Dr. Tom Moorcroft Shares His Story of Lyme Disease – What We Can Learn
Imagine suffering some undiagnosed symptoms for eight years, and being told it is all in your head and being told you have chronic fatigue – and then at long last finding out you have Lyme disease. And it doesn’t end there. You suffer for some more years because they failed to detect your babesiosis! This is what happened to Dr. Tom Moorcroft who describes himself as the solver of medical mysteries. He has devoted himself to helping detect and treat intractable conditions such as Lyme, Bartonella etc. I was fortunate to have Tom, a leading expert in chronic tick-borne illness, mold illness, and PANS/infection-induced autoimmune encephalitis in children on this episode of The Adiel Gorel Show.
Lyme disease – an intractable infection.
I asked Tom about the story of a woman who suffered for 15 years, doing all kinds of tests and doubting herself as a hypochondriac before finally being diagnosed with Lyme. He tells me that this kind of thing where people have years of troublesome symptoms and infection going undetected is actually not that rare. His own story is a case in point. He describes his own symptoms of Lyme such as an extensive rash, (which tends to vary greatly), fatigue, numbness, cognitive symptoms etc. on the podcast.
One of the problems, says Tom, is the difficulty of knowing that one has become infected with the disease. 95% of people with Lyme are infected by the nymph deer tick – a creature the size of a poppy seed! So the difficulty of even noticing when one has been bitten is a significant challenge. Deer ticks are very common as well. We find them on the edge of wildernesses, very close to human inhabitations. Startlingly, about 75% of people who get Lyme will get it in their yard or their friend’s yard, says Tom.
How to prevent Lyme disease.
Because of the difficulties in diagnosing and treating it, Tom urges people to try to avoid Lyme disease to the extent possible. From his own experience as well as those of his patients, he has some useful tips to prevent getting infected. Tom explains where deer ticks are commonly found in bushes, near hiking trails, on trees etc., and how they function. Places where we find mice and chipmunks are likely tick habitats. Since Tom and his family are very outdoorsy, they have developed routines for them to disinfect clothing and to shower right after being out in nature. It is what he calls the ‘lifestyle of checking’ – some very useful pointers right there.
Tom also recommends tick repellents such as permethrin, and says that just spraying the socks and shoes could be up to 70% effective in repelling the little critters. He explains how they love dark, moist places, but not dry, sunny places. Then of course there is the challenge of ticks in our pets and the possibility of their passing them on to us.
In the podcast, Tom speaks about the poor efficacy of vaccines available for humans and how pet vaccines are somewhat better. All in all Lyme disease is a persistent and troublesome disease where prevention is definitely better than cure. Tune in to this episode with Dr. Tom Moorcroft and keep yourself and your family safe.
