Lyme disease is a bacterial illness, transmitted to humans by the bite of deer ticks (Ixodes ticks) carrying a bacterium known as Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb). The disease has been reported in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, North Central, and Pacific coastal regions of the United States, in Canada and in Europe. It is most prevalent in the northeastern region of the United States, with about half of all cases clustered in New York and Connecticut.

Lyme disease causes signs and symptoms ranging from rash, fever, chills headache and body aches, muscle and joint pain or swelling, weakness and fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, insomnia and temporary paralysis. If Lyme disease is diagnosed and treated with appropriate antibiotics in the early stages of the disease, recovery is likely. However, some people have recurring or lingering symptoms long after the infection has cleared.

If the infection goes untreated, the second stage of the diseases can last up to several months with possible symptoms including, central and peripheral nervous system disorders, fever, stiff neck, multiple skin rashes, arthritis and arthritic symptoms, heart palpitations, extreme fatigue and general weakness, facial drooping or paralysis, vision changes such as blurred vision or abnormal sensitivity to light, meningitis and Bells Palsy.

In the third stage of the infection, which can last months to years if left untreated, the possible symptoms include chronic arthritis , memory loss, mood changes, sleep disorders, confusion, hallucinations, and decreased consciousness.

Lyme Disease Rash / Ixodes Tick Bite

Lyme disease is difficult to diagnose, especially if the characteristic red, bulls eye skin rash around the tick bite is absent. In mild cases, people may not even seek medical advice unless symptoms become more severe. Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed and can mimic the symptoms of other conditions some of which are firbromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, M.S., Reumatic Fever, Lupus, endocarditis, parocarditis, Epstein-Barr, degenerative disc disease, menopause, ALS, and Alzeimers.

Doctors diagnose Lyme disease based on the patient's symptoms (signs of illness), history, and blood test results. Blood tests can still be negative in patients with early Lyme disease or in patients who have had antibiotic treatment. The most common blood test ordered for Lyme disease is the ELISA, with the western blot used as a follow-up test. The ELISA tests for antibodies, the body's defense system against infections; it does not test for the bacteria itself. These anti-Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies may take up to 2 to 6 weeks after infection to appear in the blood. Therefore, a blood test immediately following a tick bite will not be able to determine whether or not a person has been infected since not enough time has passed for antibodies to develop.

Other bacterial infections and diseases may cause an ELISA to be positive when, in fact, the patient does not have Lyme disease. Therefore, the Western Blot, a more accurate test that can be used 6 to 12 weeks after infection, is recommended to confirm all positive or equivocal ELISA results. However, if symptoms and history strongly suggest Lyme disease, a doctor may begin treatment without blood test confirmation.

The most common form of therapy is aggressive multi-agent antibiotic therapy. If treatment is administered early on in the disease process, the treatment is usually successful. Unfortunately, many Patients do not adequately respond to antibiotic therapy alone. Complicating factors include a late diagnosis, as Lyme Disease can masquerade as a variety of different pathologies. Patients therefore can be severely incapacitated because of the chronic infection and the sequelae as a result of a late diagnosis.

New and exciting research has shown significant improvement for Patients with Chronic Lyme Disease. HBOT has shown remarkable efficacy in the treatment of these Patients, as demonstrated by Dr. William Fife at Texas A&M University. He has published extensive research demonstrating profound improvements with chronic Lyme sufferers. Results include a significant reduction in Pain, a reduction in the 'cloudyness' of the Brain and a return to mental clarity, a reduction in Depression, and the reduction in need for and often elimination in the need of ongoing antibiotic therapy. In his study, 84.4% showed significant improvement by a decrease or elimination of their symptoms. Most Patients had significant Jarisch-Herxheimer reactions, some of which continued for up to 30 days after treatment. Lyme Disease is a difficult infection to clear, and results in significant morbidity for Patients who are unsuccessfully treated by antibiotics alone.

HBOT is a medical treatment that uses the administration of 100 percent oxygen at controlled pressure (greater than sea level) for a prescribed amount of time -- usually 60 to 90 minutes. HBOT is commonly used to treat conditions such as burns and difficult or stubborn healing wounds.

HBOT increases the amount of oxygen in the body, which in turn causes several physiological changes that can result in accelerated healing. The basis for these changes is the fact that HBOT increases the amount of oxygen in the blood by up to 2000 percent, depending on the treatment depth. This, in turn, dramatically increases the amount of oxygen at the cellular level and creates other physiological changes. These changes can be extremely complex. One scientific research study indicates that Lyme bacteria are microaerophilic, are debilitated in high oxygen environments.

Established protocols for HBOT treatment are to be administered at 2.36 ATA (Atmospheres absolute), or equivalent to a depth of 45 feet below sea level. Each treatment lasts one hour and two treatments are prescribed each day, five days per week. The total number of treatments given in each case varies. It is common to administer 30 to 60 treatments in the first phase of treatment. The question of further hyperbaric oxygen therapy is then resolved after the patient's condition is reevaluated. However, many believe that if the patient has been impacted by the first phase of HBOT then a break of three to six weeks should be taken followed by another 30 to 60 treatments. A physician can prescribe more sets of HBOT based on the patient's individual evaluation.

Why does HBOT show promise in helping Lyme patients? First, we are reminded that Lyme bacteria are microaerophilic, or debilitated in high oxygen environments. Research by F. Austin demonstrated the effect of oxygen on the Lyme organism. The study suggests that the Bb organism is sensitive to high concentrations of oxygen at the cellular level, or what is termed, elevated tissue partial pressures. In other words, the Bb organism doesn't do well in a biological environment similar to that created in the body during HBOT.

HBOT facilitates angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is defined as the development of blood vessels in the body. This may become important in the treatment of Lyme disease because it is believed that Lyme bacteria effectively evade antibiotics by moving away from normal blood flow into tissue, organs and bone. Thus, the farther that the antibiotic can move into these areas through a more dense and extensive system of blood vessels, the greater the opportunity to kill the Bb organism. HBO therapy's facilitation of angiogenesis allows the antibiotic to have a greater effect on Lyme bacteria by helping to move the antibiotic closer to those parts of the body where the bacteria may be residing.

There is emerging evidence that certain antibiotics may be more readily incorporated into the cell wall of the bacteria itself in the presence of elevated oxygen tension, which is an environment similar to that created in the body during HBOT. If true, this is a clear example of HBOT working in a synergistic manner with antibiotic therapy. In other words, the effectiveness of antibiotics to kill the Lyme organism is increased through the use of HBOT.

Research is currently being conducted that may indicate that the Bb organism can be killed by oxygen free radicals. Oxygen free radicals are produced during HBOT. The deeper the depth of treatment, the greater the number of free radicals produced. It is believed by many that oxygen free radicals have an antibiotic-like effect.

Finally, it is well understood that HBOT can enhance certain aspects of the body's natural immune system. This may play a significant and positive role for Lyme patients because their immune systems have probably been compromised over a long period of time as a result of persistent symptoms.