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BERNARD D. RAXLEN, MD
&
LYME DISEASE
LYME MEDICAL CENTER NJ
BERNARD D. RAXLEN, MD
BERNARD D. RAXLEN, MD
&
LYME DISEASE
Dr. Raxlen’s philosophy of treatment views Lyme Disease syndrome as a complex infectious-neuro-immune phenomenon. A diagnosis is made based on the patient’s comprehensive medical history, physical examination, symptom presentation, and advanced serological testing. Unfortunately, standard serological methods (Elisa, Western Blot IgG and IgM), can be either false negative or false positive in up to 40% of cases. Therefore, the physician must rely on his patient’s unique clinical symptoms and accordingly determine treatment. This includes “length” and “route” of antibiotic administration (such as intravenous, intramuscular injections, oral, and auxiliary support treatments). New blood culture studies for Borrelia and Babesia, the use of electron microscopy, as well as PCR and DNA testing have helped to more accurately confirm the presence of the infecting organisms.
Most patients have seen a number of physicians before finding one that who can make a correct diagnosis, and initiate a successful treatment. The often variable nature of the patient’s symptoms, combined with the negative serology, creates diagnostic uncertainty. This results in frustration for both the well-meaning specialist and the concerned patient.
A BRIEF HISTORY ON DR. RAXLEN
Dr Raxlen obtained a B.A. in philosophy and anthropology from Stanford University. It was there he was influenced by his Professor, Gregory Bateson, the noted anthropologist who introduced Dr. Raxlen to “general systems theory”, medical ethnology and communication theory. As a result, during his medical training at the University of Toronto, Dr. Raxlen worked two full summers in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala and San Salvador, assisting medical personnel in helping native Indian people in both countries. He completed an internship at McGill Medical School Hospital Network. He then worked a full year in the emergency room of a large Toronto hospital, as well as serving as an associate “medical house call doctor”.
His interest in medical anthropology in underdeveloped countries took him to Belem, Brazil and the Amazon River, where he spent a year in the Xingu River Basin. He lived with an indigenous Amazonian tribe for six months. There he studied parasitology and other tropical diseases. This resulted in a life long interest in therapeutic herbal medicine.
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He returned the following year to begin training at the University of Chicago Medical School. He received a two year advanced fellowship in Family and Child Psychiatry. He was appointed to the faculty as a lecturer in Family and Child Psychiatry.
His practice moved to Connecticut in 1972 where he was appointed lecturer at Fairfield University and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University. In 1975, he was appointed Director of the Children’s Service Center of Bridgeport and founded the Graduate Center for Clinical Studies at the University of Bridgeport.
After a decade of private practice (1978-1988) pioneering nutritional and integrative psychiatry/ medicine, he became interested in tick-borne disease (Lyme Disease) because of the chronic undiagnosed symptoms of his patients.
In the beginning Dr. Raxlen’s practice was situated in the highly Lyme endemic areas of Westchester and Fairfield counties until he moved to New York & New Jersey, where he is currently practicing. Over the past 40 years, he has successfully treated over a thousand cases of Tick- Borne Disease (specializing in neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive complications). Over 90% of his practice is now devoted entirely to Chronic Lyme Disease (CLD) and co-infections.
The diagnosis and treatment of Tick-Borne Disease (TBD) is complicated and requires not only clinical observation but also modern medical technology. This includes, utilization of advanced radiology (SPECT and MRI), comprehensive neuropsychiatric evaluation (testing), serology from specialty laboratories, advanced co-infection testing (Babesia, Bartonella, and Ehrlichia), sleep lab assessment and physical therapy evaluation. Presently, Dr. Raxlen is one of the few family psychiatrists in the tri-state area to initiate a total comprehensive treatment program which utilizes both oral and intravenous (IV) antibiotic treatment. He also uses other treatment strategies such as neuropharmacology and stress management for:
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depression
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panic disorder
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bipolar mood disorder
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epileptiform seizure activity
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ADD
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memory loss
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sleep disorder and pre-frontal lobe deficit syndrome.
He employs nutriceutical supplements to support the patient’s natural immunologic healing system.
He was an original member and co-founder of AIMS (Academy for Integrated Medical Studies) and served for several years on the Board of Directors of the Omega Institute. He was a founding member of ILADS, and was elected secretary of the first board of governors of ILADS (the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society). He has been a featured speaker in more than forty workshops over the years on topics ranging from psychiatry, drug abuse, psychoneuroimmunology and Tick-Borne Diseases. He has been on national television (ABC, NBC, Fox) discussing the medical concerns which pertain to TBD. Dr. Raxlen is featured on the Discovery Channel in the Mystery Illness discussing Lyme Disease and it’s diagnosis.
