WHAT IS BARTONELLA?

THE MOST IMPORTANT INFECTION ON EARTH? A GERM NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT? As I write this, I have a 600-page draft of a Bartonella book. I have written 13 books on infections, but this infection really scares me. Why? My family had it, and so have many of my patients over almost three decades. And the number of psychiatrists, psychologists, and neurologists that understand the profound impact on our psychology, emotions, thoughts, and behavior could fit in one modest room. The first modern book on Bartonella was the one I published in 2008. It was terrible. But for years, it was the only book. Bartonella is in every major vessel that carries blood in the body. It can cause hundreds of illnesses-including sickness in people you know. So let us start with simple and clear basics to keep this away from you and those you love. In 2007, I wrote the first and most current article on how Bartonella causes anxiety, irritability, depression, and panic. A substantial portion of severe psychiatric disease is caused by Bartonella (and Lyme disease). In 1990, we were only aware of two species of Bartonella, but AIDS research brought them out of hiding and now we know of 22 species that infect humans. Bartonella lives inside red blood cells, which carry oxygen. In my textbook, for doctors who use microscopes to look at infections in blood, I show them how to identify Bartonella inside and on the edge of red blood cells. We know from research out of TLABS that Bartonella is also in lymph vessels-they carry blood back to the heart and are even in the brain. In my Bartonella book, I will show the number of healthy adults and children in prosperous countries with Bartonella. There is no point in giving you the percentages; you would not believe me. Right? It took about 100 years for an artist named Polly Murray in Lyme, CT. She reported her sons had severely swollen knees and other symptoms that were throughout her family. Other youth in the neighborhood also had severely swollen knees. So, you probably imagine they just drew some blood or excess fluid from the knee, and the highly complex corkscrew Lyme bacteria were clear. No. Despite a wide range of stains to put on blood and the use of high-quality microscopes, Lyme was not identified for about 4-6 years. So, you are thinking that was decades ago. Things have radically changed. Cell phones. The internet. Really? We had men walking on the moon six years before Ms. Murray’s plea for help from the state health agency. You would believe in our age of amazing science; no bacteria could hide for years without you seeing it on YOUTUBE, TikTok, CNN, FOX, or Snapchat. From ancient burial areas, we know that Bartonella has been with mankind for thousands of years. It has evaded detection until AIDS research made a species clear because it turns off the immune system in ways unknown with other bacteria. Also, “standard” testing for Bartonella is terrible! This is partly because only 1 or 2 species are routinely tested for, and there are 22 known species today. And you will not have antibodies to Bartonella when it turns off your immune system machinery. I have ways of beating that problem. Stay tuned. Or read it on my Facebook posts. So, what about treatment? We have many possible treatments; some of the options suggested by physicians and naturopaths work, and some fail. The Cohen Foundation has funded four respected Bartonella researchers looking to determine the best human treatments, not merely what works in the lab. In my new book, I plan to list every possible treatment. The various respected and reasonable therapies these eminent researchers offer work very well, and Bartonella is already being cured by them and in our practice. In summary, Bartonella has existed for thousands of years but has only been known since the 1990s. It is hard to detect by current “routine” testing for many reasons, but there is better testing available every year that testing is being improved. Once detected, we can eradicate Bartonella using effective treatment strategies that continue to be refined.