All Posts Tagged With: "pacemaker"

Lyme carditis: a reversible cause of complete atrioventricular block

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=21125053&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

A 54-year-old American woman presented with an episode of syncope. This had
occurred against a background of several days of dizziness and palpitations.
Her medical history included Bell’s palsy, which had been diagnosed three
weeks earlier. On examination, she had a resting bradycardia of 31 beats per
minute and her electrocardiogram demonstrated third-degree atrioventricular
(AV) block.
She was referred to cardiology for consideration of permanent pacemaker
implantation. Given her facial nerve palsy and AV block, a diagnosis of Lyme
borreliosis was suspected. Within 48 hours of initiation of ceftriaxone, she
reverted to sinus rhythm, albeit with a marked first-degree AV block.
Subsequent serology confirmed the diagnosis. Reversible causes of complete
AV block should always be considered and appropriate therapy may avoid the
need for permanent pacemaker insertion.

Spirochetes in cardiac biopsies

Linda’s comment:  This report was posted in 1989 but it still is true today.  Many of us Lymies have/had Lyme Carditis.  It can be frightening to say the least.  I was never one to do antibiotics, but I did plenty of anti microbial’s, herbals, supplements and later the FIGHT lifelong daily detox and don’t have those problems today.  Reducing heavy metals and reducing my total body burden of pathogens and toxins has been God sent to me.  You don’t have to use the brands that I chose, but I know the products I used worked, and are still working for me.   I have battled (5) Cancers, (2) Lyme infections, COPD, Arthritis, CHF, Varestrongylus Klapowi worm, and several other health woes, however once I woke up and made the right lifestyle changes, the battles I fought became much easier.  Giving up GMO foods, removing all the toxins,chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and toxic cleaning supplies from my home made this healing and detox journey much easier. Being a southern cook, it wasn’t as hard as I anticipated to make cooking changes.  My recipes have become just as delicious.  Did I complain when making these changes, you betcha I did.  However, when I begin my research on all the no no’s in my life and finding out the Cancers were environmental Cancers, threw me right into the mission of making changes.  Once I stopped complaining to my self it was much easier.  It became a challenge to prove to myself I could make these changes.  In the beginning I never told my family that they were eating gluten free or Buffalo meat.  When they began to tell me that they knew something was different, but it tasted good to them, I finally admitted about the gluten free and Buffalo. Regards, Linda

Cardiac involvement occurring early in Borrelia burgdorferi infection is a clinical manifestation of human Lyme disease. Therefore, two patients with acute complete atrioventricular heart blocks and unexplained recurrent dizziness were studied. Both patients had significantly elevated serum titers of IgM and IgG antibodies to B. burgdorferi. Right ventricular subendocardial biopsies showed dense infiltrates consisting of lymphocytes and plasma cells. Silver staining revealed spirochetes characteristic of B. burgdorferi near and in the infiltrates, between the muscle fibers, and in the endocardium. One patient responded to penicillin; the other did not, necessitating installation of a pacemaker. Thus, permanent heart damage may result from cardiac involvement in Lyme disease. Continued