Lyme disease and Stress

March 11, 2014

Lyme disease and Stress-Negative Emotions

Stress and Lyme disease put together brings more harm to human

All of us at some point go through some stressful moments and have high emotions. From a personal experience I want to share with you about the happenings in my work place and my life having been a victim of Lyme disease. In my work routine I interact with many clients of different types, I have always found common links/threads in the emotional patterns with the clients I attend to.

Because I had chronic Lyme disease and about half of my clients have it too, I will outline some of the common emotional denominators I see with this disease. The same is also common with other chronic physical manifestations that involve the immune system. However, they are always part of what I work with when seeing a client with chronic Lyme disease who hasn’t been making any progress in their treatment.

Lyme disease and Stress-How These Affect Us

Unresolved emotional issues and negative emotional patterns can put a huge stress on the immune system, which can allow a disease to take over. Our immune systems are our bodies’ greatest protection. Stress hormones have been found to inhibit the production of cytokines, the agents of the immune system that responds to danger. This response causes these cells to overreact and create an inflammatory response that is over the top, often creating a greater problem than the original danger.

Our systems cannot distinguish the difference between a negative emotional pattern, trauma or wound; or a real threat to our physical health. If the emotional issue or trauma does not get released, our bodies can remain in a perpetual state of stress. Clearing these emotional issues can be highly beneficial in releasing the immune system from suppression.

In my opinion, a disease always serves a purpose that is to keep us safe, to allow us justification to not be perfect, to force us to care for ourselves when we’d otherwise feel too guilty, to make us re-assess how we live, our relationships, and the list goes on.

The only way our body has to communicate with us is with symptoms, and it does a very good job using them to get our attention. Once you take away the body’s reason to try to get your attention, it is amazing how the symptoms can start to fall away because they have no purpose anymore. Ask yourself what is your body trying to tell you?

Lyme disease and Stress-Common Emotional Patterns Leading to Stress

Self-criticism or fear of not being perfect: This is a huge one. My Lyme disease clients are some of the ones that beat themselves up the most about everything. I can attest to having been one of the best examples of these people (and still have to work on it to this day). This process is so unconscious that many people don’t realize it until we start to break down what’s really going on. Some ways this shows up are fear and guilt. If these are themes in your life, chances are that you’re probably a highly self-critical person.

I often recall something a friend used to tell me when I was struggling with chronic health issues: “The mind leads and the body follows” If we are constantly telling ourselves, we aren’t good enough, or criticizing every little thing why do we think the body has any reason to feel deserving of health, and ever come into line with that? What messages are you giving to yourself? Once that you deserve to be healthy, or ones that allow your mind and body to justify that you’re in exactly the right place with deserving the punishment of an illness. Our bodies listen to us – make sure you’re not sending the wrong messages.

Lyme disease and Stress-Inability to trust yourself and/or the flow of life (has to be in control)
Another one I always see is inability to trust – which leads to a feeling of being unsafe in the world. This is the person who tries to control everything. This one is not only completely exhausting, but never works either. We always tend to think that our analytic selves know better than anything or anyone how to run our lives. But, it’s not always true. We over-plan, over research, kill ourselves getting every perspective from every doctor everywhere. But the sheer amount of energy this consumes, takes an unbelievable toll on the body and mind.

How would things be different if you followed the flow of where life was trying to take you? For those of you who believe in the Universe and God, how would things be different if just for a while, we considered they knew more than us? And also considered that our inner selves know what feels right for us? What if we stopped over-researching, over controlling, over analyzing everything and just followed what felt right?

I believe there is an absolute flow to life and by trying to control the path precisely using logic, you may be steering yourself away from the very place you’re meant to go.

I saw a massive shift in my health when I was finally able to just let go…stop holding myself to unrealistic treatment rules I made for myself….trust that if I was feeling something wasn’t the right road for me despite what others’ said, it would be ok. You can’t imagine the strain on your body that’s released when you get to this point of trusting and letting go.

Lyme disease and Stress-Lyme disease and Stress-Taking on too much responsibility
This one is a pattern of taking on everything! I find these clients to be highly energetically sensitive which can be a gift; but the downfall is it’s too easy to take on everyone else’s crap. Once someone has a chronic illness, this can become exacerbated as they suddenly feel like they have to save everyone from going through these themselves. It perpetuates the problem.

This can show up in a few ways: feeling responsible for other people’s feelings, feeling like you have the responsibility to make sure other’s lives are going right, thinking you know better for someone else than they do, and feeling like you have to save people from their own pain or possible mistakes.

This is dangerous as not only are you draining your own energy, but no one has a right to impede on another’s journey. We each walk on our own and you are interfering when you can’t allow someone else to fully be themselves. This attempt at ‘helping’ other people hurts both parties.

Once someone can work through their need to take responsibility, it can release so much healing energy for their own body.

Lyme disease and Stress-Do Any of These Resonate With You?

If any of these resonate with you, it is a good idea to start watching out for this pattern and even watching for how it might correlate with symptoms. Your body is a messenger and it’s trying to tell you something. How would it change your life if for a while, you tried to really, really listen?

Lyme disease and Stress-Negative Emotions

Natural Treatments for Lyme disease

March 5, 2014

Natural Treatments for Lyme disease-An alternative

Don’t be stressed up with Lyme disease, try the natural ways of treatment

When a patient exhibits a certain combination of these presenting symptoms, we automatically assume we’re dealing with Lyme and treat it as such: Persistent swollen glands, sore throat, fevers, chills, sore soles, especially in the morning, joint pain and/or swelling in fingers, toes, ankles, wrists, knees, elbows, hips, shoulders, numbness in the arms and/or legs, unexplained back pain, stiffness of the joints and back, muscle pain and cramps, obvious muscle weakness, twitching of the face or other muscles, confusion, difficulty thinking, difficulty with concentration, focus and reading, problem absorbing new information, searching for words and names, forgetfulness, poor short term memory, poor attention, disorientation: getting lost, going to wrong places, speech errors, such as wrong words or misspeaking, mood swings, irritability, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, psychosis (hallucinations, delusions), paranoia, bipolar, tremor, seizures, headaches, light and sound sensitivity, double, or blurry vision with floaters, ear pain, hearing problems, such as buzzing, ringing or decreased hearing, increased motion sickness, vertigo, spinning, off balance, “tippy” feeling, lightheadedness, wooziness, unavoidable need to sit or lie, fainting, flu-like feeling, tingling, numbness, burning or stabbing sensations, shooting pains, skin hypersensitivity, facial paralysis-Bell’s Palsy, dental pain, TMJ, neck creaks and cracks, stiffness, neck pain, fatigue, tiredness, poor stamina, insomnia, fractionated sleep, early awakening, excessive night time sleep, napping during the day, unexplained weight gain or loss, unexplained hair loss, pain in genital area, unexplained menstrual irregularity or milk production, breast pain, irritable bladder, erectile dysfunction, loss of libido, queasy stomach, nausea, heartburn, stomach pain, constipation, diarrhea, constipation alternating with diarrhea, low abdominal pain, cramps, heart murmur or valve prolapse, heart palpitations or skips, “Heart block” on EKG, chest wall pain or sore ribs, head congestion, breathlessness, “air hunger,” unexplained chronic cough, night sweats, exaggerated symptoms or worse hangover from alcohol, skin rashes, conjunctivitis (pinkeye), herpes, Zoster/Shingles the list is endless.

It is therefore confusing because a Lyme sufferer may not display the telltale rash (erythema migrans), a painless“ bull’s eye” shaped blotch on the skin the size of a silver dollar, or the more diverse larger rash, or any at all. When the rash is present, there is no doubt that a person has Lyme. However, the rash is only present in about 50% of the cases and may take up to 1 month to even appear. To add insult to injury, many Lyme patients don’t even remember getting bitten as the nymph is very small (about the size of a poppy seed) and can easily go unnoticed.

There are mixed opinions about treatments and simply because someone is listed as a Lyme Literate doctor, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they do anything different than the conventional Doctors when it comes to treatment usually it is antibiotics… although, Lyme Literate Doctors may recognize the importance of recommending some of the tests and symptoms involved in the process.

Naturally, there are splits in the orthodox medical community as well as the alternative community, which have led to divergent diagnoses and treatment of Lyme disease, with the real loser being the patient showing Lyme-like symptoms. These patients are often trapped between opposing medical opinions. Indeed, the severity and treatment of Lyme disease is often complicated due to late diagnoses, failure of antibiotic treatment, and immune suppression in the patient (sometimes resulting from inappropriate treatment with steroids

Taking antibiotics alone isn’t a good idea when knocking out this elusive ailment. Many expert healers say Lyme disease treatment should also include botanicals and exercise. Nevertheless Lyme disease is a complicated infection, tough to diagnose and even harder to treat if doctors miss an early diagnosis, which is all too often the case. Lyme disease treatment is tricky because the most popular blood tests used in most doctors’ offices to detect the disease miss about 55 percent of Lyme cases. If and when a patient finally is diagnosed, it’s sometimes by a clinical evaluation of the symptoms, ones that often mimic other ailments like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Complicating matters even further, the hodge-podge collection of symptoms often waxes and wanes and moves from one bodily system to another, making it even harder for doctors to effectively diagnose and treat. Headaches, migrating pain, bowel problems, uncharacteristic mood swings, panic attacks, and sleep disorders are just a few of the symptoms commonly reported in Lyme patients.

Natural Treatments for Lyme disease-Antibiotics Aren’t Always the Only Answer

While antibiotics and other prescription medicines are certainly helpful in treating the disease and the all-to-common tick-borne co-infections that often hitchhike into your body through a tick bite, experts in natural medicine say there’s also a place for holistic remedies in the treatment and management of Lyme disease, particularly in Lyme patients battling a chronic infection and its side effects. Antibiotics alone may not suffice because Lyme disease is caused by an intracellular spirochete bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. ”

Intracellular here means that the spirochete gets into the cell and therefore is not always available to the antibiotics. “The cell membrane inadvertently protects the bacteria and shields it from the antibiotics. The bacteria can also hide dormant in the nervous system, among other places, where antibiotic drugs can’t reach them.” The bottom line is that many natural treatments can help heal the body by knocking out the infection and reducing inflammation while also getting an injured immune system back on track. Some of the natural way may include the following.

Natural Treatments for Lyme disease-Natural Ways to Deal with Lyme

Acupuncture: While researchers admit more research is warranted, acupuncture appears to be a promising way to help reduce or eliminate pain brought on by Lyme disease.

Lyme-killing plants: According to the report, herbs like samento, banderol, andrographis, Japanese knotweed/resveratrol, smilax, cat’s claw, and Stephania all target Lyme and related tick-borne infections. Be sure to talk to a doctor knowledgeable in integrative medicine for more info on taking these herbs.

Have tea time: Green tea compounds, along with curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric, are known to reduce oxidative stress and help aid in traditional antibiotic treatment.

Be tested for deficiencies: Zinc, B, and D vitamin deficiencies could slow down Lyme recovery, so be sure to ask your doctor to test for these, and improve your diet or supplement accordingly to bring your numbers up to healthy levels.

Probiotics: Foods may help replenish beneficial bacteria in the gut that are wiped out by antibiotic Lyme disease treatment. Organic yogurt, kefir, and even fermented vegetables are good sources of probiotics.

Exercise: Even small concentrations of oxygen can help destroy Lyme bacteria in the body. Although Lyme typically zaps people’s energy, intense exercise during and after treatment can help keep the disease at bay.

Inflammation annihilators: Natural compounds that ease inflammation, such as curcumin, modified citrus pectin, and Tibetan Herbal Formula. First and foremost, a low-glycemic-index diet is a must because carbohydrates, including sugar, fuel the Lyme germs. This means ditching most processed foods and avoiding any added sugar. “Understanding the person, and actively supporting the person’s general health with emphasis on their immune system, circulation, reduced inflammation, and detoxification can be very helpful

Natural Treatments for Lyme disease-An alternative

Prevention of Lyme Disease

March 5, 2014

Prevention of Lyme Disease-It is possible

whatever it take avoid such places and prevent Lyme disease from attacking you and family

As it is always said that prevention is better than cure, it will be very important to take keen interest in the prevention of this problem. The best way to prevent Lyme disease would be to avoid areas where deer ticks live, especially wooded, bushy areas with long grass. You can reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease by taking some simple precautions like:

Wear long pants and long sleeves. When walking in wooded or grassy areas, wear shoes, long pants tucked into your socks, a long-sleeved shirt, a hat and gloves. Try to stick to trails and avoid walking through low bushes and long grass. Keep your dog on a leash.
Use insect repellents. Apply an insect repellent with a 20 percent or higher concentration of DEET to your skin. Parents should apply to their children, avoiding their hands, eyes and mouth. Keep in mind that chemical repellents can be toxic, so follow directions carefully. Apply products with permethrin to clothing or buy pretreated clothing.
Do your best to tick-proof your yard. Clear brush and leaves where ticks live. Keep woodpiles in sunny areas.
Check yourself, your children and your pets for ticks. Be especially vigilant after spending time in wooded or grassy areas. Deer ticks are often no bigger than the head of a pin, so you may not discover them unless you search carefully. It’s helpful to shower as soon as you come indoors. Ticks often remain on your skin for hours before attaching themselves. Showering and using a washcloth may be enough to remove any unattached ticks.
Don’t assume you’re immune. Even if you’ve had Lyme disease before, you can get it again.
Remove a tick as soon as possible with tweezers. Gently grasp the tick near its head or mouth. Don’t squeeze or crush the tick, but pull carefully and steadily. Once you’ve removed the entire tick, dispose of it and apply antiseptic to the bite area.

Prevention of Lyme disease-How to reduce Tick bites

Avoid tick-infested areas, such as leaf litter under trees. Avoid brushing against long grasses and brush on edges of paths. Don’t sit on stumps or fallen logs.

Wear light-colored long pants and long sleeves so you can easily see any ticks.
Tuck shirt into pants and tuck pants into socks.
Use DEET on skin and treat clothing with spray containing permethrin.
Do a thorough tick check upon returning inside and for several days following exposure.
Check bedding for several days following exposure for ticks that drop off.
Ticks, especially nymphal ticks, are tiny. Find and remove them before they bite.

Prevention of Lyme disease-What to do if you are bitten

Use fine-point tweezers or a special tick-removing tool. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. If you don’t have tweezers, protect your fingers with a tissue.

Pull the tick straight out with steady, even pressure to view a Tick’s Mouth and why it is so important to pull out the tick correctly.
Avoid squeezing the tick, breaking it, or allowing any blood to remain on your skin.
Place the tick in a small plastic bag or vial with blades of grass, leaf, or moist (not wet) piece of tissue.
Label the bag with your name, date, site of bite and how long tick was attached.
Have the tick identified and tested by a lab, health department or veterinarian.
Wash your hands, disinfect the tweezers and bite site.
Educate yourself about tick-borne diseases and consult a doctor to see if treatment is warranted.

Considerations for Prophylactic (Preventive) Treatment

The tick infection rate in the area where you acquired the tick. An area may still labeled as “no risk” despite lack of scientific studies.
The relative risk of transmission, depending on whether the tick was a nymph or adult, duration of attachment and how it was removed.
Whether the tick tested positive for a tick-borne infection.
The Lyme germs may spread widely in the body, including to the brain, within hours/days.
The cost of prophylactic treatment vs. risk of infection.
The risks and benefits of prophylactic treatment vs. risks of infection.

Other protective ways

Reduce ticks on your property by

pruning trees
clearing brush
removing litter
Mowing grass short, and letting it dry thoroughly between watering.
Move shrubbery and overgrowth farther away from areas frequented by people.

Make your property unattractive to animals that are hosts to ticks by:

Eliminating birdfeeders, birdbaths, and salt licks;
Erecting fencing around the property;
clearing away woodpiles, garbage, and leaf piles;
Removing stonewalls that provide homes to wildlife.
Have your property chemically treated.
You can kill ticks on your property by applying chemicals. Seek professional advice before application. Carefully timed applications increase effectiveness.

Also Consider These Important Facts:

If you tuck pants into socks and shirts into pants, be aware that ticks will climb upward to hidden areas of the head and neck, so spot-check clothes frequently.
Clothes can be sprayed with DEET or treated with permethrin. Follow label instructions carefully.
Upon returning home, clothes can be put in a high temperature dryer for 20 minutes to kill any unseen ticks.
Any contact with vegetation, even playing in the yard, can result in exposure to ticks. Frequent tick checks should be followed by a whole-body examination and tick removal each night. This is the single most effective method for prevention of Lyme disease.

Prevention of Lyme Disease-Safely removal Tick

If you DO find a tick attached to your skin, do not panic. Not all ticks are infected, and your risk of Lyme disease is greatly reduced if the tick is removed within the first 36 hours. To remove a tick, ensure that you:

Use a pair of pointed tweezers to grasp the tick by the head or mouth parts right where they enter the skin. DO NOT grasp the tick by the body.
Pull firmly and steadily outward. DO NOT jerk or twist the tick.
Place the tick in a small container of rubbing alcohol to kill it.
Clean the bite wound with rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide.
Monitor the site of the bite for the next 30 days for the appearance of a rash. If you develop a rash or flu-like symptoms, contact your health care provider immediately. Although not routinely recommended, taking antibiotics within three days after a tick bite may be beneficial for some persons. This would apply to deer tick bites that occurred in areas where Lyme disease is common and there is evidence that the tick fed for more than one day. In cases like this you should discuss the possibilities with your doctor or health care provider.

Prevention of Lyme Disease-It is possible

Lyme disease

March 3, 2014

Lyme disease-What is it?

Some of the diseases you can get from a tick bite are Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted

To understand this disease better, it will be important that we trace its causes, treatment and prevention. By the way what is this disease? Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks.

Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks.

Scientific laboratory testing is helpful if used correctly and performed with validated methods. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics. Steps to prevent Lyme disease include using insect repellent, removing ticks promptly, applying pesticides, and reducing tick habitat. The ticks that transmit Lyme disease can occasionally transmit other tick-borne diseases as well.

Lyme disease-Natural treatment of Lyme disease

It is a common misconception that Lyme disease is primarily an “East Coast” problem. Within the last 10 years, however, the ticks that are known to carry Lyme disease have been found in all 50 states in the US and in other countries around the globe. We are now facing a nationwide epidemic of Lyme disease.

Uncovering some of the myths about Lyme disease is an important step in both prevention and treatment. Efforts are being made to spreading awareness and education about this illness. One of the biggest challenges with Lyme disease is that it can be difficult to get a confirmed diagnosis without a known tick bite or the appearance of the classic “bull’s eye” rash. There are many different skin rashes that are associated with Lyme disease, however, and some are easily mistaken for skin infections or other insect bites.

It is important not to make assumptions that you don’t have Lyme disease if you don’t have a rash. Some of the symptoms associated with this infection include fatigue, poor memory and concentration, irritability, anxiety or depression, muscle and joint aches and pains, palpitations, headaches, insomnia, and numbness and tingling.

Lyme disease is now commonly referred to as “the great imitator” because the similarities of symptoms with other illnesses. This can be frustrating for patients in search of answers to explain how they are feeling. Getting a good clinical evaluation of symptoms by a physician is crucial in diagnosing Lyme disease.

The conventional treatment of Lyme disease includes antibiotics in the early stages of infection. At the later stages, it may become more complicated and difficult to treat as multiple systems are often involved and immunity is suppressed. A holistic approach to treatment is very effective in restoring the body back to health by targeting the multiple infections associated with Lyme and simultaneously strengthening the immune system.

The natural approach incorporates a unique variety of different modalities to treat infection while supporting the immune system and decreasing symptoms. Many herbal protocols including Chinese herbs have proven effective clinically in the treatment of Lyme disease. Acupuncture can be used to stimulate circulation and decrease pain. Adequate nutrition and a good detox protocol can minimize the symptoms that occur as a result of “die-off” of the infection.

Lyme disease-Pain, Stress and Addiction

People who struggle with stressful medical conditions such as Lyme disease are more vulnerable to addiction say scientists at the National Institute of Health (NIH). In fact statistics supplied by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) show that individuals with chronic pain experience substance abuse rates at two-to-four times that of the general population. Several factors that explain their susceptibility include the following:

Ongoing need for medication
Ongoing health problems
Societal enabling
Lack of identification of potential problems

Stress is another factor that can predispose individuals who live with chronic pain to addiction. Researchers have long identified a correlation between stress and substance abuse. Important facts about this link include the following:

Stress is a major contributor to the initiation and continuation of substance abuse.
Children who are exposed to severe stress are more vulnerable to substance abuse in adulthood.
30-60% of individuals with substance use disorders meet the criteria for comorbid PTSD.
Patients with substance use disorders tend to suffer from more severe PTSD symptoms than PTSD patients without substance use disorders.
Animals that are not previously exposed to illicit substances become more vulnerable to drug self-administration when stressed.
Many of the same neurocircuits that respond to drugs also respond to stress.

Stress increases the release of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF), a hormone that catalyzes biological responses to stressors such as increased heart rate and metabolism. Abusing drugs also increases CRF levels and thereby heightens danger of relapse.

Stress also triggers the fight-or-flight moderating amygdala. When the amygdala perceives threats, it responds irrationally and hijacks the individual’s ability to think clearly. For people in recovery who stay sober by making wise choices, this emotional takeover can impair judgment and make resisting drugs harder.

There is yet another way that stress packs a double punch for people who suffer from Lyme disease. It exacerbates pain. A research team from Carnegie Mellon University found that chronic psychological stress is associated with the ability to regulate the body’s inflammatory response. This can lead to the development or progression of disease.

Lyme disease-New Ways to Cope

Mastering stress reduction skills is an important part of overall health and sobriety. In treatment many people find ways to incorporate relaxation strategies into daily life. Several include the following:

Singing
Massage
Spending time outdoors
Journaling
Yoga
Adopting a dog
Listening to music
Taking a walk
Drawing
Soaking in a hot bath

Other stress-management skills and techniques frequently taught in recovery programs include the following:

Avoiding hunger, anger, loneliness and fatigue
Engaging in community service
Journaling thoughts and feelings
Practicing positive thinking

Experts at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health [OB1] also advise active self-monitoring of mood changes by keeping a list of personal warning signs. Additionally they suggest identifying enjoyable activities that generate positive feelings and could serve as a way to neutralize a craving or negative mood. The key is to pay attention to changes. Sleep disturbances, hopeless thoughts and appetite fluctuations are sometimes early relapse warning signs.

Lyme disease-What is it?

Leaky gut Syndrome and Inflammation will make weight loss impossible

February 19, 2014

With leaky gut not only is the digestive lining more porous and less selective about what can get in, but normal absorption can also be affected Leaky gut Syndrome and Inflammation will make weight loss impossible-How? With leaky gut not only is the digestive lining more porous and less selective about what can get in, but normal absorption can also be affected

Leaky gut Inflammation can be a difficult diagnosis to establish for a number of reasons: It’s associated with a wide range of seemingly unconnected symptoms; it has a lot of different causes; there’s no specific test to confirm it; and evidence tying it to other conditions can be murky. As a result, there’s a fair amount of skepticism in the mainstream medical community about the legitimacy of leaky gut as a diagnosis. But as the evidence that this is indeed a real and recognizable condition grows, opinions are slowly changing. That’s a good thing, because leaky gut is likely to emerge as one of the most significant medical concepts of our time.

Leaky gut Syndrome and Inflammation-How Leaky Gut Affects You

The digestive lining serves is an important barrier function. It’s like a sieve with very tiny holes allowing only small substances to go through, while keeping out larger undesirable particles. With leaky gut, also known as increased intestinal permeability, the net becomes damaged, resulting in bigger holes that allow more things to pass through that ordinarily couldn’t.

When the barrier function becomes compromised, then bacteria, viruses, undigested food particles and toxic waste products can leak from the inside of your intestines through the damaged digestive lining into your bloodstream, where they’re transported throughout your body and can trigger your immune system to react. The end result is inflammation in various parts of your body, leading to a wide variety of symptoms of Inflammation like bloating, cramps, fatigue, food sensitivities, flushing, achy joints, headache and rashes.

With leaky gut not only is the digestive lining more porous and less selective about what can get in, but normal absorption can also be affected. Nutritional deficiencies may develop as a result of damage to the villi – the finger-like projections in the small intestine that are responsible for absorbing nutrients.

Multiple food sensitivities are another hallmark of leaky gut, because partially digested particles of protein and fat may leak through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream and cause an allergic response as a result of inflammation. Increased intestinal permeability may potentially cause or worsen a number of other conditions, including Celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), arthritis, psoriasis, eczema and asthma.

Leaky gut Syndrome and Inflammation –Causes

So what causes increased intestinal permeability? There’s still much to be learned, but diet, chronic stress, certain medications and bacterial imbalance seem to play important roles. Eating a diet high in refined sugar can lead to overgrowth of yeast species, which has been associated with leaky gut. Preservatives and chemicals in processed foods can damage the lining, and so can consumption of gluten – a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.

Chronic stress can lead to a weakened immune system, affecting your ability to fight off invading bacteria and viruses and worsening the symptoms of leaky gut. Medications like aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) that can damage the lining of your gut, as well as antibiotics that kill off your essential good bacteria are also associated with increased intestinal permeability. In fact, an imbalance between beneficial and harmful species in your gut called dysbiosis is one of the leading theories about what causes increased intestinal permeability. Excessive alcohol consumption, infection with parasites, radiation and chemotherapy can damage the lining of the intestine and are also risk factors.

In addition to bloating and digestive distress, a lot of the patients I see with leaky gut have a combination of other symptoms like food allergies, chronic sinus infections, achy joints, fatigue, brain fog or unexplained rashes. Typically they’ve been to multiple doctors trying to make sense of their symptoms, and conventional tests and imaging studies have been unrevealing. There can be a feeling of hopelessness and despair, because the symptoms seem so unrelated. With all these infections cropping in it becomes clear that the body becomes sick and as a result weight loss becomes practically impossible.

When you think of leaky gut not so much as a disease, but as a mechanism by which a number of different conditions can develop, it starts to make sense. A leaky gut is the pathway for how toxins enter the body through the GI tract and create all kinds of mayhem once they’re in, sort of like party crashers who slip through security and proceed to make a mess of the venue.

Leaky gut Syndrome and Inflammation-Solutions?

There’s no miracle cure for treating leaky gut, but there are things you can do if you’re suffering from it that can help heal inflammation and restore the integrity of your gut lining.

An anti-inflammatory diet that eliminates refined sugars, dairy, gluten, alcohol and artificial sweeteners – some of the biggest offenders when it comes to inflammation – can be very helpful. Consuming lots of anti-inflammatory essential fatty acids in fish and nuts, and filling up on green leafy vegetables, high-fiber and fermented foods that help to promote the growth of good bacteria is also crucial.

A robust probiotic that contains large amounts of good bacteria can help heal a damaged intestinal lining by restoring balance in the gut flora.

Supplements like glutamine have been shown in some studies to help with intestinal injury after chemotherapy and radiation and may be beneficial in leaky gut.

Most people will notice improvement within 6 weeks, although it may take several months and even years to heal a damaged intestinal lining in extreme cases of leaky gut. Because we’re still learning about leaky gut, many of the treatment guidelines are drawn more from anecdotal observation than from rigorous scientific studies. But they’re sensible recommendations that can lead to improvements in your overall health, whether or not you have increased intestinal permeability.

Leaky gut is one of those diagnoses that bridges the gap between conventional and alternative medicine, between what we can see and touch and what we can feel in our bodies. I refuse to believe that the hundreds of patients I see in my office with unusual and seemingly unrelated complaints are crazy, or just stressed out.

I believe them when they say they feel like they’re being poisoned, or that they think there’s a connection between all their symptoms, even though they don’t know what it is. My hunch is that as our knowledge grows, the theories behind leaky gut will become the foundation for lots of diseases that are widely prevalent in our society, and millions of people will be in a better position to find relief from their suffering.

Leaky gut Syndrome and Inflammation will make weight loss impossible-How?

Category Archives: Immune System