By Dr. Matsen

We love the outdoors, we love the fresh air and we love the quiet of the forest, lake, creek and river. We love the serenity that being out in nature brings. Nature is calming, healing and peaceful—until nature gets hungry.

Some of nature’s larger creatures require flesh, while some smaller ones need blood. There are members of the mite family called ticks that need blood to develop and grow. Tick eggs are laid on the ground in the spring and hatch out in the summer as larvae. Tick larvae will attach to mice, birds or other small animals where they get their first blood meal which will get them through winter and allow them to grow into nymphs which are about the size of a poppy seed.

In the spring the tiny tick nymph will wait patiently in grass or bushes for a host to pass nearby. They can detect vibration and can smell carbon dioxide and breath odors of mammals and will attempt to attach to them. If successful, the ticks will crawl down to the skin and bite through and begin to draw blood into their own bodies. The mouse, squirrel, deer, dog, coyote, horse or human bitten by this little tick wouldn’t notice the blood loss as it would be only a few drops. However, the once tiny tick nymph, when fully engorged with blood, will swell to five times its original size.

With this supply of blood, the nymph tick can continue its growth into adulthood, perhaps drawing more blood from larger animals such as deer or humans, and eventually laying eggs in the spring before dying. Thus, the tick generally has a simple two-year lifecycle that does no direct harm to its food source.

Unfortunately, the tick sometimes picks up hitchhikers in the blood that it takes in. Viruses, protozoa, mycoplasma or bacteria that are picked up by the tick could end up being passed into a future blood source. These organisms can create a wide range of diseases in humans, such as ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tick-borne relapsing fever, Q fever, tularemia, Colorado tick fever, tick paralysis or DNA viral illnesses. These are generally acute conditions that are found in particular areas and local doctors are usually well aware of the appropriate diagnostics and therapeutics to use.

However, there is a type of bacteria, called Borrelia burgdorferi, which is passed on by a tick bite and its disease symptoms can be harder to identify and, therefore, to treat. This disease is commonly called Lyme disease after a town in Connecticut where it was first identified in children with arthritis-like symptoms. The ticks that spread the Lyme bacteria are hard-shelled ticks of the Ixode family; Ixodes scapularis in eastern North America, commonly called the black-legged tick or deer tick. In western North America the tick is Ixode pacificus or the western black-legged tick. Black-legged ticks pick up the bacteria while drawing blood from an infected mouse or larger mammal such as a deer. Ironically, the rodents and deer aren’t affected by the bacteria. The tick might then pass the bacteria on when it does its next blood draw.

The difficulties in diagnosing Lyme disease have been multifold. First, a tick bite may not be noticed, especially one made by a tiny nymph tick. Second, symptoms can be non-existent or mild at the beginning; or they may not occur at all for many months after exposure and when they do occur, they may be vague and remitting. There is a skin condition associated with Lyme exposure in which a red, non-itchy rash, called erythema migrans, forms around the bite site and resembles a bull’s-eye. This doesn’t show in all cases, however. Third, there are a multitude of other symptoms associated with Lyme disease, many of which are similar to those of other health problems. Fourth, the lab tests for this infection have not been completely accurate.

While the bacteria can be killed by antibiotics if given soon after infection, the variable symptoms and lack of reliable lab tests for Lyme disease has resulted in delayed treatments that have allowed the bacteria to create serious neurological and immunological problems in thousands of people.

This disease is particularly rampant in New England and other states where white-tailed deer are prevalent and in northern California and areas where white-footed mice are common, though every state and province in North America has reported cases. Approximately 180,000 cases of Lyme disease have been reported to the U.S. Center for Disease Control which believes that the actual number is much higher due to under-reporting. Cases have also been reported throughout Europe and Asia, though with variations on the infected tick and bacteria source. I have personally seen several advanced cases in the North Shore of Vancouver, British Columbia and cases have been reported as far north as Alaska. While people out in the forest might be considered the most vulnerable to tick bites carrying Lyme bacteria, many cases have been reported by those who have only been out in their gardens.

In the summer of 2009, I was working on weekends as a volunteer with the Squamish Streamkeepers. Our summer project was to transfer coho salmon fry from Swift Creek, which dries up in the summer, to Bratt Creek, which doesn’t dry up but lost its coho salmon run 30 years ago. Since it was a hot summer, I wasn’t wearing anything more than a T- shirt, shorts and gum boots. After transferring 4,200 coho fry over a period of several weekends, I noticed a small bump on my left hip and realized it was a tick. I’d had tick bites before so pulled it out by the neck and thought no more of it, except that a red rash formed around the bite site and lingered for several months.

Knowing that a stubborn red rash was considered one of the key indicators of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, I knew it was time for me to do more investigation of Lyme disease. I found that the main problem with the original blood testing for this disease was that the test used two antigens on a particular species of Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria as the indicator of infection. It turns out there are three different versions of the bacteria, with different antigens. Now there is a test that measures 6 antigens which are found on all three strains of the Lyme bacteria. This test is called the C6 Elisa test and is presently considered the most accurate test for exposure to Lyme disease. If results are positive, then a further test, called the Antibody Titer Test, can indicate the degree of infection. I had my blood samples for both tests sent off to a lab called IGeneX in Palo Alto, California, and the results were negative on both. The lab admits the tests are only 80% accurate but because I had no acute symptoms of fever, fatigue, headaches or depression and no long-term neurological or arthritis-like symptoms, it’s unlikely that I picked up Lyme disease from this tick bite or any previous ones.

Before you become so fearful of nature that you never want to go into the woods—or even your yard—again, understand that your chances of getting Lyme disease are still slim in areas where it’s relatively uncommon (such as the Pacific Northwest.) It’s believed that less than one percent of tick bites will pass on the bacteria in this area. There are also many things that can be done to further reduce the odds of becoming infected. Be aware that the majority of tick bites occur from May to September when nymph and adult ticks are looking for blood. Wearing long sleeves, tucking your pants into your boots and wearing light-colored clothing so the dark tick will be more visible, are some things you can do to help keep ticks off your skin. Using DEET insect repellent or a natural alternative on exposed skin should help as well. Showering and changing clothes at the end of the day is another good idea. Ticks may survive a ride through the washing machine but they won’t survive the dryer.

If a bite does occur, the tick needs to be attached to you for 24 hours (some say 36 hours) or longer before the bacteria can pass into you. If a tick is attached to you, the worst thing you can do is squeeze its engorged body as this might push the bacteria out of the tick and into you. Using tweezers (or your fingers if tweezers aren’t readily available) pinch the tick at the head and pull it directly out. See your doctor as soon as possible for blood testing for Lyme bacteria, preferably starting with the C6 Elisa test. If positive, antibiotics are commonly prescribed. Since extended oral use of antibiotics can also destroy your friendly intestinal flora, it’s better to use injected antibiotics or take probiotics throughout the course of treatment.

When diagnosed and treated early, most of those infected with the Lyme bacteria will fully recover quickly. However, many people continue to have a myriad of symptoms after being treated for Lyme disease. These symptoms can range from fatigue, arthritis, neurological problems, digestion and bowel problems, etc. Some doctors believe that there are residual bacteria still hidden away in the person and antibiotics must be continued far longer than what is generally accepted as safe. Other doctors believe that the bacteria are dead but autoimmune responses activated by the bacteria (or the treatments given) are the root of the symptoms and suppressive medications must be used.

Perhaps a hundred years ago the Lyme bacteria had as little effect on humans that were exposed to it as is true today of the white-tailed deer—it could be that the increased incidence of Lyme disease is not entirely due to an increase in Lyme bacteria infection from tick bites. Perhaps it’s also a result of the weakening of our immune systems due to unhealthy diets and increased use of mercury and oral antibiotics; the same probably applies to the increased incidence of other chronic health conditions, such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, ADD/ADHD, autism, allergies, eczema, Crohn’s disease, colitis, lupus, scleroderma, etc. Following the Eating Alive Program can help to strengthen the immune system and improve these chronic health problems.