Borrelia Burgdorferi (Lyme Disease) and Hypercoagulation
Dr C: Hypercoagulation, or thrombophilia, may be defined as reduced capillary blood flow or a greater tendency than normal for blood to coagulate, or clot. Of approximately 900 borreliosis patients that I have tested, 90 percent have hypercoagulation. Comparatively, only five percent of the general healthy population has hypercoagulation.
Treatment for hypercoagulation caused by infections is heparin, which is a blood thinner. Typically, heparin is given subcutaneously (under the skin) by injection twice a day in low doses for not more than nine months.
It can also be compounded into a troche that dissolves in the mouth, but that is usually more expensive and is often less effective than injections. Symptoms that improve with heparin are pain, fatigue, cognitive problems and neurological problems.
About 80 percent of borreliosis patients feel better with heparin, and it has been a safe treatment so far. One patient did develop bleeding from the rectum, but then a colonoscopy revealed a colon cancer that had not yet spread to the local lymph nodes. In other words, the heparin unmasked a hidden malignancy, so in this case the side effect was a blessing.
Heparin is not only a blood thinner, it is also anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, and may even be anti-cancer (unproven). Therapy with heparin usually lowers the level of the coagulation components fibrinogen, fibrin, thrombin/antithrombin complexes, fragment 1+2 and Factor II activity.
This is desirable, because elevated levels of these coagulation components can cause decreased capillary blood flow, if they are high enough. Capillaries are microscopic blood vessels that are about eight microns wide. A normal red blood cell, which travels through the capillaries, is about seven microns wide.
When elevation of coagulation components occur, they could conceivably attach to the inside surface (endothelial surface) of capillaries, thereby narrowing them. For example, fibrinogen attached to the inside surface could make it harder for a seven-micron-wide red blood cell to squeeze through the narrowed capillary.
Reduced blood flow in capillaries would in turn reduce oxygen and nutrients, and reduce removal of toxins from tissues. It stands to reason that if heparin could improve blood flow, antibiotics and hormones would be more effective because they could pass through capillaries easier.
Life is in the blood. Less blood flow means less ``life,'' and possibly more symptoms and diseases -- perhaps even death. Hypercoagulation is associated with other chronic diseases, not just borreliosis. It is my opinion that how hypercoagulation is treated will become a paradigm shift in medicine, once further research has been accomplished.
Hemex Laboratories in Phoenix, AZ has discovered that a number of infections, including mycoplasmas, and Borrelia Burgdorferi can trigger the blood clotting system to become active, preventing oxygen and antibiotics from reaching and destroying the pathogen. This is called hypercoagulation. The Hemex Lab ISAC panel can be run to determine if this is a problem. If this test is positive, appropriate blood thinning agents may be prescribed (Heparin is the preferred choice).
There are a number of problems that must be addressed in patients. For instance, some individuals have a coagulation defect that is set off by the chronic infection Borrelia Burgdorferi (Lyme Disease). This results in the laying down of a fibrin coating on the lumen of the vessel causing impaired oxygen and nutrient transfer. This can result in fatigue, muscle aches and "brain fog".
If suspected, diagnosis requires specialized testing (presently only available at Hemex Laboratories in Phoenix). If not treated, not only are the cells starved for oxygen and nutrients, but it is very difficult to eradicate any infection because they will "hide" in the fibrin coating. If the Coagulation defect is not addressed the defect will limit the antibiotics from reaching and destroying the pathogen
Hypercoagulation leads to "clogging" of our mucous membranes with extra Fibrin and doesn't allow for proper entry into cells of nutrients or egress from cells of waste products. Eventually this causes our interstitial fluids (Terrain) to be filled with toxic waste (Dr. Reckeweg's Homotoxins) and our cells to be deprived of proper nutrients. This leads to all forms of chronic degenerative diseases such as atherosclerosis, Fibromyalgia, arthritis, cirrhosis, emphysema, chronic fatigue and the 100 or so other chronic degenerative diseases.
Dr K: Studies have found that approximately 80% of patients have this low level activation of the clotting system. This low level activation does not produce a blood clot, but rather an intermediate substance called a soluble fibrin monomer (SFM). This coats the inside of the blood vessel and limits oxygen and nutrient flow into the cells. The SFM coating not only limits the oxygen and nutrient flow, but it also provides a place for the spirochete to "hide" and escape destruction by the immune system/antibiotic. Thus, it can be very difficult for patients to rid the body of these infection without treating the Fibrogen Defect.
Diagnosis is made by the use of a specialized test called an ISAC (Immune System Activation of Clotting) panel, which measures platelet activation, soluble fibrin monomer, fibrinogen, prothrombin fragment 1 +2 and thrombin/antithrombin complexes. Treatment is low dose heparin and substances to break up the fibrin as well as elimination of the initiating agent, whether it is a virus, bacteria, yeast or toxin. Intervention can be from several weeks to a number of months, if treating with antibiotics Heparin should be continued for the duration of antibiotic treatment.
Growth-Inhibitory Effect of Heparin on Babesia Parasites- There is some very current information and an actual study showing that heparin may erradicate Babesia all on it's own and the same may hold true for Lyme- Sabine Bork,1 Naoaki Yokoyama,1 Yuzuru Ikehara,2 Sanjay Kumar,1 Chihiro Sugimoto,1 and Ikuo Igarashi: We examined the inhibitory effects of three heparins on the growth of Babesia parasites. The multiplication of Babesia bovis, B. bigemina, B. equi, and B. caballi in in vitro cultures and that of B. microti in vivo were significantly inhibited in the presence of heparins, as determined by light microscopy.
Treatment with various concentrations of heparin showed complete clearance of the intracellular parasites. Interestingly, a higher percentage of abnormally multidividing B. bovis parasites was observed in the presence of low concentrations of heparin.
Furthermore, fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled heparin was preferably found on the surfaces of extracellular merozoites, as detected by confocal laser scanning microscopy. These findings indicate that the heparin covers the surfaces of babesial merozoites and inhibits their subsequent invasion of erythrocytes.
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