NASHVILLE, Tennessee. — As summer gets underway and many Tennesseans are spending more time outdoors, doctors at the Biologix Center for Optimum Health, a Nashville health care center that specializes in chronic conditions, are warning residents to self-monitor for ticks and be aware of the signs and symptoms of tick-borne illnesses to ensure Tennesseans have a happy and healthy summer outdoors.
Tick-borne diseases and pathogens can be transmitted to humans by infected ticks carrying bacteria, parasites, or viruses. Some of the most common tick-borne diseases in the US include Lyme disease, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, southern tick-associated rash disease, tick-borne relapsing fever, and tick-borne relapsing fever. tularemia.
“Whether you’re outdoors for work or play, you need to take care to make sure you and your loved ones are safe from ticks and the diseases they can carry,” said Dr. Jernigan, founder of the Biologix Center and one of the country’s leading innovators. precision testing and treatment. “Because tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease have a wide range of common symptoms, they can often be left undiagnosed and untreated, which can cause long-term damage to nearly every system in the body.” .
Of the myriad of tick-borne diseases out there, Lyme disease is the most common in the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports on its website that insurance records suggest that approximately 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease each year.
According to the Tennessee Department of Health (DOH), Lyme disease is the third most reported tick-borne illness in the state. In 2021, 58 cases of Lyme disease were reported, an increase of 66 percent compared to 38 cases in 2020. Although Lyme disease was first identified in northeastern states, it is now found in all states. US states and is, in fact, a global infection. in almost all countries. With tick populations growing throughout the southern US, Lyme disease is a growing concern in Tennessee, even though few doctors are trained to recognize it.
Lyme disease may show a bull’s-eye rash around the tick bite, although the rash may only occur in 30 to 40 percent of cases, leading many doctors to miss the diagnosis , according to Jernigan, who wrote the first book and now four books on natural ways to restore health in people with Lyme disease. She also has nearly 30 years of experience helping people around the world with treatment-resistant chronic illnesses. Because many people never remember being bitten by a tick, Jernigan says many times people don’t consider that their problems might be due to Lyme disease.
According to Jernigan, Lyme disease bacteria can be transmitted sexually, so any effective treatment plan must include a spouse or partner, even if they don’t have symptoms.
Other early symptoms include but are not limited to fatigue, chills, fever, hypersensitivity, headache, fatigue, joint pain, stiff neck, neurological problems, and depersonalization and emotional problems. Chronic infection can be an underlying cause of neurological diseases, including neuropathies, neuromuscular diseases, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Jernigan says that Lyme disease is the “great imitator” in that it can have the same symptoms as many other diseases. Due to the wide variety of symptoms and the different effects it has on each person, chronic Lyme disease often goes undiagnosed, resulting in progressive damage throughout the body.
According to the Tennessee DOH, there are six key tick species that live in various parts of the state; the American dog tick, the Asian longhorned tick, the black-legged tick, the brown dog tick, the Gulf Coast tick, and the lone star tick.
Environments such as workplaces with forests, bushes, tall grass, or leaf litter are teeming with ticks. Outdoor workers should take extra care to protect themselves from late spring through late summer, when young ticks are most active. To avoid bites and the potential for tick-borne disease, Jernigan advises Tennesseans to take the following precautions when spending time outdoors:
- Wear a brightly colored hat and clothing to easily spot ticks. Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants tucked into boots or socks.
- Be sure to check your skin for ticks, including your hair, armpits, and groin.
- Treat clothing with permethrin. Permethrin can be used in boots, clothing, and camping gear, and it continues to protect after multiple washes.
- Use EPA-registered insect repellants. These repellents must contain DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. Use the EPA search engine to help find the right repellant.
- Wash and dry any clothing worn outdoors on “hot” settings to kill ticks.
- If you find a tick attached to the skin, grasp it firmly and pull it perpendicular to the skin to make sure the tick head does not dislodge. Wash the area with soap and water.
- If you develop any symptoms of tick-borne illness, seek medical attention immediately.
Jernigan recommends that anyone who owns pets constantly check their animals for ticks to prevent them from entering your home. He watches for any of the same human symptoms in his pets. Veterinarians are well versed in understanding and treating tick-borne diseases in animals.
Almost all types of bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics. While antibiotics can kill up to 85 percent of any target bacteria, Jernigan warns that the remaining 15 percent can mutate and become even more dangerous, resulting in many years of debilitating and destructive symptoms. Several coinfections that are almost always present with the primary Lyme infection, Borrelia bacteria, include but are not limited to strains of Babesia, Bartonella, mycoplasma, as well as various viruses, such as Epstein-Barr virus, which combine to form treatment conventional very difficult.
Jernigan emphasizes that these infections should be viewed as “termites” that damage the body’s tissues and systems. If diagnosed early, tissue damage is minimal and effective treatments provide rapid restoration of health. After a prolonged infection, killing the infections is very beneficial, but it does not heal the damaged tissues, so it often takes months or years of multiple treatments to repair the tissue damage.
If you or someone you know is dealing with ongoing symptoms of any kind, even after taking antibiotics, contact the Biologix Center today by calling 855.955.1395 or visiting www.BiologixCenter.com.
About the Biologix Center for Optimal Health:
For nearly 30 years, the Biologix Center for Optimum Health, PA, has been innovating new treatments and tests to provide people with more comprehensive and gentler alternatives to conventional treatments. The Biologix Center offers cutting-edge science in comprehensive one- to three-week daily outpatient treatment programs tailored to restore the most optimal structural and functional integrity throughout the body so that health and quality of life can be restored.