Canadians are travelling to Mexico for Lyme disease treatments. That worries health experts

Medical tourism has drawn foreigners to Mexico for decades, but the attraction is no longer limited to breast augmentations, porcelain veneers and rhinoplasties. 

Clinics are now specializing in alternative treatments for chronic and life-altering diseases such as cancer, diabetes and, increasingly, Lyme disease. 

In the case of Lyme, the interventions include things such as hyperthermia (which induces a fever meant to kill bacteria associated with Lyme), stem cell therapy, extended antibiotic use and plasmapheresis treatment (plasma exchange).

Marnie Freeman from Vancouver says she was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2019 through a German lab after her Canadian tests came back negative. Her symptoms, which included facial numbness and chronic pain, prompted her to seek treatment in Mexico.

The 56-year-old travelled to Sanoviv Medical Institute in Rosarito, south of Tijuana, where she spent two weeks and paid $29,000 Cdn for treatment (hyperthermia and intravenous antibiotics) as well as food and board.

Her symptoms improved, and the clinic's personnel urged her to continue treatments for another six months, but she declined.

"One of the reasons I chose that facility was their overall, full-body approach to healing," Freeman said. "It represented something in health care that we don't see in our country, as far as looking after the full mind, body, spirit — and that resonated with me."

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted by infected nymphs and adult females of a small number of species of Ixodes ticks. The ticks mainly responsible for Lyme disease are blacklegged ticks.

The Canadian protocol for Lyme disease includes a preliminary test that determines whether the individual is infected, followed by a round of antibiotics for up to three weeks.

Health Canada does not track the number of people who choose to seek medical treatment out of the country, but CBC spoke with two Lyme disease clinics south of the border that say the majority of their patients are Canadians. 

In a statement, Omar Morales, founder of Lyme Mexico, a clinic in Puerto Vallarta that specifically treats Lyme disease, says most of his patients are from B.C, Ontario and Alberta. 

"Sadly, there is a significant gap in addressing tick-related disorders worldwide, particularly in Canada," Morales said in his statement. "Many doctors there, as in Australia, fail to recognize or pay attention to this disease."

Infectious diseases doctor Lynora Saxinger says in Canada, tick epidemiology is tracked by surveillance for infected ticks and human cases using appropriate, validated tests. 

Saxinger says that if alternative medical practitioners are diagnosing Lyme "with vague symptoms, no clear exposure risk, using non-validated tests," then it's not surprising that they would say Canada is missing cases.