In this podcast, we speak with Dr. Nevena Zubcevik, a Harvard trained and board certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, and Chief Medical Officer of Invisible International. Dr. Zubcevik talks about some of the challenges that doctors and Lyme patients face within the medical system, including time constraints and the “syndromizing” of symptoms rather than addressing their cause. 

• www.lookingatlyme.ca show notes
• Invisible International
• Medical courses
• Learning resources
• Article library

In this episode, we speak with Canadian naturopathic doctor, Dr. Marie Mathieson. Dr. Matheson is one of a growing number of Canadian clinicians who are helping Lyme patients find solutions and gaining valuable expertise in the process. She's co-founder of BioHeal Ottawa and creator and facilitator of the Lyme Bright Collective and Tick Bite Ready. She completed the ILADS Physicians Training Program with the late Dr. Charles Ray Jones. She also serves on the advisory board for the Forum of Integrative Medicine. Welcome to the podcast, Dr. Matheson.

• www.lookingatlyme.ca
• Read the full show notes
• Health education grants

In this episode of Looking at Lyme, we explore how Lyme disease and other infections can appear dramatically different in children. Sometimes strep and other infections can even cause a sudden onset of neurological and behavioral changes in children. We welcome a world leader in this field to the podcast, Dr. Nancy O’Hara. Read the full show notes at www.lookingatlyme.ca.

Are your employees at risk of a tick encounter in their workplace? There are several ways to reduce the risk of tick bites and Lyme disease. Education is paramount and includes learning how to avoid ticks, what to do when bitten, and knowing the early signs of Lyme disease. Safe and timely tick removal can also reduce the risk of infection with Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. CanLyme is offering a significant price reduction for bulk orders for our Tick Removal Kit. CANLYME’S TICK REMOVAL KIT has everything you need to properly remove and store a tick for further identification and testing, and is easy to pack and find in a backpack, glove box, first aid kit and in your workplace.

Thank you to all of our guests for sharing your time and expertise with us! We launched season four with several back-to-back episodes that were all about the brain and limbic system, including different approaches to address these issues. We then looked to the outdoors and explored prevention strategies, including ways to address tick encounters in school grounds and workplaces. We wrapped up season four with an important discussion (our 55th podcast!) with Dr. Brian Fallon about Lyme disease and mental health. AND…we launched our new podcast survey.

Read more about season four.

In this podcast, Sarah talks with Dr. Brian Fallon about the cognitive and mental health manifestations of Lyme disease, and about some of his past and future research collaborations. Dr. Fallon is a physician, researcher, author, and Director of the Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases (TBD) Research Center and the Lyme and TBD Clinical Trials Coordinating Center at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. His work is focussed on the neuropsychiatric and persistent symptoms related to Lyme disease. 

• www.lookingatlyme.ca
• Full show notes
• Current research collaborations
• Dr. Brian A Fallon

We are approaching the end of Season 4, and Looking at Lyme is looking for your feedback in our new podcast survey! We have interviewed so many interesting guests over the past few years: it’s hard to believe that we are finishing up our 4th Season with our 55th podcast!

We want to hear from you. We want to know what content you are enjoying and ideas about who we might interview in future episodes. Please fill out the survey and let us know!

Take our survey: www.canlyme.com/survey/

A growing concern for industries and employees across the country is the risk of a tick encounter in the workplace. Both employers and employees can take important steps to raise awareness and reduce the risk of tick bites and tick-borne illnesses.

Sarah addresses safety in the workplace in these podcasts with Jordan Tesluk and Tim Tchida. Providing employees with a CanLyme Tick Removal Kit helps to ensure safe and timely tick removal, and testing ticks for pathogens can provide important information regarding potential exposure to those pathogens.

Show notes.

A growing concern for many outdoor workers across the country is the risk of a tick encounter in their workplace. Fortunately there are steps that employers and employees can take to reduce the risk of tick bites and tick-borne illnesses. Increased awareness is an important first step, and creating and implementing policies in the workplace helps keep employees safe and businesses running efficiently. In this podcast, Sarah is joined by Jordan Tesluk, a Forestry Safety Advocate for silviculture and consultant forestry in British Columbia.

• Read the full show notes!
• CanLyme Tick Removal Kit
• More on tick testing
• Mapping ticks in Canada

Ticks can be found in our backyards, parks and school grounds, and for thousands of Canadians, they can also be found in their workplace. Foresters, linesmen, landscapers, and tree planters are among the many outdoor workers who are at risk of encountering ticks in their day-to-day work. Even people who work indoors such as veterinarians and pet groomers are potentially exposed to this occupational hazard. In this podcast, we connect again with Tim Tchida, a business operator in the reforestation industry. He has been an industry leader in raising awareness about tick borne illnesses.

Read the full show notes.

When it comes to Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, prevention is paramount! There are some basic steps you can take to protect yourself and your family, including applying insect repellent before going outdoors. Keeping a supply of insect spray near the door, in your pack and in your car makes that important step even easier.

Read the show notes.

In this podcast, Sarah is joined by two Canadian women who have joined forces to create, research, and sell tick repellants made without harsh chemicals. Lisa Learning is an Indigenous entrepreneur and founder of AtlanTick repellent products. She joins us from Blockhouse, Nova Scotia. Nancy Thompson is her business partner and research collaborator. She joins us from Squamish, British Columbia. 

• Read the full show notes
• AtlanTick
• Dr. Nicoletta Faraone, Acadia University
• Behavioral responses of Ixodes scapularis tick to natural products: development of novel repellents
• Chemosensory and Behavioural Responses of Ixodes scapularis to Natural Products: Role of Chemosensory Organs in Volatile Detection

In this podcast we speak with Sarah Quillen, executive director of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, and ILADS sister organization, The International Lyme and Associated Disease Education Foundation. Sarah received her Masters in Public Affairs from University of North Carolina and is a Certified Fundraising Executive. With over 25 years of experience in the healthcare arena, including fundraising, public relations and program development, Sarah is building on the important work that ILADS has done over the years to support researchers, clinicians and their patients.

Sarah was raised in upstate New York, and grew up with ticks in her surroundings from a young age. She learned more about Lyme disease when her father was bitten by ticks on several occasions and developed Lyme disease. This experience brought to the forefront the difficulties that people can have in getting the proper diagnosis and treatment for Lyme disease. Through her professional network she learned about an opening at ILADS and took on the position of executive director last year. In this role she has taken on a variety of responsibilities in order to ensure that organization runs smoothly. 

• Read the full show notes
• ILADS
• ILADEF

What can employers do to protect staff who work in the outdoors? In this flashback podcast, Sarah explores some answers to that question with Tim Tchida, Owner and CEO of Summit Reforestation in Smithers BC. When Tim first heard about Lyme disease, he never imagined getting the disease himself. Tim recalls first learning he had Lyme disease after receiving a positive Canadian Lyme test (western blot) following mild symptoms of the disease. As time went on, he realized how fortunate he was to receive a diagnosis in light of so many others who have found it very challenging to receive a Lyme diagnosis in Canada.

Read the Season 2 show notes.

This flashback episode is from season two! Sarah announces an Educator Resource for Lyme disease, and speaks with the lead resource developer, Lauren Hudson. Lauren is an educator and parent with a passion for science, life and for going into nature with her students and her family. She took a deep dive into the world of Lyme disease to help develop an educator resource to help other teachers both learn and teach about ticks and tick-borne illnesses. Lauren recalls her own journey of learning about tick-borne illnesses from members of the Lyme Education Awareness and Prevention (LEAP) team.

Lauren helped develop the Educators’ Resource as a tool to empower teachers to learn and teach others about ticks and tick-borne illnesses. The resource consists of three modules along with three activities per module and numerous slides and images to compliment the written material. The initial resource covers information about ticks and how to identify them, what people need to know before and after going outdoors, as well as the basics of Lyme disease. She points out that it can be used not only by educators in schools, but also in other settings such as outdoor education. It has also been designed to be accessible to diverse ways of learning and different learning styles.

Read the show notes
Get the Educator Resource

This interview with Dr. Ralph Hawkins is from season one! Dr. Hawkins has been treating Lyme patients in Canada for many years, gaining a wealth of knowledge about the disease. He recounts his introduction to the shortcomings of Lyme disease testing in Canada while treating a patient with a history of multiple previous tick bites, many common symptoms of Lyme disease, but a negative Canadian Lyme test. Dr. Hawkins had the patient’s blood tested at a University Lab in New York, revealing test band patterns consistent with Lyme disease. He referred this patient to Infectious Diseases colleagues for treatment, but quickly found out that the diagnosis of late stage Lyme disease is not generally recognized by the Infectious Diseases community. He was advised to not only drop this case, but to avoid other similar cases. The recommendation to avoid such patients sparked Dr. Hawkins’ curiosity and interest, inspiring him to dive deeply into the research and history of Lyme disease.

Dr. Hawkins walks us through the current testing protocols for Lyme disease in Canada, explaining why some patients with Lyme disease receive a negative test result. He explains the difference between current testing in Canada and tests done in other parts of the world, highlighting a test done in Germany that he often relies on when diagnosing patients, and touching on the approval process for such tests by Health Canada. Without better testing, Canadians with Lyme disease continue to fall through the cracks of the healthcare system. Dr. Hawkins refers to a recent analysis of Lyme diagnosis in Canada in which researchers speculate that in some areas, two thirds of Lyme cases go unreported. With this in mind he points out that, in light of the severity of untreated Lyme disease, a trial period of treatment for Lyme disease would be valid for certain patients with negative Canadian serology. Thank you Dr. Hawkins for walking with us down the bumpy road of Lyme disease testing and treatment in Canada!

In this flash back episode, Sarah explores the latest research on astrocytes, gut bacteria and neuroinflammation with scientist and medical researcher Dr. Francisco Quintana. Dr. Quintana is a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He describes some of the causes of neuroinflammation including infection, tumours and auto-immune disease. So what does all of that have to do with astrocytes?  

Astrocytes are a type of glial cell found in the central nervous system. These cells were first described over 100 years ago and were given their celestial name because they are shaped like a star. Even though they are the most abundant type of cell in the brain, Dr. Quintana points out that we are just now beginning to understand their function. One of the important functions of the glymphatic system is in regulating the movement of fluids in and out of the brain. Once seen as having more of a supportive role in the brain, astrocytes are now understood to help regulate inflammation – an important finding in the study of diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimers and Parkinson’s disease. In fact, Dr. Quintana states that the astrocytes can, “boost and drive inflammation and that’s very important because, so far, we have no therapies to actually suppress those pro-inflammatory activities.”

Read the full show notes. 

As Dr. Maloney says, “Research is our way out of this.” This is our kind of expert leading the way in the field. In today’s podcast, Sarah explores a comprehensive (and free!) online education program designed for healthcare professionals, which was founded by Lyme disease expert, Dr. Betty Maloney. Listen to this flashback interview with Dr. Maloney who became interested in Lyme disease when she realized that what she was seeing in her medical practice did not align with her medical training and scientific education. This led her to apply her clinical skills, listen carefully to her patients, and eventually help educate other physicians regarding Lyme disease. It inspired her to support patients through her work with the Minnesota Lyme Association.

Dr. Maloney describes the evolution of her training from all-day seminars to present day online CME-accredited (continuing medical education) courses available at LymeCME.info  The courses are an invaluable resource to physicians and the patients they care for as they are offered  online for free. She notes that despite the accessibility of these courses, many physicians are not aware that they exist. The CME courses are accredited in the US, individuals would need to research whether the accreditation applies to their profession and jurisdiction.

Read the show notes.

Dr. Rebecca Trout Fryxell is a medical and veterinary entomologist, researcher and associate professor at the University of Tennessee and joins us from Knoxville, Tennessee. In this podcast, Dr. Trout Fryxell talks about tick biology, tick populations in the southeastern US, and strategies to keep ticks away from people in our backyards and school yards. 

 

Dr. Trout Fryxell became interested in Veterinary entomology when she learned that even a very small organism, such as a caterpillar, could have a very big impact on something many times its size such as a horse. That sparked her interest to study vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks and flies with the aim of helping to reduce the harm they can cause. She explains that a vector is an arthropod that acts as a bridge for a pathogen to move from point A to point B.

Read the full show notes!

Dr. Neil Nathan is a physician and author, and has practiced medicine for over 50 years in the areas of family medicine and pain management. In part 2 of our podcast with Dr. Nathan, he talks about Bartonella, helpful strategies for treating tick-borne illnesses, resources for a deeper dive into the diagnosis and treatment mold, Lyme disease and multiple chemical sensitivities. We’ll also get a sneak peak into his new book that addresses causes and solutions for the growing problem of increased sensitivity.

Dr. Nathan explains that, although Bartonella is often overlooked, it is the nastiest and hardest tick-borne infection to treat. Because it is the “third in line” of the three most common infections, it often doesn’t receive as much attention as Lyme and Babesia. Dr. Nathan points out that Bartonella is as common as Borellia in ticks from his region, northern California. Some of the common symptoms of Bartonella are pain on the bottom of the feet, vibrational perceptions or tremors, and intense anxiety, depression or a feeling of hopelessness. Beyond the symptoms themselves, Dr. Nathan notes that the increased intensity of a patient’s experience is often an indicator of a Bartonella infection.

• Read the full show notes for this episode, part 2
• Listen to part 1: 49. Mold, Lyme and Bartonella with Dr. Neil Nathan

Dr. Neil Nathan is a physician and author, and is a Founding Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine, and the International Society for Environmentally Acquired Illness (ISEAI). He has practiced medicine for over 50 years including 30 years treating patients with chronic complex illnesses, and 20 years treating patients with Lyme disease. He has written several several books about chronic illness, mold toxicity and other environmental illnesses, Lyme and energetic diagnosis. He joins us from Northern California to explore the foundations of mold toxicity, Lyme disease and other infections, and the impact they have on our cells and our nervous system. This episode is part one of a two part interview. 

Throughout his career, Dr. Nathan has observed that certain illnesses don’t fit neatly into medical models. While working at a pain management center in the 1980’s, Dr. Nathan and his colleagues saw many patients with what was once called fibrositis, and is now known as Fibromyalgia. Because diseases such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia were poorly understood, many of these patients were referred to psychiatrists, and given medications that didn’t work. 

With better understanding of the biochemistry of Fibromyalgia and CFS, better treatments were discovered. Over time, though, those treatments became less effective, leading doctors to explore other contributing factors such as Lyme disease. Many patients who weren’t responding to treatments for Lyme disease were also found to have mold toxicity. With the increase in patients presenting with these problems, Dr. Nathan decided to take matters into his own hands and learn all he could about Lyme disease and later, mold toxicity.

• Full show notes
• Dr. Neil Nathan, MD
• Naviaux Lab
• DNRS
• Books by Dr. Nathan

In this episode from Season 3, Sarah explores how the brain functions with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Dr. Jill was working as a neuroanatomist, teaching and conducting research at the Harvard School of Medicine when she experienced a severe hemorrhagic stroke. After recovering from that stroke, Dr. Jill wrote about her experience and has travelled the world giving inspirational talks, including one of the first TED talks to go viral! She describes that fascinating experience in her first book “My Stroke of Insight” and joins us today to talk about what she refers to as “Whole Brain Living”, which is also the title of her new book.

Posttraumatic growth is not only the topic of this podcast from Season 2, it is also the process that birthed the Looking at Lyme podcast. Sarah explores posttraumatic growth with Dr. Richard Tedeschi, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, faculty member of the Posttraumatic Research Group and distinguished chair of the Boulder Crest Institute for Posttraumatic Growth.

Dr. Tedeschi and his colleague, Dr. Lawrence Calhoun, have been working in this area since the 1980s and have developed the academic theory of posttraumatic growth. As psychologists, the pair were interested in finding out what makes people wise, and interviewed people who had experienced either physical disability or bereavement. They found that these individuals had gained wisdom and experienced positive changes in their lives in the aftermath of their traumas. A decade into this work, they coined the term posttraumatic growth to describe this process.

Read the full shownotes.

In this podcast we speak with Mario Levesque, Associate Professor of Canadian Politics and Public Policy in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Mount Allison University. His teaching and research focus on Canadian politics and public policy, with interests in Atlantic Canadian politics and Lyme disease policy in Canada. He recently co-authored a paper with colleague Marilyn Cox called Small Wins for Those with Lyme Disease in Canada, Patients in an Embodied Health Movement. www.lookingatlyme.ca

Mario talks about his entry into policy work, navigating policy between the private sector and government. This early work sparked his interest and motivated him to learn more about public policy. After receiving his PhD in public policy, he started working in the area of disability policy,  work that overlaps with the work he’s now doing regarding Lyme disease policy. After his conversations with Vett Lloyd of Mount Allison University, Mario developed an interest in studying Lyme disease policy in Canada.

• Read the full show notes
• Mario Levesque, PhD, at Mount Allison University

Dr. Cornish is an integrative functional physician working at the Amen Clinics. She was introduced to chronic Lyme disease when working with a patient who was not cured by a short course of antibiotics. The patient, a landscaper who presented with a bullseye rash followed by ongoing Lyme symptoms, had been labeled as a “drug seeking” patient. This caused Dr. Cornish to ask the question, “Who in the world drug-seeks antibiotics?” After joining a medical practice in a Lyme endemic area, Dr. Cornish learned about the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), and eventually became a Board member.

While CT and MRI scans of the brain examine the function and anatomy, Dr. Cornish explains that a SPECT scan, a single photon emission computerized tomography scan, looks at brain activity and blood flow. She explains that areas of the brain that have less blood flow or activity appear almost like “holes” on a SPECT scan. These changes can be caused by toxins, head injury, Alzheimer’s, Lyme disease and other infections.

Although SPECT scans alone are not diagnostic of Lyme disease, scans can be used to figure out what questions to ask. Dr. Cornish looks for areas of inflammation and “scattered early activity”. Later in the disease process, the activity may be less scattered and may take on a scalloped appearance with decreased blood flow, indicating brain inflammation. The scan, along with a physical exam and detailed patient history help a physician determine differential diagnoses. Dr. Cornish notes that brain inflammation can be caused by a number of toxins such as mold, Lyme, and other tick-borne infections.

Read the rest of the show notes!

Today we're flashing back to an interview on outdoor education. In this podcast, Sarah reaches Mike Horembala in the Foothills of Alberta. Mike, known to his students as “Mr. H’, is a Vice Principal and teacher with a passion for the outdoors. He developed a program within the Foothills School District called “Go Wild,” where students can learn about the outdoors while earning credits. Students participate in day trips and multi-day expeditions...hiking, canoeing, kayaking, backcountry skiing and snowshoeing amongst many other outdoor activities. They’ve even gone on an eco-tourism adventure to Belize! We’d have to agree with Mike when he says “pinch me” - what a great opportunity for students and educators alike!

Read the original show notes! Learn more about our Educators' Resource.

Interest in meditation has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years and is now practiced by millions of people worldwide. In this podcast, we find out how meditation can help people throughout their health challenges and beyond. Nicholas Arsenault is an outdoor educator who discovered the healing power of meditation through his own journey with Lyme disease, and is now drawing on what he has learned to help others.

Nicholas turned to meditation in order to address the mental health component of Lyme disease. He wanted to be able to direct his own healing process, become grounded and shut out the noise associated with Lyme disease. His meditation practice began when he met Jeff Warren, a meditation teacher from Toronto, Canada. After guiding meditation for several years, Nicholas enrolled in meditation teacher training with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield with the intention of better navigating his own life and eventually helping others.

• Read the show notes!
• Meditation video

When we sense danger, our limbic system causes us to react in order to stay safe. This system can become impaired, causing a reaction even when we are no longer in danger. In this podcast, Annie Hopper explains limbic system impairment and shows us that the limbic system can be retrained, moving us into a state of rest and repair.

Annie Hopper is a limbic system rehabilitation specialist and founder of the Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS). She is also author of the book Wired for Healing: Remapping the Brain to Recover from Chronic and Mysterious Illnesses.

• Read the full show notes
• The Brain That Changes Itself, Dr. Norman Doige
• Limbic system impairment self-assessment survey
• Living DNRS program
• Lyme related success stories
• Learn more about the Dynamic Neural Retraining System

Summer camps are in full swing and fall education programs are on their way! CanLyme’s Educator’s Resource is the perfect companion for all educators, including parents, who want to learn how to prevent Lyme disease and keep children (and themselves!) safe in the outdoors.

The Educator’s Resource is free to download on the Looking at Lyme website, and is full of activities and projects to help kids learn about ticks, and how to prevent and recognize Lyme disease. It’s all about learning, having fun and staying safe in the outdoors!

Also check out these Looking at Lyme podcasts, where experts in outdoor education and risk management share their tips on how to prevent and manage tick bites in outdoor education programs and in the wilderness. 

Fasten your seatbelts! In this podcast, Dr. Patrick Porter takes us on a journey into our brains, and shares with us his cutting edge technology aimed at improving our lives through brainwave technology. Dr. Porter is a researcher, educator, author and creator of technologies that use light, sound and other strategies to improve brain function and performance. He has written several books including Awaken the Genius: Mind Technology for the 21st Century.

• Read the rest of the show notes!
• Health practitioner education grants

Our fourth season of the Looking at Lyme podcast is on its way! We’re gearing up to start exploring some new avenues and opportunities for learning and healing. When it comes to healing, science is showing us that our minds and bodies operate as one system and need to be studied and treated that way. Our physical and mental health are directly impacted by what is going on in our brain and nervous system. Neuroscience is proving that the opposite is also true, and this is good news indeed! Techniques that improve the function of our brain and nervous system can improve our physical health and mental health. In season four, we’ll explore some of these modalities along with other resources aimed at healing. See you soon in season four!

That’s a wrap for season three of our podcast!

As we prepare for some time off from production, we’ve started accepting applications for our education funding. 

If you’re a healthcare practitioner that is looking to advance your education and have a better understanding of Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment, please take a look at our education granting process.

If you know a healthcare practitioner that might benefit from an upgrade, please share our education funding opportunities with them. 

Thank you, and thank you so much for listening! 

CanLyme is currently offering education grants for Canadian healthcare providers caring for patients with vector-borne illnesses. ILADS educational opportunities enable clinicians to better understand the fundamentals of treating Lyme and associated diseases and many of the more complex issues associated with these diseases. If you are a healthcare provider or know of one who would like to learn more about vector-borne illnesses, grant application and information can be found at lookingatlyme.ca.

Read more!

Sarah explores the latest advances in Lyme disease treatment with Dr. Kim Lewis, a researcher, author, University Distinguished Professor and director of Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern University in Boston. He specializes in molecular science and is currently researching persister cells that lead to tolerance to antibiotics, uncultured bacteria of the environment and the microbiome and the search for new drugs. We’ll find out what role nature plays in all of this important work.

Dr. Lewis became interested in studying Borrelia burgdorferi, the pathogen responsible for Lyme disease, when he realized that some people who had been treated for Lyme disease did not fully recover and went on to experience chronic Lyme disease.

Read the rest of the show notes.

In this episode of the Looking at Lyme podcast we welcome Dorothy and Rachel Leland, a dynamic mother and daughter duo who are changing the way we understand Lyme disease through their writing and their drive to convey important information to help Lyme patients and those around them. Rachel and Dorothy are co-authors of the book Finding Resilience: A Teen's Journey Through Lyme Disease. In the book, Rachel recounts her difficult journey through Lyme disease and co-infections. She is now a speech language pathology assistant. Dorothy is president of Lymedisease.org, an internationally renowned organization and platform for Lyme disease education, advocacy and research. She is also author of the online blog, Touched by Lyme.

• Full show notes at www.lookingatlyme.ca
• Lymedisease.org
• Finding Resilience: A Teen's Journey Through Lyme Disease

In today’s podcast, Sarah speaks with Victoria Sanderson about her exciting new research into Lyme disease testing at the University of Guelph. Sanderson is a current medical student and previously completed her Master’s degree at the University of Guelph and became interested in Lyme disease after seeing how much the disease impacted her mother’s life and the lives of so many others. Having an acute interest in biology, she started to study Lyme disease and quickly became fascinated with its complex microbiology and pathology. She connected with the G. Magnotta Lab at the University of Guelph where she works with a team of world class researchers. You can find out more about the G. Magnotta Lab in this episode of the Looking at Lyme podcast. 

Read the full show notes.

In today’s podcast, Sarah speaks with Maddie Gravelle about her research into the consequences of illness uncertainty for Lyme disease patients. Maddie is a student and researcher at Queen’s University in Kingston. She shifted her research focus from cancer to Lyme disease after witnessing the challenges her mother faced in dealing with both of these diseases. Her mother noticed that some aspects of Lyme disease were more challenging when compared to similar aspects of dealing with cancer. When Maddie discovered that there was very little research regarding the psychological effects of Lyme disease, she decided to make that her research focus.

Maddie describes four different types of illness uncertainty that patients can be faced with as described in Mishel’s Illness Uncertainty Theory. She points out that many Lyme patients are faced with uncertainty in the areas of diagnosis, ambiguity around the disease, unpredictability and complex healthcare experiences. She highlights some of the many uncertainties that Lyme patients are faced with, not only in relation to the complex and unpredictable nature of the disease, but also as a result of “complex healthcare experiences” that many Lyme patients deal with.

Read the show notes

In today’s podcast Sarah explores Lyme carditis with Dr. Adrian Baranchuk, a cardiologist from Kingston, Ontario. Lyme carditis is inflammation of the heart and can cause lightheadedness, palpitations, fainting, chest pain and shortness of breath. In severe cases, it can be fatal. Dr. Baranchuk tells Sarah he has now seen 16 patients with Lyme carditis. He met his first patient when a physician in a nearby hospital requested transfer of a young 14 year old patient with something called AV block, a disruption of the electrical pathway that stimulates the heart to contract. 

The young patient had a life saving temporary pacemaker inserted, and the transferring physician mentioned that she had sent blood work for Lyme disease. This prompted Dr. Baranchuk to investigate something called Lyme carditis and question whether antibiotics might resolve the heart block and prevent the need for a permanent pacemaker to be inserted in this young patient. He did initiate antibiotics, and within one week, the patient had a completely normal electrical system in his heart. The temporary pacemaker was removed, and his cardiac stress test showed normal results. 

Read the rest of the show notes.

In this episode of Looking at Lyme, we go to Augsburg, Germany to learn about diagnostic testing with Dr. Armin Schwarzbach, MD, PhD. 

Dr. Schwarzbach is a specialist in laboratory medicine and infectious diseases, having worked in the field for over 20 years. He recalls one of his patients who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and tested positive for a test that was then called a lymphocyte transformation test for Borrelia burgdorferi even though she subsequently tested negative for antibodies to the bacteria. The patient had not responded to previous treatment for her MS (with steroids) but recovered after being treated for Lyme disease.

“The TickPlex was developed because…we saw together with professor Gilbert that there are persister forms…we said why should we not test for these persister form antibodies…and that was a breakthrough because we found around 98% now with a persister form of antibodies.” - Dr. Armin Schwarzbach

• Get the full show notes and resources
• Coinfections checklist (PDF)
• Heading to Finland to find ways to accurately diagnose tick-borne diseases

Join Sarah in today’s podcast as she explores everything ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) with Dr. Amy Offutt. Dr. Offutt is the medical director and co-owner of Heart & Soul Integrative Medicine in Marble Falls, Texas, and is also an ILADS board member. 

Dr. Offutt made the shift into integrative medicine in order to better understand and care for patients that were experiencing chronic inflammation, often caused by underlying infections. This path led her to ILADS, where she found an abundance of educational resources along with experienced practitioners to help further her knowledge and better serve her patients. Dr. Offutt recalls her first ILADS conference and the common desire amongst practitioners to be able to help patients heal and become stronger.

In this episode we discuss ILADS membership, better outcomes through education and the ILADS 2021 Conference, infection, immune response, and inflammation.

• Get the full show notes
• 2021 ILADS Conference
• Heart & Soul Integrative Medicine
• ILADS

Welcome back to the Looking at Lyme Podcast... here we are in Season 3! In this episode, Sarah explores how the brain functions with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Dr. Jill was working as a neuroanatomist, teaching and conducting research at the Harvard School of Medicine when she experienced a severe hemorrhagic stroke. After recovering from that stroke, Dr. Jill wrote about her experience and has travelled the world giving inspirational talks, including one of the first TED talks to go viral! She describes that fascinating experience in her first book “My Stroke of Insight” and joins us today to talk about what she refers to as “Whole Brain Living”, which is also the title of her new book.

“If people realize that all they had to do was quiet the noisy left language centres in our left hemisphere, then they too could find this peace.” - Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

• Read the show notes, Looking at Lyme 
• Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life
• TED Talk: My stroke of insight

On season three of Looking at Lyme we'll meet a cardiologist who has developed a new protocol for diagnosing and treating Lyme, we're going all the way to Germany to learn about blood testing for Lyme disease, and don't miss out on our interview with a world renown brain scientist who had a massive stroke then studied her recovery. Welcome back!

• See our show notes and website
• Index of previous episodes

Thank you so much everyone for joining us for season two. We had the privilege of speaking so many amazing people this season, including Dr. Vet Lloyd, Dr. Betty Maloney, and Dr. Theoharides, and with outdoor educators like Mike Horembala and Lauren Hudson.

If you haven't checked it out already, please check out our Educators' Resource. Our Second Edition is finished and available for download.

We love hearing from our listeners. Please send us your ideas and questions! 

We’re on a break but we are getting ready for season three and we want to share our excitement with you. We have so many new excellent interviews lined up and will continue to dive into the science with leading experts.

Stay tuned, and see you after the summer. Remember, check for ticks after outdoor adventures and stay safe in the outdoors!

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This week Sarah is joined by Dr. Shelley Ball, an evolutionary ecologist, fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and Founder and President of Biosphere Environmental Education, a social enterprise focused on connecting people with nature. She was also a founding member of the inaugural Homeward Bound Women In Science Leadership Expedition to Antarctica. In this episode, Sarah and Dr. Ball discuss her newly-published book: Lyme Disease, Ticks and You: A Guide To Navigating Tick Bites, Lyme Disease And Other Tick-borne Infections.

Dr. Ball became involved with Lyme disease as a person suffering from Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses. Dr. Ball did as much research into Lyme as she could...she is a former research scientist, university professor and self-proclaimed “knowledge sponge.” Self-education and advocacy is vital due to the current lack of support from the public health care system for Lyme disease patients.

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We are excited to give away ten free tick removal kits, courtesy of CanLyme! Pack this in your backpack or in your first aid kit and take it on adventures with you. All you need to do is tag us in a photo on Instagram having fun and saying safe in the outdoors. Our Instagram handle is @canlyme_canada. #StaySafeInTheOutdoors

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In this podcast, we're excited to speak with Dr. Monica Embers, associate professor in the division of immunology, director of vector borne disease research, and director of the education and training program at the Tulane Primate Research Center. Dr. Embers’ research is focused on the detection of persistent Lyme disease in human autopsy tissues, identifying treatments to eradicate Borrelia infection and immunodiagnosis of Borrelia burgdorferi infection and cure. Her team is also developing research models for Bartonella infection.

• Show notes: lookingatlyme.ca/2024/04/lyme-persistence-combination-antibiotic-research-monica-embers
• Monica E. Embers, Phd, at Tulane University

This week Sarah is joined by Gina Valles, a fitness coach with a degree in exercise science who founded Gina’s Total Fitness in Connecticut. In 2018, Gina was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which changed her life and outlook on fitness. Through her Instagram account, which has almost 180,000 followers, Gina shares her journey, workouts, and inspiration.

Gina explains that she lived with undiagnosed Lyme disease for a year in 2017 before being diagnosed. She knew nothing about the disease then, but has educated herself and learned how to adjust her exercise routine and manage on a day-to-day basis. Gina was a competitive athlete throughout her life, and when she got sick she had to adjust her workout routines to focus more on lower intensity movement and listening to her body. She emphasizes that it took time, trial and error to find a fitness routine that works for her.

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We have a book giveaway! In episode 31 we interviewed Dr. Kenneth Bock about his integrative approach to medicine. You can enter to win Dr. Bock’s recent book, Brain Inflamed, by following us on Twitter: @Lookingatlyme_

Many patients with Lyme disease and co-infections such as Bartonella experience the effects of inflammation in the brain and central nervous system. One of the chapters of Dr. Bock’s latest book, Brain Inflamed, is dedicated to the effect of Lyme disease and co-infections in the brain. He explains that infections, stress, toxicants and brain trauma can all cause inflammation of the brain. Some of the symptoms familiar to Lyme patients are decreased memory and word finding difficulties. 

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In this episode, Sarah speaks with Rossana Magnotta, who established the G. Magnotta Foundation in honour of her late husband, Gabe, who passed away after a courageous battle with Lyme disease. The G. Magnotta Foundation leads scientific research into Lyme disease at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Rossana tells Sarah that Gabe was an avid outdoorsman who spent much of his life camping, hunting, and fishing. When he developed symptoms including balance issues, eye problems, and memory loss, he was tested for everything from Alzheimer’s to ALS, before finally being tested for Lyme disease. However, the Canadian Lyme tests came back negative. 

This experience echoes the stories of so many other Lyme patients who are shuffled between different doctors and specialists, with no answers. Rossana emphasizes how difficult this experience can be for families as well.

Even when Rossana insisted to her husband’s doctors that Gabe was an avid outdoorsman and that she believed he had Lyme disease, she was dismissed because of the negative tests. When Gabe’s blood was sent to the US for testing, the results were positive. But at that point, they had lost precious time and he never recovered.

Having worked in hematology, microbiology, and biochemistry, Rossana was able to investigate Canada’s ELISA test (a two-tiered serological test), the apparent “gold standard” test for Lyme disease. Rossana explains that when she dug into it, she realized it was faulty, as it only measures a narrow immune response rather than identifying whether the person has an active infection or not and whether Borrelia is the causative agent of the illness. 

The test is still not a reliable indicator for doctors. With determination, Rossana set out to develop a reliable and trustworthy test to support doctors in diagnosis and consequently early treatment. From this painful experience, the G. Magnotta Foundation was born.

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CanLyme is excited to kick off May which is Lyme Awareness Month! In this episode, we introduce a Canadian tick map designed by Justin Wood. Justin is the CEO and founder of Geneticks laboratory in Ontario, where he tests ticks from across Canada for many tick-borne pathogens.

For the past several years, Justin has been planning and developing a platform to share his tick data from across Canada. By removing identifying information and applying a degree of randomization to his data, he is able to add information to the map including tick species, lifestage, pathogens detected, location, and type of host the tick was found on. This data can be retrieved in various ways depending on the interest of the reader. For example, if someone is only interested in finding out about Blacklegged ticks, that data can be explored by applying a filter which excludes other types of ticks.

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