.

The colder a body becomes, the slower the electrical oscillatory rate and therefore the thicker, more viscous, or syrupy the body fluids become. The more viscous the fluids become the more difficult it is for the body to push the fluids through the body. The lymph fluids that are normally supposed to bathe the outsides of all of your cells become progressively stagnant as it is too thick to move efficiently.

Now, consider the fact that just like your skin is constantly dying and flaking off and being replaced, so it is that every cell in your body is in a constant state of dying and being replaced. Only now the cold, syrupy lymph fluid cannot wash the dead cellular debris away. As a result the body becomes a toxic waste dump!

Muscles normally have a high demand for energy. Through contraction and relaxation muscles assist in eliminating their own cellular waste products. In a cold body however, the liquidity of the fluids inside of the muscles is gone, and the muscles cannot move the toxins and cellular debris.

The deeper you go into belly or center of the muscle, the colder and more difficult it is to move the toxins. Without normal viscosity of the body fluids, muscular contraction and relaxation grinds to a halt, like an engine with no lubricating oil. The belly of the muscle develops a knot that can be felt when massaging the muscle. This is the knotted, painful, muscle condition commonly known as “trigger points” of Fibromyalgia Syndrome, which is being diagnosed in millions of people every year.

If the low body temperature is allowed to persist and no therapies are applied, even in a palliative manner as in massages to move toxins manually out of the belly of the muscle, the condition follows that of the water molecule. The belly of the muscle, due to the increasing coldness and decreased muscular activity progressively over time reaches the point of zero electrical oscillations at which time the tissue solidifies in a calcified stone in the belly of the muscle.

Interesting research that supports this concept has been performed by Dr. Carolyn McMakin, D.C. using the electro-therapy called microcurrent. The microcurrent is applied through direct contact on these trigger points via vinyl/graphite gloves connected to the microcurrent machine.

The trigger points virtually vanish under the gentle touch of the glove when applying the correct electrical frequency. What may be happening here is that the stimulation of the muscle through microcurrent is externally increasing the electrical oscillatory rate of the thickened fluids in the muscle resulting in temporarily restoring the normal liquidity of the fluids allowing the muscles to once again contract and pump out the toxic accumulation.

The results are somewhat temporary due to the fact that the underlying condition that created it in our scenario, the overall low body temperature, remains unchanged. However, used in combination with various other corrective measures, this microcurrent therapy can speed healing in many cases. Relief of Fibromyalgia Through Microcurrent Therapy by John W. Addington ImmuneSupport.com 7-11-2001

Organ Circuits and low temperature

The body is set up with dedicated electrical circuits all of which are interdependent and interconnected. A circuit in the body has a specific organ, gland, teeth, muscle, and nerves. If anything goes wrong in one of these organ circuits the circuit energy goes down approximately 60% of normal.

The laws of thermodynamics state if we decrease energy we decrease temperature. Due to the interconnectedness of all the circuits, one circuit in the body cannot go down without ultimately affecting the whole.

Therefore, if the muscle is seizing up and becoming progressively rigid and solidified, what do you suppose the organ that is also on that same electrical circuit is doing? It is likely that to some degree it is also progressively seizing up and solidifying.

In the 50,000 miles of blood vessels, the cold thick blood is more difficult to flow through the veins and arteries. Arteriosclerosis, the progressive hardening of the arteries, and the clogging of the blood vessels is manifesting the exact same problem that is being experienced by every tissue in the too cold body.

Edema in the extremities is seen as the muscular walls of the blood vessels seize up and can no longer maintain tone and the fluids leaks out of the pores in the vessels.

I look at many older patients, and some not so old, who are experiencing all the signs and symptoms of death in the extremities. They are dying in their extremities first, from the feet and hands up to legs to the torso. To touch their feet is just like touching an icy, stiff, dead corpse. The foot is deathly whitish blue and etched in blue/black blood vessels from devitalized, stagnant blood.

The overcooling of peripheral blood returning from cold legs and feet causes depression of the temperature in the vital organs with slowing of metabolic processes, particularly in the brain and medullary centers. Cotran R.S., Kumar V., Robbins S.L., Robbin’s Pathological Basis of Disease 4th ed. 1989 pp501. Death occurs when a vital organ reaches the point of being too cold.

Your physician can name your disease, he can call it cancer, he can draw your blood and show you everything that is wrong with it, but he is simply describing the process I have just outlined. When the core temperature of the body is cold every organ, gland, and tissue is affected and becomes hypo-functional or may even become hyper, as in the case of hyperthyroidism, in a last ditch effort to compensate for the hypothermic condition of the body.

Hypo-function in the body means that there are fewer hormones, and less of every chemical involved with normal body and brain function. Even the psyche is affected leading to virtually any type of psychological problem, especially depression. How many people are told that they have psychological depression from a deficiency of a certain brain chemical?

Many!

Can you see that of course they are deficient in “happy” brain chemicals possibly due to the overcooling of the body?

It might be said that you are dying in direct proportion to the coldness of your body. Follow this logic: Cells degenerate and die in direct proportion to the depletion of oxygen. Blood that is overcooled from a cold core temperature is too thick to efficiently carry oxygen and the lung vital capacity is reduced leading to shallow breathing.

This means that the oxygen to carbon dioxide exchange rate in the lungs is minimal. Now combine the degenerative effects of the oxygen deprivation and the cold temperature and the fact that all of this and the overgrowth of microbes promote an acidic environment and you have greatly accelerated cellular degeneration and the onset of life-threatening disease.

There is an optimum body temperature is which all chemical reactions in the human body need in order to maintain health...98.6° F. I can honestly say that I rarely see a new patient come into my clinic with a normal body temperature. One 66 year old woman came in as a new patient with a temperature of 94.6! She was in dire straits for certain. She could not feel her feet and to touch her legs was like touching the legs of a corpse, the legs even looked dead and grey, streaked with blue/black veins of stagnant devitalized blood.

In classic hypothermia, as seen in people stranded in blizzards, it is well known that the circulation of blood in the arms and legs is reduced dramatically, almost to zero, in order to provide protection and warmth to the vital organs. These people will also cease to feel cold and will experience numbness, loss of coordination, mental confusion, and heart rhythm problems. It sounds like I am describing many elderly people, and some cancer sufferers doesn’t it?

One way to treat weather related hypothermia is to give the person warm sugar drinks. Sugar is a cheap, fast burning fuel for your body and therefore generates a lot of heat in the process. This may be why so many people suffering from lifestyle induced cold core temperature are plagued with sugar cravings.

Many of them consume copious amounts of sugar in the form of soda pops, chocolate, pastries, and various candies. It may be a craving that is driven by the body’s desire to generate fast heat to keep the body functioning. Sugar cravings should diminish as the core body temperature problems are resolved.

Keep in mind that the body has been too cold possibly since birth, due to multi-generational use of suppressive medicines, vaccines, fever-reducers, heavy metal and chemical toxins, and from the consumption of energetically dead food.

The retraining and resetting of the body’s thermostat is just the beginning of healing the body of chronic illnesses. The normal body temperature must be held steady possibly for a year or more in some cases before the body can undo the damage of a lifetime of coldness.

Understanding your Temperature

Everyone can afford a simple thermometer. Track your temperature when you first awaken in the morning, before even getting out of bed. This reflects your core body temperature, when it is not being influenced by what you just ate, drank, or your activity level. Many of you will likely be surprised to see just how cold you already are. This is the result of generations of suppressive therapies and an imbalanced life. You must save yourself.

Many doctors will undoubtedly say that you need to take a thyroid medication to bring up the body temperature; however this is the same mentality of taking a Tylenol for a headache. If you don’t believe me then ask anyone on the prescription thyroid medicines- what happens when they go off of the medication? The body returns immediately to the previous cold, hypo-functional condition.

One should definitely support the normal functioning of the thyroid, by detoxification, organic iodine, adrenal glandular supplements, and nutritional support, but see the coldness for what it really is, a sign of multi-organ system breakdown, and longstanding or even generational imbalance. Besides, it is the hypothalamus that regulates your core body temperature, along with regulating your degree of motivation and sex drive. The hypothalamus is actually “upstream” from your thyroid, helping the pituitary regulate the thyroid.

The healthy body has daily temperature fluctuations (diurnal) with the coolest temperature upon awakening in the morning hours of 6-8 a.m. and the warmest being in the evening between 8-10 p.m. Tracking of the difference between morning and evening temperature should reveal, in a healthy person, a difference of at
least 0.9° F (0.5° C).

People with a low body temperature and an overall degenerative condition will find that this temperature variation is minimal. Another unusual finding of dysregulated body temperature is that the evening is often colder than the morning reading.

The body’s best chance at long-term healing increases in direct proportion to the restoration of normal body temperature. The effect of even the most perfectly selected medicines is limited by the available energy in the body to correctly utilize those medicines.

You and your healthcare team must address your body from every direction and with every balancing tool available. You can never truly overcome this condition with pills. Therapies must engage and reactivate and stimulate the rhythmical, metabolic, and nerve/sense aspects of your body, addressing the body, mind, and spirit.

Other supporting therapies designed for restoring the rhythms of the body must be applied. These therapies might include color and sound therapy, hot and cold contrast therapy, life-activity planning, breathing and voice therapy, rhythmical massage therapy, curative movement therapies, and indeed every other treatment from your doctor will address in some way the rhythmical aspects of your body.

Low body temperature must be addressed to bring the body back to balance. The temperature must be elevated to end the dying process of the body and to help the body eliminate the cellular debris or the “sludge” in the body.

Treatment:

· Temperature monitoring and graphing (upon awakening before getting out of bed, and between 8-10 pm after a 30 minute resting period)

· CRT (Computerized Regulation Thermography) for identifying problem areas and tracking of progress.

· Core Warmth™ herbal formula (Hansa Healing Products, Inc.) to open all meridians and restore proper fluid dynamics and warmth regulation in the body.

· Sleep on an Amethyst Infrared BioMat,  provides detoxification and restoration of fluid viscosity and core body warmth through variable infrared heat and negatively-charged ions from amethyst crystals.