Summary
Rich from Tick Boot Camp conducts an in-depth interview with Brad Pitzele about his journey from chronic Lyme disease and Bartonella co-infection to recovery through EWOT. This is one of the most detailed episodes on Brad's health history, tracing symptoms back to childhood psoriasis in second grade and progressing through autoimmune arthritis, melanoma, and eventually a 2017 Lyme diagnosis via DNA Connections urine PCR testing. The conversation goes deep into how Lyme and Bartonella manipulate the body's oxygen and inflammatory environment to create conditions favorable for bacterial survival. Rich and Brad explore how EWOT addresses all three of Dr. Horowitz's three I's of Lyme treatment (infection, inflammation, immune dysfunction) simultaneously, while also moving lymph, clearing metabolic waste, and providing the energy cells need to detoxify. Brad explains how Bartonella specifically thrives by creating hypoxic endothelial environments and how oxygenation reverses this mechanism.
Key Points
- Brad's Lyme symptoms traced back to childhood; formally diagnosed in 2017 via DNA Connections PCR
- Bartonella co-infection causes endothelial inflammation, creating hypoxic environments it thrives in
- EWOT addresses infection, inflammation, and immune dysfunction simultaneously
- Lyme bacteria cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment
- Lymph system has no pump; EWOT provides the movement needed to circulate lymph
- 70% of detoxification occurs through the lungs, the most overlooked detox pathway
- Brad was a classic non-responder to most treatments before finding EWOT
- EWOT is equivalent to 90 minutes of hard-shell hyperbaric in just 15 minutes
- Exercise during EWOT coaxes bacteria into the bloodstream where oxygen can target them
Key Moments
EWOT is equivalent to 90 minutes of hard-shell hyperbaric in 15 minutes
Brad explains that 15 minutes of EWOT delivers as much oxygen as 90 minutes in a hard-shell hyperbaric chamber, or about 13-14 hours of normal breathing. The exercise component pulls oxygen through the body more effectively than pressure.
"because you're exercising and your body is, your heart is beating your body can take in as much oxygen as it does in 90 minutes in a hard shell hyperbaric chamber, or about the equivalent of what we take in 13 or 14 hours of our normal life."
70% of detoxification happens through breathing, not sweating or elimination
Brad shares the little-known fact that 70% of detoxification occurs through the lungs. The host is surprised, noting that Lyme treatment protocols typically focus on sweating, urination, and bowel movements for detox while overlooking the breathing pathway.
"70% of the detoxification that your body does is actually through your lungs. And that's not well known."
Lyme bacteria cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment
Brad explains that EWOT attacks Lyme on multiple fronts simultaneously: directly killing bacteria that cannot survive in oxygen-rich environments, reducing inflammation, boosting immune function, and detoxifying the body.
"it's kills. We know oxygen lime can't live in an oxygen rich environment for a variety of reasons. It directly kills it, but it also turns off that inflammation. It gives energy to your immune system. It helps you detoxify."
Von Ardenne's discovery that EWOT durably reopens capillaries
Brad describes von Ardenne's foundational research showing that EWOT creates an anti-inflammatory effect that reopens capillaries, and this improvement persists for weeks and months after just a few sessions.
"when you do EWOT, oxygen causes an anti-inflammatory effect that causes the capillary to reopen and establish normal blood flow. And he found even after a few sessions, it didn't. He came back and looked at these folks weeks and months later, and that normal blood flow continued to be reestablished."
