Master herbalist, acclaimed author, and Planet Thrive columnist Stephen Harrod Buhner is featured in the latest issue of Public Health Alert (PHA), a journal about lyme disease. Scott Forsgren did a great write-up about Stephen and the herbal protocol outlined in his popular book Healing Lyme: Natural Healing And Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis And Its Coinfections.

Of special note is the update to the core protocol that many may have noticed in Stephen’s responses to members’ questions over the past months: based on feedback he’s been getting, he now feels that the best initial approach is to start with Japanese knotweed, cat’s claw, eleutherococcus, and astragalus (except that astragalus should not be used by long term chronic lyme people) and then if you wish you can add in andrographis, which used to be #1 on the core protocol list.

Scott writes of meeting Stephen in person at an annual lyme conference hosted by Dietrich Klinghardt, MD, PhD:

I was struck by his presence – a presence of calm, a presence of connectedness to the earth and to Mother Nature, and a presence of concern and compassion for those whose lives have been impacted by chronic illness. There is something very real about Stephen Buhner, and his desire to help those who have been impacted by Lyme disease is readily apparent.

Planet Thrive members are well aware of Stephen’s integrity and authentic desire to help, shown by his commitment to answer questions about his protocol through his Planet Thrive Q & A column – to date (since October, 2006) he has answered over 245 questions in his “spare” time.

We’d like to say a public “thank you” to Stephen Buhner for investing so much of his time and energy in helping those with lyme disease. He goes above and beyond every single month and we are very grateful to him. And thank you to Scott Forsgren and Public Health Alert for featuring Stephen and his herbal protocol in the latest PHA issue. It’s important that people know about the healing powers of these plants, which can help manage debilitating symptoms in conjunction with antibiotic therapy, or on their own.