Lyme Disease, Chronic Infection, M-SIDS (Multiple System Infectious Disease Syndrome) Lyme Literate Medical Doctors (LLMDs) are hard to find. This tickborne disease is on the increase, and most tests within the UK will miss many of the diagnoses. This is because they only test for antibody immunity and infection rather than cell mediated immunity.
Here we use a European lab to help with the diagnosis, also, where possible, checking for some of the co-infections that are injected into the body along with Lyme disease, such as Bartonella, Babesia, Yersinia and many others.
Dr Piper has trained in association with ILADS which is the international Lyme disease Association and associated infections. Her most recent conferences have been in Antwerp at the International conference on chronic pathologies in September; again in London on December 1, 2017. She works in association with and with the support of the current European President of ILADS, based in Belgium and the Netherlands. She is a Committee member of the British Society of Environmental Medicine and in November 2020 organised and Chaired their London Conference on Inflammation.
What is Lyme disease?
Actually it is a group of infections which include not only Borrelia, which is the most famous one, but also Babesia, Bartonella, Anaplasma, Yersinia and others.
It is likely that the underlying mechanisms revolve around our immune system which is struggling and at capacity, unable to deal with new infections from a tick bite. Remembering too, that our immune system is holding together our ecosystem of more than 32 trillion organisms which are nonhuman yet part of us living in symbiosis and hopeful synergy. Therefore, when the immune system is not operating at its best, stealth infections will begin to take over and many of these including parasites, viruses, funguses and bacteria can begin to express themselves.
The other more modern name for Lyme disease is M-SIDS. This stands for Multiple System Infectious Diseases Syndrome. We only have to look at the Covid pandemic to see what damage an infection can do to our body systems.
We have all been listening and reading over the past year and have become more educated on the concept of infection causing potential long term health challenges. So here we have a root cause which is important to explore and treat.
Whilst our medical approach allows us the choice antibiotics, or antiviral / antifungal medications to target key infections, please note that we use medical treatments judiciously due to the unlicensed nature of such treatments. Our Doctor will discuss with you in detail the best approach for you and this will include the risks and benefits of different approaches. Lifestyle and environmental factors, mental health, management of stress and other factors all play a key part in optimising your health and we can help you with all of this.
Our holistic functional medical approach also allows us to deal with optimising gut health within the body including attention to conditions for example such as Small intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO); the presence of active infections of Helicobacter pylori and gut permeability. Mitochondrial function is critical as this is where we produce our energy or ATP.
We use both natural and allopathic methods to calm the inflammatory process in the body. We optimise the gut allowing modulation of the immune system with the use of diet and supplements that are well researched and evidence-based. Examples of natural support and medications include transfer factors and unlicensed medications which can be discussed if relevant.
We know how to support detoxification in the body to allow bio toxins to be properly excreted.
Hormonal support is key as these systems become very exhausted in the body’s bid to cope with the infections. This can include support not only with HRT in men or women, but also knowledge of how to support the adrenal and thyroid gland.
Please remember that Lyme / M-SIDS disease is a great mimicker. We will therefore need to ensure that there is no other disease that may be causing your symptoms.
A tick bite needs immediate cover with antibiotics. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Ticks are nature’s dirty needle and immediately infect us with many illnesses at once. Nature does not just deliver infections one at a time through such a delivery system as a tick.
Please also remember that in many patients with Lyme disease, there is no history of a tick bite at all. There is some uncertainty about exactly how the disease is transmitted and therefore if you are in doubt, you must ask for a test but bear in mind that with antibody tests, the diagnosis can be easily missed.
Chronic stealth infection such as the Lyme group of organisms, and others eg EBV; may underlie the inflammatory process that is one of the main routes of inflammation underlying complex disease.
Examples of complex disease with possible underlying immune dysregulation associated
- Fibromyalgia
- Dementia
- Cancer
- ME
- Autoimmune illnesses of which there are already over 100 documented illnesses
- Neurological conditions
So ensure that you keep up-to-date with your immune health. Contact us for an appointment if you need support.
We can also address the following situations:
- CIRS ( Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome)
- MCAS ( Mast cell Activation syndrome)
- EDS ( Ehlos Danlos Syndrome)
- POTS ( Postural orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome) ie dysautonomia
- Mold via the shoemaker protocol