Townsend Letter, the Examiner of Alternative Medicine, is a print magazine that’s been around for 37 years. It focuses on alternative medical treatments and the health professionals who practice them. The July 2020 issue puts the spotlight on Lyme disease, mold and COVID-19.

The cover story features Dr. Nicola McFadzean Ducharme, a naturopathic doctor who practices in San Diego, California. Her article, “Untangling the Lyme/Mold Conundrum,” explores commonalities and differences between two conditions that so often overlap.

As she notes: “A patient comes to my office. They complain of joint pain, headaches, foggy brain, pins and needles in their hands and feet, constipation, abdominal pain, dizziness, and terrible fatigue. Is it Lyme? Could be. Is it mold toxicity? Could be. Is there something else going on? Possibly.”

She then presents her own approach to testing, diagnosis, and treatment. Click here to read this article online.

In a thematically related article, Dr. Jill Carnahan discusses “The Link Between Mold Toxicity and Occult Infections: Functional Medicine Leads the Way.” She says the following body systems are most dramatically impacted by exposure to molds and mycotoxins: the brain, the digestive tract, and immune system. She writes about the importance of eliminating mold exposure and detoxifying the body. This article can also be read online.

Gestational transmission?

Another prominent article in this issue is “The Next Generation of Lyme Disease—A Focus on Gestational Transmission,” by Michelle McKeon, MS. This article summarizes what’s known and unknown about transmission of Lyme from mother to unborn child, gives lots of documentation, and talks about what’s needed in terms of future research. Click here to read this article online.

Other articles include such topics as COVID-19 testing, bee venom therapy, treating viruses with Vitamin C, and the use of glutathione. (Oh, and one that I wrote about LymeDisease.org’s MyLymeData project.) Some of these can be accessed online. For the rest, you’ll need to order a print copy.

Click here to see the Table of Contents and subscription information.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s Vice-president and Director of Communications. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.