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That’s a wrap for season three of our podcast!As we prepare for some time off from production, we’ve started accepting applications for our education funding. If you’re a healthcare practitioner that is looking to advance your education and have a better understanding of Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment, please take a look at our education granting process.If you know a healthcare practitioner that might benefit from an upgrade, please share our education funding opportunities with them. Thank you, and thank you so much for listening! 

CanLyme is currently offering education grants for Canadian healthcare providers caring for patients with vector-borne illnesses. ILADS educational opportunities enable clinicians to better understand the fundamentals of treating Lyme and associated diseases and many of the more complex issues associated with these diseases. If you are a healthcare provider or know of one who would like to learn more about vector-borne illnesses, grant application and information can be found at lookingatlyme.ca.Read more!

Sarah explores the latest advances in Lyme disease treatment with Dr. Kim Lewis, a researcher, author, University Distinguished Professor and director of Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern University in Boston. He specializes in molecular science and is currently researching persister cells that lead to tolerance to antibiotics, uncultured bacteria of the environment and the microbiome and the search for new drugs. We’ll find out what role nature plays in all of this important work.Dr. Lewis became interested in studying Borrelia burgdorferi, the pathogen responsible for Lyme disease, when he realized that some people who had been treated for Lyme disease did not fully recover and went on to experience chronic Lyme disease. Read the rest of the show notes.

In today’s podcast, Sarah speaks with Victoria Sanderson about her exciting new research into Lyme disease testing at the University of Guelph. Sanderson is a current medical student and previously completed her Master’s degree at the University of Guelph and became interested in Lyme disease after seeing how much the disease impacted her mother’s life and the lives of so many others. Having an acute interest in biology, she started to study Lyme disease and quickly became fascinated with its complex microbiology and pathology. She connected with the G. Magnotta Lab at the University of Guelph where she works with a team of world class researchers. You can find out more about the G. Magnotta Lab in this episode of the Looking at Lyme podcast. Read the full show notes.

In today’s podcast, Sarah speaks with Maddie Gravelle about her research into the consequences of illness uncertainty for Lyme disease patients. Maddie is a student and researcher at Queen’s University in Kingston. She shifted her research focus from cancer to Lyme disease after witnessing the challenges her mother faced in dealing with both of these diseases. Her mother noticed that some aspects of Lyme disease were more challenging when compared to similar aspects of dealing with cancer. When Maddie discovered that there was very little research regarding the psychological effects of Lyme disease, she decided to make that her research focus.Maddie describes four different types of illness uncertainty that patients can be faced with as described in Mishel’s Illness Uncertainty Theory. She points out that many Lyme patients are faced with uncertainty in the areas of diagnosis, ambiguity around the disease, unpredictability and complex healthcare experiences. She highlights some of the many uncertainties that Lyme patients are faced with, not only in relation to the complex and unpredictable nature of the disease, but also as a result of “complex healthcare experiences” that many Lyme patients deal with.Read the show notes

In today’s podcast Sarah explores Lyme carditis with Dr. Adrian Baranchuk, a cardiologist from Kingston, Ontario. Lyme carditis is inflammation of the heart and can cause lightheadedness, palpitations, fainting, chest pain and shortness of breath. In severe cases, it can be fatal. Dr. Baranchuk tells Sarah he has now seen 16 patients with Lyme carditis. He met his first patient when a physician in a nearby hospital requested transfer of a young 14 year old patient with something called AV block, a disruption of the electrical pathway that stimulates the heart to contract. The young patient had a life saving temporary pacemaker inserted, and the transferring physician mentioned that she had sent blood work for Lyme disease. This prompted Dr. Baranchuk to investigate something called Lyme carditis and question whether antibiotics might resolve the heart block and prevent the need for a permanent pacemaker to be inserted in this young patient. He did initiate antibiotics, and within one week, the patient had a completely normal electrical system in his heart. The temporary pacemaker was removed, and his cardiac stress test showed normal results. Read the rest of the show notes.

In this episode of Looking at Lyme, we go to Augsburg, Germany to learn about diagnostic testing with Dr. Armin Schwarzbach, MD, PhD. Dr. Schwarzbach is a specialist in laboratory medicine and infectious diseases, having worked in the field for over 20 years. He recalls one of his patients who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and tested positive for a test that was then called a lymphocyte transformation test for Borrelia burgdorferi even though she subsequently tested negative for antibodies to the bacteria. The patient had not responded to previous treatment for her MS (with steroids) but recovered after being treated for Lyme disease.“The TickPlex was developed because…we saw together with professor Gilbert that there are persister forms…we said why should we not test for these persister form antibodies…and that was a breakthrough because we found around 98% now with a persister form of antibodies.” - Dr. Armin Schwarzbach Get the full show notes and resources Coinfections checklist (PDF) Heading to Finland to find ways to accurately diagnose tick-borne diseases

Join Sarah in today’s podcast as she explores everything ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) with Dr. Amy Offutt. Dr. Offutt is the medical director and co-owner of Heart & Soul Integrative Medicine in Marble Falls, Texas, and is also an ILADS board member. Dr. Offutt made the shift into integrative medicine in order to better understand and care for patients that were experiencing chronic inflammation, often caused by underlying infections. This path led her to ILADS, where she found an abundance of educational resources along with experienced practitioners to help further her knowledge and better serve her patients. Dr. Offutt recalls her first ILADS conference and the common desire amongst practitioners to be able to help patients heal and become stronger.In this episode we discuss ILADS membership, better outcomes through education and the ILADS 2021 Conference, infection, immune response, and inflammation. Get the full show notes 2021 ILADS Conference Heart & Soul Integrative Medicine ILADS

Welcome back to the Looking at Lyme Podcast... here we are in Season 3! In this episode, Sarah explores how the brain functions with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Dr. Jill was working as a neuroanatomist, teaching and conducting research at the Harvard School of Medicine when she experienced a severe hemorrhagic stroke. After recovering from that stroke, Dr. Jill wrote about her experience and has travelled the world giving inspirational talks, including one of the first TED talks to go viral! She describes that fascinating experience in her first book “My Stroke of Insight” and joins us today to talk about what she refers to as “Whole Brain Living”, which is also the title of her new book.“If people realize that all they had to do was quiet the noisy left language centres in our left hemisphere, then they too could find this peace.” - Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor Read the show notes, Looking at Lyme  Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life TED Talk: My stroke of insight

On season three of Looking at Lyme we'll meet a cardiologist who has developed a new protocol for diagnosing and treating Lyme, we're going all the way to Germany to learn about blood testing for Lyme disease, and don't miss out on our interview with a world renown brain scientist who had a massive stroke then studied her recovery. Welcome back! See our show notes and website Index of previous episodes

Thank you so much everyone for joining us for season two. We had the privilege of speaking so many amazing people this season, including Dr. Vet Lloyd, Dr. Betty Maloney, and Dr. Theoharides, and with outdoor educators like Mike Horembala and Lauren Hudson. If you haven't checked it out already, please check out our Educators' Resource. Our Second Edition is finished and available for download. We love hearing from our listeners. Please send us your ideas and questions!  We’re on a break but we are getting ready for season three and we want to share our excitement with you. We have so many new excellent interviews lined up and will continue to dive into the science with leading experts. Stay tuned, and see you after the summer. Remember, check for ticks after outdoor adventures and stay safe in the outdoors! Read the show notes.

This week Sarah is joined by Dr. Shelley Ball, an evolutionary ecologist, fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and Founder and President of Biosphere Environmental Education, a social enterprise focused on connecting people with nature. She was also a founding member of the inaugural Homeward Bound Women In Science Leadership Expedition to Antarctica. In this episode, Sarah and Dr. Ball discuss her newly-published book: Lyme Disease, Ticks and You: A Guide To Navigating Tick Bites, Lyme Disease And Other Tick-borne Infections.Dr. Ball became involved with Lyme disease as a person suffering from Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses. Dr. Ball did as much research into Lyme as she could...she is a former research scientist, university professor and self-proclaimed “knowledge sponge.” Self-education and advocacy is vital due to the current lack of support from the public health care system for Lyme disease patients.Get the show notes and resources.

We are excited to give away ten free tick removal kits, courtesy of CanLyme! Pack this in your backpack or in your first aid kit and take it on adventures with you. All you need to do is tag us in a photo on Instagram having fun and saying safe in the outdoors. Our Instagram handle is @canlyme_canada. #StaySafeInTheOutdoorsEpisode show notes.

This week Sarah is joined by Gina Valles, a fitness coach with a degree in exercise science who founded Gina’s Total Fitness in Connecticut. In 2018, Gina was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which changed her life and outlook on fitness. Through her Instagram account, which has almost 180,000 followers, Gina shares her journey, workouts, and inspiration.Gina explains that she lived with undiagnosed Lyme disease for a year in 2017 before being diagnosed. She knew nothing about the disease then, but has educated herself and learned how to adjust her exercise routine and manage on a day-to-day basis. Gina was a competitive athlete throughout her life, and when she got sick she had to adjust her workout routines to focus more on lower intensity movement and listening to her body. She emphasizes that it took time, trial and error to find a fitness routine that works for her.Get the show notes and resources.

We have a book giveaway! In episode 31 we interviewed Dr. Kenneth Bock about his integrative approach to medicine. You can enter to win Dr. Bock’s recent book, Brain Inflamed, by following us on Twitter: @Lookingatlyme_Many patients with Lyme disease and co-infections such as Bartonella experience the effects of inflammation in the brain and central nervous system. One of the chapters of Dr. Bock’s latest book, Brain Inflamed, is dedicated to the effect of Lyme disease and co-infections in the brain. He explains that infections, stress, toxicants and brain trauma can all cause inflammation of the brain. Some of the symptoms familiar to Lyme patients are decreased memory and word finding difficulties. Read the show notes.

In this episode, Sarah speaks with Rossana Magnotta, who established the G. Magnotta Foundation in honour of her late husband, Gabe, who passed away after a courageous battle with Lyme disease. The G. Magnotta Foundation leads scientific research into Lyme disease at the University of Guelph in Ontario.Rossana tells Sarah that Gabe was an avid outdoorsman who spent much of his life camping, hunting, and fishing. When he developed symptoms including balance issues, eye problems, and memory loss, he was tested for everything from Alzheimer’s to ALS, before finally being tested for Lyme disease. However, the Canadian Lyme tests came back negative. This experience echoes the stories of so many other Lyme patients who are shuffled between different doctors and specialists, with no answers. Rossana emphasizes how difficult this experience can be for families as well.Even when Rossana insisted to her husband’s doctors that Gabe was an avid outdoorsman and that she believed he had Lyme disease, she was dismissed because of the negative tests. When Gabe’s blood was sent to the US for testing, the results were positive. But at that point, they had lost precious time and he never recovered.Having worked in hematology, microbiology, and biochemistry, Rossana was able to investigate Canada’s ELISA test (a two-tiered serological test), the apparent “gold standard” test for Lyme disease. Rossana explains that when she dug into it, she realized it was faulty, as it only measures a narrow immune response rather than identifying whether the person has an active infection or not and whether Borrelia is the causative agent of the illness. The test is still not a reliable indicator for doctors. With determination, Rossana set out to develop a reliable and trustworthy test to support doctors in diagnosis and consequently early treatment. From this painful experience, the G. Magnotta Foundation was born.Get the show notes and resources.

CanLyme is excited to kick off May which is Lyme Awareness Month! In this episode, we introduce a Canadian tick map designed by Justin Wood. Justin is the CEO and founder of Geneticks laboratory in Ontario, where he tests ticks from across Canada for many tick-borne pathogens. For the past several years, Justin has been planning and developing a platform to share his tick data from across Canada. By removing identifying information and applying a degree of randomization to his data, he is able to add information to the map including tick species, lifestage, pathogens detected, location, and type of host the tick was found on. This data can be retrieved in various ways depending on the interest of the reader. For example, if someone is only interested in finding out about Blacklegged ticks, that data can be explored by applying a filter which excludes other types of ticks. Get the show notes and resources.

In this episode, Sarah is joined by Dr. Joseph Jemsek, an infectious disease physician who runs the Jemsek Specialty Clinic in Washington, DC. Dr. Jemsek has been on the leading edge of both the HIV and Lyme disease epidemics. He became intrigued by reports of a small cluster of patients with outbreaks of Kaposi Sarcoma and Pneumocystis pneumonia in New York and San Francisco. He intuitively felt that this was an indication of something much bigger.He recalls diagnosing the first HIV patient in North Carolina in 1983, before the disease was even called HIV. In the years that followed, the virus was identified, tests were created and treatments were researched, including an early study for azidothymidine (AZT) which Dr. Jemsek co-authored. This pioneering research study allowed patients access to this early treatment, clinical trial involvement and medical follow up.Get the show notes and resources. 

In today’s podcast, Sarah is joined by Jim Wilson, founder and President of CanLyme — the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation. After contracting Lyme disease 30 years ago in Nova Scotia, Canada, Jim dedicated his time and energy to improving the lives of Lyme patients and their families, helping to bring a balanced perspective of Lyme disease to the forefront. Jim began to question the understanding of Lyme disease when his daughter and several others were diagnosed with Lyme disease in British Columbia, despite the perception that Lyme disease was only prevalent in the eastern United States. He notes that even now, patients are having to seek out answers to questions about Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment that remain unanswered within the current medical system.Since its inception, CanLyme has helped to educate both the public and physicians regarding Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. CanLyme supports Lyme disease research and has raised the public profile of Lyme disease for the general public through media and within various levels of government.Get the show notes and resources.

Sarah explores an integrative approach to medicine with Dr. Kenneth Bock from the Hudson Valley, in New York. Dr. Bock’s natural curiosity, investigative approach, along with his appreciation for complex medical cases set the foundation for his integrative practice. His first Lyme patient in 1985 initially came in with a swollen toe that didn’t seem to have a medical cause. After a thorough investigation which included researching Lyme disease, he discovered that the patient had travelled to Block Island, an area known to be endemic for Lyme. The patient was subsequently diagnosed with Lyme disease and was successfully treated. Dr. Bock explains that his “medical detective” approach involves breaking down problems, then putting that information back together to solve problems. He also emphasizes the importance of looking and listening, open ended questions during patient interviews, and spending plenty of time with patients.Get the show notes and resources.