New research keeps finding the Lyme bacterium’s cell wall long after treatment. Something is still making it — evidence that for some patients, the infection never left.
Author Archives: Steve Phillips
Long Covid
Long Covid is one of the most significant chronic illness crises in modern history — and its mechanisms are the same ones that drive the chronic conditions I’ve spent my career treating. A framework for understanding what’s actually happening.
A Common Pesticide Keeps Showing Up in Parkinson’s
New UCLA research in Molecular Neurodegeneration links living near the pesticide chlorpyrifos to a more than 2.5-fold higher Parkinson’s risk — a direct hit on the neurons that control movement.
Heart Failure, Infection & a Medical Brick Wall
My father was told a heart transplant was his only option for end-stage heart failure. Treating an overlooked infection reversed it — and he lived to nearly 90. Why “idiopathic” should never be the end of the conversation.
HHS Just Made the Largest Federal Commitment to Lyme Disease in History
On May 29, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. announced the largest federal push against Lyme disease in the department’s history — tick-control pilots, millions in innovation prizes, a $10M diagnostics prize, and NIH research funding, with a goal of cutting Lyme cases 25% by 2035.
Reasons to Love Monolaurin
Key points Monolaurin is a medium-chain fatty acid derived from coconut oil. It has broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity — against bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. The supporting research has been in the literature for years. It helped Dr. Phillips and his patients when the strongest antibiotics had failed. Important: it is not uniformly safe for everyone. The …
Untangling Cardiovascular Disease (Parts 1–5)
This series is dedicated to my brother Jeff — taken by a heart attack at 59. No warning. No goodbye. Just gone. That loss is what drove me to spend months digging into the research on cardiovascular disease, and what I found should be far better known than it is. Cardiovascular disease kills more people …
Continue reading “Untangling Cardiovascular Disease (Parts 1–5)”
Dr. Steven Phillips Speaking at Health and Human Services Lyme Disease Roundtable — December 2025
Dr. Steven Phillips was invited to take part in a national Lyme disease roundtable convened and moderated by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The historic gathering took place in Washington, DC on December 15, 2025. It brought together clinicians and researchers to confront the diagnostic and clinical challenges of …
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