Lyme Disease Community Blows the Whistle on Corruption Within the CDC

[polichick]

Last edited Sun Nov 17, 2013, 07:04 PM - Edit history (2)

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced that rather than 30,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year in the United States, there are likely 300,000. What the CDC failed to explain is why it's taken them so long to acknowledge that Lyme disease has reached epidemic proportions.

The Lyme disease community has been battling for years to get the CDC to admit that Lyme disease is a mass public health crisis. Meanwhile, the CDC itself has been informally saying since 2004 that Lyme disease is probably 6 to 12 times more prevalent than the reported cases. Why then have they suddenly decided to formally acknowledge these higher rates?

On a recent "Your Own Health and Fitness" show about Lyme disease on KPFA radio in Berkeley, Calif., host Layna Berman observed that the announcement of increased rates coincides with a financial interest in releasing the new Baxter Lyme vaccine:

"With this announcement of the increased number of cases, we might imagine that an economic opportunity has presented itself. . . .The treatment favored by doctors who treat chronic Lyme . . . is long courses of antibiotics . . . But these treatments aren't money makers. So what inspired the CDC after so many decades of ignoring and denying chronic Lyme to release these new statistics? The promise of a new vaccine.""

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/20053-lyme-disease-community-blows-the-whistle-on-corruption-within-the-cdc



The CDC has also been telling people that Lyme cannot be transmitted sexually when many doctors working with Lyme patients (ILADS doctors; ilads.org) know this is not true. Some in the Lyme community think the disease was "weaponized" at the military lab on Plum Island, NY (offshore from Lyme, CT) and that's the reason for keeping the public in the dark about the seriousness of this disease. This article adds another small piece to the mystery surrounding the CDC's handling of Lyme disease.


Edit #1: It's Plum Island, NY - not CT (offshore from CT)
Edit #2: As I've said downstream, for me the verdict re Plum Isl. is still out but I'm interested in the story.

[kickysnana]

1. In MN this has literally been a 23 year battle for sane policy and help.

The politics and skullduggery at the expense of the American people is mind boggling but I have always said when those monsters who did this are dead and gone Lyme will still be here and their actions will be brought to light.

An early researcher working with beagles believed them when they said it could only be transmitted by a certain tick and he housed all his beagles together and some of his controls became infected. His project was shut down and he was sent back to Europe. The US funded a study in Canada about transmission in the 1990's and then buried it using non-disclosure language in the researchers contracts.

The whole story is known and proved but it is so unbelievably evil nobody wants to believe it. Kind of like the taking of all communication in this country without our consent.

Research shows Chronic Lyme suffers are as debilitated as those with congestive heart failure, more than those with AIDS. But that is not the government pronouncements or actions.

[polichick]

2. I think you're right - when the whole story comes out people will be shocked.

[billhicks76]

38. Obama

Why can't Obama reform this agency? He is chief executive. I thought no more lobbyists?

[polichick]

4. Two different diseases, one carried by ticks (lyme), the other by mosquitoes...

Both may have connections to the Plum Island lab though.

[Vashta Nerada]

5. Why is everything always a conspiracy?

[polichick]

6. Everything isn't...

That said, there's a shitload of corruption in America.

[Vashta Nerada]

9. This article was published as an op-ed.

I highly doubt the CDC is covering up the number of cases of Lyme's Disease.

[polichick]

11. Guess again.

[Vashta Nerada]

12. It shows that it is an op-ed right at the beginning, next to the author's name.

It's even listed in the "opinion" section of the website.

[polichick]

21. My point is the CDC has been...

underreporting - that's not in question.

[WinkyDink]

30. So you "highly doubt"? Not exactly a trenchant argument.

[Vashta Nerada]

33. An opinion piece is also meaningless.

So, there you go.

[Wilms]

10. Not always. But often it takes more than one person to perpetrate a crime.

(That's the definition of a conspiracy...two or more people.)

Class is over.

[bluestate10]

78. That is what I thought also. Lyme Disease is very difficult to diagnose. It is often

mixed up for other diseases.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. "weaponized", my arse. That is such a ridiculous suggestion by you

Will you just think, for one moment? When governments 'weaponize' something, it's because they think they'd be able to use it to disable or kill large amounts of an opposing army. This means something that quickly causes awful symptoms, or death. Lyme disease just doesn't fit at. At all.

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere.[5] Borrelia is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected ticks belonging to a few species of the genus Ixodes ("hard ticks&quot .[6] Early symptoms may include fever, headache, and fatigue. A rash occurs in 70-80% of infected persons at the site of the tick bite after a delay of 3–30 days (average is about 7 days), and may or may not appear as the well-publicized bull's-eye (erythema migrans). The rash is only rarely painful or itchy, although it may be warm to the touch. Approximately 20% to 30% of infected persons do not experience a rash.[7][8] Left untreated, later symptoms may involve the joints, heart, and central nervous system. In most cases, the infection and its symptoms are eliminated by antibiotics, especially if the illness is treated early.[9][10] Delayed or inadequate treatment can lead to more serious symptoms, which can be disabling and difficult to treat.[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease

It's paranoid nonsense to suggest it was 'weaponized'. Getting soldiers to have a rash, or fatigue, days after infection is useless. Symptoms that occur weeks after infection, if untreated, are also irrelevant to germ warfare.

[polichick]

16. Being weaponized doesn't mean it was meant to...

be used on humans, but that it was altered in a lab to be more vicious. It's no secret that ticks were injected with pathogens, and animals were exposed to those ticks on Plum Island. The question is whether the ticks made it across the water (about 12 miles) to Lyme, CT.

Since birds carry ticks, it's certainly possible.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. Oh, so they're at war with animals, now?

That's so fucking stupid, you should get an award. What is this, a strategy against the Deer High Command?

[polichick]

29. Lol - think food supply...

Try a little research.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. In other words, you know it's bullshit

and can't come up with any argument.

Lyme disease has not affected the US food supply, has it? Just think before you post absurd OPs. For goodness' sake, DU, think.

[polichick]

34. Thanks for the chuckles :)

[truedelphi]

14. To the Puppet Masers at CDC and FDA, a reality only matters if there is the possibility of

Making a ton of money on said reality.

And CDC and FDA have about the same relationship to "truth" and to "science" that the Pope once had to Galileo's theories.

FDA allowed for GM seeds and foods to become the norm. Not based on science - based on Mike Taylor's assertion that there was a nutritional equivalency between conventional food and Gm food. How did he know this? Certainly not because of decades of peer reviewed science. But rather, because he said so.

One in 200 people in the USA have hemochromotosis, yet many people suffer from the ill effects of the disease because there is little done to screen for it.

Hepatitis has been prevalent throughout our culture, yet two of my friends found out that they had the disease on account of the blood bank screening their blood after they donated there. One of the friends had just had thousands of dollars of tests done to find out why he was feeling so sick and lethargic.

And I have heard so many horror stories regarding Lyme's disease from friends who ended up, after years and years of trying to find out why they were sick, only to find out that it was exactly as they suspected - Lyme's.

[polichick]

17. Yeah, money talks even in this realm...

Scary that nobody is working on new antibiotics - not enough money in it for big pharma and the gov't doesn't fund it enough.

We'd better all learn our herbal antibiotics.

[truedelphi]

19. PM sent to you. n/t

[loudsue]

15. This REALLY pisses me off.

My daughter and my husband had Lyme's disease....our farm has lots of ticks..... and our doctor kept telling us that it isn't really a problem. The tests for it are, evidently, not very thorough. My daughter tested negative until her knee swelled up like a watermelon, and they drained the fluid from it, and tested THAT, which is when they finally diagnosed her. Sheesh!

[polichick]

18. It's really crazy. Are they better now?

[loudsue]

20. Lyme's comes & goes. Even after strong antibiotics, you can always

have a relapse of symptoms.

[polichick]

22. For me, herbs work better...

After being incredibly ill (lyme, babesia and the dreaded biotoxin illness that Ritchie Shoemaker writes about) I'm doing great on the Buhner herbs.

I hope your loved ones stay in remission!

[loudsue]

23. Never heard of them. I'll look 'em up.

Thanks!

[polichick]

25. You're very welcome! buhnerhealinglyme.com

[ctsnowman]

24. Plum Island is part of NY not CT

[polichick]

26. Okay - thanks

[ctsnowman]

27. Thanks for the post.

I have no doubt there is something fishy about how Lyme has been handled by the medical establishment.

[polichick]

31. My pleasure! I've heard there's a new film...

to be released soon that should shed some light - sure hope so.

[pinto]

35. It's a reporting issue not a coverup. From the CDC press release -

This early estimate is based on findings from three ongoing CDC studies that use different methods, but all aim to define the approximate number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease each year. The first project analyzes medical claims information for approximately 22 million insured people annually for six years, the second project is based on a survey of clinical laboratories and the third project analyzes self-reported Lyme disease cases from a survey of the general public.

Each year, more than 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to CDC, making it the most commonly reported tick-borne illness in the United States. The new estimate suggests that the total number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease is roughly 10 times higher than the yearly reported number. This new estimate supports studies published in the 1990s indicating that the true number of cases is between 3- and 12-fold higher than the number of reported cases.

http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2013/p0819-lyme-disease.html

Here's run down on the scientific presentations made at The International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis and other Tick Borne Diseases (ICLB)

The International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis and other Tick Borne Diseases (ICLB) is one of the preeminent conferences in the world for clinical, epidemiological, and pathogenetic studies of tick-borne diseases.

http://iclb2013.com/agenda.htm

[polichick]

40. There's a lot of history between the CDC and...

doctors in the lyme community.

[pinto]

42. in re: CDC reporting.

Lyme disease

2011 reflects a modified surveillance case definition for this condition, per approved 2010 CSTE position statements.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm6053.pdf (page 5 of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report overview)

The CDC has modified surveillance case definitions continuously as more data and scientific consensus came in. Viral hepatitis A, B & C as well as AIDS (now, HIV - Stage 3) definitions have recently evolved over time as well.

[Viking12]

36. Sad that the lyme's community is going the same way as the anti-vaxxers

The reason the CDC has probably 'underestimated' the prevalence has to do with testing and reporting and the inherently cautious character of scientific claims, not some big pharma conspiracy.

I regret this conspiratorial direction as someone who has had Lyme's (diagnosed with actual blood tests for the antibodies to the bacteria that causes Lyme's which until recently was actually quite rare, thus, the reporting problems) and who suffers from chronic symptoms years later. At present, the causal connection between Lyme's and ongoing chronic conditions like mine cannot be scientifically established. The hysterical, paranoid rants are not going to do anything to actually improve the science and help people.

[polichick]

37. Sad that good doctors who treat chronic lyme...

are being persecuted by medical boards and thousands of people are suffering.

For me, as a lyme patient and researcher, I'm interested in the whole story - ALL of it. imo the verdict is still out on both Plum Island and the CDC. We'll see...

[Viking12]

39. Many doctor's 'treating' chronic lyme's are quacks

and deserve to be censured for unscientific practices. That's good policy, not persecution.

[polichick]

41. Up until recently any doctor who...

recognized that chronic lyme exists was considered a quack.

[pinto]

43. "Quack" - not a CDC assessment of preofessional medical reporting. Suggest you find another windmill

CDC bases much of it's standards on detailed, peer reviewed and replicated research. Plus review of lab results and patient surveys.

I hope you continue to do well and that your condition(s) are adequately treated.

[polichick]

44. Hate to burst your CDC-is-awesome bubble...

But the CDC has hardly been at the cutting edge of this disease - and still tells people they can't get it from sexual relations. That's a dangerous lie.

[pinto]

45. I think they are cautious, methodical and thorough. Can Lyme disease be transmitted sexually? (CDC)

http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/faq/#sexually

Can Lyme disease be transmitted sexually?

There is no credible scientific evidence that Lyme disease can be spread from person-to-person through sexual contact. The biology of the Lyme spirochete is not consistent with sexual transmission, attempts to demonstrate sexual transmission in infected animals have all failed, and there has not been a single, adequately documented case of sexual transmission of Lyme disease reported in the scientific literature.

The following are some of the false arguments put forth to suggest sexual transmission:

Borrelia burgdorferi and Treponema pallidum (the cause of syphilis) are both spirochetes (cork screw shaped bacteria). Therefore, B. burgdorferi can be transmitted like syphilis. Not true. Although B. burgdorferi and T. pallidum are both spirochetes, they are not closely related. More importantly, they behave very differently within humans in ways that affect their potential for sexual transmission. T. pallidum spirochetes produce moist, superficial skin lesions (e.g., chancres on the genital, anal or oral mucosa) that contain enormous numbers of living spirochetes and are crucial to transmission by sexual contact. In contrast, B. burgdorferi spirochetes cannot survive on the surface of the skin or genital mucosa. They are present only in sparse numbers and only in the deep inner layers of the skin. Whereas syphilis spirochetes can penetrate the skin directly, Lyme disease spirochetes require a highly ordered metabolic process associated with feeding by certain species of ticks.

Borrelia burgdorferi has been isolated from breast milk and semen. Actually, it hasn' t. A single study reportedly found evidence of Borrelia DNA in breast milk using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. PCR assays detect DNA from dead or living organisms, do not demonstrate the presence of living organisms, and are prone to false positive results. Peer-reviewed and published studies of semen have involved collecting semen from animals, inoculating the semen with bacterial growth media and millions of B. burgdorferi, and then artificially inseminating the animal with the media containing experimentally B. burgdorferi infected semen. The results of these studies provide no evidence that B. burgdorferi occurs naturally in semen.

Husband and wife both have Lyme disease, and at least one doesn' t remember a tick bite. It is not uncommon for more than one person in a household to develop Lyme disease. This occurs because household members share the same environment where infected ticks are abundant. Patients are often unaware of having been bitten because the ticks that transmit Lyme disease are extremely small.

References:

Woodrum JE, Oliver JH, Jr., 1999. Investigation of venereal, transplacental, and contact transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, in Syrian hamsters. J Parasitol 85: 426-30.

Moody KD, Barthold SW, 1991. Relative infectivity of Borrelia burgdorferi in Lewis rats by various routes of inoculation. Am J Trop Med Hyg 44: 135-9.

Schmid GP, 1989. Epidemiology and clinical similarities of human spirochetal diseases. Rev Infect Dis 11 Suppl 6: S1460-9.

Porcella SF, Schwan TG, 2001. Borrelia burgdorferi and Treponema pallidum: a comparison of functional genomics, environmental adaptations, and pathogenic mechanisms. J Clin Invest 107: 651-6.

Schmidt BL, Aberer E, Stockenhuber C, Klade H, Breier F, Luger A, 1995. Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA by polymerase chain reaction in the urine and breast milk of patients with Lyme borreliosis. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 21: 121-8.

Kumi-Diaka J, Harris O, 1995. Viability of Borrelia burgdorferi in stored semen. Br Vet J 151: 221-4.

http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/faq/#sexually

[polichick]

46. "Cautious" is one word for it - my experience...

with lyme has taught me that the CDC is not a credible source of information.

[RobinA]

54. Spouting Facts

You're no fun.

[polichick]

59. Those aren't facts - just what the CDC is putting out...

If you think the CDC is always to be trusted, see post #57.

[MattBaggins]

56. Please tell me how lyme disease is transmitted sexually?

[polichick]

58. The Lyme bacteria is a spirochete, similar to syphilis...

and can be transmitted in the same way.

Lyme doctors (ilads) who have worked with many patients have seen enough infected spouses - who were never bitten by a tick, never got the Lyme rash or the accompanying flu-like illness, but still have symptoms of the disease and/or are positive for Lyme-specific bands on tests - for them to conclude that the disease has been transmitted sexually. (Also, Lyme patients bitten by a tick will most often have coinfections like babesia, bartonella or mycoplasma - but spouses with Lyme who haven't been bitten don't have the coinfections, which don't seem to be transmitted sexually.)

My husband got Lyme this way - luckily, his symptoms are mild, partly because he doesn't have coinfections to deal with.

[MattBaggins]

84. Wrong

Just because it is a spirochete DOES NOT mean it is the same as syphilis.

Just because a spouse gets lyme disease does not mean it was sexually transmitted. Most people bitten by a tick are unaware of the bite.

Lyme disease IS NOT transmitted sexually.

[polichick]

85. Tell that to the thousands who got it from their spouse or significant other...

You're spouting the party line - it would be nice if it were true.

[MattBaggins]

86. There are no thousands that got it from their spouses

You are making that up.

[polichick]

87. Wish I was.

[MattBaggins]

88. This is one of those cases where a wish has come true

Lyme disease is not transmitted sexually.

[polichick]

89. Go ahead - have unprotected sex with someone who has it.

[MattBaggins]

91. My wife might not like that idea

I wouldn't do that because of all the other disease that are in fact, transmitted sexually.

[Viking12]

47. any doctor who treats chronic lyme exists IS a quack

There's no scientific, physically based evidence that chronic Lyme's even exists, therefore, no scientific evidence that it can be treated. Doctors that don't practice science based medicine are quacks. Although I believe my chronic joint pains are linked to my bout with Lyme's, my wholly subjective personal experience, not even combined with the collective self-reported experiences of many others, is not sufficient to establish a scientific cause-and-effect. As more cases emerge and are properly diagnosed, it may be likely that sufficient populations will be available to conduct studies that may identify such a connection. That's where efforts should focus, on real science and medicine, not wailing like banshees at shadows and figments.

[polichick]

49. Ilads (ilads.org) doctors understand that chronic lyme exists...

They've learned from experience with many patients that CDC guidelines often aren't sufficient to handle the disease or to put it in remission.

[MattBaggins]

90. ILADS is a joke, About as reputable as age of autism or mercola

[nashville_brook]

48. the book Lab 257 tells the compelling story of the history of Plum Island

really a good read, and when you get right down to it, it's a familiar story of administrative bullshit. it's not shocking to imagine that a lab could fall into disuse. it's not shocking that we have biological defense projects. put the two together, and that's Plum Island.

also, Lyme isn't the only disease that the CDC has had a bias against. CFIDs and certain autoimmune diseases are also not dealt with well by CDC.


http://www.amazon.com/Lab-257-Disturbing-Governments-Laboratory/dp/0060011416

[polichick]

50. Haven't read this yet but have read about Garth Nicolson's work on...

mycoplasma infections (especially regarding Gulf War Syndrome). He believes that both mycoplasma and lyme have been weaponized. Mycoplasmas seem to be associated with a lot of autoimmune diseases and are often coinfections in lyme patients.

Thanks for the link - I'll check it out!

[Duppers]

57. The CDC & NIH shunned recognizing chronic-fatigue-immune-dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) for decades

Agency Activities: CDC Scandal
In May 1999, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Inspector General (IG) confirmed a long-held belief in the chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) advocacy community: that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had mismanaged funds intended for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) research. Nearly $13 million reported to have been spent on CFIDS research from 1995-98 was actually used for other, unrelated projects.

The first hints of this misuse of funds came in 1992, when The CFIDS Association of America commissioned a study to examine the CDC's CFIDS program, as it was suspected that CDC was not managing its CFIDS program properly.

Direct evidence of the funding improprieties finally came in August 1998, when Dr. William C. Reeves, head of the CDC's CFS research program, came forward as a "whistleblower" to Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Dr. Reeves' statement outlined serious allegations that, from 1995-97 his supervisor had used millions of dollars charged to the CFS account to cover other, unrelated programs.

Inspector General Validates Allegations

http://www.cfids.org/advocacy/cdc-scandal.asp

[Eleanors38]

51. Are there any data showing "hot spots" for disease occurrence?

When Lyme's started showing up on the disease radar years ago, there was such a hot spot in the Texas Hill Country, and hunters were cautioned about ticks on deer. I haven't heard much since, even though the Hill Country has the highest concentration of white tail deer in the world, and a lot of hunters

[polichick]

52. Individual states have lyme organizations - maybe they have up-to-date...

data on hot spots. The Texas Hill Country is so pretty - we took a ride through there when the bluebonnets were in bloom one year.

[Eleanors38]

53. Bluebonnets have had a hard time with the drought, but

we got heavy Fall rains. Grasses in the Hills were actually green this year! I've been here 43 yrs, and the drought is the worst. Hoping it is not a harbinger of global warming, but it seems so.

[polichick]

60. Do many people in Texas see the drought as a result of global warming?

[Eleanors38]

83. Hard to know. Certainly, some concede global warming, but

remain skeptical as to mankind's involvement, and lean toward a "cyclical" explanation, even up to an Ice Age scale.

Overlooked are the efforts of some ranchers who are restoring their land and changing practices to better live with the changes, regardless the causes. The Bamberger Ranch is the most noted in this regard (many Google findings).

Where I hunt, the owners of a little 125a place are cutting back cedar more, and enhancing more native grasses, so cattle will graze increasingly on that and have less need for supplemental hay (a substantial ag activity requiring a lot of resources). Many forget that Texas & the plains states had vast herds of buffalo to keep some kind of eco balance. Now, cattle have to do the job.

[MattBaggins]

55. Move to creative speculation please.

[polichick]

62. Please read 57 and 61 - it's hardly speculation to say that the CDC...

isn't always forthcoming or standing with people who need medical help.

Just another way that "our" gov't isn't really all that.

[muriel_volestrangler]

69. Your OP is as bad as the people who say HIV was made by the CIA

You are in the same gutter as them.

[polichick]

70. Do you have Lyme? How long have you researched it? How many...

patients and doctors involved in the treatment have you interviewed?

(Your fear is showing.)

[muriel_volestrangler]

71. I don't have HIV either. But blaming diseases on the US government

is the sign of someone who hates government. My only 'fear' is that you will make DU a laughing stock because you are talking the same shit that places like rense.com (which suggests both HIV and Lyme disease are the fault of the US government) do.

[polichick]

72. Like I said, your fear is showing.

[muriel_volestrangler]

73. So you're proud to be trying to trash DU?

It figures - conspiracy theorists seem to want to ruin anything rational.

[polichick]

75. This "trash" could save someone's life, or help someone who's been...

suffering because CDC guidelines are woefully ineffective in thousands of cases.

If I can help one person who's trying to deal with this horrific disease, or trying to help their child or loved one through it - I'm proud to do it.

[LeftyMom]

63. I find it objectionable that DU is being used to circulate medically incorrect information.

[polichick]

64. I find it objectionable that the CDC is putting out medically incorrect information...

that has caused thousands of people to suffer and countless spouses to contract lyme unnecessarily - and also keeps insurance companies from covering treatment.

I also find it objectionable that you complain without mentioning exactly what information you believe to be medically incorrect.


edit: typo

[LeftyMom]

65. Just knock it off.

The quack doctors you're promoting are providing a damaging treatment protocol for a condition whose very existence is not supported by sound science. The conspiracy theorizing that the thread degenerated into is a violation of DU's TOS.

[xchrom]

66. +1

[polichick]

67. You knock it off - tell me about it when you or someone you love...

has been treated according to CDC's lame guidelines and still suffer.

Those doctors you so glibly denigrate are the only ones helping.

[MattBaggins]

92. Helping what?

Lighten peoples wallets?

[Vashta Nerada]

68. +1

This thread should be in Creative Speculation.

It's all woo.

[hlthe2b]

74. +1

I'll simply state that I am tired of arguing with those who find conspiracy in every issue--not taking time to educate themselves on the issues, but relying only on poorly sourced articles from those with a real axe to grind.

Science, medicine, and public health are areas where there is often areas of academic disagreement--most often in terms of approach. That some use those generally minor areas of disagreements as a launching pad for conspiracy theories that surely should leave most incredulous. It would be merely irritating if it did not do so much harm.

[bluestate10]

76. Are you willing to acknowledge that Lyme Disease symptoms are often confused by

TRAINED Doctors and Nurses as symptoms of other illness? Over the last approximately decade, Lyme Disease diagnostic procedures have been made more precise and clinicians (Doctors and Nurses) that are the point where the diagnoses has to be made. All of that stuff takes time and when enough reliable information is gathered, the number of people that are accurately diagnosed for Lyme Disease should and did increase. An incorrect medical diagnoses can kill a person because of the drugs that have to be given to the person, Lyme Disease requires specific drugs that can harm an person that is sensitive to them and don't have Lyme Disease.

[polichick]

77. Of course, that's part of the problem...

Most primary doctors have no idea how to treat it - they read CDC/infectious disease guidelines and follow them, but if the person remains sick they don't know what to do.

It's an incredibly complicated disease with no definitive diagnostic test - that's why Virginia just passed a bill stating that doctors have to tell patients that a neg. test does not mean the person does not have Lyme. It remains a clinical diagnosis - one that is complicated by coinfections (babesia, bartonella, mycoplasmas, etc.) and also by an inability to detox well in about 1/4 of the population (not to mention a person's immune system and other personal characteristics).

A lot of ilads doctors came to the organization after finding that CDC guidelines were insufficient in many cases. They are the ones coming up with treatments, both antibiotic and herbal.

[Scootaloo]

79. I like how you make it sound as though "herbal" were its own category...

I'm sorry, I have to go with the other people here. I don't think what you're posting here is worth hte paper it's printed on - and it's not printed on paper, soooo.

I certainly understand the frustration of being stricken with an illness that is this complex and difficult to diagnose and treat. But to jump from that frustration to an assumption that everyone's out to get you is rather unreasonable.

[polichick]

80. I'm not "jumping to an assumption" like that. You need to read more carefully.

[polichick]

82. Good on Chuck Schumer:

SCHUMER: FIRST CASE OF RARE TICK-BORNE ILLNESS, THE POWASSAN VIRUS, FOUND IN THE CAPITAL REGION – SENATOR URGES CDC TO STUDY POTENTIALLY FATAL DISEASE & DEVELOP PLAN TO HELP ADDRESS THREAT

snip

“Already, Lyme disease is one of the least-understood illnesses plaguing residents of the Capital Region, the Hudson Valley and all of the Northeast. Now, with the emerging threat of new tick-borne illnesses like Powassan virus and antibiotic-resistant strains of Lyme, the need for more research is clear and compelling. We need to bring Lyme disease and the Powassan virus out of the weeds and better educate the public about how to keep themselves and their families’ safe,” said Schumer. “Lyme disease is a problem we’ve seen for decades, and Powassan virus is a rare but dangerous disease now present in New York—and we haven’t done nearly enough at the federal level to tackle it. That’s why I’m calling for a one-two punch to help boost research on treatment and prevention at the federal level: first, I am asking the CDC to look specifically at the Powassan Virus, and second, I am pushing legislation that would provide the resources and organization to advance research and education into tick-borne illnesses.”

http://www.schumer.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=345507&