Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. Its unique spirochete shape and how it wreaks havoc on the entire body is still not completely known. We are learning, though, that Lyme disease has major effects on the immune system. The resulting symptoms of a weak immune system from Lyme affect the entire body.
Keep reading to learn about the effects of Lyme on the immune system.
How Does Lyme Affect the Immune System?
Lyme disease is caused by your immune system. As Lyme bacteria battles your immune system, the immune system goes into overdrive trying to defeat it.
Plus, when your immune system is working too hard fighting off other stresses, illness, and allergies, it can’t deal with what it needs to focus on most: combating Lyme disease.
This results in debilitating symptoms from Lyme and other illnesses.
Persistent Lyme Bacteria
The earlier you can get treated for Lyme disease, the better. This is because Borrelia burgdorferi is persistent and creates what is called a bacterial biofilm, making it resistant to antibiotics. As Lyme continues to spread throughout the body, it continues to affect more parts of the body and becomes harder and harder to get rid of.
In fact, this study even indicates that Lyme bacteria are so smart that they are able to cause structural abnormalities in lymph nodes and lymph tissue that are crucial for long-term immunity. Essentially, this makes Lyme re-infection possible and leaves you and your immune system even more vulnerable after contracting the disease.
The Immune System’s Attack on Itself
Some believe that Lyme disease has similar effects of an autoimmune disease on the body. A Johns Hopkins study suggests that when Borrelia burgdorferi enters the body, the immune system is altered, resulting in it attacking healthy cells instead of unwanted Lyme bacteria.
If a person has a genetic predisposition to an autoimmune disease, Lyme disease can trigger it.
Inflammatory Response to Lyme Disease
Inflammation is how the body responds to infections, such as Borrelia burgdorferi. Specifically, inflammatory cells and cytokines looking to trap bacteria that results in swelling, redness, or other unseen measures.
Essentially, when a Lyme patient experiences a “flare-up,” it is due to inflammation causing headaches, joint and muscle pain, and fatigue.
According to Hopkins Medicine, a recent study “showed that Borrelia burgdorferi alters dendritic cells, which normally present antigens — proteins from pathogens such as bacteria and viruses — to immune system T-cells, signaling an immune response against the foreign invaders. However, Borrelia burgdorferi stops this communication, which may then lead to the immune system mistakenly attacking healthy cells.”
This attack on healthy cells results in inflammation.
Herxheimer Reaction
If you have Lyme disease, you know what herxing is. During a Herxheimer reaction, the body experiences painful symptoms that are caused by the dying off of bacteria and viruses. When these microbes die, they release endotoxins and free radicals into the body that start wreaking havoc; causing pain and inflammation. The intensity of this reaction is an indicator of how severe the inflammation in the body is.
This reaction can be minimized by taking a supplement, such as glutathione, an antioxidant that helps fight these free radicals.
Issues that Affect the Immune System
According to Marty Ross, MD, many people have a difficult time combating Lyme because their immune system is already burdened due to:
- infection toxins and factors
- hygiene like diet and rest
- hormones
- emotional toxins
- environmental toxins
- excess inflammatory cytokines
It is crucial to your Lyme treatment that you take a comprehensive approach and address these other areas of concern.
Unburden the Immune System Through Detox
When you have Lyme bacteria in the body, often there is also an overload of mold, heavy metals and other imbalances that need to be detoxed from the body.
Diet, exercise, and drinking water are all good ways to detox, but the most effective way is through detoxification supplementation.
Taking a natural detoxifying agent like Zeolite can help remove endotoxins faster. Zeolite collects toxins throughout the body and excretes them out through the urine. Look for an Advanced Cellular Zeolite that can operate at the cellular level to help remove even the most stubborn of Lyme bacteria.
How to Support Your Immune System
It is vital that you have a regimen in place to bolster your immune system if you want to conquer Lyme disease.
Supplements such as colloidal silver have antimicrobial properties and immune boosting capability that has been shown effective in killing Lyme bacteria. Combined with a detoxification supplement such as zeolite, Lyme bacteria is killed and then escorted out of the body.
As discussed earlier, detoxification is a great way to help boost the immune system, along with other immune boosting formulas and healthy practices like good sleep, exercise, and healthy diet.
There are many different immune boosting products on the market. Click to see our recommended products for those with Lyme disease.
Lyme disease’s effect on the immune system is frightening, but there is hope. Continue to bolster your immune system daily as part of your Lyme protocol. There are supplementation and detoxification methods that can help not only mitigate the effects of a weak immune system due to Lyme, but actually boost the immune system back to health.