The Quest for Effective Lyme Treatment with Dr. Monica Embers
Dr, Monica Embers is the Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of vector-borne illness research at the National Primate Research Center at Tulane University. She’s at the forefront of Lyme investigations around core issues, such as antibiotic resistance, treatment methodologies, and immune response.
Here are the key points from the interview, in case you missed them:
The Standard treatment for Lyme, recommended by leading health organizations, including the Center for Disease Control (CDC), is a 28-day course of the antibiotic, Doxycycline. However, according to many studies, it’s not an effective treatment and does not match the science.
Dr. Monica explains that Doxycycline is microbiostatic - it only works on actively growing cells. The problem is that Lyme cells go into a dormant phase when they’re attacked, making them resistant to antibiotics.
Dr. Monica highlighted a case study where a Lyme patient developed Lewy Body Dementia and died. She received intensive antibiotic treatment, including intravenous doses, yet the post-mortem revealed Lyme spirochetes (cells) in her brain and spinal column.
Dr. Monica began studying the effectiveness of Doxycycline against Lyme because many patients were still suffering after treatment. Studies in mice and monkeys show that Lyme bacteria remain in the body after treatment. The problem is that it’s extremely difficult to find the bacteria and prove it’s still there.
Dr. Monica explains the immune response to Lyme and why patients can be extremely ill and still test negative. She tells us that Lyme can evade the host's immune defense system - and there is evidence to suggest it also suppresses the immune response. This paves the way for other bacteria, such as Bartonella, to take hold. Bartonella usually resolves itself in healthy people, but it often causes problems in Lyme patients as a co-infection.
Research suggests that patients with a good initial immune response to a Lyme infection respond better to antibiotic treatment. The patients who don't respond well often go on to develop Post Treatment for Lyme Disease (PTLD).
Lyme symptoms are very host-dependent and can also vary due to co-infections. Dr. Monica explains that in her studies, out of ten monkeys infected with the bacteria, they can all have a different response.
Lyme disease affects some systems more than others, such as the heart, joints, and central nervous system. In her studies on monkeys, Dr. Monics found that even a tiny amount of Lyme spirochetes in the body can have a massive impact on the body’s systems.
If Lyme spirochetes end up in the central nervous system, they cause inflammation. Inflammation causes the brain to release chemicals that become neurotoxic - and this can lead to many mental health issues and neurological conditions. When patients are treated with typical drugs for neurological conditions caused by Lyme, often, they don't work because they don't treat the source - the Lyme infection.
Dr. Monica concludes by discussing her progress in finding an effective Lyme treatment, and she and many other scientists are working determinedly to find a cure. She feels that double or triple antibiotic combinations are the most effective treatment. Using a mixture of antibiotics, which do different jobs, has a better chance of killing Lyme persister cells. Dr. Monica uses tuberculosis as an example to highlight this because it requires treatment with multiple drugs.