Can teasel root cure Lyme?

Question

I do not have Lyme disease but get bitten by ticks several times a year so it does have my interest. I read some claims that a 'tincture of teasel root extracts' or similar can be used to cure Lyme disease (i.e. infection with Borrelia Burgdorferi) or at least relieve symtpoms. However I seem to be unable to find any scientific evidence. Is there any?

• Teasel Root is used for healing from Lyme Disease and for good reason http://www.tiredoflyme.com/teasel-root.html

• Matthew explains that instead of killing the bacteria itself, it actually changes the environment in the body in order to engage the body's own capabilities to kill off Lyme bacteria. http://www.lyme-disease-research-database.com/lyme_disease_blog_files/mathew-wood.html

• In Mr. Wood's experience, 100% of the Lyme patients he has treated with teasel have had immediate relief from symptoms http://www.lymediseaseresource.com/Teasel.html (also contains a link to a book by said Mr. Wood)

Answer 1

In short: There have been no clinical trials.

In December 2016, an article was published in a journal called Alternative and Complementary Therapies. That is normally a red flag, but this one had a surprising conclusion:

• Herbal Medicine for Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Infections, Yarnell Eric. Alternative and Complementary Therapies. December 2016, 22(6): 257-265. https://doi.org/10.1089/act.2016.29085.eya

Dipsacus fullonum (fuller's teasel) is used as a case study to show a promising herb that has simply no research on whether it helps people with Lyme disease or any tick-borne infection. [...] There remains a black hole in terms of supported herbal treatments for these infections that urgently needs to be filled with credible clinical trials.

So a journal article in Alternative and Complementary Therapies concludes there is no clinical research to defend the use of this alternative therapy, and this backs up my personal searches, including in the Cochrane database.

The closest I found was an abstract for a dissertation for a Naturopath.