Lyme Disease Education for Practitioners

Core Presentation Topics

Amina's presentations are tailored to the audience and event format, but consistently draw from the following topic areas.

Lyme disease and its co-infections: what it is, how it presents in Australia, and why the picture is often missed or misattributed to conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and Parkinson's disease.

Chronic stealth infections: Borrelia forms (spirochete, L-form and cyst), co-infection organisms including Babesia, Bartonella, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma and Mycoplasma species, and the opportunistic infections and parasites that frequently accompany them.

Mould illness and mycotoxin sensitivity: a distinct but frequently overlapping picture that requires its own clinical framework.

Naturopathic support frameworks: herbal liquid protocols, nutritional prescriptions (including support for Pyrroluria and MTHFR variants), adrenal support, nervous system and cognitive support, detoxification, gut microbiome restoration and anti-fungal considerations.

Testing from Australia: functional and specialist laboratory options including PCR, IgG/IgM antibody panels, CD57 natural killer cell counts, Western blot (IGeneX, USA), Elispot (Germany), comprehensive stool analysis and DNA testing for gene mutations relevant to Lyme susceptibility and treatment tolerance.

Integrated collaboration: the naturopath's role within a broader medical team, communication with prescribing doctors, and monitoring frameworks that support safe and coherent care.

Sample Presentation Content

The following is drawn from Amina's 2013 keynote at the 8th International NHAA Conference in Melbourne, one of the presentations that established her as a leading voice in practitioner Lyme education in Australia. The content has been updated through subsequent presentations but the core clinical framework remains.

A key section covers what Amina calls the 10 steps a naturopath should take when supporting a chronic Lyme patient: listen carefully to the patient's full story; take detailed notes of signs and symptoms across all systems; prioritise the most debilitating symptoms (such as anxiety, pain and fatigue) first; introduce herbal support in minimal doses initially to avoid a severe Herxheimer reaction; provide nutritional guidance; encourage supportive home care practices; ask the patient to keep a daily symptom diary to help identify cycles consistent with Borrelia and co-infection activity; maintain open communication with the patient's medical doctor; order and refer for appropriate medical and functional tests; and use comprehensive functional testing to assess all affected body systems.

She also covers the Herxheimer reaction in detail because it is one of the most misunderstood and poorly managed aspects of naturopathic support in this population. The temporary worsening of symptoms when herbal protocols are introduced can alarm both patient and practitioner. Understanding how to modify dosing, monitor tolerance and use supporting herbs such as Sarsaparilla and Silymarin through this phase is a practical skill that is rarely covered in standard training.

• Symptom recognition across early, disseminated and chronic phases
• Borrelia biology: why it is harder to address than most bacteria (21 plasmids, form-shifting, slow replication cycle of up to 30 days in vivo)
• Herbal protocols with dosing guidance for acute and chronic presentations
• Nutrient protocols: probiotics, antioxidants, activated B vitamins, magnesium, CoQ10, Vitamin D3, EPA/DHA and proteolytic enzymes
• Managing and monitoring the Herxheimer reaction
• Testing options available to Australian practitioners
• Prevention advice for patients living in tick-endemic areas

Conference and Event History

Amina has presented at practitioner-level events consistently since 2013. The following is a summary of key engagements.

Keynote addresses include the 154th Annual National Conference of the National Institute of Medicinal Herbs (NIMH) in Chester, England (2018); the Irish Register of Herbalists (IRH) Annual Conference in Dublin (2018, full-day workshop on Lyme disease, co-infections and mould illness); and the 8th, 9th and 10th International NHAA Conferences (2013, 2015, 2017).

She has presented all 3 of the Karl McManus Foundation International Tick-Borne Diseases Conferences (2013, 2014, 2015), as well as seminars for ATMS (Australian Traditional Medicine Society, including webinars on Lyme, co-infections and mould illness in 2018), the A5M Medical Conference (2017, comprehensive stool analysis and gut dysbiosis), and Mediherb/Integria national seminar tours across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide (2013, 2016, 2017), including joint presentations with Professor Kerry Bone to audiences of more than 800 naturopaths and doctors.

In 2019 and 2020, she presented for Metagenics and A4M on fatigue and stealth infection treatment strategies in Melbourne, and completed a Mediherb seminar series on gut health across 10 locations in Australia.

Enquire About a Presentation or Workshop

If you are organising a conference, practitioner study group, CPD event or webinar and would like to discuss Amina presenting, please use the contact page to get in touch. Include the event format, audience size, proposed date and the topic area you have in mind.

Amina is available for in-person keynotes, full-day workshops and online webinar formats. Past formats have ranged from 1-hour conference presentations to full-day immersive workshops with Q&A.

Her book, Lyme Natural: Integrated Naturopathy for Lyme disease, co-infections and mould illness, is a useful companion resource for practitioners attending or preparing for education in this area and is available through the site.