Stephen Harrod Buhner - Natural Treatments for Lyme Coinfections: Anaplasma, Babesia, and Ehrlichia

For Julie McIntyre,
whose caring for and dedication to her patients
is a continual inspiration to me.
And for everyone who has struggled with
any of these diseases
there is hope,
dont give up.

NATURAL TREATMENTS FOR LYME COINFECTIONS

Stephen Harrod Buhners new book Natural Treatments for Lyme Coinfections: Anaplasma, Babesia, and Ehrlichia is a brilliant follow up of his previous groundbreaking books Healing Lyme and Healing Lyme Disease Coinfections: Complementary and Holistic Treatments for Bartonella and Mycoplasma. This is a must read for medical practitioners and patients, providing a deep understanding of how these microorganisms have evolved and relate to their intricate ecosystems. Stephen insists that it is not possible to successfully treat these evolving microbes without a full grasp of this information. For example, knowing that Babesia requires red blood cells, endothelial cells, and spleen tissues to reproduce and understanding the biochemistry of how this happens allows him to provide a clear roadmap of how to approach treatment properly. This roadmap has not been available until now. Thank you, Stephen!

NEIL NATHAN, M.D., BOARD CERTIFIED FAMILY PHYSICIAN AND AUTHOR OF HEALING IS POSSIBLE

Stephen Harrod Buhner is performing important work in disseminating this information to patients and their clinicians. Many with chronic Lyme suffer from undiagnosed coinfections and would benefit from the entourage effects and herbal synergies of medicinal plants. Relief is available in the natural world, a true alternative treatment, beyond the reach of the medical bureaucracy.

JULIE HOLLAND, M.D., AUTHOR OF
WEEKEND AT BELLEVUE

In this newest volume of Stephen Buhners exploration of Lyme and its coinfections, he again excels in presenting an enormous amount of detailed information in a thorough and accessible manner, offering what readers need most in such a tome: the knowledge to make their own informed decisions in addressing these issues.

JIM MCDONALD, HERBALIST

I first wrote about Lyme disease in 2005 in my book Healing Lyme. In 2013 I followed up with Healing Lyme Disease Coinfections, which specifically deals with Bartonella and Mycoplasma infections. The book you have in your hands is another companion title, this one focusing on Anaplasma, Babesia, and Ehrlichia infections.

The issues and treatment considerations with Lyme apply to all coinfections. Therefore I have included in this book important summary information that you will also find in my other books on Lyme disease.

If youve already read some of this information before, you probably should still read it again. And again.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK AND WHO IT IS FOR

In the spring of 2009, I was the 217th person ever to be diagnosed with anti-NMDA-receptor immune encephalitis. Just a year later that figure had doubled. Now the number is in the thousands. Yet Dr. Bailey, considered one of the best neurologists in the country, had never heard of it. When we live in a time when the rate of misdiagnoses has shown no improvement since the 1930s, the lesson here is that its important to always get a second opinion.... While he may be an excellent doctor in many respects, Dr. Bailey is also, in some ways, a perfect example of what is wrong with medicine. I was just a number to him (and if he saw thirty-five patients a day, as he told me, that means I was one of a very large number). He is a by-product of a defective system that forces neurologists to spend five minutes with X number of patients a day to maintain their bottom line. Its a bad system. Dr. Bailey is not the exception to the rule. He is the rule.

SUSANNAH CAHALAN,
BRAIN ON FIRE: MY MONTH OF MADNESS

I did as much research as I could and I took ownership of this illness, because if you dont take care of your body, where are you going to live?

KAREN DUFFY,
MODEL PATIENT: MY LIFE AS AN
INCURABLE WISE-ASS

Illness and death are not optional. Patients have a right to determine how they approach them.

MARCIA ANGELL, M.D.

Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed.

MARCEL PROUST

My first published exploration of Lyme disease and its coinfections occurred with the appearance of Healing Lyme (Raven Press) in 2005. In the years since that early work my increasing exposure to this group of emerging diseases, and the people who suffer from them, has significantly deepened my understanding of both Lyme and its coinfections. In consequence, mid-2013 saw the publication of an in-depth look at two crucial Lyme coinfections: mycoplasma and bartonella (Healing Arts Press). With the publication of this volume on babesia, ehrlichia, and anaplasma the five major coinfectious organisms of Lyme now have their own in-depth analysis and natural treatment protocols. (There are other, less common coinfections that may become more common in the future; Rocky Mountain spotted fever and various chlamydias are also [sometimes] spread by ticks.)

As with the earlier book on mycoplasma and bartonella, this book is meant to be used by specific groups of people, i.e., those who are suffering from a difficult-to-treat Babesia spp., Ehrlichia spp., or Anaplasma spp. infection, and/or clinicians who themselves treat those who are infected with any of these organisms.

IF YOU ARE INFECTED WITH BABESIA, EHRLICHIA, OR ANAPLASMA

This book is designed to help you understand the infectious organisms as well as some of the approaches that can be used to treat the diseases and the symptoms they cause.

Please understand that some of the book is fairly technical. That is for the clinicians (or for you if you want to delve that deeply into it). You can skip the really technical bits if you want. They are not necessary in order for you to treat either of these conditions effectively. However, I do think, if you are up for it, you will find the overview chapters on these infections useful. I have found that once someone understands what the bacteria do in the body, it tends to lessen the fear that these diseases engender. Understanding what the organisms do during infection also makes it easier to understand the treatment regimens I recommend, i.e., just why they help to turn the conditions around. Still, that being said, the deeper technical look at the cytokine cascade and the minutiae of what the organisms do in the body are not really necessary if you just want a cursory overview of the diseases and how to treat them.

This book also explores just how widespread these kinds of infections are. And, as usual, the real figures are very different than those indicated by Centers for Disease Control (CDC)generally by a factor of anywhere from 100 to 1,000. During research for the previous coinfection book (Bartonella and Mycoplasma spp.) I found that scores of research articles, easily located in peer-reviewed journals, continually reported mycoplasma and bartonella infections to be