How to Eliminate What’s Making Lyme Disease Tick
by www.SixWise.com
Case of Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi that is carried primarily by black-legged ticks (also known as deer ticks), have been on the rise for more than a decade.
In 2008, the latest year for which data is available, there were 28,921 confirmed cases and 6,277 probable cases of Lyme disease, up 5 percent from the number of confirmed cases in 2007, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics.
Why is Lyme Disease on the Rise?
Lyme disease is actually much more common than West Nile virus and other diseases transmitted by insects. The increase may be due, at least in part, to increasingly fragmented forests, where biodiversity decreases and ticks and Lyme disease thrive.
For instance, in small areas of forest, common in cities, suburbs and rural areas, white-footed mice thrive. These mice are primary carriers of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, and when ticks bite the mice they become infected and able to transmit the bacteria to people.
According to the National Science Foundation:
“Scientists found that smaller forest fragments had more infected ticks, which could translate to more Lyme disease. Forest patches that were smaller than three acres had an average of three times as many ticks as did larger fragments, and seven times more infected ticks. As many as 80 percent of the ticks in the smallest patches were infected, the highest rate the scientists have seen.”
Health Risks of Lyme Disease and How to Recognize the Early Signs
In up to 80 percent of cases, the first sign of Lyme disease is a circular rash that begins at the site of the tick bite (after about three to 30 days). The rash typically widens slowly over the course of several days. Some people also experience:
If left untreated, the infection can spread throughout your body causing more severe symptoms that include:
Although these symptoms often resolve without treatment, about 60 percent of people with untreated Lyme disease experience arthritis and severe joint pain and swelling. And in about 5 percent of cases, chronic neurological symptoms may develop, including numbness or tingling in your hands or feet and problems with concentration and short-term memory.
If you suspect you have Lyme disease it’s important to seek medical help, as when treated with antibiotics early on there’s a good chance you’ll make a full recovery. Once the infection becomes chronic, however, it can become much more difficult to treat as discussed below.
Can Lyme Disease be Prevented?
You can get Lyme disease if you’re bitten by an infected tick, which is why if you spend a lot of time in grassy, heavily wooded areas, where ticks thrive, you’re more likely to get the disease. This is especially true during the months of May, June and July, when ticks that transmit Lyme disease are the most active.
That said, just because you’ve been bitten by a tick it does not mean you’ll get Lyme disease. Only certain types of ticks carry Lyme disease, and of them only a minority carry the bacteria.
Still, ticks can also transmit other diseases aside from Lyme disease, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, Tularemia and Colorado tick fever, so it’s best to avoid getting bitten.
Some excellent precautions you can take to reduce your likelihood of getting a tick bite include:
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Avoid tick-infested areas. Many parks and health departments have information about tick infestations.
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Protect your pets with All-Natural Flea 'n Tick B Gone. Please AVOID using conventional flea and tick treatments on your pets, as they contain harmful pesticides or chemicals, such as DEET, pyrethrins, synthetic pyrethroids or permethrin, all of which can be harmful and irritating to your pet, the person applying them and our environment.
Instead, the top-recommended Flea 'n Tick B Gone is completely non-toxic, pesticide-free and safe. It can be sprayed directly onto your dog, cat or horse for effective and natural flea and tick control.
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Protect your outdoor gathering and backyard. All- Natural Flea n' Tick B Gone can also be sprayed around your patio, outdoor gathering, picnic area or entire backyard as a safe way to repel ticks (and also other insects like ants, bees, fleas and more). Simply lightly mist the outdoor area, and all types of bugs will be gone -- and it lasts for a full three hours!
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Keep your yard well maintained, trimmed and mowed. This will help to keep ticks away.
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Wear long sleeves and pants. When hiking or spending any amount of time in nature, you should cover your arms and legs, and tuck your pants into your socks. This will make it much harder for a tick to attach to you.
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Inspect yourself and your pets after spending times outdoors. Be sure to check your clothing, shoes and hair for ticks, and give your pet a thorough check as well, immediately after a trip to the woods or other natural area.
Ticks can often be spotted and removed before they get a chance to attach, but even if they’re already attached there's a very low risk of infection if it occurred within 24 hours, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. So, the sooner you spot and remove a tick the better.
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Wash and dry your clothing. As an extra precaution, wash your clothing in hot water and dry them using high heat for at least one hour. This will kill any ticks you may have missed.
If You’ve Been Bitten by a Tick or Think You Have Lyme Disease …
Again, be sure to see your doctor immediately, as treatment (usually antibiotics) is typically most effective when started early. If you have taken an antibiotic for Lyme disease, keep in mind that that they not only kill the bad bacteria that may be causing your illness, but they also kill ALL bacteria, including the good kind in your digestive tract that your body needs, leaving barren territory for all sorts of trouble to brew.
This is why, after finishing your entire treatment, you should think about fortifying your gut and immune system health with AbsorbAid Probiotic from NutritionsFinest.com -- a superlative probiotic supplement that provides clinical activities supporting systemic health and wellness through immune-system protection, allergy reduction and effective and enhanced nutrient absorption.
Studies have shown that probiotics may be helpful with both immune system modulation and allergies, plus they’re imperative if you’ve recently been on antibiotic therapy.
An Important Side Note About the Borrelia Burgdorferi Bacteria
It is known among natural medicine experts that the Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) bacteria may lead to a variety of symptoms above and beyond those normally associated with Lyme disease. This includes symptoms of “aging” along with chronic illnesses, fatigue, autism, arthritis, cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, thyroid problems, adrenal fatigue, GERD, TMJ and more.
This is because Bb is pleomorphic, meaning it can appear in different forms and may take residence in numerous bodily locations, including those where antibiotics can’t reach. Bb is also capable of mimicking the signs of more than 300 diseases, often leading to misdiagnosis and improper treatment that frustrates both patients and practitioners.
It has also been noted that it’s possible to become infected with Borrelia burgdorferi by insects other than ticks, including mosquitoes, flies, spiders, lice and fleas, which means a tick bite may not always be a prerequisite for Lyme disease.
So if you’re having unexplained health symptoms or chronic illness, it may be worthwhile to explore this potential link further. This is especially true if you suspect you have Lyme disease and your symptoms have not gone away even after long-term antibiotic treatment. A natural health care practitioner who specializes in Lyme disease should be able to help you.
Additionally, one option worth looking into is Cat’s Claw from Standard Process. Cat’s Claw appears able to root out and eliminate the many changing forms of Bb bacteria.
Cat’s Claw from Standard Process also contains pentacyclic oxindole alkaloids, quinovic acid glycosides, sterols and other compounds that work together to promote your body's normal, protective resistance function, support a healthy immune system, and provide antioxidant protection.
However, because chronic Lyme disease infection can become difficult to treat, and get a proper diagnosis in the first place, it’s important to seek the help of a knowledgeable natural health care practitioner.
SixWise Says ...
The key to not needing a Lyme disease cure … is not getting a Lyme disease tick bite in the first place. No cause need for a cure. That’s why we highly recommend having and using All-Natural Flea 'n Tick B Gone before you go out for a run or walk in any grass or wooded areas. Plus, All- Natural Flea n' Tick B Gone for your pets will keep all safe from them carrying ticks into your home.
Ticks are not very picky as to whom they feast on … man, child or animal… we’re all the same to them.
Don’t panic once bitten by a tick. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, if a tick is attached to your skin for less than 24 hours, there's a low risk of infection.
Recommended Reading
Climate Change Causing Increases in Tick-Borne Diseases
New Dangerous Tick-Borne Disease Another Reason to be Extra-Cautious This Tick Season
Sources
CDC.gov Lyme Disease Statistics
National Science Foundation: Lyme Disease on the Rise
MayoClinic.com Lyme Disease
CDC.gov Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Disease, Lyme Disease
Mercola.com Dr. Klinghardt’s Treatment of Lyme Disease August 4, 2009
NaturalNews.com July 12, 2010