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The Lyme disease bacterias amazing ability to survive
borrelia burgdorferi
Borrelia burgdorferis spiral shape allows it to drill into the cell it has chosen as its home. - photo by microbewiki.kenyon.edu photo

The Lyme disease support group meeting for September will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. Sept. 26  in the Hillsboro Public Library meeting room, 819 High Ave.

Residents of Juneau, Monroe, Richland, Sauk and Vernon counties afflicted with a tick borne illness such as Lyme disease, or those seeking to increase understanding of tick borne illness, its prevention, and its treatment, are welcome to attend.

The meetings’ goals are:

• To help people in the five-county area grow in their understanding of tick- or insect borne illnesses such as Lyme, Babesia, Bartonella, Anaplasmosis, Erlichiosis, Mycoplama, and others.

•  To give direction to anyone seeking diagnosis or treatment.

• To promote ways to minimize getting a tick borne illness.

A question for the reader, especially for those who have been afflicted by Lyme disease of one of the other co-infections: After being treated and seeming to get better, have you experienced getting sick all over again? Having the same symptoms return and make life miserable? This up and down and up and down cycle is common to folks suffering this chronic disease. This month’s notice offers the following information.

First, a quote from  Brian Rosner, a fellow Lymie and a man well studied on the issue: “Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), an elongated, spiral-shaped bacteria transmitted to humans through the bite of a tick. Known as spirochetes, these bacteria are unusual, not well studied, elusive and difficult to cultivate in the laboratory, and capable of advanced survival activities more commonly found in larger, more intelligent organisms.’ Pay attention to the last sentence. Years after I wrote that statement, it is now well-established that Borrelia organisms (and even the co-infections Babesia and Bartonella) are unlike many other kinds of microorganisms in that they are highly advanced in their lifecycle activities, survival capabilities, and ability to respond to environmental threats.” (Rosner, “Freedom from Lyme Disease,” ch. 7)

In the last part of Rosner’s quote, we put into italics something about the bacterias to learn more about. We will focus on the Lyme bacteria, known as Borrelia Burgdorferi (Bb), particularly its amazing ability to survive.

Bb enters a person in a very mobile spiral shaped form (spirochete). In this form, Bb is able to drill its way into whatever cell it will make its home; this includes very dense tissue or bone. Bb prefers to exist and thrive in its spiral form. There is no place in the body into which the spiral form of Bb cannot enter.

When the body’s immune system reacts to the presence of Bb in its spiral form, or when antibiotics are introduced into the human body, Bb reacts by changing form, from the spiral shape to either a cell wall deficient form (CWD) or a cyst form.

The CWD form of Bb is extremely resistant to whatever attacks it. Bb’s CWD life cycle aggressively converts vitamin D into a specialized hormone. This hormone depress the human body’s immune system. When Bb’s hormonal attack lowers the immune system enough, slowly but surely a wide range of 70 plus possible autoimmune afflictions may arise, either individually or in combination. To survive and thrive CWD’s build themselves into dense bacterial masses. The inner CWD’s remain safe from efforts to kill off the bacteria.

As both the body’s internal immune system, and antibiotics from outside the body, attack CWD’s, these little shapeless Bb’s can take a third form, forming a cyst. As a cyst, Bb is dormant, that is, its presence is not only no longer noticeable to the body’s immune system, but it also is completely immune to any other kind of treatments a person does to try and kill Bb. Cyctic Bb’s just wait until the environment inside the human body is more favorable for Bb’s to thrive once again.
Bb’s ability to smartly shape shift itself is why folks afflicted with Lyme disease may seem to get better, only to later on get worse, even without getting re-infected in other some way. We urge every reader to get more educated about dealing with Tick Bite Diseases.

For more information, email garycepek@yahoo.com, call 608-489-2725 (ask for Gary), or write: Gary Cepek, S1468 Cepek Rd., Elroy, Wis. 53929.