I saw Dr. H and Dr. B last night speaking on Lyme.
One of the most interesting pieces of information which Dr. H shared is that when ticks bite possums, the possums do not get Lyme and the ticks die.
Posted by sizzled (Member # 1357) on :
I wonder if it has anything to do with the opossum's lower body temp?
They also don't carry rabies due to lower body temp.
Posted by Foggy (Member # 1584) on :
Something to be studied at Columbia, hopefully. Posted by Allison Smith (Member # 11631) on :
That is very interesting. When I had Pulomary embolisms (blood clots in my lungs) I had to take and injection called Lovenox, which is made from the mucus from the intestines of possums. That actually sounded quite gross, but it was better to inject it than die from the blood clots. And now they find this out about opossums. Interesting.
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
I was just about to post the thing about possums and rabies - I had heard the same thing from a wildlife expert.
Gee, I have so many fence lizards and possums in my neighborhood, you would think I'd be protected. But no, I was bitten one mile from here.
But any new research possibility is very exciting!!
Jill
Posted by Anneke (Member # 7939) on :
Were there any other bits of wisdom from these two greats?? Any treatment advice?
Theresa
Posted by tonysgirl (Member # 11202) on :
I saw both of the doctors speak as well. They were both very interesting. I was shocked to hear about the possum thing, I didn't even know they didn't get rabies either.
They mentioned many good bits of info. They talked about how important it is to abstain from caffeine, sugar, smoking and how important it is to exercise to keep things moving. They said "compliance" is going to make or break whether you get better. Dr. H spoke regarding that if you are not responding they will look to see if you have any other underlining orders such as auto immune things etc. I personally am insulin resistant so this will be playing a role in my treatment. Dr. H suggested endocrine panels to look for these things.
He also spoke on heavy metal toxicity and what labs perform these tests etc. Neither one thought too much regarding a vaccine and now I can see why. They said that there are too many strains of bacterias and co-infections to deal with. It sounds like the possum research is our best way to go. To avoid any type of disease transmission whatsoever.
Posted by tonysgirl (Member # 11202) on :
I saw both of the doctors speak as well. They were both very interesting. I was shocked to hear about the possum thing, I didn't even know they didn't get rabies either.
They mentioned many good bits of info. They talked about how important it is to abstain from caffeine, sugar, smoking and how important it is to exercise to keep things moving. They said "compliance" is going to make or break whether you get better. Dr. H spoke regarding that if you are not responding they will look to see if you have any other underlining orders such as auto immune things etc. I personally am insulin resistant so this will be playing a role in my treatment. Dr. H suggested endocrine panels to look for these things.
He also spoke on heavy metal toxicity and what labs perform these tests etc. Neither one thought too much regarding a vaccine and now I can see why. They said that there are too many strains of bacterias and co-infections to deal with. It sounds like the possum research is our best way to go. To avoid any type of disease transmission whatsoever.
Posted by canbravelyme (Member # 9785) on :
Fascinating stuff...Are the opossums immune to the co-infections, as well? Did anyone mention it?
Posted by lalalu (Member # 10854) on :
I was glad to hear Dr. H discuss heavy metals and toxicity for about half an hour! He says, in the US, we ingest about 8 lbs. of pesticides per year.
Go ORGANIC ORGANIC ORGANIC! On a daily basis, we are exposed to 300-500 chemicals.
In terms of co-infections, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is in NY. Other co-infections that he is seeing in patients: West Nile Virus, Tularemia, Q-Fever.
I do not believe he said possum are immune to co-infections, only Lyme.
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
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