Chronic: The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic and How to Get Healthy Again by Dr. Steven Philips, MD & Dana Parish.
Dr. Steven Phillips, the expert guest on our upcoming Season 2 Episode 1 launching this week, has not only witnessed the agony and frustration of the many thousands of chronic Lyme and Lyme-related patients he’s diagnosed and treated over several decades. He’s experienced these agonies himself, as has his Chronic co-author, the science writer Dana Parish.
Dr. Phillips recalls the low point in his own battle when he was “confined to my memory-foam mattress prison for a full year, ultimately requiring twenty-four hour care, unable to turn over in bed or sit up on my own….”
From this nadir he persevered on his own path to wellness and toward a better understanding of the complexities of tick-borne Lyme infections triggering chronic illnesses affecting tens of thousands of North Americans each year.
Phillips argues these illnesses are more accurately called “Lyme Plus” to reflect other pathogens at work alongside Lyme bacteria. Yet current testing methods for Lyme and Lyme plus are woefully inadequate, in Phillips experience. This leads to high rates of misdiagnosis and mistreatment for up to 40% of infected individuals not cured by a typical course of antibiotics.
Chronic is both unusually an unusually powerful memoir and a science-based wake-up call to the mainstream medical community which has yet to fully recognize the ravages of chronic Lyme and Lyme plus conditions.
Episodes
Stories of everyday athletes facing physical and behavioral obstacles, and the rewards & challenges of an active lifestyle. With input from doctors, researchers, and other wellness experts.
My Expert Odyssey Part 1: Depression, Diabetes & Trauma (Bonus Episode)
In this first of two Season 1 bonus episodes, we get a bit more personal with the expert guests whose own experiences have motivated and informed their professional endeavors.
Dr. Jacob Meyer, Director of the Wellbeing & Exercise Lab at Iowa State, on his experience with depression and exercise; Dr. Sheri Colberg, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age four; and physical therapist Dr. Lisa Lowe, who became a para rower after a terrible car accident.
Josie & Joe in Tandem vs. Multiple Sclerosis
Six months ago, Josie was bedridden with a flare-up of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) she has been battling for a decade alongside her husband Joe and with some help from their much loved custom tandem bike. Over that same decade Josie and Joe have logged over 10,000 miles and raised $100,000 for research on MS, a disorder where the immune system attacks the nervous system and triggers a loss of strength and muscular control.
Would this latest flare-up permanently sideline this avid cycling couple?
“When this flare up happened, I could not move a muscle. I couldn't lift anything,” recalls Josie. “Joe will say he was feeding me in the hospital ‘cause I couldn't lift the fork to my mouth.”
“And when you were flat on your back and said you wanted to bike again,” recalls Joe, “I was skeptical…but hopeful.”