Lyme Disease
Lyme is a word. Not a sentence ― Rebecca VanDeMark
image by: Lymedisease.org
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Lyme, the tick-borne disease that’s spreading fast, explained
Lyme can, in some cases, be really difficult to diagnose. Up to 30 percent of people never get a rash. Many can’t recall a tick bite. The blood tests approved by the Food and Drug Administration only look for Lyme antibodies — or evidence that a person’s immune system has fought off the disease.
This means that people who get the test too early may have a false negative because there aren’t enough antibodies in their system to show up in the test. People who get the test late may have a false positive, after their bodies have fought off the infection. So doctors are often left to diagnose the disease on the basis of clinical symptoms that can be really vague.
Resources
Chronic Lyme disease – does it exist?
Because there are no definitive tests or treatments for this condition, patients who have symptoms can be dismissed by the medical establishment. Many are denied medications such as antibiotics they believe can control the chronic infections they suspect they have.
How climate change helped Lyme disease invade America
Cases of the tick-borne illness have exploded since the 1990s.
Lyme disease is set to explode and we still don’t have a vaccine
The best approach would be to vaccinate people at risk – but there is currently no vaccine. We used to have one, but thanks to anti-vaccination activists, that is no longer the case.
Seem like Lyme disease risk is getting worse? It is.
Rheumatologist, epidemiologist discusses growth, spread of deer ticks, which transmit malady, and offers tips for how to avoid parasites.
Tests for Lyme Disease Miss Early Cases—but a New Approach Might Help
Standard methods often fail to catch infections during the first month.
The Lyme Wars: Meet The Players
Whether you know it or not, there has been a fierce battle — called “The Lyme Wars” by everyone from The New Yorker to NPR to Dutch scientific researchers — for at least a decade. Lyme disease arguably is politicized as much as AIDS was when it emerged in the 1980s, and the warriors for the most part fall on one of two sides.
The Year of the Tick
The little buggers are everywhere right now, and the risk of Lyme disease is high. Here’s how to protect your family.
What the Media Don’t Tell You About Lyme Disease (But Should)
There’s more to Lyme disease than “check for ticks” and “here are the symptoms” and “ask your doctor.” These talking points are without a doubt primary advisories in the public interest—but this exclusive focus on prevention, which also is the CDC focus, excludes the most devastating aspect of Lyme disease: patients who did get to the doctor, and who despite treatment are failing terribly. These stories are told as medical mysteries from time to time, and as celebrity-survivor stories. But what’s missing in coverage of Lyme is the full picture.
With a Tick Boom, It’s Not Just Lyme Disease You Have to Fear
Everybody knows about Lyme disease. But experts say the Northern United States may be in for a bad tick season this summer, raising concerns about Lyme and other scary tick-borne diseases, including the Powassan virus, which causes encephalitis and can leave people with permanent neurological damage.
Tick Removal
First, let's state the obvious, ticks are tiny. Household tweezers just aren't the right tool for proper tick removal...
10 Ways To Avoid Tick Bites This Summer
It's summertime, which means outdoor play, hiking, gardening — and tick bites. The creepy crawlies tend to latch on during the summer months and these arachnids are ubiquitous throughout the U.S.
2017 Brings Hope for Lyme Disease Sufferers
Although Lyme disease research is vastly under funded by the United States government compared with other less common and usually less severe infectious diseases such as West Nile, research marches on, and bit by bit it is beginning to unravel many of the mysteries of Lyme disease, which appears to be at least as complex from a pathological standpoint as any known disease to date.
A 'hidden epidemic' in the US has ballooned into a public-health fiasco — and no solutions are in sight
"It's a very controversial subject and few researchers want to talk about it publicly," she says. "Which is unfortunate, because what we really need is to have an open and honest dialogue about PTLDS and Lyme disease generally."
A Natural Cure for Lyme Disease
What’s behind the rise of Lyme? Many wildlife biologists suspect that it is partly driven by an out-of-whack ecosystem. A rapidly growing human population pushing into former wilderness might explain this uptick. Another possibility, though, is that many places we think of as wild — like the Northeastern forests — aren’t as wild as they could be. And degraded ecosystems may harbor more pathogens. The first animals to go are usually the large predators. The last ones standing are often small rodents, bats and their ilk — the very animals that serve as reservoirs of disease. It’s true that large predators can take livestock, eat pets and even occasionally attack people. But, by preventing disease, they may ultimately help far more of us than they harm.
A Real Housewife’s Real Health Scare
Although, the first known cases of Lyme disease date back to 1908 little progress has been made in the years since. We still don’t have a way to quickly and properly diagnose patients, treatment options have remained the same, there is no vaccine, and there is no cure. Because of this patients often go misdiagnosed which wastes crucial time and often leads to additional or more severe complications down the line.
B.C. patient questions accuracy of Lyme disease test used by province
“One of the experts talked about the Lyme disease test only having an accuracy or sensitivity of about 43 per cent, which is absolutely abysmal,” said Gwen Barlee, a director of the Vancouver-based Wilderness Committee. She routinely files Freedom of Information (FOI) applications on environmental issues, but she suffers from Lyme disease and in recent years has made several information requests related to the disease.
Chronic Lyme Disease: Myth or Reality?
Lyme disease, a bacterial infection transmitted by the bite of a deer tick, can cause a variety of flu-like symptoms–achy joints, fatigue, fever, headache. But chronic Lyme disease is a different beast. Experts can't agree on a case definition–or if the condition exists at all. What's clear is that some Lyme patients, even after taking the standard treatment of antibiotics, continue to suffer long-term and often serious health problems, including poor mental function, migratory joint pain, and sleep disturbances.
Clue to What Makes Lyme Bacteria Tick
Laboratory mice infected with the Lyme bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, exhibited an unusual immune response that may explain why Lyme disease recurs in some people...
Feel Bad? It Could Be Lyme Unless Proven Otherwise
Do you have symptoms that come and go? Are you on a medication merry go round? Have you been to 10 or 20 doctors without relief? Maybe you've been misdiagnosed.
How a Rock Musician Inspired One Family Dealing With Lyme Disease
Some of Morton's music reflects the mental and physical pain he suffered as he battled for his life. In his song "The Lake," he writes how he contracted Lyme as a teenager during a Fourth of July visit to his uncle's lake cabin...
Is Lyme Disease the New AIDS? What You Need to Know
Everyone should be concerned about Lyme, but perhaps especially anyone who is active outdoors, and anyone who is sexually active -- and that's why this matters to gay men. PrEP is a godsend as a means by which to avoid contracting HIV -- but that's all it does. And evidence now suggests that Lyme may be transmittable not only by tick bite, but through sexual contact.
LOOK: What's Really Inside Your Bug Spray?
The bad news: there's no sure, completely safe way to prevent bug bites. All bug repellents have pros and cons. The good news: some repellents are effective and relatively low in toxicity -- provided you take precautions when using them, particularly on children.
Lyme disease in British Columbia: Are we really missing an epidemic?
There is no evidence to support an epidemic of Lyme disease in BC. Responses to a recent survey indicate that physicians generally are aware of the low but real risk of Lyme disease, know to treat patients with clinical symptoms, and understand that Lyme disease is preventable and treatable. Public health authorities will continue to remind residents and visitors to BC of the simple measures they can take to prevent tick bites and exposure, as well as which early signs and symptoms should lead them to seek appropriate medical treatment.
Lyme Disease Is Spreading In Canada, And Physicians Are Crucial In Helping Minimize Its Impact
"Lyme disease is emerging in Canada, and effective, enhanced surveillance needs to be instigated, and physician awareness of Lyme disease will be crucial to minimizing the impact of the disease," write Dr. Nicholas Ogden from the Public Health Agency of Canada and coauthors.
My Salt Spring Island Tick Project
Ticks as a group are able to transmit a number of diseases, Lyme disease (LD) being the one best known in North America. The most common tick species on Salt Spring (Ixodes pacificus) is a potential transmitter of LD (most tick species are not).
New Tricks for Removing Ticks & Avoiding RMSF & Lyme Disease
Many of us feel it’s best to inject Lidocaine under the tick using a small bore insulin style syringe/needle, then pull it out.
Once Upon a Lyme: Starting the Conversation About Lyme Disease
Lyme Disease has grown to epidemic proportions with more than 300,000 new cases annually in the U.S. alone. Because it is difficult to diagnose and blood tests are unreliable, the disease has yet to become as well known as others on the autoimmune spectrum, and despite the staggering number of newly infected cases each year, Lyme Disease has one of the lowest amounts of funding. Spreading the word begins with one conversation, or in this case, watching a whimsical cartoon about how to prevent Lyme disease.
Psychosocial Issues of Lyme Disease
One of the biggest problems with Lyme disease is that it can render the victim completely helpless and unable to work or take care of the family. The disease can mimic other diseases in combination such as Lou Gehrig's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, polymyalgia rheumatica, fibromyalgia syndrome, psoriatic arthritis, Alzheimer's and lupus. It is painful and causes debilitating fatigue and weakness to the point of paralysis at times. It can cause seizures and Bell's palsy, meningitis and encephalitis. It can cause bone pain and joint pain so severe that it can be frightening.
Symptoms of Lyme disease: why the disease is so hard to diagnose
Many people do not develop the hallmark signs of Lyme, and that can make infections difficult to diagnose.
The Confusing, Controversial World of Lyme Disease
Lyme is tricky to diagnose and the symptoms can linger for months or years even after treatment, and doctors disagree with each other and activists on the basic facts of the disease. That makes it hard on those who have it.
The controversy over the chronic form of Lyme disease
Lyme disease is increasing in the UK. But there is huge controversy over the existence of a chronic form of the disease that resists treatment.
The Global Search for Education: Canada - Ticks
Physicians in Canada are very afraid to diagnose Lyme disease because they all have heard that any doctor who has become known to be Lyme literate has either had to return their medical license or stop seeing Lyme patients altogether. Physicians coast to coast tell patients to leave the country to get proper diagnosis and treatment.
The Mystery of Chronic Lyme Disease
Some patients continue to have severe symptoms for years, and experts are divided on the cause.
The New York Times Teaches the Controversy
Both sides are not equal when it comes to chronic Lyme disease.
The ‘Swiss Agent’: Long-forgotten research unearths new mystery about Lyme disease
While the evidence is hardly conclusive, patients and doctors might be mistaking under-the-radar Swiss Agent infections for Lyme, the infectious disease specialists said. Or the bacteria could be co-infecting some Lyme patients, exacerbating symptoms and complicating their treatment — and even stoking a bitter debate about whether Lyme often becomes a persistent and serious illness.
This Is What Lyme Disease Feels Like
It's a beautiful day -- stunning actually -- but I've been lying in bed since one in the afternoon. I's now almost six and I've wasted yet another day thanks to Lyme disease.
Tick Season: Scary New Stats And Five Smart Tips (Spray Your Shoes)
Fine. I’m a nag. I tell you the same thing over and over for your own good. But only once a year, and now is the time: Caution. Especially if you live in the Northeast, Midwest or mid-Atlantic. Watch out for the deer ticks that carry Lyme and other diseases.
Tick-ing Time Bomb? Why Protection Against Parasites is Essential for People and Pets
Here in the Northeast, checking for ticks after a walk in the woods is fairly commonplace, mostly because of the prevalence of Lyme disease -- a potentially debilitating disease spread to humans by the nefarious deer tick. If you live in the Northeast and you have pets, checking for ticks isn't just commonplace -- it's second nature.
Ticked Off--What We Don't Know About Lyme Disease
I didn’t see the tiny danger lurking in my own yard. Yet for Lyme disease awareness month, just ended, it seems I am learning experientially. I’ve had Lyme at least once before, and found three attached deer ticks on me just in 10 days. I may have had Lyme a second time, last year, but diagnostic tests are so poor that we don’t know. Here’s some of what I learned from my experience and for caring for others in my infectious disease practice.
When Lyme Disease Lasts and Lasts
Chronic Lyme disease is a highly controversial catch-all term for a host of long-lasting symptoms that may or may not stem from prior infection with the bacterium that causes acute Lyme disease. Often misdiagnosed and mistreated, chronic Lyme disease leaves thousands of people physically and mentally debilitated and without a medically established recourse.
Tick-borne illnesses
Don't delay empiric doxycycline 100 mg BID IV/PO. Doxycycline covers all tick borne critical illness, except for babesiosis.
The incredibly frustrating reason there’s no Lyme disease vaccine
Lyme can be treated with antibiotics. And there are many ways to prevent tick bites. But there’s no vaccine available if you want extra protection against the disease (unless you’re a dog).
Lyme, the tick-borne disease that’s spreading fast, explained
Summer is the season for Lyme. Here’s how to protect yourself.
Global Lyme Alliance
Global Lyme Alliance is the leading 501 (c)(3) dedicated to conquering Lyme and other tick-borne diseases through research, education and awareness.
LymeDisease.org
LymeDisease.org is a non-profit corporation that is a central voice for Lyme patients across the nation through advocacy, education and research. Since 1989, LymeDisease.org (formerly CALDA) has been revolutionizing the Lyme disease arena in public policy, advocacy, and science. Our grassroots membership and state based on line network reach thousands, providing a powerful voice for patients across the country. We seek the hard truths, ask the tough questions, and are not afraid to rock the boat.
A Lyme Disease Journal
This is a blog about my experiences with Lyme Disease. I’ve also written up a short history of these experiences. I created this at the urging of a friend because so little information is available about lyme, and what little there is tends to fall into one of two “camps” that are diametrically opposed to each other. I have spoken to numerous doctors in both camps and done a lot of reading myself, and while I am no expert, my opinions fall somewhere in the center of those two camps. I will do my best to present a balanced view point and provide pointers to resources from both sides so that anyone reading this can draw their own conclusions just as I have.
Bay Area Lyme Foundation
At Bay Area Lyme Foundation, we are committed to making tick-borne disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure.
CanLyme
The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation (CanLyme) was formed to provide the public, including medical professionals, with balanced and validated information on Lyme disease and related coinfections. CanLyme aims to provide research funding for zoonotic disease, to increase awareness of Lyme and its associated diseases, and to communicate concerns to government public health agencies.
Children’s Lyme Disease Network
The Children’s Lyme Disease Network (CLDN) was launched in May 2011 with the sole purpose of focusing attention on the impact and prevalence of Lyme Disease and other tick-borne infections in children.
International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society
ILADS is a nonprofit, international, multi-disciplinary medical society, dedicated to the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of Lyme and its associated diseases. ILADS promotes understanding of Lyme and its associated diseases through research and education and strongly supports physicians and other health care professionals dedicated to advancing the standard of care for Lyme and its associated diseases.
LYME 300,000+
"We are the 300,000+" is a movement dedicated to raising awareness about the worldwide Lyme epidemic that is being ignored by the CDC and HMOs. Lyme patients from around the world are standing up to demand change.
Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases Research Center
The Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases Research Center was established as the first academic research center in the country to focus multidisciplinary research on chronic Lyme disease. In recognition that a growing number of patients experience ongoing or relapsing symptoms after having been treated for Lyme disease, in recognition that diagnostic tests often do not provide definitive information regarding the presence or absence of infection, and in recognition that there are multiple possible mechanisms by which symptoms persist, the mission of this center has a particular focus on identifying better diagnostic assays, better treatments, and a better pathophysiologic understanding of the mechanisms of symptom persistence.
Lyme Disease Association
The Lyme Disease Association began as Lyme Disease Association of Central Jersey, Inc. (LDACJ) in 1992 and then became Lyme Disease Association of New Jersey, Inc. (LDANJ) in 1993. It was formed by several patients and doctors─ the Fordyce and Drulle Families were particularly instrumental ─who saw the need to organize and fund research and educate people. It had first a regional then state focus.
Lyme Disease Audio Network
Lyme disease news and information in audio.
Lyme Disease Treatment Institute
The majority of our Lyme Disease patients have previously undergone treatment by 20 or more physicians. At Sponaugle Wellness Institute, we have successfully treated Chronic Lyme Disease patients from around the world. Vastly misunderstood, Lyme Disease symptoms mimic those of other diseases making it commonly misdiagnosed as something else.
Lyme Info
This site provides details about Lyme disease symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Advocacy info and peer-reviewed medical literature are also available. You will find articles as well as an extensive directory of information about Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections.
LymeMD
Medical practice focused on tick-borne illness and associated medical syndromes. The alternative paradigm: the evaluation of patients with unusual and complex symptoms, where diagnoses and treatments by the standard medical model have failed.
LymeNet
Welcome to The Lyme Disease Network, a non-profit foundation dedicated to public education of the prevention and treatment of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.
LymeNet Europe
The goal of LymeNet Europe is to provide reliable information and discussion about Lyme disease, and support for Lyme patients. Both general (worldwide) and related to Europe specifically.
The Tick That Bit Me
A supportive resource for patients with Lyme, Borrelia hermsii, and other tick-borne infections.
TickEncounter Resource Center
The TickEncounter Resource Center promotes tick-bite protection and tickborne disease prevention by engaging, educating, and empowering people to take action.
Tired of Lyme
Tired of Lyme.com was launched in October of 2011 with the intent of becoming a site dedicated to continuously provide support, consolation, and education for those enduring Chronic Lyme Disease.
BC Centre for Disease Control
Ixodes ticks can be found throughout BC. However, most ticks found to carry B. burgdorferi are found in southern BC, including Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, the Sunshine Coast, the Fraser Valley and the Kootenays. In BC, less than 1 percent of ticks tested carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The prevalence of B. burgdorferi in ticks in BC has remained constant over time and consistently low between 1996 and 2014.
CDC
Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks; laboratory testing is helpful if used correctly and performed with validated methods. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics.
MedBroadcast
In general, routine use of antibiotics to prevent Lyme disease following tick exposure is not recommended. However, antibiotics such as doxycycline*, amoxicillin, cefuroxime, and ceftriaxone can be used to treat Lyme disease if an infection develops. If you notice symptoms of Lyme disease, see your doctor for treatment.
MedlinePlus
After treatment, some patients may still have muscle or joint aches and nervous system symptoms. This is called post-Lyme disease syndrome (PLDS). Long-term antibiotics have not been shown to help with PLDS. However, there are ways to help with the symptoms of PLDS, and most patients do get better with time.
NHS
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infectious disease in Europe and North America. People who spend time in woodland or heath areas are more at risk of developing Lyme disease because these areas are where tick-carrying animals, such as deer and mice, live.
ScienceDaily
Lyme Disease News
Lyme Wellness Initiative
Patient-driven, evidence-based resources to empower you.
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