ILADS Updates from ILADS Conference in San Antonio, Texas, November 7 th -10 th

By Jennifer Kohler MS, FNP-BC, CLC

I had the pleasure of being able to attend my first ILADS conference. I learned a lot and

I am slowly integrating some new ideas, treatments and products into our practice. I

wanted to share some highlights of this year’s conference with all of you:

 After 31 years of hard work the FDA has cleared the IGENEX Lyme Immunoblot.

This will be marketed as the iDart Lyme IgG Immunoblot. This is considered to be

a modified two-tier test. If the first tier is positive, only 2 bands are needed on the

Immunoblot to be considered positive. Bands 31 and 34 will be included, which

are very specific to Lyme Borrelia. This test also includes testing for multiple

species of Borrelia. This means the ImmunoBlot kits can now be sold to other

labs and hospitals to use (due to licensing issues, all commercial kits need to be

FDA cleared). NOTE: only the IgG ImmunoBlot has been cleared- the IgM

ImmunoBlot clearance is pending

 A new study looking at a combination of Goduchi, Piperine and Homeopathic

Thimersol and it’s activity against Lyme is gathering participants. This is

manufactured under the name “CelWel,” I may have the opportunity to enroll 2

patients in this study in the future.

 Dr. Horowitz discussed combination Dapsone treatment in chronic Lyme disease,

he studied double dapsone treatment and high dose dapsone combination

therapy and compared pulsed dosing with longer dosing regimens.

 We are looking into Integrative Peptides and how to integrate these into practice.

 We are now starting to use LymeCore Botanicals for treatment. Dr. Myriah

Hinchey, ND, did a very informative presentation on using herbals in Lyme,

Babesia and Bartonella. She is the owner of LymeCore Botanticals. In her

presentation she again, along with numerous other practitioners, explains the

importance of herbals in regard to treatment of tickborne disease. This resonates

and further solidifies what we feel is the best treatment in many patients. The

goal is to kill the infection and restore immunocompetence.

 Dr. Sabine Hazan did an informative presentation looking at how the microbiome

plays such an important role in our health, particularly with COVID, cancer,

mental health, Autism and Lyme to name a few. Bifidobacterium appears to be

the main role player in this.

 Dr. Nancy O’Hara MD, did a wonderful discussion about PANS/PANDAS and the

complexity that it presents in treatment. She discussed both herbals and

pharmaceutical treatments.

These are just some of the numerous presentations I had the pleasure of viewing. We

are committed to continuing to stay updated on the research and new ideas for

treatment and support.