The Privé Swiss stable includes myriad wellness practitioners, ranging from life coaching, mindfulness training, and therapy to disordered eating and drug and alcohol counseling. If you’re suffering, you may well find a holistic answer here. We reached out to naturopath Dr. Jonathan Goodman, who specializes in the treatment of Lyme disease and asked him about the latest developments in treatment and myths about Lyme. Here’s what he had to say.

WHAT IT IS

LD is an infection caused by Borrelia burgdoferi, which is a spirochete. An infected tick can transmit the spirochete to the humans and animals it bites. If the infection is untreated, the bacterium will travel through the bloodstream and ultimately end up in various body tissues causing a number a symptoms. One of the first symptoms that one may find is an erythema migrans rash which appears within 7-14 days at the site of a tick bite.

PREVENTION 

Deer ticks often hid in shady, moist ground litter, but adults are found above the ground clinging to tall grass, brush and shrubs. They can be found in lawns, gardens and woodlands. As deer ticks cannot jump or fly and do not drop from above onto passing animals you have to be cautious of what you are wearing when outside. Use insect repellent containing DEET. Wear enclosed shoes, light colored clothing, stay on cleared, well-traveled trails, avoid sitting directly on the ground or on stone walls. Keep long hair tied back, do a final, full-body tick-check at the end of the day. When you get back home place all clothing into the dryer for 20 minutes to kill any unseen ticks.

MYTHS ABOUT LYME

• If you don’t have symptoms you don’t have it
• Winter kills ticks false
• If your blood test is negative you don’t have Lyme and have nothing to worry about
• The only thing ticks transmit are Lymeà false there are other illnesses
• Not an east coast only illness
• Lyme always causes a bull-eye rash
• Ticks fall from treesà false they crawl
• Don’t have to be near a deer to get it

TREATMENT

Start treatment as soon as possible after a tick bite. The longer you wait, the less likely treatment will eliminate the infection. Three oral antibiotics that are highly recommended for treatment are, doxycycline, amoxicillin and ceftin, with doxycycline the preferred treatment.

Naturopathic treatment is tailored more toward addressing chronic tick-borne illness and encompasses the whole person, including diet, lifestyle habits, immune status and environmental exposure as well as treating the active infection. Four main things we concentrate on are diet, intestinal health, lifestyle and immune modulation/detoxification.

Dr. Goodman uses herbal formulas that both attack the bacteria and moderate the body’s immune response. Three companies that produce effective products are: Beyond Balance, Nutramedix, and Byron White Formulas.

• TICK-BORNE RELAPSING FEVER: Borrelia miyamotoi is a spirochete that causes tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF). In TBRF, rash is uncommon. The main symptoms of TBRF are: fever, chills and headache. Borellia miyamotoi, unlike lyme, is passed directly from the mother tick to her eggs, making it more likely to spread. TBRF is becoming more prevalent here in CT (https://today.uconn.edu/2016/05/expert-warns-new-tick-borne-disease/#)

A naturopathic physician, lecturer, teacher, industry leader and author, Dr. Jonathan Goodman pursued his medical training at Bastyr University of Natural Health Sciences in Seattle, receiving his Doctorate in 1999. He completed his residency at Griffin Hospital’s Integrative Medicine Center, where conventional and holistic doctors collaborate in patient care. He has also received training in treating Lyme and other tick-borne diseases through ILADS, the leading medical society for the comprehensive treatment of acute and chronic tick-borne disease.  In addition to this training, Dr. Goodman has spent time shadowing leading lyme-literate practitioners including Richard Horowitz, MD and Thomas Moorcroft, DO.   He is currently accepting new patients at Privé-Swiss Wellness, located at the Shops at Water’s Edge in Westbrook. 860-391-8840