"... the depth of ignorance is staggering." Alasdair Crockett(1968-2006)
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"When wealth determines access to the public forum, it causes distortions."
"To take just one of many examples, for the past several years , the need to eliminate the inheritance taxes on the wealthiest 1/100 of 1 percent of the families in America (the only taxpayers who are still subjected to it) has been treated as a much more important priority than the need to provide at least minimal access to health care for tens of millions of families who currently have no access to health care coverage at all." From "The Assault on Reason"
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Yep - I've gatta tell ya - Dr. Ryser is the bomb when it comes to knowing Lyme Disease inside and out. I live in Chicago but have been her patient for 3 years now. Stayed in KC 8 months last year and 6 months this year if I leave according to plan. I just wish they could clone her and put a couple Dr. Ryser's in every city because we all know darn well that the number of people diagnosed with like or a co-infection is going to sky-rocket over the next couple years.
I have seen miracles walk out of her clinic and that is why I will forever keep the faith.
I'm not sure about culturing the Lyme Rash. I've been wondering the same thing. Are you referring to the Bullseye rash because I have been treated for Lyme for 6 mo. on IV and at the same time oral antibiotics. I have been treated for Babesia with Malarone and started last week on Rafampin for Bart.....but for the last 3-4 weeks developed a very strange rash on my left hand that eventually spread and showed up on the right hand. Also joints got much worse. My PCP & LMMD would like it looked at and cultured by a dermatologist.....now a couple days ago while waiting for the appointment my PCP decided that he feels I developed an allergy to the doxy after 7 mos. He is insisted that I need to take a weeks worth of steroids....I reluctantley agreed after being warned of the risks of the allergy. Now the dermatologist said he will be unable to culture the rash if on steroids and said we will need to cancel the appointment. I would be curious to find more information on Lyme Rashes and if they can show up during treatment. The rash fluctuates from looking like checmical burns to a rashy look. Feeling started with hot hands, crawling under the skin and was sensitive to heat, itching off and on. Very strange. Now I am off all Lyme treatment as told by the PCP and thinking about trying a homeopathic route as I'm running out of antibiotic choices? I'm really at a loss and feeling it hard to keep fighting. Most times I remain very positive but like you know it is hard. I'm quickly coming up to my 1 yr. anniversary of when things turned really bad and the symptoms were screaming at doctors and they still scratched their heads in confusion. Obscure symptoms for the last 10 years stumping them. As far as my symptoms now...I'm able to stay out of the power chair more and the head tremor is gone but my legs just do not work very good....my joints are a mess, cardiac symptoms still, hand tremor off and on, and more. So, symptoms are still fluctuating in may ways. BUT what are we to do? I have Mitral Valve Prolapse and need Penicillin for dental and procedures and do not want to develop an allergy to it. That is about the only one left (I think). Had developed a reaction after taking just one does of Zith and stopped breathing in a matter of minutes last fall. I had taken that many times prior to Lyme diagnosis...so was it an alergy or a MAJOR HERX???? I'm not sure. Well, I'll keep watching to see if you get an answer to your question.
I just read your comment about visiting a LLMD here in VA!!!! Both my wife Betty & I (Joe) are now looking for a LLMD closer to home. We live in central VA and previously visited a LLMD in NW Pennsy. It was an 8 hour drive. One of my co-workers visits a LLMD in Fairfax, VA which is about a 4 hour drive. We also know of a female LLMD in Chesapeake, VA which is also about a 4 hour drive. My wife was MisDXd back in late 1994 for more then 4 years with fibromyalgia. We had to drive over 539 miles to Long Island, NY to get DXd. Joe & Betty LeBlanc joeleblancva@aol.com
May has been proclaimed Lyme Disease Awareness Month in New Hampshire, a victory for those affected with the disease — including two local women who watched the proclamation declared.
Laconia residents Nancy Bourassa and Michelle O'Mara were part of a group of around 16 people who met with Gov. John Lynch at the Statehouse on Friday afternoon as he declared Lyme Disease Awareness Month for the state.
Bourassa and O'Mara both suffer from the effects of Lyme disease and have organized a support group for fellow "Lymies."
Attendees spoke with Lynch about the issues surrounding Lyme disease, especially the need for early detection and treatment.
"Some of the things people told him, his jaw dropped," Bourassa said. "We felt like it was a very, very successful meeting with him. He gave us more time and attention."
Lynch also inquired about the increased number of reported Lyme cases and Bourassa said he understood some of the terminology of the disease, as his wife, Susan Lynch, is a pediatrician.
Bourassa said Lynch rounded off the meeting with ...
TRENTON, N.J. - For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows.
The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol — problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
The numbers were gathered last year by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans.
Experts say the data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people are now taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.
In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow.
"Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ... things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical school.
Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. But it was unclear how their prescriptions compare to those of insured people elsewhere. Comparable data were not available for Europe, for instance.
Medco's data show that last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are ...
Medical groups differ on courses of treatment for Lyme disease
In the battle over how best to treat Lyme disease, a new settlement between Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and a major medical group might seem to offer at least a little hope of expanded treatment for those with the tick-borne disease.
That, however, would involve a change in the lines of debate over the disease, and it's not clear there will be any yielding.
The settlement, reached this month between Blumenthal and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, provides for a review of the IDSA's guidelines for treating Lyme disease -- guidelines that a second group of doctors, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, say are strict and inflexible to the point of harming some patients.
But the IDSA's guidelines will remain unchanged until that review ends. And while the review process will include the participation of an ombudsman, the guarantee that opposing voices will get their say, and hearings that will be broadcast on the Internet, they may not yield a single change, said Dr. Eugene Shapiro, a pediatrician, epidemiologist and professor of investigative medicine with the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven.
Asked last week if the IDSA guidelines could remained unchanged after the review, Shapiro said flatly, "Yes."
"If the scientific data recommends a change, we'll be happy to change," Shapiro said. "But we have 25 years of research on Lyme disease. We feel very comfortable the guidelines will stand up to any scientific scrutiny."
Doctors who are opposed to the IDSA guidelines said they believe there's at least a chance their position -- that infection from the Lyme disease bacteria Borrellia burgdorferi can create a chronic illness that needs long-term treatment with antibiotics -- will gain some credence with the review panel.
"I hope it will lead to an improvement to patient care," said Dr. Steven Phillips of Wilton, who has been one of the doctors opposing the strict guidelines in favor of those in which doctors can tailor treatment to individual patients.
Phillips is a past president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, which believes there is ample scientific evidence to treat people for chronic Lyme disease.
"We've looked at the same evidence as IDSA and come up with significantly different conclusions," said Dr. Daniel Cameron of Mount Kisco, N.Y., the current president of the group.
This isn't a merely a spat between two opposing medical groups.
In a press release, Blumenthal's office pointed out that insurance companies now use the IDSA guidelines to restrict care for patients and refuse to pay for long-term antibiotic care.
"It's a good way to have people denied insurance," said Maggie Shaw of Newtown, a member of that town's Lyme Disease Task Force. "It also puts the fear factor in doctors.
"Here are two standards of care, but only one gets recognized," Shaw said. "It's because of the stranglehold the IDSA has on this."
The settlement between Blumenthal and the IDSA came after Blumenthal sued the group, which ...
Omaha, NE - It's a disease that could be lurking in your back yard. With the warmer weather, more people are heading outside and they could be vulnerable to Lyme Disease. All it takes is one bite from an infected tick.
"It makes you think you're crazy. You've got this bacteria in your body that's creating havoc."
Lyme Disease consumes Keli Koepky's life. At first, doctors thought he had the flu or a bad sinus infection. He was misdiagnosed for six months.
"Because I didn't get the joint pains a lot of Lyme patients do, it threw the doctors off," he said.
Keli went to a specialist, where he tested positive for the disease. Since then, he hooks up to an I.V. Several times a week and is constantly exhausted. He's lost his energy, but not his hope. He continues to take his treatments, even though his insurance has denied him coverage.
"It costs about four to five thousand dollars a month," he said.
Keli hopes people will learn from his experience and ...
Two Maine women believe they have found a way to help stop the spread of Lyme disease. It's called "Tick Tactic," a kit that helps people deal with a tick bite.
Jane Honeck and Mo Babicki both know the pain of Lyme disease. Mo was bitten by a tick 19 years ago, but it took years for doctors to diagnose her painful symptoms.
After years of suffering, Mo found a doctor who told her she had Lyme disease and she began getting help. At the same time, her friend Jane noticed a bulls-eye rash under her arm.
Jane was diagnosed quickly and immediately got treatment.
The two friends wanted to find a way to help others avoid Lyme disease. They have created "Tick Tactic," a small kit that includes tweezers to remove the tick and a magnifying card to help people identify whether it is a deer tick, which carries Lyme disease.
Chuck Lubelczyk is a field biologist who studies ticks. He says the kit is a good idea because the number of ticks are increasing every year and more people are being diagnosed with Lyme disease.
In Maine, 530 cases were reported last year, the highest number ever recorded.
Mo and Jane believe their kit can help reduce that risk.
