Category Archives: Lyme Disease

Borrelia, Cowden Support Program, Lyme Disease

Looking for a solution to Lyme’s disease? Try the Cowden Support Program

As far as names go, Lyme disease doesn’t sound like the worse ailment in the world, but names can be deceptive. Indeed, it can be debilitating and utterly life-changing, but has nothing to do with fruits nor with the colour green; that said, it is caught in the natural outdoors via bites from ticks – and, to that end, it’s an illness that’s all too easy to catch.

Like it or not, many medical experts are of the opinion that Lyme disease is among the most serious of under-discussed health conditions. Caused by tick bites infecting the blood with the bacteria type Borrelia, its many symptoms tend, at first, to be very flu-like (i.e. headache, fatigue and fever1); yet if not detected quickly they can get much worse over time – either quickly or slowly over months or years – leading to problems with the joints, heart and central nervous system2. Serious, indeed.

 

Diagnosis numbers and issues

The number of Lyme disease cases in the US seem to be ever growing (worryingly so, actually; between 1991 and 2013, they grew from 10,000 to more than 27,000) and, although there are definitely fewer in the UK and Continental Europe, the numbers here are nonetheless still higher than you might expect.

And how the disease plays out for each individual can be miserable to say the least. There’s the particular case of a totally active and healthy 12-year-old girl from the US state of Montana whom suddenly became ‘feverish, dizzy and doubled over with stomach pains every time she tried to exert herself’3; the misery for her owing as much to the fact it took experts some time to correctly diagnose what was wrong with her, as much as her dramatic symptoms – thus, resulting in psychological as well as physical suffering.

 

Treatment suggestion

Mercifully though, once diagnosed correctly, treatment for Lyme disease is certainly available. One highly recommended course of treatment you might want to try is the Cowden Support Program (CSP) which, intended for treating late-stage Borrelia and Lyme co-infections, should be followed for several weeks; its intention being to tackle most of the root causes of symptoms and to aid in recovery from ‘post treatment’ Lyme disease syndrome. Indeed, so comprehensive is it, thanks to its constituent ingredients, that it also appears to be able to treat other chronic health issues whose causes are even less clear.

Developed by Dr William Lee Cowden, the CSP involves 14 separate Nutramedix products taken rotationally, such as six herbs intended for microbial defence, themselves made up of three separate pairs of herbs. To give you an idea then, the first of these pairs are the herbal supplements Banderol and Samento which, via an in vitro study conducted at the University of New Haven in the US state of Connecticut, were discovered to be effective in eliminating all forms of the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi (that is, its spirochetes, round-body forms and the biofilm forms)4.

 

In-the-field evidence

That said, the CSP has been found to reap good results out in-the-field as well. At the 2007 conference for the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), Richard Horowitz, a medical practitioner based in the US state of New York, claimed the programme had successfully improved the condition of between 70 percent and 80 percent of patients he’d treated for advanced Lyme Borreliosis (after 4-6 months of co-infection)5. And this was the case even when a proportion of those patients had previously shown no sign of improvement after been proscribed multiple courses of antibiotics.

Further – and more recent – evidence of the CSP’s efficacy in treating Lyme disease came to light in 2012 thanks to a nine-month-long study conducted by the Borreliose Centrum Augsburg in Germany, the results of which showed that (according to questionnaire answers) 80 percent of patients involved enjoyed improvements in their symptoms thanks to the CSP, while (according to laboratory blood tests) 90 percent of them did6.

Greater than the sum of its parts

None of this, though, should be that surprising when you look at what the CSP’s ingredients are capable of doing together; for sure, it’s the pooling of these herbal, microbial defence products’ resources that accounts for the Cowden Support Program benefits. Combined together then, they work to provide broad-spectrum action against not just bacteria, but also fungi, parasites and even viruses, while they’re naturally anti-inflammatory too. Now, by contrast, using synthetically-produced pharmaceuticals to treat Lyme disease is likely to be less effective because they simply operate on a far narrower spectrum of capability; in short, patients with late-stage Lyme disease may not get better on pharmaceuticals (like antibiotics) alone because these drugs – unlike the CSP – are incapable of resolving different microbial infections (and tackle the likes of immune dysregulation and gut dysbiosis), all of which can occur along with Lyme disease and provide further complications on top of the symptoms directly caused by the initial infection.

Indeed, to give you an idea here, among the herbal ingredients that make up the Cowden Support Program are:

  • Burbur-Pinella – can remove toxins from the brain, nerves and spinal cord

 

  • Parsley – combines with Burbur-Pinella to aid in detoxification of the kidneys, liver, gall bladder, lymphatics and intestinal spaces

 

  • Stevia –effective at eliminating all forms of Borrelia; also a broad-spectrum antiviral herb

 

  • Sealantro – can detoxify heavy metals, biotoxins and various man-made toxins in the body

 

  • Takuna – possesses potent antiviral properties.

 

Additionally, it ought to be noted that, should you be thinking of giving the CSP a go in trying to treat late-stage Borrelia and Lyme disease symptoms, then they are several different things you should do alongside the herbal course to give you the best chance of successful recovery. To start with, as you may have guessed, consuming water (such a healthy practice in itself) is strongly recommended – as much as 2-3 litres a day, in fact. Practicing stress relief techniques before each mealtime and bed is also advised, while sleep hygiene is also important (getting a proper, good night’s sleep of at least 6-7 hours, so you get all the rest you can), as well as maintaining a sensible, healthy diet, of course. To this end, the likes of raw, organic, non-GMT vegetables are excellent choices, while it’s best to cut out sugars and excessive starchy, fried and processed foods. It’s also been noted that Lyme disease sufferers who stay away from wheat-based and cow-dairy-based foods seem likely to get better faster.

By purchasing each pack required for each month of the Cowden Support Program via The Finchley Clinic you can make significant savings on all the products you’ll need to complete the course; take a look at them below:

Cowden Support Program – Month 1

Cowden Support Program – Month 2

Cowden Support Program – Month 3

Cowden Support Program – Month 4

Cowden Support Program – Month 5

Cowden Support Program – Month 6

Cowden Support Program – Month 7

Cowden Support Program – Month 8

Cowden Support Program – Month 9

 

References:

  1. Piesman J., Mather, T. N., Sinsky R. J and Spielman A. ‘Duration of tick attachment and Borrelia burgdorferi transmission’. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 1987 Mar. 25 (3): 557-558.
  2. Hu, Linden. ‘Clinical Manifestations of Lyme Disease in Adults’. UptoDate. http://www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-manifestations-of-lyme-disease-in-adults. Last updated: August 2017.
  3. Lavelle, M. ‘As Lyme disease spreads in the U.S., those in its path cope with a debilitating, bewildering array of maladies, misery and afflictions’. The Daily Climate. http://www.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2014/09/us-lyme-disease. 2014 Sep.
  4. Datar A., Kaur N., Patel S., Luecke D. F. and Sapi E. ‘In vitro effectiveness of Samento and Banderol herbal extracts on the different morphological forms of Borrelia burgdorferi’. Townsend Letter. http://www.townsendletter.com/July2010/sapi0710.html. 2010 Jul.
  5. http://www.ilads.org/lyme_programs/conference-videos.php. n.p.
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3i02bzyMkI

 

Banderol, Lyme Disease, Magnesium Citrate, Samento

Lyme Disease: A Growing Problem – What To Do About It And How To Treat It

You may well have heard of it and, should you live in the UK, not believe it’s a big deal. Well, when you consider the statistics, how you feel about then depends on your interpretation. Certainly for those living outside the UK – in particular North America – it’s a growing issue, even if it’s nowhere near as talked about as it might be. As it maybe should be. In short, Lyme disease could just be the most serious, under-talked-about health problems in the world today.

The rise of Lyme disease

It’s on record that between 2,000 and 3,000 cases of Lyme disease occur in England and Wales every year1, while in the US that figure has even more alarmingly risen by 17,000 in the last 25 years to currently stand at 27,000 cases. That said, Lyme disease isn’t at all new, but it seems to be getting worse. The reasons for this aren’t clear, but it has been posited that it might have something to do with climate change. Warmer weather inevitably speeds up the life cycle of the tick that carries the illness and bites its human hosts, ensuring many of these beastly ticks are able to reproduce more than ever before they die2.

How do these ticks carry the illness? Well, the bites of the ticks concerned, whose habitats include the likes of woodlands and heaths, are laced with a class of bacteria named Lyme borreliosis (or borrelia), which once it infects the human host results in a variety of unpleasant symptoms. We’re talking the lies of headaches, fever and fatigue here3 – and yet, that can be just the tip of the iceberg. In time, anything between months or even years, as Lime disease takes a hold on the body, it can go on to prevent and harm normal function of joints, the heart and the central nervous system4.

The debilitating nature of Lyme disease

Yes, don’t doubt it; Lyme disease can be so debilitating it can disrupt a sufferer’s entire life. Because it can take time to diagnose, it’s far from unusual for it to take hold in the body without you realising it. During this period, the aforementioned flu-like symptoms are common and, thus, unlikely to suggest a sufferer has actually contracted the illness. When this phase passes, however, things tend to get much more serious. It’s now that more advanced and concerning Lyme disease symptoms are likely to surface – the likes of joint pain/ swelling (inflammatory arthritis); nervous system problems (numbness, facial muscle paralysis and memory issues); heart problems (heart muscle inflammation – myocarditis – and potential heart failure) and brain and spinal cord membrane inflammation (meningitis)1.

The trouble, of course, is that because it takes time for these symptoms to assert themselves – and they’re preceded by others that suggest you’ve caught from something far more common and less serious – many people aren’t diagnosed until some time into their suffering. Thus, this can result in extended emotional distress as they simply don’t understand why they’re feeling so debilitated and incapable of living life normally.

Is Lyme disease contagious?

This area is a little sketchy. Officially, there’s no evidence that definitely proves Lyme disease can be passed from one human being to another; indeed, the likelihood of catching it from someone else that has it seems very remote. At least, outside of childbirth – when it comes to whether a mother may be capable of passing it along the womb and on to her unborn child; like it or not, the jury appears to be out5.

There are several first-hand accounts from doctors suggesting it’s possible and there has been the recorded case of American citizen Justine Donnelly5, whom has always suffered from anxiety and memory issues, while her mother was diagnosed with viral meningitis before Justine’s birth. Eventually, the mother was correctly diagnosed with Lyme disease, which it turned out Justine too suffers from. Although it could be a coincidence that both mother and daughter caught the illness entirely separately – by coming into contact with ticks carrying the borrelia bacteria – Justine believes that in her case it was definitely passed on to her in the womb from her mother5.

Treating Lyme disease

All in all then, Lyme disease does sound like a rather worrying, nay frightening condition. In many ways it is, so should you suspect you may not have a bout of flu, but something more, something worse and maybe Lyme disease, then you most definitely should seek a medical consultation and have yourself checked out. It can be adequately treated, that’s for sure; usually by a course of intravenous antibiotics. Indeed, beyond mere ongoing flu-like symptoms, you may be able to spot you’ve been bitten by a Lyme disease-carrying tick owing to a rash coming up on your body – it’ll be a large circular rash (scientific name: erythema migrans), which looks a little like the bull’s eye on a dart board. Such a rash is likely to appear 3-30 days after you’ve been bitten1.

Yet, beyond the post-infectious phase of the illness, it’s likely sufferers will wish to seek treatment of the fatigue symptoms caused by Lyme disease, while for some people large doses of antibiotics don’t suit their gastrointestinal systems at all (often resulting in diarrhoea) and, lest we forget, antibiotics are unfortunately becoming an increasing cause of bacterial infections owing to our over-reliance on them – harmful bacteria are growing ever more resistant to antibiotic medication6.

In which case, like many visitors to this site before you, it could well be you’re very interested – if you’re a sufferer from Lyme disease and its many symptoms – in taking the naturally-derived supplement route to help your everyday life. To that end, the following Lyme disease supplements are all available through us at The Finchley Clinic:

banderol-30ml

Banderol – an extract produced from the bark of the Otoba sp., a tree that’s native to Peru and other parts of South America; it may help support the immune system, often being used for treating candida overgrowth and Lyme disease.

samento-15ml

Samento – deployed throughout the globe to treat Lyme disease, this product’s derived from a variety of the Peruvian herb Cat’s claw (a climbing vine native to the Amazon rainforest); it’s also used in the treatment of candida and viral and bacterial infections.

magnesium-citrate

Magnesium Citrate – magnesium is crucial to the body’s Krebs cycle (the sequence of reactions through which cells generate energy), thus helping to reduce fatigue; it’s no coincidence that fatigue-afflicted long-term Lyme disease sufferers lack magnesium.

References:

  1. ‘Lyme disease’. NHS Choices. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx. Last reviewed: 31 Mar 2015.
  2. Lavelle M. ‘Lyme disease surges north, and Canada moves out of denial’. The Daily Climate. http://www.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2014/09/canada-lyme-disease-spreads. 24 Sep 2014.
  3. Piesman J., Mather T. N., Sinsky R. J. and Spielman A. ‘Duration of tick attachment and Borrelia burgdorferi transmission’. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 25(3); Mar 1987; pp. 557-558.
  4. Hu L. ‘Clinical Manifestations of Lyme Disease in Adults’. UptoDate. http://www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-manifestations-of-lyme-disease-in-adults. Last updated: 17 Aug 2016.
  5. Lavelle M. ‘Catching Lyme disease in the womb?’. The Daily Climate. http://www.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2014/09/gestational-lyme-disease. 22 Sep 2014.
  6. Soffar H. ‘Antibiotics advantage and disadvantages’. Online Sciences. http://www.online-sciences.com/health/antibiotics-advantages-and-disadvantages. 13 Jan 2016.
Banderol, Lyme Disease, Magnesium Citrate, Samento

Lyme Disease – What is it and How to Treat it?

There aren’t many people who, at one point or another, haven’t enjoyed time in the countryside; maybe a ramble across a moor, a pleasant stroll through green pastures or possibly a long walk in the woods. Few would credit the idea, though, that should you not live in the country, a visit could leave you ill, with exaggerated symptoms of fatigue; those similar to flu and even arthritic-like symptoms. How can this be so? Two words: Lyme disease.

To be clear, it’s pretty unlikely you’ll contract this illness via just a visit to the countryside; you’d be very unlucky to do so, but it is possible. Indeed, between 2,000 and 3,000 cases of Lyme disease occur in England and Wales every year1. So what is it? Well, Lyme borreliosis – to give its official name – is what happens following a bite from a tick, a creature (a bit like a miniscule spider) whose habitat tends to be woodland and heaths; it’s their bites that transfer the Lyme disease bacteria to an unlucky human victim.

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