The Carolina Center’s Approach to Lyme Disease

& Other Tick-Borne Illnesses

Summary Statement: 

Although Lyme disease is easily treated with antibiotics in its early stages, it is often either misdiagnosed or goes undiagnosed until it has progressed considerably.  Our approach combines the principled use of antibiotics to treat the Lyme-related infections with specific supplements that provide targeted support for the immune, hormonal and nervous systems. When used in combination with commonly prescribed medications, our clinical experience has shown that natural therapies can afford increased antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection and help relieve or eliminate Lyme-related symptoms.  The careful combining of these approaches may increase the effectiveness of prescription medications while also helping to reduce painful symptoms and speeding up recovery from Lyme disease.

What are tick-borne illnesses? 

Ticks are capable of transmitting numerous pathogens to both humans and their pets, and the risk of contracting tick-borne diseases is rising steadily.  The most common of these diseases is Lyme disease, a chronic inflammatory condition caused when the Borrelia burgdoferi bacteria is transmitted by the bite of a deer tick or black-legged tick. Early detection is one of the keys to fighting this disease, but very often the diagnosis is missed because many physicians do not understand how to test for Lyme or its coinfections.

How is Lyme disease treated? 

Lyme disease is easily treated with antibiotics in its early stages.  In most cases, however, the disease may become advanced before it is actually diagnosed.  At this point, the individual exhibits such debilitating symptoms as chronic fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, extreme mood swings, severe arthritic pain in the large joints, and irregularities of the heart rhythm.  Many afflicted individuals who have been to numerous doctors will eventually be diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, but treatment options are often limited and confusing. 

How did Dr. Pittman become interested in Lyme disease?

Dr. Pittman’s personal experience with battling Lyme disease for six months in 2005 has profoundly informed his understanding of and overall approach to tick-borne illnesses.  His overall approach has been further informed by his training at the 2009 Physician Training Program in Washington D.C., sponsored by the International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society. 

What is the Carolina Center’s approach? 

This evidence-based approach integrates the careful use of antibiotics to treat the Lyme-related infections (both Borrelia infection and coinfections) with the use of natural products that provide targeted support for the immune, hormonal, and nervous systems.   Dr. Pittman proposes that specific nutrient and botanical supplements, together with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and other complementary therapies, may increase the effectiveness of prescription medications while also helping to reduce painful Lyme-related symptoms and speeding up the recovery process.  By affording increased antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection, the nutritional/herbal strategy can help relieve or eliminate Lyme-related symptoms, as reported by University of California researchers in the September 2009 issue of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Dr. Pittman's impressive training in the innovative treatment of Lyme disease and tick-borne illness includes four ILADS preceptorships (2006, 2010-2012) at Westchester Academy of Medicine, as well as Lyme conferences sponsored by the American College for Advancement in Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2005 and 2002, respectively.