Toxic Load: Healing from Tick-borne Disease and Autoimmune Illness 

Jill Carnahan, MD

BAL “Quick Bites” Series

 

“If you have an autoimmune disease, our allopathic system does not have great answers that are solution-based or root cause-based to chronic complex illness.”

– Jill Carnahan, MD

In this edition of our Ticktective video and podcast series, Dana Parish sits down with Jill Carnahan, MD, a functional medicine doctor specializing in Lyme disease, tick-borne illnesses, mold toxicity, and other complex chronic health issues. Carnahan discusses her background growing up on a farm and how it influenced her approach to medicine. She shares her experience being diagnosed with breast cancer and the potential environmental factors, such as atrazine, that may have contributed to it. Carnahan talks about her cancer treatment and her belief in finding and addressing root causes in medicine. She then discusses her expertise in Lyme and tick-borne diseases, explaining how she evaluates and treats these conditions. She emphasizes the need for a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease due to the limitations of mainstream tests. Carnahan also sheds light on the connection between mold exposure and chronic illness, including dementia and psychiatric disorders. She provides insights into testing, detoxification, and treatment strategies for mold-related illnesses. The interview concludes with information about connecting with Dr. Carnahan’s clinic, her book, and her documentary.

Ticktective with Dana Parish: From Harvard MD to MS Patient: Wisdom from Both Sides

Ticktective Podcast: a Bay Area Lyme Foundation Program

Annie Brewster, MD

Annie Brewster is an Assistant Professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, a practicing physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, a writer and a storyteller. She is also a patient, diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2001. In response to the disconnection she experienced in healthcare, both as a patient and a provider, and motivated by her belief in the power of stories, she started recording patient narratives in 2010. Integrating her personal experiences with the research supporting the health benefits of narrative, she founded Health Story Collaborative (HSC) in 2013. HSC is dedicated to helping individuals navigating health challenges find meaning, and ultimately heal, through storytelling. She is excited by interdisciplinary, cross-institutional collaborations that break through resistance to change. She is widely published in the press and is author of The Healing Power of Storytelling: Using Personal Narrative to Navigate Illness, Trauma, and Loss (2022).

Ticktective with Dana Parish: All About Kids with Lyme, PANS, Mold Illness

Ticktective™ with Dana Parish

Charlotte Mao, MD

Dr. Charlotte Mao is a pediatric infectious diseases (ID) physician with special focus on Lyme disease and associated infections. She received her medical degree at Harvard Medical School and did her pediatric and infectious disease training at Boston Children’s Hospital. Ticktective Video and Podcast Editor: Kiva Schweig.

To read the podcast transcript, click here.

Ticktective with Dana Parish: The Misunderstood Infection That Is Wreaking Havoc

Ticktective™ with Dana Parish

Edward B. Breitschwerdt, DVM, DACVIM, PhD

Dr. Edward B. Breitschwerdt is the Melanie S. Steele professor of medicine and infectious diseases at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He is also an adjunct professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, and Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Ticktective Video and Podcast Editor: Kiva Schweig.  Click here for this podcast transcript.