Health

Over the past decade two

conditions have increased to
near epidemic proportions. The
first is autism. The second is
Lyme disease.
It is estimated that more children
are diagnosed with Lyme disease
each year than all the cases of
epilepsy, type 1 diabetes, cystic
fibrosis and paediatric cancer
combined. It can infect anyone,
with some evidence that children
between the ages of five and nine
are particularly at risk.
Controversy surrounds the
increase of Lyme disease.
Correlation does not always mean
causation, but according to Dr
Dietrich Klinghardt of the US-based
Klinghardt Academy, a key
authority on Lyme disease, more
than 70 per cent of the children he
has seen with neurodevelopmental
disorders have tested positive for
Lyme disease. Furthermore, 84 per
cent of the mothers of children with
autism have also tested positive for
Lyme disease.

Whats Lyme
got to do with it?

36 Au t i s m | e y e I s s u e 2 1 2 0 1 6

List compiled by Dr Charles Ray Jones

Frequent fevers

Irritability

Increased incidence of
ear and throat infections

Increased incidence of
pneumonia

Joint and body pain

Poor muscle tone

GI reflux

Small windpipe

Cataracts and other eye

problems

Developmental delay

Learning difficulties

Psychiatric manifestations

Common symptoms of Lyme

disease in paeditraic patients
List compiled by Dr Charles Ray Jones
from a sample of 12,000 paediatric patients

What is Lyme disease?

Lyme disease is caused by the
Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria,
which has become known as the
super-microbe. Borrelia is clever
enough to hide in the hosts own
blood cells and body tissue to
evade the immune system. It has
the ability to suppress the immune
system and survive in the most
hostile of environments.
There are a number of species
and over 300 strains of Borrelia
worldwide, making Lyme disease
one of the most challenging
diseases to diagnose. Even the
best laboratories are limited to the
number of species and strains that
they test for. Each strain can cause
slightly different symptoms and
immune reactions. In Europe, for
instance, Borrelia afzelii can cause
skin rashes and Borellia garinii can
cause neuroborreliosis, which
affects the central nervous system.
The traditional idea that Lyme
disease can only be contracted
through tick bites is now outdated
deer and horse flies, as well as
some mosquitos, can carry the
bacteria too. Only about 50 per
cent of patients diagnosed with
Lyme disease ever remember
being bitten by a tick and only one

Common symptoms of Lyme

disease in paediatric patients
suspected of contracting the
disease in utero or through
breast feeding

Lyme disease has

been growing fast
and is thought to be
more common than
epilepsy and type 1
diabetes combined.
Stella Chadwick looks at
the causes and symptoms
of this highly challenging
disease and the links it
may have with autism

Severe fatigue unrelieved

by rest

Overwhelmed by
schoolwork

Insomnia

Difficulty making
decisions

Headaches

Confusion

Nausea and abdominal

pain

Uncharacteristic
behaviour

Impaired concentration

Outbursts and mood

swings

Poor short-term memory

Fever/chills

Inability to sustain
attention

Joint pain

Difficulty thinking and

expressing thoughts

Dizziness

Difficulty reading and

writing

Noise and light sensitivity

Not the only

culprit: horse
flies and some
mosquitos can
spread Lyme
disease as well
as deer

www.autismeye.com

www.autismeye.com

in ten have ever had an erythema

migrans, also known as a bulls-eye
rash, which is so often considered
characteristic of Lyme disease.
The disease is not limited to
rural locations and has been
reported in urban areas, including
some London parks. The number
of new cases each year in the UK
is estimated to be as high as
15,000, and can in part be
explained by a 73 per cent
increase in tick numbers in the UK
over the past 10 years.
More controversially, it has been
suggested that Lyme disease can
be transmitted in a number of other
ways. These include blood
transfusion, from mother to baby
during pregnancy, and during
breastfeeding, as well as through
sexual intercourse. According to Dr
Charles Ray Jones, a Connecticutbased expert in paediatric tick-born
diseases, congenitally acquired
Lyme disease manifests in specific
symptoms in children, ranging from
frequent ear and throat infections
and reflux to developmental delays
and poor muscle tone (see top
panel, left).

Key symptoms
In the early stages of Lyme disease
it may feel like a very bad case of
flu with high fever, headaches,
nausea, chills, body aches and
pains, and overwhelming fatigue.
If Lyme disease goes untreated
it can become something much
more sinister. Lyme disease is
considered the great imitator, as it
can mimic so many other illnesses
and uses molecular mimicry to
evade the immune system. In
paediatric cases, a host of
symptoms can be expected,
ranging from headaches and
insomnia to outbursts and mood
swings (see bottom panel, left).
Children cant always explain
what feels wrong, especially when
symptoms can vary in severity and
come and go over time. Their
bodies may hurt and they may feel
overwhelmed with school-work or
they may become severely
sensitive to light and sound.
Lyme disease can affect any
organ of the body (often multiple
organs are affected), including the
brain and nervous system. In fact,
the Borrelia bacteria can be found

within the central nervous system

as early as 12 hours after entering
the blood stream.

Co-infections
Lyme disease does not usually
travel alone, and can go hand in
hand with a number of other
co-infections. There appear to be
some co-infections that are more
commonly found in autism and
include Chlamydophila
pneumoniae, Mycoplasma,
Bartonella, Coxsackievirus (very
common), Epstein-Barr virus, and
Cytomegalovirus. The Co-infection/
Key Symptoms panel on page 39
outlines the key symptoms unique
to each co-infection.

Testing
Current standard testing for Lyme
disease is thought to miss out more
than half of the individuals who are
affected. The two most commonly
used tests are enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay, known as
ELISA, and the Western Blot test.
These tests are simply not
accurate enough because
antibodies can take between four to
six weeks to develop to detectable

The disease is
not limited to
rural locations and has
been reported in
urban areas, including
some London parks
levels and can only be produced if
the body has adequate health to
produce antibodies.
In many cases those suffering
from Lyme disease have significant
symptoms and health issues, and
may not have the vitality to produce
antibodies. ArminLabs in Germany,
which specializes in Lyme and
co-infection testing, claims to offer
accuracy levels of more than 90
per cent.
Having a negative blood test for
Lyme disease does NOT mean that
Lyme disease is not present, and
needs to be considered based on
the clinical picture. Other common
lab findings, which go hand in hand
with Lyme disease, are an
Au t i s m | e y e I s s u e 2 1 2 0 1 6 37

Health

CO-INFECTION

KEY SYMPTOMS

Chlamydia Pneumoniae

Cough, slight throat pain, hoarseness, sinusitis, atypical pneumonia, meningoencephalitis, bronchiolitis obliterans,
myocarditis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome; arthritis, tendovaginitis

Mycoplasma

Fatigue (100%), fever, joint pain, swelling of joints, muscle pain, headache, insomnia, anxiety, emotional volatility,
lack of concentration, memory loss, autism, CFS/ME, Gulf War I syndrome

Ehrlichia/Anaplasma

Rapid onset of beginning illness with fever, headache and prostration, headaches are sharp, knife-like and often
located behind the eyes, muscle pain, not joint pain, neurological symptoms, psychiatric symptoms, rarely: diffuse
vasculitic rash, including palms and soles (<10%)

Bartonella

Tiredness (100%), headache (80%), muscle twitches, tremors, seizures, fever in the mornings (30%, in spates of up
to 6 weeks, otherwise 1 - 3 weeks), swollen lymph nodes, arthralgia (often), myalgia, insomnia, depression, agitation,
severe mood swings, amentia, lack of concentration and alertness, dizziness, anxiety, outbursts, anti-social
behaviour, restlessness, gastritis, intestinal symptoms, sore soles (especially in the morning), tender subcutaneous
nodules along the extremities, occasional lymphadenopathy and light sweats, striae; Complications: endocarditis,
retinitis, epilepsy, aseptic meningitis, hepatosplenomegaly

Babesia

Rapid onset of beginning illness with severe fever, headache (can be severe/dull, global, involves the whole head,
described like the head is in a vice), sweats (usually at night, but can be day-sweats as well), fatigue (worse with
exercise), air-hunger, need to sigh and take a deep breath, dry cough without apparent reason, stiffness of neck,
nausea, diminished appetite, tiredness, feeling of weakness, permanent exhaustion even worse during stress,
dizziness, haemolytic anaemia, hemoglobinuria, haemangiomata, (seldom) hepatosplenomegaly, muscle pain,
dizziness, mental dullness and slowing of reactions and responses, hypercoagualability, stomach pain, mental
dullness, kidney problems, dyspnoea, influenza-like symptoms (could be lethal)

Rickettsia

Fever, nausea, vomiting, severe headache, lymphadenitis, exanthema

Epstein-Barr Virus

Fatigue, fever, flu-like symptoms, nausea, loss of appetite, lymphadenitis (swollen lymph nodes in neck), rash, sore
throat, weakness, sore muscles

Cytomegalo Virus

Fatigue, fever, flu-like symptoms, lymphadenitis (swollen cervical lymph nodes), sore throat, splenomegaly

Coxsackie Virus

Group A: Herpangina, AHC (acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, HFM (hand-foot-and-mouth disease), Group B:
myocarditis, pericarditis, pleurodynia, hepatitis; Group A and B: fever, rashes, sore throat, diarrhea, cough, fatigue,
conjunctivitis, loss of appetite, headache, night sweats, aseptic meningitis

Source of Information: ArminLabs, Germany

Stella Chadwick is
the founder of
Brainstorm Health
and an experienced
nutritional and
biomedical consultant
who specialises in
working with adults
and young children
on the autism
spectrum. www.
brainstormhealth.
co.uk

www.autismeye.com

abnormal lipid profile; insulin

resistance; borderline low white
blood cells; low thyroid function;
low cortisol, DHEA and
testosterone; and low alkaline
phosphatase (although in children
this last marker is less reliable).
The neuropsychiatric
manifestations (symptoms of mental
disorder) of chronic Lyme disease
and their possible connection to
autism cannot be ignored. It took
more than 100 years for the
medical profession to accept the
connection between helicobactor
pylori and stomach ulcers, with the
first group of scientists being
ridiculed and the last group of
scientists being given the Nobel
Prize for their discovery.
More good-quality research is
clearly needed into the connection
between Lyme disease and autism
spectrum conditions. This can take
time time that our children cannot
afford. Investigating and treating
chronic Lyme disease and
co-infections in autism should be
considered if the clinical picture
warrants it.

Bitten: a tick with its head in human skin. The red blotch indicates infection
Au t i s m | e y e I s s u e 2 1 2 0 1 6 39