TOUCHED BY LYME: Lyme disease awareness through figure skating
A Minnesota ice skater’s artistic video teaches people about Lyme and promotes petition to remove the IDSA guidelines
Author | LymeDisease.org
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LYMEPOLICYWONK: Part 1–New Study Shows Lyme Persists in Monkeys
This is Part 1 of a series of posts I will do on this study. A new study by Drs. Monica Embers, Stephen Barthold and colleagues has found that the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) persist in monkeys after antibiotic treatment. It is the latest in a number of studies that have demonstrated persistent infection in animal models despite treatment. The issue of persistent infection in Lyme disease is a highly controversial issue. Probably the most controversial issue actually. The authors conclude that their studies “offer proof of the principle that intact spirochetes can persist in an incidental host comparable to humans, following antibiotic therapy.” The study also found that the C6 antibody test gave false negative results in all of those treated with antibiotics and in more than ½ of those untreated. The presence of the bacteria was confirmed by other means. Both the lab tests and evidence of persistence are very important for Lyme patients because they show that Bb may persist after treatment even when antibody tests are negative.
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NEWS: Phyllis Mervine honored for her Lyme advocacy
LymeDisease.org founder and president Phyllis Mervine has received a Jefferson Award for community service.
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LYMEPOLICYWONK: Senators Request Removal of IDSA Lyme Guidelines from National Guidelines Clearinghouse
Today Senators Blumenthal and Gillibrand joined together to ask the National Guidelines Clearinghouse (NGC) to remove the outdated 2006 IDSA Lyme disease guidelines from their website.(Full text of letter below.) We applaud the Senators for speaking up loud and clear. Their letter voices concerns that the guidelines do not satisfy the currency requirement and asks that the NGC remove the guidelines until the IDSA conducts a review that ensures that the guidelines reflect current evidence-based medicine principles. The Senate letter comes on the heels of a letter from Congressman Smith, Wolf, and Gibson expressing similar concerns. New York Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who chairs the Health Committee also requested that the NGC remove the guidelines pending a review for currency. Approximately 10,000 people have signed a petition launched by LymeDisease.org calling for the removal of the IDSA guidelines from the NGC.
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LYMEPOLICYWONK: 10,000 Signatures in 9 days–On a Roll!
10,000 Signatures in 9 days–we are on a roll! That is more than 1,000 signatures a day.
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HARD SCIENCE ON LYME: Research Finds Bartonella Transmission from Tick to Host
It has long been known that ticks harbor Bartonella and that humans who have Lyme disease may also have Bartonellosis. However, the actual transmission of Bartonella from tick to host has not been demonstrated until a mouse study by Drs Reis and colleagues was published in May 2011. The study is available free on line for those interested. “This work represents the first in vivo demonstration of a Bartonella sp. transmission by ticks. It . . . corroborate[s] a prospect that ticks play a role in the natural cycles of some of the bartonellae including those pathogenic for humans. Consequently, bartonelleosis should be included in the differential diagnosis for patients exposed to tick bites.”
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LYMEPOLICYWONK: Congressmen Call For Removal of Outdated IDSA Guidelines from National Guideline Clearinghouse
On January 17, 2012, Congressmen Smith, Wolf, and Gibson called on the National Guidelines Clearinghouse (NGC) to remove the IDSA’s outdated Lyme guidelines. We applaud them! But, this, of course, is the middle of the story not the beginning, so let’s go back.
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TOUCHED BY LYME: How other pathogens complicate chronic Lyme treatment
Dr. Christine Green will discuss coinfections at LymeDisease.org’s upcoming conference, “Getting Healthy Again: Using Integrative Medicine to Heal from Lyme Disease,” in San Francisco January 22.
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TOUCHED BY LYME: Teaching families how to protect themselves from tick diseases
This RN and Lyme survivor uses puppets, songs, and positive messages to teach children—and adults—how to prevent tick-borne illness
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TOUCHED BY LYME: IDSA gives its response to flood of Facebook postings
Last week, I contacted the IDSA’s media spokesperson for a reaction to the deluge of postings on the organization’s Facebook page. Here’s her response.
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