| ABX,
abx |
antibiotics
|
| AB,
ab |
antibody
|
| AC,
ac |
before
meals
|
| AMA |
against
medical advice; American Medical Association
|
| ART,
Art |
ART
= Autonomic Response Testing
Art
= Artemisinin, a plant extract sometimes used to
reduce Babesia levels in patients who cannot yet
tolerate the multi-prescription drug required combo
needed to kill the organism.
|
| Babs |
babesiosis,
infection caused by one of the 13 known species
of Babesia. Note: there are currently tests
for only two of them (B. microti, and WA-1).
At least one county health department (Sonoma County)
has raised the bar on what it considers to be "infected"
that no one will test positive, a step taken to
discount/dismiss the high numbers of WA-1 positives
their lab was previously finding. (This is comparable
to setting vehicle emission test requirements so
low that no cars will fail the smog tests.)
|
| Bart |
bartonellosis,
infection caused by one of the 7 known species of
Bartonella.
Most labs test for only one species, B. henselea,
despite other species being known to infect humans
through flea and tick bites
|
| Bb |
Borrelia
burgdorferi, the organism that causes Lyme disease.
Bb is only one of over 300 known species and variants
of Borrelia.
|
| BBB |
blood
brain barrier
|
| BID,
bid |
twice
a day
|
| biw |
twice a week
|
| bpm |
beats per minute
|
| BPP |
blood pressure and pulse
|
| BTW,
btw |
by
the way
|
| bull's-eye
rash |
see
erythema migrans (EM) |
| CAT |
computerized
axial tomography
|
| CBC |
complete
blood count
|
| CDC |
Centers
for Disease Control & Prevention, a division of
the National Institutes for Health (NIH)
|
| CNS |
central
nervous system
|
| CSF |
cerebrospinal
fluid
|
| CSM |
Cholestyramine, a drug normally prescribed to people
with high cholesterol levels to help lower their cholesterol.
It is also prescribed for people with high levels
of neurotoxins (including those with TBI, and mold
toxicity), as the CSM binds neurotoxins along with
the cholesterol, which is then excreted by the body.
CSM must be take with some fat (such as mixed in a
beverage with cream), followed 30 min later by some
additional fat.
|
| Cx |
Cancer
|
| DD |
Damned disease |
| DO
|
Doctor
of Osteopathy; Osteopath
|
| Dx |
Diagnosis
|
| duck |
quack
doctor; duck-duh; duk-duh (see Idiots)
|
| dx |
diagnosis
|
| EEG |
electroencephalogram
|
| ELISA |
enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay
|
| EM |
erythema
migrans; the "classic" bull's-eye rash that
appears in only 50% or so of tick bites, may or may
not occur at the site of the bite, and may or may
not look like a bull's eye (concentric rings around
a center spot).
|
| EMG |
electromyography
|
| FWIW,
fwiw |
for
what it's worth
|
| herx |
Jarish-Herxheimer
reaction: the exacerbation of symptoms or emergence
of new ones as the body deals with the effects of
the massive die-off of organisms caused by the antibiotic
treatment. |
| HBO |
Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy
|
| HBOT |
Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy
|
| HLA |
Human leukocyte antigens
|
| hx |
history,
as in the patient's history as reported to a health
care worker, or in context, such as "I have a
hx of multiple tick bites over a period of 30 years
in Borrelia-endemic areas but still the duck said
I couldn't possibly have Lyme disease."
|
| IC |
take between meals. Also: interstitial cystitis.
|
| ICHT |
Intra-cellular Hyperthermia treatment
|
| ID |
infectious disease
|
| IFA |
immunofluorescent assay
|
| IgE |
Immunoglobulin E
|
| IgG |
Immunoglobulin G
|
| IgM |
Immunoglobulin M
|
| IM |
intramuscular
|
| IMHO |
in my honest (or, humble) opinion
|
| IMO |
in my opinion
|
| IV |
intravenous
|
| Keets,
'keets, 'ketes |
informal
abbreviations for the word spirochetes
|
| LD |
Lyme disease
|
| LFT |
Liver Function Test
|
| LL |
lyme
literate
|
| LLMD |
Lyme Literate Medical Doctor
|
| LOL |
laugh out loud
|
| LP |
lumbar
puncture
|
| LUAT |
Lyme Urine Antigen test
|
| MAC |
maximum
allowable concentration
|
| macrolide |
a
class of antibiotic used in the treatment of some
TBD. For example, Mepron, an anti-malarial drug +
a macrolide antibiotic (usually Zithromax) is used
in the treatment of Babesia.
|
| MCP |
Modified
citrus pectin. Citrus pectin that has been processed
to reduce the molecular size, increasing its bioavailability,
has been used in the treatment of certain types of
cancers, and in heavy metals detoxification. There
is some indication that it may be useful in binding
with neurotoxins, similar to CSM, and so may be useful
to those who need a prolonged course of treatment
to reduce their neurotoxin load.
|
| MIC |
minimum inhibitory concentration of an antibacterial
drug
|
| Mg |
Magnesium. 'MgD' is sometimes used to denote magnesium
deficiency
|
| MMP-9 |
Matrix
metalloproteinase (MMP; MMP-9) are enzymes that open
tunnels through the tissues of the body in order to
deliver inflammatory cytokines and other biochemicals.
MMPs are essential for substances to be able to move
around the body, but excessive levels of MMPs develop
when inflammation is too high. MMP-9 is frequently
discussed in relation to people with TBI. High levels
of MMP-9 means high levels of cytokines are being
delivered to body tissues, causing lots of trouble
everywhere else. This, elevated inflammation = elevated
cytokines = increased inflammation and elevated risk
of other inflammatory diseases.
|
| mold |
Many
with TBI are also susceptible and are made ill from
exposure to environmental molds. A home or office
does not have to actually have black slime mold dripping
down the walls--or any visible mold--to be infested
with mold at levels high enough to cause illness.
|
| MRI |
magnetic resonance imaging
|
| ND |
Naturopathic Physician
|
| NE |
neurological examination.
|
| neuro |
neurology, neurological
|
| NCS |
nerve conduction study
|
| NK |
natural killer cells
|
| NM |
neuromuscular.
|
| NMH |
neurally mediated hypotension
|
| NP |
nurse practitioner.
|
| NSAID |
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
|
| N/V |
nausea vomiting
|
| OCD |
obsessive compulsive disorder
|
| OD |
once daily
|
| OTC |
over-the-counter, a term used for medicines that do
not require a doctor's prescription
|
| OV |
office visit
|
| PA |
physician assistant
|
| PCR |
polymerase chain reaction
|
| PO,
po |
by mouth
|
| POTS |
postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome
|
| PRN,
prn |
as needed
|
| pt |
patient
|
| QAM |
every morning
|
| qd,
q d |
once a day; every day
|
| QID,
qid |
four times a day
|
| QM |
every morning
|
| QOD |
every other day
|
| RIFE |
electro-conducted frequency machine therapy
|
| RMSF |
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
|
| ROTFL,
ROFTLOL |
rolling on the floor laughing (out loud)
|
| RTI |
Respiratory
tract infection |
| Rx |
prescription
|
| Salt/C |
An
experimental unproven and potentially dangerous protocol
where patients ingest extremely high quantities of
salt and vitamin C every day for several months.
|
| SC,
sc, subq |
subcutaneous
(under skin)
|
| SPECT
Scan |
Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography
|
| Staph |
Staphylococcus,
a spherical gram-positive parasitic bacteria that
tend to form irregular colonies. Colonies may cause
boils, or septicemia, or other infections. Many people
with TBI have been sick so long that they have become
ill from colonization by organisms normally present
in such low numbers as to be considered benign. Staph
a (S. aureaus) and S. epidermidis
are two such infections commonly causing illness in
people also ill from TBDs. Appropriately collected
nasal swabbing is done to collect material for culture
and sensitivity testing, to determine what species
of Staphylococcus is present, and what drugs
it is susceptible and resistant to.
|
| Sx,
sx, syx |
symptom;
in context: surgery
|
|
|
| TBD |
Tickborne
disease, that is, diseases caused by parasites living
inside ticks which are transferred to a new host
when the tick injects its parasite-laden saliva
into the bite through which it is drawing its blood
meal. These parasites can then be transmitted to
other feeding ticks, fleas, and other biting insects,
such as flies and mosquitoes, who then transfer
them to the hosts they feed on.
Once
infected, host animals may transmit some of these
diseases sexually, as well as infected females able
to pass them through the placenta and breast milk.
The TBO (tickborne organisms) we are most concerned
with are those in the following genuses Borrelia
(borreliosis, aka Lyme disease; Bartonella
(bartonellosis, aka cat-scratch fever); Babesia
(babesiosis), and Ehrlichia (ehrlichiosis).
|
| TBI |
Tickborne illness. Illnesses or infections caused
by organisms transferred from ticks to humans and
other animals. Those associated with Lyme disease
are Borrelia (borreliosis, aka Lyme disease;
Bartonella (bartonellosis, aka cat-scratch
fever); Babesia (babesiosis), and Ehrlichia
(ehrlichiosis). See TBD.
|
| TID,
tid |
three times a day
|
| TTT |
tilt table test, which helps evaluate how the body
regulates blood pressure in response to postural changes
|
| tx,
txt |
treatment
|
| UTI |
urinary tract infection
|
| VCS |
visual contrast survey, a noninvasive test used to
changes in neurotoxicity. For more information, see
Ritchie Shoemaker MD's site, www.chronicneurotoxins.com
|
| WB |
Western blot. The IgG and IgM Western blot tests for
Borrelia provides results in a way that gives
a sort of visualization of the patient's antibodies.
It is more sensitive and specific than the ELISA and
EIA (that is, it is more likely to show positives
where the ELISA/EIA showed negatives). The IgG and
IgM WB should always be used when the Lyme IgG/IgM
antibody serology has returned an equivocal or positive
result.
|
