Member-only story
Bringing the Heat: Using Hyperthermia to Treat Lyme Disease
People are paying $30,000 for a controversial, high-heat treatment in Germany. Welcome to Klinik St. Georg.
When you arrive in the small German town of Bad Aibling, you’ll find yourself surrounded by picturesque rolling hills, charming colonial buildings, and cobblestone streets. The town is nestled along the River Mangfall, about 35 miles southeast of Munich, and has a long history as a haven for the country’s chronically ill. The German word “bad” (pronounced “bart”) translates directly to the English “spa,” in reference to the local springs whose waters were thought to have healing powers as early as 1845.
But in the United States, Bad Aibling is well-known for another reason: It’s a dream destination for a subset of people who struggle to recover after being bitten by a tick — what the medical community refers to as “post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome.” In Bad Aibling there’s an integrative medicine clinic called Klinik St. Georg, run by a Universities of Marburg, Zurich, Switzerland, and Heidelberg-trained oncologist named Dr. Friedrich Douwes. Douwes believes that he can heal Lyme patients using an alternative medical procedure called hyperthermia.
