The True Origins of Lyme Disease

Summary

The video script discusses the complexities and controversies surrounding Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness that has become a significant global health concern. It highlights the varying experiences of those affected, from mild symptoms treated with antibiotics to life-altering chronic conditions. The documentary 'Under Our Skin' by Chris Newbie is mentioned, which explores the mysterious origins of the disease that began to surface in the mid-1970s near Plum Island, a site linked to the U.S. biological weapons program. The script raises questions about the reliability of Lyme disease tests, the increase in tick populations, and the potential connection to biological research. Chris Newbie, who has personally been affected by Lyme and authored 'Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons,' shares insights into the disease's diagnosis challenges and the political and economic aspects that have complicated its understanding and treatment.

Takeaways

• 🏥 **Lyme Disease Impact**: Lyme disease can range from a mild illness treated with antibiotics to a life-altering condition that leaves some individuals bedridden and in severe pain.
• 🌿 **Tick-Borne Disease**: The disease is caused by a spirochete bacteria transmitted through a tick bite, and if treated promptly with doxycycline or amoxicillin, it can be resolved.
• 🤔 **Misdiagnosis Concerns**: Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed late, leading to controversy and complications that can make the disease difficult to eradicate.
• 🐛 **Tick Population Growth**: There has been a significant increase in tick populations, particularly in the Northeast of the United States, which correlates with the rise in Lyme disease cases.
• 🧪 **Testing Reliability**: Lyme disease antibody tests are not very reliable, especially in the early stages, and can be inconclusive even in later stages due to varying factors.
• 🌎 **Climate Change Connection**: Climate change is contributing to the spread of ticks, as milder winters mean fewer ticks die off, leading to an increase in tick-borne diseases.
• 🚫 **Political and Economic Factors**: Lyme disease has become politicized, with some viewing it as a national health crisis that is being ignored or suppressed.
• 📈 **Rising Prevalence**: The number of Lyme disease cases is increasing, with the CDC estimating half a million cases per year in the U.S.
• ❓ **Origins of Lyme Disease**: The disease became a noticeable problem in the mid-70s, around the same time that three rare tick-borne diseases appeared near Plum Island, which was involved in biological weapons research.
• 🔍 **Investigative Response**: The CDC investigated the cluster of new diseases near Plum Island, with the discovery that Lyme disease was tick-borne, but the causative agent remained elusive and the situation became more secretive.
• 📚 **Author's Research**: Chris Newbie, author of 'Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons,' has conducted extensive research into the history and controversy surrounding Lyme disease.

Q & A

What is the general perception of Lyme disease in rural areas?

In rural areas, Lyme disease is known to affect some people severely, causing life-long agony and ending their productive lives, while for others it may seem less serious and treatable with antibiotics.

What is the current debate around the nature of Lyme disease?

There is an ongoing debate about whether Lyme disease is a psychological symptom or a physical syndrome. Even among those who acknowledge it as a physical condition, there is no consensus on its exact nature or origin.

What is the significance of the documentary 'Under Our Skin'?

The documentary 'Under Our Skin', produced by Chris Newbie in 2008, highlights the seriousness of Lyme disease as a global illness with mysterious origins and discusses the lack of understanding and controversy surrounding it.

Why is Lyme disease considered a political and economic disease?

Lyme disease is considered political and economic because its impact and the response to it have been influenced by various factors, including the potential for political and economic manipulation, and it has become a subject of debate and controversy.

What are the challenges in diagnosing Lyme disease?

Diagnosing Lyme disease is challenging because it is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed late. Additionally, ticks can transmit multiple disease-causing microbes, leading to a confusing set of symptoms that doctors have difficulty diagnosing.

How is Lyme disease typically contracted?

Lyme disease is typically contracted through a tick bite, which can transmit the spirochete bacteria that causes the disease.

What are the issues with Lyme disease antibody tests?

Lyme disease antibody tests are not very reliable. They often do not work in the first month, as it takes time for the body to develop antibodies to a detectable level. Later on, the accuracy of the tests remains questionable.

How has the increase in tick populations affected the spread of Lyme disease?

The increase in tick populations, particularly in the Northeast, has led to a rise in Lyme disease cases. More ticks mean a higher chance of transmission, and this has resulted in a significant number of new cases each year.

What is the estimated number of Lyme disease cases reported by the CDC?

The CDC estimates there are half a million cases of Lyme disease per year, which averages to about 1,300 people per day.

What factors are contributing to the rapid spread of Lyme disease?

Factors contributing to the rapid spread of Lyme disease include climate change, which leads to milder winters and increased tick survival, and increased human encroachment into wooded areas, leading to more exposure to ticks.

What were the findings of Chris Newbie's research on the origins of Lyme disease?

Chris Newbie's research suggests that Lyme disease became a noticeable problem in the mid-1970s and coincided with the appearance of three rare tickborne diseases near Plum Island, a site related to the US biological weapons program. This has led to speculation about a possible connection, although it is not definitively proven.

What was the public response to the discovery of Lyme disease?

The public response was mixed. Initially, there was a belief that taking doxycycline for two weeks would resolve the issue. However, when the disease did not go away as expected, it led to increased secrecy and controversy around the disease.

Outlines

00:00

😷 The Impact and Controversy of Lyme Disease

This paragraph discusses the varied impact of Lyme disease on individuals, highlighting that while some recover with antibiotics, others suffer long-term debilitating effects. It introduces the debate around the nature and origins of the disease, mentioning the skepticism from some quarters and the lack of consensus among experts. The paragraph also references a 2008 documentary called 'Under Our Skin' by Chris Newby, which explores the global spread and mysterious origins of Lyme disease. It touches on the emotional and physical toll of the disease, the politicization of its truth, and the challenges of diagnosis due to the complexity of symptoms and the unreliability of antibody tests. The increase in tick populations and the correlation with the rise in Lyme disease cases is also mentioned.

05:02

🌐 The Spread and Origins of Lyme Disease

The second paragraph delves into the rapid spread of Lyme disease, with the CDC estimating half a million cases per year. It discusses potential reasons for this increase, including climate change and human encroachment into wooded areas. The speaker raises questions about the sudden emergence of Lyme disease, noting that it wasn't a significant problem until the mid-1970s. The paragraph suggests a connection between the appearance of three tickborne diseases near Plum Island, a site related to the US biological weapons program. It outlines the initial response to the disease by local health departments and the CDC, and the subsequent investigation that identified the tickborne nature of the disease. The paragraph ends with an implication that there may be more to the story of Lyme disease's origins, hinting at a possible cover-up or suppression of information.

10:02

📚 Exploring the Backstory of Lyme Disease

The final paragraph is an introduction to a platform that offers long-form interviews, short videos, and documentaries on important topics, inviting the audience to explore more content on their website. It suggests a broader context for the discussion on Lyme disease, indicating that there are many aspects of the disease that are not widely known or discussed.

Keywords

💡Lyme disease

Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by a spirochete bacterium known as Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected black-legged ticks. The disease can present with a range of symptoms, from mild to severe, and if not treated promptly with antibiotics like doxycycline or amoxicillin, it can lead to chronic health issues. In the video, it is discussed as a serious and sometimes life-altering condition, with a significant impact on the quality of life for those affected.

💡Tick-borne diseases

Tick-borne diseases are illnesses that are transmitted to humans and animals through the bite of infected ticks. The video highlights the increase in tick populations, particularly in the Northeast of the United States, and the subsequent rise in cases of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. The concern is that a single tick bite can transmit multiple disease-causing microbes, leading to complex and challenging diagnostic scenarios for doctors.

💡Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis refers to the incorrect identification of a disease or condition. In the context of the video, Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed late, which contributes to the controversy and complexity surrounding its treatment. The video mentions that the symptoms of Lyme disease can be similar to other conditions, making it difficult for doctors to identify accurately without reliable tests.

💡Antibiotics

Antibiotics are medications used to treat bacterial infections. Doxycycline and amoxicillin, two types of antibiotics, are mentioned in the video as the standard treatment for Lyme disease if caught early. The effectiveness of antibiotics in treating Lyme disease is emphasized, but the video also discusses the challenges when the disease is not diagnosed promptly.

💡Controversy

The term 'controversy' in the video refers to the ongoing debate and lack of consensus among medical professionals regarding the nature, origin, and treatment of Lyme disease. The controversy is fueled by the disease's variable presentation, the unreliability of diagnostic tests, and the potential for misdiagnosis, which can lead to significant suffering for patients and disagreements among healthcare providers.

💡Chris Newby

Chris Newby is a filmmaker who produced a documentary about Lyme disease called 'Under Our Skin.' She has personally been affected by the disease and has conducted extensive research on its history and implications. In the video, Newby discusses her findings, including the potential link between the emergence of Lyme disease and biological weapons research, adding a layer of intrigue and controversy to the narrative.

💡Biological weapons

Biological weapons refer to pathogens or biological toxins that are used to harm or kill humans or animals as a form of warfare. The video suggests a possible connection between the origins of Lyme disease and biological weapons research, particularly in the context of Plum Island, which was a center for such research. This theory is presented as a point of investigation and speculation rather than a proven fact.

💡CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

The CDC is the national public health agency of the United States, responsible for protecting public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease. In the video, the CDC is mentioned in the context of its response to the emergence of Lyme disease and its role in investigating the disease's origins and spread. The CDC's investigation and findings are central to understanding the official narrative of Lyme disease.

💡Willie Burgdorfer

Willie Burgdorfer was a Swiss-American microbiologist who is credited with identifying the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi. The video discusses his role in the discovery and the subsequent public narrative that downplayed the severity of the disease, suggesting a potential cover-up or mishandling of information related to the disease's impact and treatment.

💡Global health crisis

A global health crisis refers to a significant and widespread public health threat that affects populations worldwide. The video describes Lyme disease as a growing global health crisis that is not receiving adequate attention or resources. The increase in cases and the disease's debilitating effects on those affected contribute to its characterization as a crisis.

💡Climate change

Climate change is the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place. The video suggests that climate change may be a contributing factor to the spread of Lyme disease, as milder winters allow more ticks to survive and reproduce. This connection underscores the complex and multifaceted nature of the disease's emergence and prevalence.

Highlights

Lyme disease can have a range of impacts from mild symptoms to life-altering effects, with some people experiencing years of agony and bedridden conditions.

There is ongoing debate about the nature of Lyme disease, with some dismissing it as a psychological symptom, while others acknowledge it as a physical syndrome.

Chris Newby produced a documentary in 2008 called 'Under Our Skin' that explored the mysterious origins of Lyme disease as it became a serious global illness.

Lyme disease is the fastest-growing infectious disease in the U.S., with a significant number of new cases reported annually.

The disease has been politicized and the truth about its impact has been distorted, leading to a lack of adequate response and support.

Lyme disease is caused by a spirochete bacteria transmitted through a tick bite, and early treatment with doxycycline or amoxicillin can be effective.

Misdiagnosis or late diagnosis of Lyme disease can lead to the disease lingering and becoming difficult to treat.

Ticks can transmit multiple disease-causing microbes, leading to confusing symptoms that are challenging for doctors to diagnose.

Antibody tests for Lyme disease have limitations, being unreliable in the early stages and variable in effectiveness later on.

The increase in tick populations, especially in the Northeast U.S., has led to more cases of tick-borne diseases, including Lyme.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates half a million cases of Lyme disease per year in the U.S.

Climate change and human encroachment into wooded areas are contributing factors to the rapid spread of Lyme disease.

Lyme disease became a noticeable problem in the mid-1970s, around the same time three rare tick-borne diseases appeared near Plum Island, a U.S. biological weapons facility.

Willie Burgdorfer, a Swiss American tick researcher, identified the spirochete bacteria as the cause of Lyme disease, but questions remain about the completeness of this explanation.

The discovery of Lyme disease and the subsequent response raised concerns due to the secretive nature and lack of standard protocol for investigating a new disease.

Chris Newby's research and personal experience with Lyme disease led to an in-depth investigation into the history and potential cover-ups surrounding the illness.

The documentary and subsequent book explore the possibility of a connection between the emergence of Lyme disease and biological weapons research.

Transcripts

if you live in certain parts of this

country rural areas particularly you

know people who have or who have had

lime disease and for some of them maybe

most it's not a huge deal you go in and

you get a big dose of antibiotics you

have some symptoms and then it seems to

go away but for some percentage and you

may know these people too it's totally

life destroying it's years in bed it's

Agony it's really the end of your

productive life so what is that exactly

what is lme disease well there's still

an debate about that very basic question

some have dismissed it as a as a

psychological symptom actually but even

people who acknowledge that it's a it's

a physical syndrome um aren't always

very clear and they're certainly not in

agreement with one another about what it

is or where it came from so back in 2008

a woman called Chris nubbie produced a

documentary about lime at that point it

was becoming a very serious Global

illness and its Origins were mysterious

unknown people whisper whispered about

it but no one could be certain that

documentary was was called under our

skin here's part of

it some infectious disease doctors they

don't believe in lime and they said that

I was faking it and pretending so I

could get out of

school lime is the fastest growing

infectious disease in the country

200,000 new cases or maybe even more it

is a political disease and an economic

disease as much as it is a bacterial

born infection I would never never have

thought that something like a

bacteriological infection can become so

politicized the truth can be so brutally

distorted I go into despair daily I cry

daily I want to Die

daily well when I saw this doctor you

know he said you've got a long road

ahead of you it's not going to be easy

so that scared me the unknown is pretty

scary it is a National Health crisis

that is completely and totally being

ignored and

squashed what is going on well you could

write it off and again some have as a

figment of your imagination but there

are real neurological symptoms and if

you know anyone who's had it you know

that it's entirely real um so again what

is this well Chris newbie has spent a

lot of time thinking and researching on

this topic has been affected personally

by lime is the author of Bitten the

secret history of biological weapons and

lime disease and she joins us now Chris

thanks so much for coming on um so can

you just give us a thanks for inviting

me here oh absolutely a quick and

succinct overview of what lime

is so lime disease is caused by a a

spiroketal

bacteria uh and you get it through a

tick bite and if you treat it uh

immediately with uh doxycycline or

amoxicillin it will go away uh the

problem is it's very often uh

misdiagnosed or diagnosed late and that

that's where the controversy comes in

for the disease it uh it can linger for

months to years and then it's really

hard to get rid of and and complicated a

tick can transmit up to like 20

different disease-causing microbes and

so if you have like two or three or four

of those in one tick bite it creates a

confusing set of SYM sympoms that

doctors have trouble

diagnosing so doctors can isolate

however the organism that causes lime

specifically I mean there's no mystery

about where that comes from is that

correct well uh there are antibody tests

for Lyme disease uh it's really really

hard to culture the you know take blood

and culture it in a Petri dish yes the

problem is the tests are not very

reliable the the Lyme disease antibody

tests

don't usually work in the first month it

takes a while for your body to develop

antibodies to the level that can they

can be measured and then later on the

tests aren't that great it's no better

than a coin flip because it just depends

on uh what strain you have and what

you're if you're really sick you won't

produce antibodies interesting so the

the problem with tickborne diseases is

there are a lot more ticks than there

have been in in our lifetime times

anyway parts of the Northeast have seen

an explosion in tick populations to the

point where large mammals are being

decimated suck dry of blood and dying

because they have too many ticks on them

so that's not anyone's imagination

that's measurable so if you have a

disease that's spread by ticks and there

are a whole lot more ticks you're going

to get a whole lot more cases the

disease is this measured

measurable um yes and uh I would say

just the the cases of lme disease are

going up which is proving that ticks are

biting people the CDC estimates they're

half a million cases a year that's on

average 1300 people a day so that's

significant now why they're spreading so

quickly um I go into that in the book a

little bit I mean there certainly is

global with climate change which means

winners aren't as severe and a lot of

the ticks don't die off um for that's

true in in Maine um and then part of it

is people are moving into the woods and

are exposed more to the

ticks yes all all all true um in Maine

and other northern states but it does

raise the question like how did this I

mean if you're if you're 75 years old

you did not grow up with Lyme disease if

you're 15 years old you're worried about

Lyme disease that's a pretty short

period where do we think this came

from well I the thing I found in my

research for my book is Lyme disease

wasn't a problem problem a noticeable

problem till the mid 70s and what my

research said is that there are actually

three really varent tickborne diseases

that's that showed up right around lime

Connecticut at the mouth of the

Connecticut River which is right across

from Plum Island which was the US's uh

anti-animal

crop uh headquarters for the biological

weapons program so late 60s the the peak

of the biological weapons program in the

US these three freaky diseases showed up

so that was lime arthritis caused by the

spet there was a rsia which is uh Rocky

maned spotted fever and then there was a

uh cattle parasite it was the second

time it was found in man in that area

called babesia and that's that's

actually I got lime and B which can be

fatal and it's a serious

disease so all three so you have a

cluster effectively of these three

previously rare diseases right across

the water from the US government's

biological weapons testing facility is

that is that what you're

saying yeah and uh it it's if you're

like working for the CDC and on look on

on the lookout for natural vers versus

unnatural uh disease outbreaks having

three new tickborne diseases show up

extra deadly disease causing uh than in

the past it would raise um it it would

raise it would get their attention and

there would be investigations which is

what

happened um that sounds like a crazy

conspiracy theory to me just because you

have previously rare diseases show up

all at once across from a biological

weapons facility doesn't mean um so okay

so the CDC investigated this what did

they

find well it uh a a housewife in Lime

Connecticut Paulie Murray was the first

one to start documenting and she started

pounding on the doors of local Health

departments in the CDC and it really

took her seven years before the CDC

responded and a doctor named Alan steer

showed up and started uh from Yale he's

a CDC Eis officer and started

investigating it and he they he figured

out it was tickborne but he couldn't

figure out the causitive agent and at

that point the US's number one tick

researcher wiie Berg dorfer a Swiss

American tick guy who was in um nih's

Rocky Mountain laboratory came out to

investigate and that's where he found I

mean the public facing story is he found

the spyroy

uh causes this Bullseye rash he said

that's what's causing all the disease

and uh the Panic should stop just take

two weeks of D doxy cycling and the

problem will go away but it didn't and

that's where my book took out off I

started looking at the

backstory and wondering what really

happened and uh people associated with

that disease weren't acting in the

normal way normally when you discover a

a a dangerous new disease you say oh

this is horrible give us money we'll

research it but instead it just became

more and more secretive so yes so did

did is it your belief that Willie B

burgdorfer who I think is is gone now

but knew the truth about what happened

and what what do you think is the truth

well I I worked on the the Lyme disease

documentary hey it's Tucker Carlson the

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