"Under Our Skin"

What is this? This is a trailer for a documentary about Lyme called "Under Our Skin". It is very good. It explains a lot using doctors, patients, the CDC, court cases, news, etc.

News coverage on Lyme: http://www.youtube.com/user/openeyepictures

What is it?

This is the million dollar question for doctors and patients to decide. What do you have and how do we treat you? Here is the down and dirty condensed version about Lyme.

What: Lyme disease, or lyme borreliosis,is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere. Borrelia is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected ticks.

Discovered: The disease is named after the village of Lyme, Connecticut, USA, where a number of cases were identified in 1975.

Symptoms: Lyme disease can affect multiple body systems and produce a range of symptoms. Not all patients with Lyme disease will have all symptoms, and many of the symptoms are not specific to Lyme disease but can occur with other diseases as well. Theincubation period from infection to the onset of symptoms is usually one to two weeks, but can be much shorter (days), or much longer (months to years). Traditional early symptoms may include fever, headache, fatigue, depression, and a characteristic circular skin rash called erythema migrans. 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. Late, delayed, or inadequate treatment can lead to the more serious symptoms, which can be disabling and difficult to treat. Occasionally, symptoms such as arthritis persist after the infection has been eliminated by antibiotics, prompting suggestions that Borrelia causes autoimmunity.

Cause: Lyme disease is caused byGram-negative spirochetal bacteria fro the genus Borrelia. At least 11 Borreliaspecies have been discovered, 3 of which are known to be Lyme-related.

Pathophsiology: Borrelia burgdorferi can spread throughout the body during the course of the disease and has been found in the skin, heart, joint, peripheral nervous system, and central nervous system. Many of the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease are a consequence of the immune response to the spirochete in those tissues.

Treatment: Most expert groups, including the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Academy of Neurology, have found that existing scientific evidence does not support a role for Borrelia nor ongoing antibiotic treatment in such cases. However, the subject is controversial, with some doctors, patient advocacy groups, and politicians continuing to argue that long-term treatment is beneficial. This dispute has led to legal action over treatment guidelines, as well as harassment and death threats made against physicians who will not acknowledge "chronic" Lyme disease as a legitimate diagnosis. (Medical referenece)

Amazing resource: http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/about_lyme.html

The reason for this Blog

This blog is not to be pretty, cool, fashionable or even politically correct. This blog has been created as an outlet of my feelings; Therapy if you will.

Many of you know, but many of you don't know, that I have Lyme Disease. It can be acute or chronic. Mine is chronic, therefore, it never completely goes away. It can be managed by your own immune system, but similar to cancer can relapse. There are many politics to this disease and thereby is hard for doctors to treat it and hard for patients to find doctors willing to help them.

I will try to add some information on Lyme Disease- background, basic warning signs, symptoms, current politics, pills, etc. However, most of this will probably be the ups and downs of my life. The problem I have is that for the most part I look and can ACT normal. It is kind of like a paper cut: on the surface it may not look bad but it really hurts.

Thank you for joining me and laughing and crying with me. I have already seen blessings from this trial but I would never wish this on anyone- even an enemy. As my brother-in law says, "If it was not this trial, it would be different one." So, I try to keep my spirits high, enjoy life, and make the most out of it.