Lyme Podcast

Hello! Scott here. It's been a while since we've updated this blog. But I have some very important news! I have started a podcast called Lyme Light. The point of which is to encourage and enlighten those suffering with Lyme Disease. As well as offer support to their friends, families and caregivers. Now, I'm still in IV therapy for Lyme Disease, have been for over 20 months. But I will try to release one new podcast every week.

For the first episode I interviewed my three sons. It is wonderful to look at life through the eyes of children. Not only is there honesty, but there is strength as well. For Episode 2, Part 2, I will interview my daughter and my wife/caregiver.

Ultimateky, the goal of the podcast is to interview others whose lives have been touched by this awful disease. Additionally, I will be speaking to disability lawyers, health care professionals, health dept. officials, etc. I also hope to interview those who have come out on the other side of this battle in order to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

You can listen to Episode 1 by searching Lyme Light in the podcast section of iTunes, or go directly to my feed site where I will also be posting show notes. Go to sdawson.podbean.com, scroll to the bottom and have a listen. You can also add a podcast player to your blog, facebook page, etc. When you done listening, please a comment. I love to hear your thoughts on the podcast as well as any suggestions for future shows. Thanks and come back often!

Scott Dawson

Lyme Disease Shirts: Ignorance is a choice...

It seems that everywhere we go, we run into a wall of deliberate ignorance...and I am growing weary. It is time for a change. It is time for compassion and understanding. It is time for you, our doctors, to admit that you can't fit Lyme Disease into a pretty little box and call it good. It is a complex, multi-systemic bacterial infection that wreaks havoc on entire families and communities. It is time for you to take a stand and start saving our lives.

You can buy this new LYME DISEASE SHIRT online at www.cafepress.com/lymiesunite

Long Term Antibiotics for Lyme Disease

Bethesda, MD, June 21, 2009 - Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced she has signed a bill allowing doctors to prescribe long-term antibiotics for a patient clinically diagnosed with Lyme disease without fear of sanction for state health regulators. The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS (www.ILADS.org)) applaud Connecticut legislature for unanimously passing the bill and the governor for signing a bill that will protect physicians who treat Lyme disease.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“The fact is that infection with the bacterium that causes acute Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, may also cause a chronic, complex, and often life altering disease that can be highly difficult to diagnose. Reliable diagnostic tests are not yet available,” says Daniel J. Cameron, MD, MPH, president of ILADS, “Chronic Lyme disease patients may face a long hard fight to wellness.”

The bill addresses acute and chronic presentations of Lyme disease and includes a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease as determined by a physician “…that is based on knowledge obtained through the medical history and physical examination alone, or in conjunction with the testing that provides supportive data for such clinical diagnosis.”

Despite all the progress in raising public awareness of Lyme disease since its discovery in state in the state of Connecticut in the 1970s, the numbers and complexity of Lyme disease continue to grow. The bill offers hope that more physicians knowledgeable about Lyme disease will be encouraged to practice within the State of Connecticut.”

“One of the burdens of Lyme disease, finding treatment, will be lifted from their shoulders, as this law offers hope to residents that more physicians who are knowledgeable about Lyme disease will be encouraged to practice within the State of Connecticut, according to Maggie Shaw, Newtown Lyme Disease Task Force, a patient leader in the Connecticut effort.

ILADS www.ilads.org is a nonprofit, international, multidisciplinary medical society, dedicated to the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of Lyme and its associated diseases. ILADS promotes understanding of tick-borne 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.

Media contact: Barbara Buchman Lymdocs@aol.com

Click HERE for the direct link to the story.

The Lyme Disease Controversy

The CDC clinical criteria for Lyme Disease which exist for the purpose of monitoring the rate of Lyme disease nationally are quite narrowly defined in order to ensure a high degree of specificity in the diagnosis. These criteria are mainly useful for the early stages and rheumatological presentations of Lyme Disease,such as when a patient appears with an erythema migrans rash, arthritis, a Bell's palsy, or early central neurologic Lyme disease (meningitis or encephalitis). The CDC criteria are not very helpful for helping the clinician to detect late stage neurologic Lyme Disease. For example, the most common manifestation of late neurologic Lyme Disease is cognitive dysfunction (often referred to as "encephalopathy"). A patient who presents with new onset encephalopathy and a positive blood test for Lyme Disease would not be considered by the CDC to be a case of Lyme disease. Although the CDC recognizes that Lyme encephalopathy exists, encephalopathy is not part of the "surveillance case definition". Hence, physicians who rely on the narrow surveillance case criteria of the CDC for clinical diagnosis will fail to diagnose some patients who in fact do have Lyme disease; in these cases, the patient's treatment will either not occur or be delayed. Such delay in treatment may result in an acute treatable illness becoming a chronic less responsive one.

Other physicians who use a broader more inclusive set of clinical criteria for the diagnosis of Lyme disease will make the diagnosis of Lyme Disease and initiate treatment. The latter group of doctors, by treating some patients for "probable Lyme Disease", will make use of antibiotic responsiveness to confirm their diagnostic impression. These physicians, by erring on the side of not letting a patient with probable Lyme Disease go untreated, will help many patients who otherwise would not get treatment; undoubtedly, however, because of the inclusiveness of their diagnostic approach, these physicians will also treat some patients with antibiotics who do not have Lyme Disease. These physicians would argue that the serious consequences for physical, cognitive, and functional disability associated with chronic Lyme Disease outweigh the risks of antibiotic therapy.

Both sets of doctors are practicing medicine in a reasonable fashion based on the application of certain diagnostic principles, although the therapeutic approaches differ considerably stemming from the narrow vs broad criteria for diagnosis. This is the essence of the medical controversy surrounding chronic Lyme disease. Until medical doctors have a test that definitelyy identifies the presence or absence of infection (and such a test does not yet exist), the controversy about the diagnosis and treatment of chronic Lyme Disease will continue. (posted by my friend K.N.)

Lyme Disease Tshirts : May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month

May is almost over and I haven't done all that I felt I needed to do to help spread the word about Lyme Disease. I never feel like I am doing enough but when you are dealing with LD sometimes it is all you can do just to survive, let alone advocate for others. My husband and I feel like LD is our new religion because it has permeated every aspect of our lives...we can't get away from it and we have become Lyme Awareness Evangelists.... Everywhere we go we end up talking about Lyme...whether we are answering questions about Scott's cane, PICC or why he isn't currently driving...Lyme Disease is everywhere and we are just trying to survive.

Scott has been in IV treatment for the past 17 months and we are exhausted. Every day is a struggle for him because no one in our local medical community recognized the CLASSIC LYME SYMPTOMS back in 1997. NO ONE should have to suffer like this. Something needs to be done. Doctors need to open their hearts and minds to the possibility that they DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING and be willing to listen and learn about this debilitating disease. If you haven't bought your Lyme Disease Awareness products...NOW IS THE TIME!

Lyme Disease Tshirts

I have created a line of Lyme Disease Clothing in order to help pay for some of my husband's Lyme Disease treatment. He is currently fighting the fight of his life and any sales of our Lyme Disease T-shirts help us stay afloat. May is Lyme Disease Awareness month so it's the perfect time to buy a Lyme Disease Tshirt. Click on the shirt of your choice to be taken to our CafePress store where you can choose your size and color. We have 53 items currently in stock.

How To Properly Remove A Tick

I found out this weekend that there are many in the medical field who DO NOT KNOW how to remove a tick. There is a huge population of nurses who know very little about removing a tick and even less about Lyme Disease symptoms. Since May is Lyme Disease Awareness month, what better way to promote awareness than to teach you how to properly remove a tick...and YES, it does make a difference.

"The recommended way to remove an attached tick has changed in recent years. Researchers have found that Lyme disease germs are usually in the tick’s gut rather than in its mouth. Therefore, getting all the mouthparts out of the skin is not considered as important as keeping the tick from injecting more germs from its gut. After a tick has been feeding for a few hours, it regurgitates germs from its gut into the bite site. Thus, it can take several hours for a tick to transmit Lyme disease. Remove ticks promptly. Some ticks have germs in their saliva and can transmit Lyme and other diseases as soon as they bite.

The old methods of burning the tick with a hot match, or covering it with nail polish, Alcohol, lighter fluid, or other chemicals, can cause the tick to vomit more lyme bacteria into the bite site. Using fingers or blunt tweezers to remove it can squeeze the tick’s abdomen and also inject more bacteria into a person. A research study found that all these methods make a person more likely to contract lyme disease. Remove ticks with fine-pointed tweezers, available at some drug stores, or a tick remover tool, available on the internet or from the Lyme Association of Greater Kansas City. It is difficult to remove the tiny nymphs with tweezers without squeezing the tick’s body. Nymphs cause most cases of lyme disease.

The safest way to remove a tick is by sliding something under it, such as a credit card (which doesn’t always work) or a tick remover. Grasp the tick as close to the mouth (the point of attachment) as possible and pull it straight out slowly, allowing the tick about a minute or 2 to release itself. It doesn’t need to be turned or twisted out. If mouth parts are left in the skin, they can be removed with a sterile needle or by a doctor. If they are not removed, they will work their way out of the body in a few days, but may cause itching. If you are camping and must remove a tick by hand, use a leaf or tissue to avoid touching the tick with your bare hands. Don’t squeeze the gut. After removing a tick, disinfect the bite site and tool, and wash your hands with antibacterial soap.

A camping first aid kit should include a tick removal tool, a needle, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, antibacterial soap, and a container or small zipper bag to save a tick for testing. You may also want tape to seal the container securely. after removing a tick, call the doctor. Some physicians prescribe antibiotics for tick bites; others wait to see if disease symptoms develop. Ilads (international lyme and associated diseases society) doctors recommend a minimum of 6 weeks of antibiotic treatment for an em rash or other early symptoms of LYME disease, because LYME can become chronic and debilitating with shorter treatment courses. (see www.Ilads.org) .

Lyme blood tests within a few days of a tick bite are not useful, since it usually takes a person several weeks to develop antibodies. Diagnosis is based on signs, symptoms, and exposure to ticks.

The Lyme Association of greater Kansas City sells a tick removal kit in a plastic pill bottle. It contains a tick remover tool, instructions, 2 alcohol wipes, a tick identification card, and a tiny zipper bag to save the tick for testing. People have told us they like the tick remover tool because it is easier than tweezers for removing tiny young nymphal ticks safely and is also good for removing adult ticks. It also works well for removing ticks from pets. It can be ordered by sending a check for $5 made out to: “LYME ASSOCIATION” AND MAILED TO:
LYME ASSOCIATION, P.O. BOX 25853, OVERLAND PARK, KS 66225
WHAT TO DO WITH THE TICK
AFTER REMOVAL, YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE THE TICK FOR IDENTIFICATION AND TESTING. CERTAIN TICKS ARE MORE LIKELY TO CARRY CERTAIN DISEASES. BLACK-LEGGED (DEER) AND LONE STAR TICKS CARRY LYME DISEASE IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN STATES. TICK TESTS FOR DISEASES, ALTHOUGH NOT 100% RELIABLE, ARE MORE ACCURATE THAN HUMAN TESTS, WHICH ARE NOT VERY RELIABLE, ESPECIALLY IN THE CASE OF LYME DISEASE. HOWEVER, A TICK CAN SOMETIMES HAVE A NEGATIVE TEST AND STILL BE CARRYING LYME DISEASE. A POSITIVE TEST PROBABLY INDICATES THAT THE TICK IS CARRYING THE DISEASE, BUT IT DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN THAT THE TICK TRANSMITTED THE DISEASE. SOMETIMES AN INFECTED TICK THAT IS ATTACHED FOR ONLY A SHORT TIME DOES NOT TRANSMIT LYME
BACTERIA.

WHEN YOU REMOVE A TICK, USE A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO LOOK AT THE COLOR OF THE LEGS. IF THE LEGS ARE BLACK, IT IS PROBABLY A DEER TICK. IF THEY ARE RED OR ORANGE, IT IS PROBABLY A LONE STAR TICK. BOTH CAN TRANSMIT LYME DISEASE, BUT LONE STAR TICKS OFTEN CARRY A STRAIN THAT IS MORE LIKELY TO PRODUCE NEGATIVE ANTIBODY TESTS.

TICKS MAY BE SENT TO BE TESTED FOR DISEASES TO: IGENEX LABS, PALO ALTO, CA (800) 832-3200; MDI, MT. LAUREL, N.J. (877) 269-0090; OR NJ LABS, NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ (732) 249-0148. CALL FOR MAILING INSTRUCTIONS. THEY PREFER LIVE TICKS BUT WILL TEST DEAD TICKS. DON’T KILL IT WITH ALCOHOL, SMASH IT, OR BURN IT IF YOU WANT IT TESTED. THE TICK MUST BE KEPT MOIST IN THE CONTAINER WITH A FEW BLADES OF GRASS OR A COTTON BALL DAMPENED WITH WATER. AS OF MARCH, 2004, THE COST OF TICK TESTING IS:

IGENEX $55 FOR LYME, EHRLICHIA, BABESIA, OR BARTONELLA ($220 IF YOU WANT ALL 4). IF BITTEN BY SEVERAL TICKS, THEY TEST UP TO 20 TICKS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE.

MDI $155 FOR LYME OR EHRLICHIA, $127 FOR BABESIA; BARTONELLA TESTING IS ALSO AVAILABLE.

NJ LABS $60 FOR LYME, OR $175 IF THE TICK HAS BEEN DEAD OVER 2 WEEKS OR KILLED WITH ALCOHOL. THEY DON’T TEST FOR CO-INFECTIONS, JUST LYME.

IF YOU PREFER TO DISPOSE OF THE TICK, YOU CAN KILL IT BY PUTTING IT IN A CONTAINER AND THEN ADDING A COTTON BALL SOAKED IN RUBBING ALCOHOL. YOU CAN THEN DISPOSE OF THE DEAD TICK IN THE TRASH. TICKS DON’T DROWN. FLUSHING IT DOWN THE TOILET WILL NOT KILL IT."

(You can find this article and more at the Lyme Association of Greater Kansas City.)

Fight Lyme Disease...Ignorance Is Contagious!