Lyme in relation to als?

[milan109]

Hello, I know my anxiety and near depression like symptoms are killing me. I was wondering whether Lyme disease could cause als or if there has been any Lyme members here on this forum that have gotten als from Lyme disease?

[Ricobord]

Dr. Martz was diagnosed with ALS by well respected specialists. He later determined on his own that it was actually Lyme. He only got it under control by doing long term IV meds, and from what I read, has been on high dose Doxy ever since.  He re-opened his medical practice to ALS patients and people came from all over. I seem to recall that he helped about a third of them improved. Since true ALS never gets better, those patients who improved surely didn't have true ALS.

He has since retired. He served on the board of ILADS for awhile.

There are no studies or official counts, but a number of degenerative disorders (ALS, MS, Parkinson's) seem more common in people who previously had Lyme, leading some to say that Lyme can trigger autoimmune disorders in people predisposed to them. Nobody is really sure who is predisposed to them.

Dr. Klinghardt in WA state has had a number of patients come in with ALS diagnoses and he discovered they had Lyme. Of course only people who doubt their ALS diagnosis will make the effort to go see him, but this shows it's possible.

I got my Lyme in Australia where it's primarily neuro Lyme, most like that in Western Europe. I understand there are quite a few there who have been misdiagnosed with ALS.

[mojogal]

I personally know several people on my FB support groups who have Lyme induced ALS. They will tell you ALS is Lyme.

[JackieCalifornia]

Following the ALS possibility mentioned above, this is a clip from the respected Mayo Clinic website:
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"ALS is inherited in 5 to 10 percent of cases. The other cases appear to occur randomly.

"Researchers are studying several possible causes of ALS, including:

    "Gene mutation. Various genetic mutations can lead to inherited ALS, which appears nearly identical to the noninherited form.
    "Chemical imbalance. People with ALS generally have higher than normal levels of glutamate, a chemical messenger in the brain, around the nerve cells in their spinal fluid. Too much glutamate is known to be toxic to some nerve cells.
    "Disorganized immune response. Sometimes a person's immune system begins attacking some of his or her body's own normal cells, which may lead to the death of nerve cells.
     "Protein mishandling. Mishandled proteins within the nerve cells may lead to a gradual accumulation of abnormal forms of these proteins in the cells, eventually causing the nerve cells to die."
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So let's sum up:

-- ALS occurs mostly randomly in 90-95% of the cases

-- Researchers are looking at a variety of possible causes, including gene mutation, chemical imbalance, 'disorganized' immune response, and protein mishandling.

I translate that to mean:  they don't know.
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And that also can mean that Lyme may (or may not) be part of the picture.

The current wave of 'fibromyalgia' patients has the same issue:  the docs just don't know yet.  They're trying, but not there at this point.

Given all that, I would take myself to a Lyme specialist for a work up, if funds permit.  Lyme is known and is treatable.

[nutrinut_bob]

I have no doubt Lyme can cause ALS-like symptoms.  And, there are probably a lot of people who have been diagnosed as having ALS, but the real culprit behind it is undiagnosed Lyme.

[wonko]

There is a well documented case involving a man named Dave Martz, a doctor himself.  You can google his name + Lyme + ALS, there are a lot of pages that tell his story.

Here is a link to a video where he talks about his experience with ALS/Lyme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY9FdULDV6M

I think he was also featured in the documentary "Under Our Skin."

I know this is only one case, but if you follow up on it, it may lead you to more.