http://www.samento.com.ec/sciencelib...WDDTYFeb04.pdf


What is Lyme disease?
Although the world's attention was riveted on a small cluster of SARS
(severe acute resp -
iratory syndrome) cases last year, it is Ly m e disease (LD) that is
considered one of the
fastest - growing illnesses in the world.

LD is rampant in the US (with an estimated 200,000 new cases a year)
and massively underre p o r ted.
Indeed, US doctor Dan Kinderleher, an expert on LD, has estimated that
some 18 million Americans are infected. Although doctors in Europe are less
likely to look for LD, positive specimens have been detected in Europe—including
Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark—and
the disease is burgeoning
all over the world.

This modern-day plague was first identified in 1975, after a large
cluster of children living around the rural community of Lyme , Connecticut,
suffered an outbreak of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Seven years later, Dr
Willy Burgdorfer, Scientist Emeritus of the US
National Institutes of Health and leading re s e a rcher into human
diseases and the animal organisms that transmit them, discovered the causative
agent.

Suspecting some infective insect carrier of the disease, Burgdorfer
found a spirochaete (a spiral-shaped bacterium) of the genus Borreli a, similar
to the syphilis spirochaete, living in the gut of the Ixod es ticks in the area
and, through tests with LD victims, linked them to the disease. These ticks
ordinarily feast off the blood of mice, deer, birds and other animals.
This particular spirochaete —Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb)—now bears his name.

H o w e v e r, the `Lyme' tick is not the only transmitter of the
disease. The Bb spirochaete can also be transmitted by fleas, mosquitoes and
mites. Furthermore, the disease does not
require the insect to bite and infect you.

T h e re is some evidence that it can be transmitted between humans
either through sex or in the womb. There is even the possibility that it can be
transmitted through food.
R e s e a rchers at the University of Wi s c o n s i n have found that
dairy cattle and other animals in the human food chain can be infected and pass
it on.

The Centers for Disease Contro l and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta,
Georgia, believes that Bb can even survive the purification processes of donated
blood and so can also be passed through blood transfusion.

What are the symptoms?

Lyme disease can masquerade as many other degenerative illnesses,
particularly those characteristic of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; which
Stephen Hawking has).

Suspect Lyme disease if you have chronic fatigue, ALS or other
degenerative disease, or even a sudden onset of heart problems or transient
ischaemic attacks.

Many Parkinson's patients test positive for Lyme. Dr AtanasTzonkov, director of
the largest private medical clinic in Bulgaria (where LD is rampant) has
successfully treated more than a hundred
conditions as misdiagnosed cases of LD.

What doctors tell you Lyme disease is often treated with long courses of
antibiotics, but doctors vastly overplay the success rates. Spirochaetes can
survive even long-term antibiotic therapy and remain
in cells, beyond the immune system's reach (Liegner K et al.,
Abstract 63; Masters E et al. ,
Abstract 65; Fifth International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis,
1992). Long-term antibiotics
often leave the patient in an even worse state.



Key points
l Lyme disease is epidemic
l Many illnesses such as ALS or ME could, in fact, be Lyme disease
l Antibiotics don't often work l A simple herb can cure Lyme disease

The best alternative treatment for . . .
Lyme disease
WHAT TO DO INSTEAD

One small study has had remarkable success with a rare type of cat's
claw (Uncariatomentosa). The benefits of most types of cat's claw are
counteracted by tetracyclic oxindole alkaloids (TOA), which prevent the most
active compounds, pentacyclic oxindole alkaloids (POA), from helping to boost
the immune system.

Even a tiny amount of TOA can undo most of the positive benefits of POA.

H o w e v e r, cat's claw from the Peruvian jungle, called prima uña
de gato, or samento, is virtually TOA-free. It also contains lavish amounts of
acid glycosides, found in the latest quinolone antibiotics, the standard
treatment for Lyme. The herb is a natural and
selective antimicrobial — unlike conventional antibiotics — and also
offers anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-infective effects. POA can repair
the immune-system damage caused by Bb, and helps to ultimately overpower the
infection.

In a pilot study of 28 patients conducted by noted US cardiologist
William Lee Cowden, half carried on taking antibiotics, and half followed an
alternative regime, including a personalised diet, detoxification and 600 mg/day
of samento. Of the 14 patients taking the antibiotics, three improved slightly,
three got worse and the rest
had no change in their condition. In contrast, all but one (who
dropped out for cancer treatment) of the samento-treated group reported dramatic
improvements. At the end of six months, 85 per cent of the patients tested
negative for Bb (Cowden WL et al.,

`Pilot study of pentacyclic alkaloid - chemotype of Uncaria tomentosa
for the treatment of Lyme disease', presented at The International Symposium for
Natural Treatment of Intracellular Microorganisms, Münich , G e r m a n y, 29
March 2003).

Scientists investigating TOA-free cat's claw suggest that it should be
taken for eight to 12 months to kill all generations of spirochaetes in the
body. The herb should also be combined with a wholefood diet and an extensive
detox programme.