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ADVANCED TOPICS IN LYME DISEASE************* ILADS Evidence-based Lyme Treatment Guidelines | |
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| Obituaries | |
| ·Remembering Leslie Wermers. One year ago today. | 2009-11-02 20:10:50 | | ·Lyme disease patients mourn passing of well known doctor | 2009-07-01 04:00:00 | | ·All she lost: My sister's battle with Lyme disease | 2009-05-19 04:00:00 | | ·Laura Treanor, 19, Lyme disease not ruled as cause of death | 2009-05-07 04:00:00 | | ·Lila Star Smith Harms, 25, dies from complications of Lyme disease | 2009-05-05 04:00:00 | | ·Lyme Disease Patients Loses a Hero and Friend | 2008-11-16 19:57:38 | | ·Nancy L. (Scully) Strayer: March 20, 1946 - March 12, 2008 | 2008-04-12 04:00:00 | | ·Bite from tick on holiday led to death leap | 2008-04-11 06:49:39 | | ·Rugby great, Mike Gregory, loses his battle with Lyme disease | 2007-11-24 23:51:00 | | ·Missouri teen, 15, dies from Ehrlichiosis | 2007-09-04 04:00:00 | | ·Steven F. Wells, 45, dies after battle with Lyme disease and ALS | 2007-08-14 07:03:39 | | ·Bruno C. Malvezzi | 2007-07-31 21:06:47 | | ·In loving memory of Dr. Edward McNeil | 2007-07-24 19:45:00 | | ·Lyme disease is a growing problem, Britteny Gallgher, Kansas City, MO | 2007-05-24 04:10:00 | | ·Lyme Disease Skyrockets In Maryland | 2007-05-23 04:00:00 | | ·C. Peter Thomas, 46; Sound Engineer | 2007-05-21 04:00:00 | | ·Jimmy Duarte, gifted musician, charismatic islander, dies at 70 | 2007-05-17 15:12:03 | | ·Obituary: Lyme Disease Advocate Karen Johnson ''Rose'' Rose, 1947 - 2007 | 2007-04-30 22:50:17 | | ·BETH'S QUEST: Family crusades against Lyme disease | 2007-04-29 04:00:00 | | ·Tick kit distribution aimed at heading off Lyme disease | 2007-04-28 12:40:00 | | ·Letter to the Editor: In Memory of Lyme Advocate ''Rose'' | 2007-04-26 11:00:03 | | ·Lyme Advocate ''Rose'' Succumbs to Lyme Disease | 2007-04-19 18:25:19 | | ·Body of Missing Woman with Lyme Disease Found | 2007-04-14 21:46:32 | | ·Michael Coers won Pulitzer Prize | 2007-03-21 10:00:43 | | ·E STREETER IN LYME 'SUICIDE' | 2007-03-19 12:33:30 | | ·Lost to Lyme Lyme disease facts | 2007-03-19 04:00:00 | | ·Musician remembered as battler against Lyme disease | 2007-03-19 04:05:00 | | ·Maine Musician Bill Chinnock Dies | 2007-03-08 13:45:18 | | ·Obituary - Eric von Schmidt - Singer and painter was in Dylan's circle | 2007-02-27 11:00:00 | | ·JAMES P. KOCH | 2007-02-22 00:53:49 | | ·Andrew Spielman, 76, Expert on Insect-Borne Diseases, Dies | 2006-12-26 04:00:00 | | ·Martin Frank Dumke | 2006-11-29 04:00:00 | | ·Bill Reynolds: For QB Coen, tragedy lies beneath the surface | 2006-10-29 04:05:00 | | ·Coen plays on without No. 1 fan | 2006-10-17 04:00:00 | | ·Librarian was dedicated to students, family | 2006-09-19 17:02:58 | | ·TORMENT OF BRAIN BUG PROF - Alasdair Crockett | 2006-09-19 13:43:35 | | ·Widow of Lyme disease victim appeals for help | 2006-09-18 22:44:57 | | ·Professor commits suicide after catching dementia from tick bite | 2006-09-17 22:17:12 | | ·Tick talk: Family blames member's death on tickborne illness | 2006-08-21 04:00:00 | | ·Death of York PA area doctor due to Lyme and ALS | 2006-04-29 20:40:02 | | ·Emmy-winner Scott Brazil dies of ALS and Lyme disease at 50 | 2006-04-22 11:37:59 | | ·Kym Cooper- Dead Woman's Own Letter Tells Her Lyme Disease Story | 2006-02-05 14:08:53 | | ·Kym Cooper - Worn down by Lyme | 2006-01-22 01:56:26 | | ·Kym Cooper, 1968-2006, After long battle with Lyme disease | 2006-01-19 13:51:02 | | ·Tribe leader Francis mourned | 2006-01-14 18:22:58 | | ·Easton mourns former selectman after fatal accident | 2005-12-17 13:04:17 | | ·Educator, union leader dies from complications of Lyme disease | 2005-12-08 09:25:32 | | ·'A TERRIBLE WAY TO GO' | 2005-10-22 14:39:56 | | ·Leo Bogart, R.I.P. (1921-2005) | 2005-10-21 15:55:28 | | ·Leo Bogart, 84, Sociologist Who Studied Role of Media in Culture, Is Dead | 2005-10-21 15:46:44 | | ·Passages: Pat Pepper | 2005-10-10 01:11:11 | | ·Man loses battle with Lyme disease | 2005-10-09 10:37:43 |
[ Read Obituaries ] | |
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 | Opinion / Editorial: Lyme disease film ''Under Our Skin'': UNDER OUR SKIN makes the Oscar “short list |
 LymeBlog News
Lexington, KY USA
By LymeBlog News Staff
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that UNDER OUR SKIN was selected as one of the 15 finalists competing for “Best Documentary Feature” in the 82nd Academy Awards®. Unfolding like a real-life thriller, UNDER OUR SKIN
exposes the hidden epidemic of Lyme disease and reveals how our corrupt
medical system is failing to address one of the most serious illnesses
of our time. Open Eye Pictures is thrilled that the Academy has honored
the courageous Lyme patients and physicians whose stories are told in
this film. And we hope that this nomination will help spread awareness
about this devastating disease and serve as a catalyst for fixing our
country’s broken health care system. The Documentary Branch
Screening Academy Committee viewed all eighty-nine qualifying
documentaries during the preliminary round of voting. Academy members
will now select five nominees from among the 15 titles on the
shortlist, and Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday,
February 2, 2010.
Director’s Statement
My journey into the depths of the Lyme disease controversy started by accident. A friend of
mine in San Francisco was getting sicker and sicker with severe and progressive neurological
illness. She was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and then ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease
(which is basically a death sentence). But she kept looking for possible explanations and, finally,
was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Lyme disease?! I recalled that my twin sister in Upstate New
York suffered from it years ago. I remember she was always tired and achy, even though she
looked just fine. So I never took it seriously, like most people, and I believed it was just an East
Coast disease, if a real disease at all.
So I was shocked that Lyme disease could be so debilitating, even life-threatening. I discovered
that the prevalence of Lyme disease in the U.S. may be at least ten times greater than HIV,
West Nile virus (and now swine flu) combined. Like its genetic cousin, the "great imitator"
syphilis, it mimics other illnesses, including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis,
lupus, MS, ALS, Alzheimer's and autism. I learned it could be transmitted from mother to child
in utero and that sexual transmission has not been ruled out.
Photo: Under Our Skin
Lyme patient Marlena Connors suffers a seizure in UNDER OUR SKIN
Photo: UNDER OUR SKIN
Photo: UNDER OUR SKIN
Ben Petrick, once a Major League player, is now sidelined by Lyme disease
Photo: UNDER OUR SKIN
Sean Cobb tends to his wife Mandy Hughes as she suffers a seizure
Photo:UNDER OUR SKIN
Jordan Fisher Smith surveys his medications
Photo: UNDER OUR SKIN
UNDER OUR SKIN Senior Producer Kris Newby and filmmaker Andy Abrahams
Wilson receive trophies at the International Health & Medical Media
Awards.
Photo: UNDER OUR SKIN
Under Our Skin
Directed by Andy Abrahams Wilson
See below for August showings
Runtime: 103 min.
Worse still: standard tests seem hopelessly inaccurate, and most physicians are untrained to
diagnose or treat the illness. Furthermore, physicians who do take on chronic Lyme patients
risk the suspension of their medical licenses. On the patient side, I found variations of the same
story repeated thousand-fold: doctor after doctor, years of misdiagnoses, hundreds of
thousands of dollars exhausted, denial of insurance coverage, accusations of hypochondria and,
finally if ever, a long road back to health.
What was going on? What if my friend had stopped after the ALS diagnosis? Would she still be
alive today? What if my sister didn’t persevere until she proved wrong those (like myself) who
thought it was all in her head? Sometimes I think the film is my way of making penance for the
way I treated my sister when she was sick. After all, William Osler, considered to be the father
of modern medicine, once said, "If you listen carefully to the patient they will tell you the
diagnosis." Our patriarchal, good-old-boy medical system is coming up against its limits of
knowledge and arrogance, threatened by "internet activists" (mostly women) who are taking
their family's healthcare into their own hands, sharing community and resources, and
demanding help.
After four years of research and production—and over 375 hours of footage, what we
uncovered is a chilling tale of microbes, medicine and money. Deregulation of scientific research
and conflicts of interest in medicine are poisoning healthcare, denying our citizens health, and
costing our citizenry profound loss of productivity and resources. We need an overhaul of our
medical research, health delivery and insurance systems. Lyme disease is the canary in the
coalmine and a case study for what's wrong and needs to be fixed. UNDER OUR SKIN is an
essential contribution to the current national debate about healthcare reform.
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Posted by Editor on Wednesday, November 18 @ 22:32:12 EST (1302 reads)
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| Opinion / Editorial: Swine flu: How not to be stupid |
Swine flu: How not to be stupid
The Argosy, Canada
By Ross MacLean
It’s true, Mount Allison has seen its first H1N1 (“heenee”) diagnoses.
Incidence in Canada is currently the third highest of all countries in
the world, falling just behind Mexico and the United States. While the
spread of the disease is real, maybe it’s just me, but it seems like
everywhere you look there’s a new myth about this infection. I thought
this week I’d attempt to dispel a few.
The vaccine is not going to kill you. As with any vaccine, there
are risks. Usually negative reactions are mild, but the rare patient
will have a severe reaction. Let me stress the rare part. The biggest
risk from the vaccine is Guillain-Barré, an auto-immune disorder that
attacks the nervous system. Odds of getting this from the vaccine are
about one in a million, but about forty in a million cases of swine flu
will see this. So you’re probably better off with the vaccine. All in
all, the vaccine is a hell of a lot safer than the disease.
Pandemic ≠ black plague. Yes, the heenee has been dubbed a
pandemic, but this doesn’t mean people will be dropping dead in the
streets middle ages-style. This term refers only to the global spread
of the disease, not its severity. More people have died from Lyme
disease in the last 300 days than from swine flu. Who even knows anyone
who’s had Lyme disease? This number is bound to increase as the flu
season progresses, but it’s likely that the mass hysteria seen in too
many homes is a bit of an overreaction.
Home remedies probably won’t work. For any illness, rumours of
home-cooked cures are bound to spread, but it’s usually in your best
interest to trust sources like your doctor and Health Canada over your
grandmother’s herbal tea. Sandra Oh (and that one Argosy editor) were
wrong to think that vitamins would ...
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Posted by Editor on Tuesday, November 10 @ 09:32:34 EST (958 reads)
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| Opinion / Editorial: The sick role and Lyme |
The sick role and Lyme
By LymeMD, lymemd.blogspot.com
I saw a patient today who has been treated by another physician. The
patient spends nearly his entire day taking supplements along with a
complex regime of antimicrobials meticulously scheduled. The medicines
are rotated and pulsed within specific protocols. This patient is going
broke, in part because of the high cost of supplements which he assiduously
takes per his physician's directions. He has stopped working in part
because his illness is a full time job. His life centers around being
THE PATIENT. Lyme disease has become his life. There is no time for
normalcy. The sick role can become integrated into the disease.
Perhaps, ironically, some readers of this BLOG focus all of their
attention on their illness--scouring discussion forums, constantly
perusing the Internet, seeking some new tidbit of esoteric information. The disease becomes a life style.
Many
of my patients have told me that they no longer read my BLOG or read
about Lyme disease, the politics and the controversies. Of course when
I see such patients we discus the course of their disease and the
rationale behind prescribed therapies during each visit.
These
patients may be free to pursue a life which is as normal as possible.
They spend time with family and friends. They function at the highest
level possible in a multitude of domains. Suffering with Lyme disease becomes something they live with: It is not the center of their universe.
Such
patients get up every morning, despite pain and other symptoms, put on
their best faces and face life head on in spite of adversity. Other
patients are constrained within a prison, imagined or real, comprised
of walls, esmeshed in the fabric of illness and its attendant
disabilites.
So I like to keep the regimens simple, and largely
devoid of supplements. Changes are made when patients see me at
scheduled appointments.
A word about supplements. Some patients certainly report benefits from a variety of add-ons.
Some feel energized from Co-enzyme Q10, which I truly think helps many
people. Some swear by teasel root. I may recommend one or two
additional supplements but not many. I do not recommend multi-vitamins
on a routine basis.
I was reared in medicine with a healthy dose
of skepticism regarding vitamins.(I have discussed this before).
Vitamin E--the "miracle worker," turned to offer no benefits to heart
patients in controlled, published studies. Vitamin C turned out to be
potentially harmful
to heart patients. It was shown to increase plaque in arteries,
increasing the risk of heart disease unexpectedly. Simple chemistry may
give us the reason. Vitamin C can exist chemically in a reduced or
oxidized form. The reduced form is an anti-oxidant; the oxidized form
can be a harmful pro-oxidant. Supplements may not be properly balanced.
So I perfer to leave nutrients and vitamins in the capable hands of
Mother Nature. I stress a healthy diet with fruits, vegetables and ...
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Posted by Editor on Wednesday, October 14 @ 04:00:00 EDT (1648 reads)
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| Opinion / Editorial: A Lymie's review of the movie LymeLife now on DVD and BluRay |
LymeBlog News
Lexington, KY USA
By Mac McDonald, LymeBlog News Editor
When you see that Martin Scorsese is the Executive Producer of an independent film like "LymeLife" you know that it must be something special.
Photo: www.lymelifethemovie.com
* Win an autographed poster of the movie "LymeLife"
see details at the end of the article
"LymeLife" is billed as "A portrait of the American dream in 1970s Long Island, as seen through the eyes of a 15-year-old". The movie has won awards at festivals and received glowing reviews. Daily Variety says "Purely hilarious". "Tender and witty" says Screen Daily.
But how does the movie live up to having "Lyme" in the title to those who are all too familiar with that word?
I have chronic Lyme disease (some times we call ourselves Lymies) so when the movie "LymeLife" became available on DVD and BluRay this week I immediately ran (in my wheelchair, of course) to the store to get a copy.
For those of us who have experienced the symptoms of neurological Lyme disease I feel we should be able to appreciate the accurate portrayal of a person with Lyme in "LymeLife".
Photo: imdb.com
Rory Culkin and Emma Roberts in LymeLife, a movie about relationships, growing up in the 1970s, and, oh yeah, Lyme disease.
View the trailer on IMBD
View trailer on YouTube
The difficulty with showing someone with Lyme disease is that most of
the symptoms are not visible to others but are ever present to the
person with the disease. Director Derick Martini, has done an
excellent job of depicting the struggle of the character with Lyme
disease.
Martini, who is both the director and co-writer of the film said that he knew a person during his childhood who was a
friend of the family. This person failed to be diagnosed correctly with Lyme disease, and doctors gave him the wrong treatment.
"It just deteriorated to the point where he was
never himself, and he is still not himself.", Martini said.
But how does a director depict a character with an illness that only causes them to appear to not be themselves?
Early in the movie we learn that "Charlie" (Tim Hutton), the character in the movie who has Lyme disease, lost his job in Manhattan when he became ill, something to which many people with Lyme disease can relate. Now Charlie dresses in a suit every morning and pretends to take the train into the city to look for work. Instead, he hides in his basement all day. This is also understandable to those of us who have experienced the life changing effects of contracting Lyme and tried to hide the severity of the symptoms from those we love.
Hutton (Charlie) also has hallucinations about seeing a deer outside his house and hears a high pitched ringing in his ears constantly. This are two other types of events people with neurological Lyme often experience.
According to an interview in Cinema Blend Lyme disease is a metaphor for diseased relationships in the movie .
The film is really about relationships but the writer/director shows us some of the other experiences many people with chronic Lyme disease go through.
Charlie's wife, played by two time Emmy winner Cynthia
Nixon of "Sex and the City" fame, cries in one scene, "He is just not the man I married. Why do these things always happen to me?" To which the incomparable Alec Baldwin, two time Emmy winner for his role on "30 Rock", says, "But you aren't the one with Lyme disease." This is a relationship event that all too many people with Lyme have experienced.
In another scene Rory Culkin asks Hutton what it is like to have Lyme. Hutton says, "It is like a perpetual acid trip.", an appropriate description to those of us who experienced both the '60s and neurological Lyme.
But regarding relationships, I was most impressed with the fact that the writer chose to depict "Charlie", the guy with the disease, as the only one of the four parents who was not completely self-centered.
In a final scene, only those who have experienced neurological Lyme may notice that ...
Note: * Win an autographed poster of the movie "LymeLife"
Tell
us about experiences from your own life relating to situations or
characters in the movie "LymeLife" whether Lyme related or not.
Everyone can relate to at least one of the characters in the movie.
Tell us about your most embarrassing moment as a teen, your first love
or what it was like the first time you realized that your parents were
just regular people with faults and foibles like everyone else. Did you have an overprotective parent? Send us your one sentence description of what it is like to have neurological Lyme disease.
Just send your story in an email to mac@lymeblog.com and put LymeLife in the subject.
The
responses will be judged this month by members of our expert staff
(like myself and my teenage grand-daughter) and the winner will receive
a "LymeLife" movie poster autographed by the cast.
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Posted by Editor on Saturday, October 03 @ 14:05:00 EDT (2071 reads)
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| Opinion / Editorial: Repeat Offender Pfizer Pays Record $2.3 Billion Fraud Settlement |
LymeBlog News
Lexington, KY USA
By Mac McDonald, LymeBlog News Editor
Justice Department Announces Largest Health Care Fraud Settlement in its History
Pfizer to Pay $2.3 Billion for Fraudulent Marketing
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel09/justice_090209.htm
FBI Press release
BBC: Pfizer agrees record fraud fine
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8234533.stm
Repeat Offender Pfizer Pays Record $2.3 Billion Fraud Settlement
http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/repeat-offender-pfizer-pays-record-23-billion-fraud-settlement-.aspx?googleid=270214
Read more: http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/repeat-offender-pfizer-pays-record-23-billion-fraud-settlement-.aspx?googleid=270214#ixzz0PySYRKW7
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090902/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_pfizer_settlement
According to an Associated Press article the US Justice Department will announce today that Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, will have to pay $2.3 billion as a civil penalty because they had marketed the pain medication Bextra, and other products, for medical conditions different than their approved use.
Drug manufacturers are prohibited from marketing drugs for uses that have not been approved by the FDA. The settlement is the largest ever paid by a drug company for alleged violations of federal drug rules.
Pfizer spokesman Chris Loder confirmed with AP Wednesday that the $2.3 billion charge to the company's earnings had been taken in the fourth quarter of 2008.
He told AP, "No additional charge to the company's earnings will be recorded in connection with this settlement," he said.
This is good news for investors since Pfizer stock was up 9 cents at $16.47 in early trading Wednesday.
http://www.forbes.com/2005/02/07/cx_mh_0207fda.html
In a 2005 article in Forbes, Matthew Herper said, "Next Wednesday, Feb. 16, painkillers go on trial. The big question: Will the jury be tough enough?"
"A panel of academic scientists--who have not yet been publicly named--will meet to advise the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the safety of Cox-2 inhibitors such as Celebrex, Bextra and the withdrawn Vioxx."
"It will be an especially important meeting for Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ), which makes Celebrex and Bextra. The meeting is likely to determine the future of those drugs--including whether they have a future at all. The discussion may also have an impact on Pfizer's potential liability."
"Even if Celebrex and Bextra don't make it through the meeting, Pfizer could look like a winner to investors as long as it doesn't face a massive liability cloud like the ever-ballooning diet-drug litigation ..."
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Posted by Editor on Thursday, September 10 @ 04:00:00 EDT (1424 reads)
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