I recently shared some information from Dr. Bill Rawls about the stealth microbe Borrelia. Hopefully you’ll find his information on Understanding Bartonella (last updated 3/1/17) just as useful.
Bartonella is typically spread by biting insects (fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, sandflies, lice, chiggers, biting flies, scabies, mites, and even louse-eating spiders), but can also be transmitted by contaminated bites (of animals), scratch (cat scratch), and ingestion.
Infection by any bartonella species is called Bartonellosis.
There is a lot of information in the article – what Bartonella is, how it can be spread, typical symptoms, and information on typical and natural solutions.
Dr. Rawls is a physician who overcame Lyme disease through natural herbal therapy. You can learn more about bartonella in Dr. Rawls’ new best selling book, Unlocking Lyme. Also be sure to check out Vital Plan, Dr. Rawls’ naturally powerful immune support protocol and get your free personalized supplement recommendation.
I found the following information from Dr. Bill Rawls very informative.
Over several years of persistent effort, I was able to recover my health completely — the things that I learned along the way changed my life forever. My struggle with chronic Lyme disease taught me things that most other physicians do not know. I now use that knowledge to help others understand and overcome this often frustrating illness.
Borrelia, the Misunderstood Microbe
Retrospectively, I may have harbored Borrelia burgdorferi (the microbe that causes Lyme disease) for years before I actually developed symptoms. I’m an outdoor person; tick bites have always been an everyday affair.
It’s not uncommon for people to harbor Borrelia and not know it; stealth is this microbe’s middle name.
Lyme disease is mostly transmitted by nymphal ticks, which are about the size of the pin. They bite, transmit the microbe, and then drop off — most people aren’t even aware of being bitten. Because symptoms of the initial infection are so mild (if they occur at all), it’s not uncommon for people to be completely unaware of being infected.
And Borrelia isn’t the only microbe to worry about. Ticks carry many microbes that have similar characteristics to Borrelia. What they all have in common is stealthy characteristics that make them hard to find–and even harder to get rid of.
If immune system function is robust, a person can harbor these types of microbes indefinitely without ever having symptoms. When illness does occur, it’s typically chronic and debilitating, but not life-threatening. Additionally, the degree of chronic illness is highly variable. Some people are severely debilitated, while others are only marginally miserable.
What You Need to Know About Borrelia
Borrelia rarely causes life-threatening illness, but it can make you desperately miserable for a lifetime.
There are 20 known species of Borrelia that can cause human illness (not just Borrelia burgdorferi), and it is not uncommon for people with Lyme disease to harbor at least two species.
Beyond Borrelia, there are hundreds of species of stealth-type microbes that can be transmitted by ticks. Mycoplasma and Bartonella are the most common, but there are many many others. Most everyone on the planet harbors some stealth microbes without knowing it.
All these factors make Lyme disease extremely difficult to diagnose; lab tests are notoriously unreliable, especially in chronic illness.
Because Borrelia is so difficult to diagnose and can be harbored without causing symptoms, no one really knows how many asymptomatic carriers there are worldwide.
