"Even if all the experts agree, they may well be mistaken." –Bertrand Russell

A form of Streptococcus bacteria killed as many as 25% of 19th Century women who delivered babies in the hospitals of Europe and the United States. In the 1840’s, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, a physician who was practicing in Vienna, hypothesized that doctors were somehow passing disease from their hands to their patients at delivery. Dr. Semmelweis, after realizing that medical students were dissecting cadavers immediately before entering the delivery room, ordered all medical caregivers to wash their hands using a chlorine solution before examining women in labor. Because of this practice in his maternity wards, the mortality rate dropped to less than one percent.

Dr. Semmelweis became an advocate and eventually a martyr for the cause of hand washing by physicians. This unconventional belief was met with criticism and even hostility from his peers. In his day, hand washing was considered an unnecessary burden because of the lack of indoor plumbing. Dr. Semmelweis’ many critics were unimpressed and unconvinced by his results despite the fact he was able to duplicate them in other maternity wards.

Dr. Semmelweis was eventually run out of town and died in an institution. At his death in 1865, hand washing by physicians was still a mocked practice. In 1879, at the Academy of Medicine’s seminar in Paris, it was a subject of ridicule and debate. Well into the turn of the next century, the idea of the need for hygiene by the medical community was met with resistance.

“Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today, we accept the practice of hand washing as just plain common sense. The United States Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has even recognized it as “the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection”.

“We're going to look back at this century in the future and we're going to laugh eventually, but we'll cry first. This is one of the most barbaric periods. It's going to be called the Dark Ages of medicine.” -Dr. Richard Schulze

Could this happen today? Would conventionally medicine fight disease prevention and treatment that should be common sense? It happens everyday! A prime example is with Lyme Disease.

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. -Mark Twain

If you have ever been bitten by a tick, flea, mosquito, gnat, or mite or have been sexually active with someone who has been bitten, then you are at risk for Lyme Disease. Lyme can also be transmitted from mother to unborn child and through breast-feeding. Contaminated food can also pass along the disease.

Forget what you have been told about “bulls-eye” rashes and deep woods excursions – they only make up a small percentage of the population infected by Lyme. Lyme Disease is not rare. It is an epidemic.

The Lyme Disease “outbreak” of the mid-1970’s caused arthritis. However, Lyme causes autoimmunity in the brain and central nervous system, not just the joints. It can mimic MS, Chronic Fatigue, and many mental illnesses. According to the renowned Dr. Cowden, “…more than 50% of chronically ill people may have Lyme contributing to their condition”. Lyme has also been shown to be a factor with Crohn's disease, and ALS.

Lyme, which was not even recognized in the United States until 1975, may be one of the most misunderstood and devastating diseases of our day. The test normally used to detect Lyme Disease is extremely unreliable. This test does not look for the Lyme causing Borreliosis bacteria. Instead, the test looks for the antibodies that your body has produced against Lyme causing bacteria.

The problem is that Lyme can go undetected by your immune system for a long period of time, so those antibodies are not produced against it. Even after antibodies are produced, they are generally found in the tissue, not the blood of an infected person. The result is a negative blood test even if Lyme is present all over the body. Many organ systems can be invaded before an infected person even feels any symptoms. Some will never feel symptoms.

Dr. Jo Anne Whitaker (no known relation to the author) developed a test that looks for the Lyme Borreliosis bacteria, not the antibody. Dr. Whitaker’s lab has tested thousands of people for the presence of Lyme causing bacteria. Every test performed by her lab since 1999 has been positive for Lyme Disease.

“He's the best physician that knows the worthlessness of the most medicines.” -Benjamin Franklin

As difficult as Lyme disease is to detect using standard methods, it is even more difficult to treat. The standard course of treatment can mean years of antibiotics, which are not necessarily effective. Even with years of prescription treatments, patients may still become debilitated or even die.

Cat’s Claw, also known as Una de Gato, is an anti-inflammatory herb and has been used successfully against Lyme Disease. British doctor and surgeon, Andrew Wright, uses Cat’s Claw as his first line of therapy when a patient has Lyme Disease or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. He has found Cat’s Claw a very effective treatment.

“Over 200 years ago, Ben Rush, who signed the Constitution of the United States, warned that we needed to include a medical freedom clause in the Constitution. He said if we didn't it was likely that one group of doctors would monopolize healthcare by passing legislation to outlaw other types of doctors and systems of medicine. This is exactly what happened.” -Dr. Richard Schulze

Lyme doctors in the U.S. who treat their patients with anything outside of conventional treatments, like Cat’s Claw, run the risk of government investigation and losing the right to practice medicine. If you think I am making up some sort of government conspiracy story, let me just say that it has happened to more than fifty effective Lyme doctors in the last three years.

How long will it be before mainstream medicine uses common sense to identify and treat Lyme? Will it even be in our lifetime?

The example of Lyme is just a small part of an ever-growing problem of mainstream medicine stifling medical progress. One persuasive argument for alternative medicine is that it allows for progress in a timely fashion – especially when the answer is an herb and not a patent medicine.

Heidi Whitaker is an author, popular speaker, and co-founder of http://www.healthydivas.com She has dedicated her life to the fight against autoimmunity. To download a free copy of her book "Conquering Autoimmunity" visit http://www.healthydivas.com/conquer_autoimmunity_free_download.html