Lyme Disease and other Tick Borne Diseases
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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an effective adjunctive treatment for chronic Lyme disease
Huang CY, Chen YW, Kao TH, Kao HK, Lee YC, Cheng JC, Wang JH.
J Chin Med Assoc. 2014 May;77(5):269-71. doi: 10.1016/j.jcma.2014.02.001. Epub 2014 Apr 13.
ABSTRACT
Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne illness in the United States, but it is relatively rare in Taiwan. Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotic agents, but approximately 20% of these patients experience persistent or intermittent subjective symptoms, so-called chronic Lyme disease (CLD). The mechanisms of CLD remain unclear and the symptoms related to CLD are difficult to manage.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was applied in CLD therapy in the 1990s. However, reported information regarding the effectiveness of HBOT for CLD is still limited. Here, we present a patient with CLD who was successfully treated with HBOT.
Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Hyperbaric oxygenation for Lyme Vasculitis
Fife WP, Neubauer RA.
26th Annual Meeting of the European Underwater and Baromedical Society on Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine, Malta, September 14-17, 2000.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate the positive effects of hyperbaric oxygenation on severe encephalopathy occurring in Lyme Disease as a synergistic treatment with antibiotics.
SUMMARY: Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease caused by a Borrelia spirochete, usually Borrelia burgdorferi which was first recognized in late 1975 although a disease resembling Lyme has been recognized in Europe for over 100 years. It is endemic in the northeast United States, but may be found throughout the U.S. The larvae of the tick hatch in the spring and are not infected at birth. However, they become infected from mice or other animal hosts and hibernate throughout winter. They become active as infected nymphs in the summer and as ticks may be carried by any warm blooded animal.
In humans, the disease is especially devastating and may even be fatal. In some instances an entire family may become infected. Since the tick is less than 1 mm in diameter, it often is not seen even when the consequences of the infection appear. The mainstay of therapy for this disease is prompt and efficacious antibiotic therapy.
It has been noted that the tick cannot live in a hyperoxic environment and a project was begun by Dr. Fife to utilize hyperbaric oxygenation in conjunction with antibiotics in an attempt to eradicate the spirochete.
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/237268754_Hyperbaric_Oxygenation_for_Lyme_Vasculitis