Copyright (c) 2008 Derek Clontz/4-Page Media, Inc.
A new study proves it beyond the shadow of a doubt: Lyme bacteria can and do thrive in the body after treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics despite claims by the CDC and other medical authorities that the drugs “cure” Lyme – bang! – just like that.
In the past, doctors and researchers have derided or even ridiculed patients who claimed to be sick with Lyme after conventional treatment with antibiotics such as Doxycycline, saying that once the drugs hit the bloodstream, the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria that cause Lyme are killed and disappear.
The “experts” insisted that even a short course of antibiotics taken at any time after infection always resulted in a complete cure.
They went on to say - wrongly – that anyone who suggested otherwise was a crackpot or mentally ill.
Now, for the first time, it’s clear that far from being crazy or crackpots, these patients and their champions – maverick MDs and alternative doctors of every stripe – were correct:
Lyme has become so virulent that all too often, only longer-term treatment with antibiotics can even approach a cure.
The new study by Stephen Barthold and colleagues at UC Davis shows that Borrelia burgdorferii, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, can persist in mice after antibiotic treatment.
Lyme disease is spread by the bite of infected ticks. Symptoms can include headache, fever and rash, but the disease can also spread to effect the joints, heart and nervous system.
It is sometimes treated successfully with a four-week course of antibiotics, but some patients complain of persistent symptoms after treatment.
There is disagreement over how to treat this persistent disease.
The mouse model could provide a way to study these persistent infections, discover whether they do cause “Post-Lyme syndrome” and ongoing symptoms, and find the best ways to treat them.
Original paper available here.
Lyme disease information from the Centers for Disease Control.
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