posted
What is the difference between all these tick diseases and how do they know which one you have?
I'm overwhelmed and the only thing I could find on Babesia on the internet was related to canine babesia.
Thanks, Cutie
-------------------- Cutie Posts: 125 | From Atlanta | Registered: Dec 2005
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shazdancer
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1436
posted
Hi, cutie, it is confusing, isn't it? The short story is that a tick is a nasty, dirty bug, and probably transfers a number of bacteria and other microorganisms to you when you are bit.
Doctors are still trying to sort out which symptoms come with which infections. You will hear some ideas expressed on Lymenet, based on who tested positive for what, and who had which symptoms improve on which antibiotics, but since we are often infected with different combinations of diseases, it is hard to say where one disease ends and the next begins.
Add to that the Lyme bacteria have different subspecies, plus people have different immune responses, and you can see how hard it is to come up with the right treatment combo.
But here's the rule of thumb:
Lyme disease = borreliosis = LD. Neuroborreliosis is Lyme disease in the nervous system.
Bartonella = cat scratch fever
Babesiosis = infection by Babesia microti, not a bacterium, but a protozoan
The word "antibiotic" comes from "antibodies". We make antibiotics to destroy specific proteins in the outer cell walls of the pathogens (disease causing germs). That's the first step...to structurally weaken the cell walls.
Our worse pathogens are gram negative. Anthrax is an exception. It is gram positive. Gram negative pathogens have more than one cell wall and thus are harder to destroy. The gram negative pathogens are all missing acids. They need ours. Basically...all germs are parasites.
To make healthy antibodies, we need enough Mg and Ca.
With lyme, a portion of the antibody to knock out Bb is damaged. It's called the "fab" portion. Picture a stalk of broccoli (sorta what antibodies look like). The fab portion is at the top.
Damaged antibodies don't work. ONE of TNF alpha's jobs is to rid the body of damaged antibodies. Ouch. TNF alpha (also a protein) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine.
Only "healthy" antibodies can be measured. The test is very specific.
Restoring Mg and Ca levels, restores the health of our own antibodies. This is documented on pubmed ( a data base for research world-wide). You can read summaries of the research there (www.pubmed.com). Type in a word that you want articles about. Basically read the title...what they were searching for...and the "conclusion"...what they found. The "inbetween" stuff gets pretty technical.
In the 1970s in Germany, DOGS with neurobabesia were given IV sodium bicarb. and recovered. Why this knowledge wasn't further researched is beyond my comprehension...unless we don't WANT to find a cure...a cheap natural cure.
Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
Thanks Marnie for that great explanation. I could actually understand. I get so overwhelmed by the medical info that I tune out. I really felt good after reading your explanation.
Posts: 127 | From Rock Tavern, New York | Registered: May 2005
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