Monday 9 December 2013

TICK BORNE DISEASES - DOES YOUR DOCTOR KNOW HOW TO TREAT YOU?



Dr Joseph Jemsek discusses the Physician Training Program offered by 

International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS)

 http://www.ilads.org/lyme_programs/lyme_training.html

From ILADS website facts on Lyme Disease :-

NO ACCURATE TESTS

THERE ARE NO TESTS AVAILABLE TO PROVE THAT THE ORGANISM IS ERADICATED OR THAT THE PATIENT IS CURED.

FEWER THAN 50% OF PATIENTS WITH LYME DISEASE RECALL A TICK BITE.

FEWER THAN 50% OF PATIENTS WITH LYME DISEASE RECALL ANY RASH.

THE ELISA SCREENING TEST IS UNRELIABLE. The common Elisa test you receive at your doctor's office misses 35% of culture proven Lyme disease. Some studies indicate up to 50% of the patients tested for Lyme disease receive false negative results.

UP TO 50% OF TICKS IN LYME-ENDEMIC AREAS ARE INFECTED. The onset of Lyme disease symptoms can be easily mistaken for other illnesses. Once symptoms are more evident the disease may have already entered the central nervous system, and could be hard to cure.

40% OF LYME PATIENTS END UP WITH LONG TERM HEALTH PROBLEMS. The average patient sees 5 doctors over nearly 2 years before being diagnosed.

SHORT TREATMENT COURSES HAVE RESULTED IN UPWARDS OF A
40% RELAPSE RATE, ESPECIALLY IF TREATMENT IS DELAYED.

There has never been a study demonstrating that 30 days of antibiotic treatment cures chronic Lyme disease. However there is much documentation demonstrating that short courses of antibiotic treatment fail to eradicate the Lyme spirochete. -

See more at: http://www.ilads.org/campaign/lyme-campaign-quickfacts.php#sthash.d7PrP86H.dpuf