Many people think of Lyme disease as a simple illness caused by the bite of an infected tick.Though a bite may be a triggering event, this perspective is simplistic and does not take into consideration the numerous issues that both the patient and doctor must consider and treat in order to attain the best possible outcomes. Furthermore, medical literature suggests that Lyme disease is a complex illness which may be transmitted by mosquito bites, blood transfusions, sexual intercourse and many other ways.

In a six-month prospective cohort study designed to compare the effectiveness of an alternative method of Lyme borreliosis treatment to conventional antibiotic treatment, patients receiving alternative treatment showed greater improvement based on self-reported disease symptoms, physician evaluation and clinical laboratory tests. The alternative treatment consisted of the use of Pentacyclic Alkaloid Chemotype Uncaria tomentosa, or TOA-Free Cat’s Claw, dietary and lifestyle changes, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, detoxification herbs and body pH-balancing. Conventional treatment included antibiotic treatment as recommended by the American Medical Association.

Lyme disease is a tick-borne multisystemic disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. Administering antibiotics is the primary treatment for this disease; however, relapse often occurs when antibiotic treatment is discontinued. The reason for relapse remains unknown, but recent studies suggested the possibilities of the presence of antibiotic resistant Borrelia persister cells and biofilms.

Lyme Disease – The most common vector-borne infectious disease in the Northern United States. Number of people diagnosed with Lyme Disease each year in the US ≈300,000. Rapidly spreading throughout Europe and northeast Asia (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). New discoveries of ticks fossilized in amber show that the bacteria which cause it may have been lurking around for 15 million years.

A tick-borne, multisystemic disease, Lyme borreliosis caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi has grown into a major public health problem during the last 10 years. The primary treatment for chronic Lyme disease is administration of various antibiotics. However, relapse often occurs when antibiotic treatment is discontinued. One possible explanation for this is that B. burgdorferi become resistant to antibiotic treatment, by converting from their vegetative spirochete form into different round bodies and/or into biofilmlike colonies.

Lyme disease was first recognized around 1975, when a mysterious outbreak of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis occurred around Lyme, Connecticut. In 1982, the causative agent of Lyme disease was discovered by Willy Burgdorfer. It turned out to be a spirochete (spiral-shaped bacterium) from the genus Borrelia, subsequently named Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb).

From an early age, I had a great interest in medicine. When I was young, I thought I wanted to be a brain surgeon. Later, in medical school at the University of Turku, Finland, everything interested me. I was also lucky enough to study a course on acupuncture, something that is not normally taught in Finnish medical schools.