Heal the Hormones toHeal From Lyme Disease

As t interviewed the subjects in myrecently released book, Insights IntoLyme Disease Treatment: ThirteenLyme-iiterate Practitioners ShareTheir Healing Strategies (BioMedPublishing Group; 2009), my belief inthe importance of restoring hormonalbalance to the body as part of healingfrom chronic Lyme disease wasreaffirmed by what I learned fromthese practitioners.

Most Lyme-literate health-carepractitioners would agree that gettingrid of the infections is only part of thesolution. Those whom I interviewedalso emphasized strengthening theimmune system, treating intestinaldysbiosisand allergies, and detoxifyingand restoring hormonal balance to thebody. They cited other factors, such aslifestyle and dietary choices, as beingimportant, too.

A dissertation could be written oneach of these healing components,but for the purposes of this article,I will focus on hormonal balance,because it is one of the oft-ignoredareas of treatment and perhaps one ofthe more difficult aspects of healingto address. At least, I have found thisto be true in my own case of chronicillness involving Lyme disease!

Below I share insights into balanc-ing hormones, based on excerptsfrom my book and representing theopinions of some of the health-careproviders whom I interviewed.

First, Deborah Metzger, MD, areproductive endocrinologist whotreats patients with chronic Lymedisease, writes on page 228:

by Connie StrasheimI have found that women whohave been well for most of theirlives can "crash" around the timeof peri-menopause. During thistime, estrogen and progesteronelevels start to "get out of whack,"and both of these hormones areinvolved in regulating the immunesystem. About half of the men thatI see are deficient in testosterone.Once people crash as a result ofhormone imbalances, they can'tjust pick themselves back up againby fixing their hormone levels.Their infections, diet, allergies andsleep must all be separately andsimultaneously addressed.

Thus, balancing the hormonesis important for restoring properimmune function, so that the bodycan effectively fight Lyme diseaseinfections.

Balancing the hormones isn'talways a matter of simply givinghormone replacement to patients,though, because some have allergies,or autoimmunity, to their ownhormones, and the autoimmunityproblem must be addressed beforehormone replacement can beprescribed. On page 230, Dr. Metzgerdiscusses adrenal gland hormoneallergies:

I also test my patients' adrenalgland function by performing ana.m. and p.m. blood cortisol test.I prefer blood cortisol tests oversaliva because I have found thatthere is a poor correlation betweensaliva and hlood test results due tothe presence of cortisol allergies inmany of my patients. The antibodiesthat bind to cortisol prevent thecortisol from appearing in the

saliva. Cortisol allergies produce allthe signs and symptoms of adrenalinsufficiency, but often, adrenalfunction in people who have theseallergies is normal. Many patientswith cortisol allergies cannottolerate cortisol replacement untilthey are desensitized to theseallergies.

Another challenge when balancingthe hormones involves determiningwhat type of hormone replacementis best for patients. Not everyoneresponds well to the patented,synthetic hormones that are so oftenpushed on those with imbalances. Onpage 275, Pete Muran, MD, advocatesbioidentical hormone replacementas a viable alternative to synthetichormones and discusses the dangersof synthetic hormone replacement:

I general ly use bio-identicalhormones to correct my patients'hormonal deficiencies. Use of bio-identical hormones is especiallyimportant for supplementingestrogen deficiencies in women.Conj ugated eq u i ne estrogen(Provera) is commonly prescribedto women, and has been construedin the medical community asbeing a "normal" form of estrogenreplacement, but there is a bigdifference between the naturalestrogen that women produce,and the estrogen that a horseproduces. Equine estrogen causesinflammation, but there are politicaland economic reasons why thismedication is so widely prescribed.Yet, it has been scientificallydocumented in the medicalliterature that such estrogen causesinflammation and alters hormonalbalance.

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It's the ingestion or productionof inflammatory estrogen thatcauses breast cancer in womenand prostate cancer in men. Themedical community must considera very important fact when linkingbreast cancer with estrogen. If allestrogens were the cause of breastcancer, then the prevalence of thisdisease would be high in womenwho are in their twenties andthirties, but it's not. Only certaintypes of inflammatory estrogen, thelevels of which tend to be elevatedin those with unhealthy bodies, orwhich result from taking certainpharmaceutical medications,

cause breast cancer. Also, aswomen age, the risk of themproducing inflammatory estrogenincreases, as does their risk forcancer. They may start to producemore estrone from fat cells,which can be easily converted toan inflammatory estrogen. Thisinflammatory estrogen, which is apre-carcinogenic form of estrogen,attaches to cells at estrogenreceptor sites, where it canproduce cancerous cells. Hence,supplementing with bio-identicalestrogen is most appropriate forwomen with estrogen deficiencies.

Women with progesteronedeficiencies also benefit from bio-identical progesterone, which isbetter than the synthetic progestinthat is so commonly prescribed.Using bio-identical estrogen andprogesterone in combination isbeneficial, and many women haveused both throughout all of theirhealthy reproductive years.

So how important is addressinghormonal imbalance in chronic Lymedisease? Marlene Kunold, a hea l thorepractitioner in Germany who treatsLyme patients, believes tbat hormonalimbalances may be some patients'greatest impediment to healing, andthat for such people, bealing may noteven be possible unless tbe endocrinesystem, particularly the adrenal glandsand thyroid, are adequately supported.Her perspective is discussed on pp.318-319:

It's also important for me todetermine my patients' adrenalgland function, because the successof any treatment regimen depends

upon the adrenal glands workingproperly. If adrenal function is low,and Cortisol levels are low, then asa practitioner, I will not succeed inanything that I do for my patientsuntil I can improve the functioningof their adrenals.

So therapy for Borrelia and otherconditions may not be effectiveunless the adrenals are adequatelysupported, because when theadrenals are weak, the body simplywon't respond to treatments.This I leamed after treating manypatients, because there were somefor whom the LTT test would notturn negative, even after theyhad received multiple photontreatments for Borrelia, and Iwould ask myself. What's stoppingus here? After doing a few tests, Ilearned that poor adrenal functionwas what was hindering thesepeople's healing, and I've seen thisscenario happen quite a few timesever since.

In addition to the adrenals, thyroidfunction must also be carefullytested and treated, when necessary.Triiodothyronine, T-3, as well asTSH, are among the tests that Ido to determine patients' thyroidfunction, If I suspect that they haveautoimmune disease, as well ashigh levels of nitric stress (nitricoxide and peroxynitrite) in theirurine, then it may also be necessaryto test them for thyroid antibodies.

In summary, when the adrenal andthyroid glands aren't functioningproperly, it's very difficult forpatients to heal, and I often seelow thyroid and adrenal function inthose with Lyme disease.

As if determining autoimmunityto hormones and proper formsof bormone replacement weren'tenough, health-care practitionersmust also consider whether hormonereplacement is even appropriate forthose with hormonal imbalances,because sometimes the body doesn'tneed for its hormonal levels to beraised, just balanced, which canoften be accomplished through theuse of nutrients and herbs. ElizabethHesse-Sheehan, DC, CCN, anotherpractitioner who helps those withchronic Lyme disease overcome theirhealing challenges, advocates plant

stem cells for hormonal balance. Onp. 349, she writes:

Amazingly, (plant} stem cells canmodulate hormonal imbalances.If the amount or functioning of acertain hormone is too high, thenthe stem cells can bring it down. Ifit is too low, then the stem cells canraise it.

Additionally, stem cells have aregenerative effect upon the body.For example, one stem cell remedycalled Black Currant functions as anatural type of cortisone but doesn'thave the same side effects upon thebody as synthetic cortisone, or even"natural" cortisone. Instead, it has aregulatory effect upon the immunesystem, so those who take it getthe anti-inflammatory effects of thehormone without the devastatingeffects of synthetic cortisol. At thesame time, it regenerates the adrenalglands, so that they eventuallyproduce balanced amounts of theirown cortisol.

Sometimes practitioners get stuckinto the trap of thinking thatwhenever their patients' cortisol orother hormone levels are low, thatit's necessary to give them syntheticcortisol or another hormone. Thisisn't always beneficial, though,because the body can becomedependent upon such hormones,instead of learning how to re-makeits own. The other problem is thatsome people may not even havehormone deficiencies; they maysimply have imbalances.

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TOWNSEND LETTER - JULY 2010 71

Heal the Hormones to Heal From Lyme Disease

who participated in my book) believethat strengthen i ng and rebui Id i ngthe endocrine glands Is an integralcomponent of restoring hormonalbalance to the body. Again, it'snot just a matter of giving patientssupplemental hormones, althoughin some cases, this may be mostappropriate. Steven Bock, MD, aphysician who has been treating Lymedisease patients for more than 25years, advocates a "scaling up" typeof approach to rebuild and restoreproper endocrine function to the body.On pp. 69-70, he describes some ofhis protocol for treating the adrenalglands, which tend to be exhausted inthose with chronic illness:

I use a broad spectrum of naturalsupplements to treat adrenalinsufficiency. I might start off byrecommending Vitamins B-6, B-5and C, and if these prove to beinsufficient for restoring adrenalfunction, then I may recommendherbs. The herbs I use includethe Chinese herb rehmannia,which is a kidney herb, as well asashwaghanda and rhodiola, whichare good for those whose nervoussystems have been depleted.Cordyceps is also beneficial forthe adrenals, and is an anti-agingherb, as well. If herbs don't providesatisfactory results, I may then doacupuncture, and if that doesn'tdo the trick, then I will prescribephysiological hydrocortisone,

(not prednisone, which ispharmacological). If patients'adrenal function is low and thenatural remedies aren't sufficient,I sometimes get dramatic resultswith hydrocortisone, if I prescribedoses of 5-10 mg, two to threetimes a day. With hydrocortisone.

theoretically, immune suppressionshould only occur at higher doses,but I do think that over time, itcan suppress the body's innateability to make cortisol and makeit harder for patients to heal downthe road. Also, one of the thingsthat practitioners should be awareof when dosing hydrocortisone isthat too much can make patientsworse. It's vital not to get the dosetoo high. I have seen, for example,patients get worse after getting justone injection of long-acting Medrolin their backs. (An injection ofMedrol lasts two weeks). It makestheir Lyme infections go crazy.If practitioners are just boostingtheir patients' cortisol levels tonormal, however, then the cortisolis beneficial to the hody, but if thedoses bring the levels to abovenormal, then patients will getworse.

As Dr. Bock indicates, practitionersshould be careful when prescribinghydrocortisone to those with Lymedisease, as too much of this hormonecan actual Iy worsen patients'symptoms. However, and as otherpractitioners who participated in thebook stated, the goal should be tobring cortisol levels back to normal,since cortisol is powerfully involvedin immune function and too little canbe just as detrimental to healing as toomuch.

Finally, Steve Harris, MD, discusseshow treating Lyme disease infectionscan in itself help the endocrine systemrecover. Like other Lyme-literatehealth-care practitioners, he alsodiscusses the importance of balancingthe endocrine system through the useof supplements and hormones, but

Connie Strasheim is a Lyme disease sufferer and health-careresearcher. She wrote Insights Into Lyme Disease Treatmentwhen she realized that more information on how to treatchronic Lyme was sorely needed from the experts who treatLyme patients. Prior to becoming ill from chronic Lymedisease, Ms. Strasheim worked as a Spanish instructor, medicalinterpreter, and flight attendant. Ms. Strasheim lives in Denver,Colorado, and is available for phone, on-line, and in-personinterviews.

advocates a cautious approach to theirprescription, since hormones are oneof the more complex areas of healingto address. On pp. 44-45, he states;

Balancing hormones is aremarkably important componentto healing from Lyme disease. InLyme, the HPA {hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) is severelyimpaired and it's one of the moredifficult areas of the body to heal.Plant stem ceils seem to help theHPA-axis to some degree, but Ithink that hormones are one of theareas in medicine that still needsto be researched, if practitionersreally want to optimize HPAfunction in some with Lymedisease. Borrelia likes to destroythe body's connective tissue, andendocrine glands have a lot ofconnective tissue, so it is importantto get antibiotics and otherantimicrobials into those glands.Optimizing endocrine function isalso important, but if practitionersimproperly prescribe hormones,then their patients can get "out ofwhack."

In summary, treatment for chronicillness involving Lyme disease requiresa multifaceted approach. In additionto getting rid of infections, otheraspects of healing must be addressed.Balancing the endocrine system is oneof these, and protocol should involvestrengthening the endocrine glandsand balancing hormonal productionthrough nutrition, bioidenticalhormones, and vitamin, herbal,and other supplements. Identifyingany potential hormone allergiesis also key, as is treating the Lymedisease infections, since Borrelia, theorganism that causes Lyme, destroysendocrine gland tissue. Also, andaccording to some practitioners,addressing hormonal imbalance inLyme disease is so crucial that somepatients may not fully recover unlesshormonal deficiencies and imbalancesare adequately addressed and treated,because the hormones play a vitallyimportant role in immune systemfunction. *

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