Epstein Barr Specialists Near Me

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FAQs:

What is Epstein-Barr Virus?

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a very common viral infection that spreads through saliva and body fluids. EBV is a type of herpesvirus called herpesvirus 4. Most cases of EBV don’t cause symptoms. Other cases, especially in adolescents and young adults, can lead to infectious mononucleosis. Once you get EBV, the infection stays within your body for your entire life in a dormant state where it's inactive or sleeping. You can reactivate the virus and experience symptoms again, regardless of when you first acquired the virus.

How Does a Person Get Epstein Barr Virus?

Epstein-Barr virus is contagious and easily spreads through saliva (spit). You can get EBV by sharing items that make contact with an infected person’s saliva. Most people get EBV by drinking from the same glass or kissing someone with the virus.

How Serious is Epstein-Barr Virus?

EBV infection can affect a person’s blood and bone marrow. The virus can cause the body to produce an excessive number of white blood cells called lymphocytes (lymphocytosis). EBV can also weaken the immune system, making it more difficult for the body to fight infection.

What Kills EBV in Cells?

T lymphocytes and Natural Killer (NK) cells play an essential role in the defense against EBV, killing infected cells when the virus reactivates. Antiviral NK cell functions may be also triggered by antibodies (Ab) recognizing infected cells.

What is Chronic Epstein Barr Virus?

Chronic active Epstein–Barr virus (CAEBV) disease is a rare disorder in which persons are unable to control infection with the virus. The disease is progressive with markedly elevated levels of EBV DNA in the blood and infiltration of organs by EBV-positive lymphocytes. Patients often present with fever, lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, EBV hepatitis, or pancytopenia. Over time, these patients develop progressive immunodeficiency and if not treated, succumb to opportunistic infections, hemophagocytosis, multiorgan failure, or EBV-positive lymphomas. Patients with CAEBV in the United States most often present with disease involving B or T cells, while in Asia, the disease usually involves T or NK cells. The only proven effective treatment for the disease is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Current studies to find a cause of this disease focus on immune defects and genetic abnormalities associated with the disease.

Is Epstein-Barr Virus Contagious?

Yes, Epstein-Barr virus is contagious. The virus can spread during the incubation period (amount of time when someone has exposure to the virus to when they experience symptoms), which is between four to six weeks.

The virus spreads easily through saliva (spit) but can spread through other body fluids. You can get EBV from an infected person by:

- Coughing or sneezing.

- Kissing.

- Sexual contact (blood and semen).

- Sharing objects like a toothbrush, utensils or a cup.

- Touching items a child might have put in their mouth or drooled on.

If you have EBV, you don’t have to show symptoms to pass the virus onto someone else. Once you get the infection, it will live in your body in a dormant (sleeping or inactive) state. Certain events can trigger EBV to wake up (reactivate) and make it contagious to others, potentially causing symptoms in the host. Events that trigger EBV reactivation include:

- Stress.

- Weak immune system.

- Menopause or hormone changes.

The virus spreads easily through saliva (spit) but can spread through other body fluids. You can get EBV from an infected person by:

- Coughing or sneezing.

- Kissing.

- Sexual contact (blood and semen).

- Sharing objects like a toothbrush, utensils or a cup.

- Touching items a child might have put in their mouth or drooled on.

If you have EBV, you don’t have to show symptoms to pass the virus onto someone else. Once you get the infection, it will live in your body in a dormant (sleeping or inactive) state. Certain events can trigger EBV to wake up (reactivate) and make it contagious to others, potentially causing symptoms in the host. Events that trigger EBV reactivation include:

- Stress.

- Weak immune system.

- Menopause or hormone changes.

Is There a Cure for Epstein-Barr Virus?

There is no cure for Epstein-Barr virus and there is no vaccine to prevent the spread of the virus. Treatment addresses the symptoms of the virus and symptoms should go away after two to four weeks. Once infected with the virus, it lives in your body in a dormant (sleeping) state, which means it can reactivate and wake up if your body triggers it via stress or a weakened immune system. You can experience symptoms again if your body reactivates the virus.

What Type of Cancer Does Epstein Barr Virus Cause?

Although it is rare, Epstein-Barr virus can lead to certain types of cancer including:

- White blood cell cancer (Burkitt lymphoma).

- Cancer of the nose and throat (nasopharyngeal cancer).

Cancer from EBV is the result of viral genes from the virus that change the growth cycle of infected cells and cause them to become cancerous.

Is Epstein Barr Virus an Autoimmune Disease?

In addition to the infectious disease mononucleosis (mono), the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with an increased risk of seven different autoimmune diseases:

- Systemic lupus erythematosus

- Rheumatoid arthritis

- Multiple sclerosis

- Inflammatory bowel disease

- Type 1 diabetes

- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis

- Celiac disease

Researchers say the virus appears to "switch on" certain genes that more likely to develop one of these diseases.

Is Vitamin C Good for Epstein-Barr?

Vitamin C IV therapy decreases Epstein-Barr antibodies. The recent study was one of the first clinical studies to examine the effects of vitamin C IV therapy on infection with Epstein-Barr virus. The researchers evaluated data from 35 men and women diagnosed with chronic fatigue or other conditions who had Epstein-Barr virus antibodies measured before and after treatment with IV vitamin C.

Almost all of the 35 subjects showed improvement and all had lower levels of antibodies to the Epstein-Barr virus following IV vitamin C treatment. For example, levels of IgG antibodies to the virus’s early diffuse antigen (EBV EA IgG) decreased on average by almost a half. The more sessions of vitamin C IV therapy the patients had, the greater their decline in EBV EA IgG levels. Those who had five or more sessions had a significantly greater percent decrease in antibodies over time in comparison with infected people who did not receive intravenous vitamin C.

The researchers also discovered that those who had higher blood levels of vitamin C before the start of treatment had lower antibody levels before treatment was initiated, indicating that vitamin C may have been helping control the viral infection all along. Furthermore, they found evidence that the patients with greater infection burdens may have been more significantly vitamin-C depleted and seemed to require more of the vitamin to replenish their tissue levels.

EBV Stages of Infection

Epstein-Barr virus is responsible for symptoms, conditions, diseases, disorders, and illnesses of every kind. Medical research and science are unaware of how many symptoms and conditions EBV causes. They’re also unaware that the virus goes through multiple stages:

Stage 1

If you catch EBV, it goes through an initial dormant period of floating around in your bloodstream doing little more than slowly replicating itself to build its numbers—waiting for an opportunity to launch a more direct infection. This Stage One period of fortifying itself and waiting for an ideal opportunity can take weeks, months, or even a decade or longer, depending on a variety of factors. There are also triggers I explain in Medical Medium Revised and Expanded. that can prompt EBV that’s already established in the body to travel into its other stages.

Stage 2

At the end of Stage One, the Epstein-Barr virus becomes willing to challenge your immune system in a battle. That’s when EBV first makes its presence known…by turning into what doctors call mononucleosis. Medical communities are unaware that every case of mononucleosis is only Stage Two of EBV. Your body’s immune system goes to war with the virus. How severely this battle rages will vary from person to person, because everyone is different in what they’re up against. In Stage Two, EBV seeks a long-term home by making a run for one or more of your major organs—typically your liver, spleen, and/or reproductive organs.

Stage 3

Once the virus settles into major organs, it nests there. With the virus hiding undetected in your organs, your body assumes it’s won the war and the invader has been destroyed. Unfortunately, the Epstein-Barr virus has barely begun its voyage through your body. If you have a typical variety, EBV could lie dormant in your organs for years—possibly for decades—without your knowing it. If you have an especially aggressive variety, though, EBV may create serious problems even while it’s nesting. EBV also produces neurotoxins, dermatoxins, byproduct, and viral corpses, creating further problems. EBV will secrete these special toxins at strategic periods during Stage Three, and continuously during Stage Four, to prevent your immune system from zeroing in on the virus and attacking it. Lupus, thyroid problems, and more can develop during this stage.

Stage 4

Stage Four Epstein-Barr is a major source of mystery illnesses—that is, neurological problems that cause doctors massive confusion. As the virus feeds on toxins that are readily available (such as mercury, aluminum, copper, and other toxic troublemakers, plus foods such as eggs, milk, cheese, butter, and gluten), it can release neurotoxins that cling to nerves—whether exposed root hairs, injured nerves, or even non-damaged nerves. This can create symptoms of different types, and each variety of EBV does something a little different. An EBV variety may have an appetite for a more toxic food such as mercury, or it may produce a more toxic neurotoxin that can inflame nerves just by touching them—without the nerves even being injured or frayed.

The issues that result from this viral inflammation can include muscle pain, joint pain, painful tender points, back pain, tingling and/ or numbness in the hands and feet, jerking and spasms, tinnitus (ringing, buzzing, humming, or popping sounds in the ears), migraines, ongoing fatigue, dizziness, eye floaters, insomnia, unrestful sleep, and night sweats. Patients with these issues are sometimes diagnosed as having fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, or rheumatoid arthritis, all of which are collections of symptoms that medical communities admit they don’t understand and for which they have no cure.

Symptoms of EBV

EBV infections don’t always cause symptoms. This is especially true for children.

Teens and adults are more likely to experience symptoms, which can include:

- fever

- feeling tired or fatigued

- headache

- sore throat

- swollen lymph nodes in your neck or underarms

- swollen tonsils

- enlarged spleen (splenomegaly) or swollen liver

- body aches

- skin rash

These symptoms can last for 2 to 4 weeks, though feelings of fatigue may linger for weeks or months. If you have an enlarged spleen, doctors may recommend restricting contact sports until you’ve fully recovered to prevent rupture.

Health Problems and Toxifications Caused by EBV

1. EBV secretes toxic substances, in other words by-products of the virus. It becomes increasingly important as the virus multiplies and its growing army feeds and secretes toxic by-products. These residues are often identified as spirochetes, which can lead to, for example, false-positive Borrelia titers (Lyme disease screening tests) and misdiagnosis of Lyme disease.

2. If a particle of the virus dies — which often happens because they have a six-week life cycle — then consequently the corpse of the virus itself is also toxic and further poisons your body. 

3. The toxins that EBV secretes during these two processes can form the neurotoxin, a poison that disrupts nerve function and confuses the immune system. The virus secretes this specific toxin continuously during the strategic periods and the fourth stage of EBV, preventing the immune system from targeting and attacking the virus.

4. Also the liver works so lazy that it does a poor job of removing toxins from the body.

5. Hepatitis C (EBV is actually the root cause of hepatitis C).

6. The lazy activity of the liver causes a decrease in the amount of hydrochloric acid in the stomach and the gastrointestinal tract becomes toxic. This in turn results in some foods not being fully digested but spoiled in the gut, causing bloating and/or constipation.

7. You develop sensitivity to foods that did not cause you any problems in the past. This happens when the virus consumes food that it likes, such as cheese, and turns it into something that your body does not recognize.

8. All this poison in your body eventually triggers the immune system (which tries to intervene, causing inflammation) and also completely confuses it because the immune system has no idea where the toxins are coming from, so it is unable to label the virus for complete destruction.

Diseases Caused by EBV

EBV is best known for causing mononucleosis, but less often it can lead to other diseases, including:

1. Ear infections and diarrhea in children.

2. Guillain-Barre syndrome.

3. Certain cancers, including Burkitt’s lymphoma and cancers of the nose and throat.

4. Studies also show a link between EBV and multiple sclerosis (MS), but more research is needed to determine if the virus can lead to MS.

5. When the immune system is disrupted, EBV uses chaos to leave the organ in which it nest and flee to another organ or gland, in this case the thyroid gland. EBV may be the cause of most thyroid disorders and diseases, especially Hashimoto’s disease, but also Graves’ disease, thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases. In the United States, the number of cases of thyroid cancer has rapidly risen. The medical community is unaware of the reasons why the increase in rare forms of aggressive EBV is so high.

6. Epstein-Barr virus invades the thyroid gland for strategic reasons – it tries to confuse and put pressure on the immune system. Once EBV reaches the thyroid gland, it begins to drill itself into its tissues. The virus particles spin and spin literally like a drill to dig deep into the thyroid gland, destroying thyroid cells along the way and creating scar tissue in that organ, causing hypothyroidism in millions of women, from mild to extreme.

7. Pressure on the adrenal glands creates more adrenaline, EBV’s favorite food, and makes it stronger and more capable of attacking its ultimate target – the nervous system.

Epstein-Barr 24 Healing Foods Diet

Here are the 24 healing foods to treat epstein barr virus naturally:

1. Wild blueberries – Flush EBV neurotoxins out of the liver and help restore the central nervous system.

2. Celery – Provides mineral salts to the central nervous system and strengthens hydrochloric acid in the gut.

3. Sprouts – Strengthen the immune system against EBV (high in zinc and selenium).

4. Asparagus – Strengthens the pancreas and cleanses the liver and spleen

5. Spinach – creates an alkaline environment in the body and provides highly absorbable micronutrients to the nervous system.

6. Cilantro – Removes heavy metals such as mercury and lead (favored foods of EBV).

7. Parsley: Removes high levels of copper and aluminum (which also feed EBV).

8. Coconut oil – Has antiviral properties and acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.

9. Garlic – Antiviral and antibacterial.

10. Ginger –  Relieves spasms associated with EBV and helps with nutrient assimilation, also antiviral.

11. Turmeric – Has an anti inflammatory effect.

12. Raspberries – Rich in antioxidants, removes free radicals from the organs and bloodstream.

13. Lettuce – Helps cleanse EBV from the liver and stimulates peristaltic action in the intestinal tract.

14. Papayas – Strengthen and rebuild hydrochloric acid in the gut and restore the central nervous system.

15. Apricots – Immune system rebuilders that also strengthen the blood.

16. Cayenne – Anti inflammatory.

17. Lemon – Rich in vitamin C

18. Pomegranates –  Help detox and cleanse the lymphatic system and the blood.

19. Grapefruit –  Rich source of calcium and bioflavonoids to support the immune system and flush toxins out of the body.

20. Kale – Contains a high amount of specific alkaloids that protect against viruses such as EBV.

21. Sweet potatoes – Help detox and cleanse the liver from EBV byproducts and toxins.

22. Cucumbers – Strengthen the kidneys  and adrenals and flush neurotoxins out of the bloodstream.

23. Fennel – Contains strong antiviral compounds to fight off EBV.

24. Essential fats –  Like nuts, seeds, avocados and natural, cold-pressed oils.

Healing Herbs and Food Supplements to Prevent EBV

The following selection of herbs and food supplements can further strengthen your immune system and aid your body in healing from the virus’s effects. 

Probiotics – A healthy gut is necessary for a healthy immune system.

Ashwagandha – Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb, meaning your cells can adapt its use to your needs.

Vitamin D – If necessary, take extra vitamin D. A simple blood test from your doctor will reveal your vitamin D levels, and this is one of the easiest deficiencies to fix with a high-quality vitamin D3 supplement.

Zinc – Strengthens the immune system and protects the thyroid from EBV inflammation.

Vitamin B12 (as methylcobalamin and/or adenosylcobalamin) – Srengthens the central nervous system.

Licorice root – Lowers EBV production and strengthens the adrenals and kidneys.

Selenium – Strengthens and protects the central nervous system.

Red marine algae: powerful antiviral that removes heavy metals such as mercury and reduces viral load.

Spirulina – Eliminates heavy metals and rebuilds the central nervous system.

Vitamin C –  Strengthens the immune system and flushes EBV toxins from the liver.

Nettle leaf – Provides vital micronutrients to the brain, blood, and central nervous system.

Curcumin – Component of turmeric that helps strengthen the endocrine system and central nervous system.

How to Cure Epstein Barr Virus

Although no medicine can cure an EBV infection, you can take these steps at home to ease your symptoms:

1. Get plenty of rest.

2. Drink a lot of water and other liquids to stay hydrated.

3. Suck on lozenges or ice pops, or gargle with warm salt water, to make your sore throat feel better.

4. Take painkillers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen to bring down fever and relieve body aches. (Don't give aspirin to children under 19 years of age because of the risk of a rare but serious condition called Reye’s syndrome.)

5. Ease back into work or school, taking things slowly until you feel better. For a month or so, avoid sports, heavy lifting, or other vigorous activities in which you could injure your spleen.

Sources:

Cleveland Clinic

Healthline

WebMD

Ecosh

Very Well Health

CDC

UHN

NIH

Medical Medium

 

The content herein is provided for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Medical information changes constantly, and therefore the content on this website should not be assumed to be current, complete or exhaustive. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. If you think you may have a medical emergency, please call your doctor or 9-1-1 (in the United States) immediately.