New research has just been published, highly significant for those with Chronic Lyme disease and ME/CFS.
Distinct Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteomes Differentiate Post-Treatment Lyme Disease from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Can be accessed through Plos One click here
Abstract Top
Background
Neurologic Post Treatment Lyme disease (nPTLS) and Chronic Fatigue (CFS) are syndromes of unknown etiology. They share features of fatigue and cognitive dysfunction, making it difficult to differentiate them. Unresolved is whether nPTLS is a subset of CFS.
Methods and Principal Findings
Pooled cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from nPTLS patients, CFS patients, and healthy volunteers were comprehensively analyzed using high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS), coupled with immunoaffinity depletion methods to reduce protein-masking by abundant proteins. Individual patient and healthy control CSF samples were analyzed directly employing a MS-based label-free quantitative proteomics approach. We found that both groups, and individuals within the groups, could be distinguished from each other and normals based on their specific CSF proteins (p<0.01). CFS (n = 43) had 2,783 non-redundant proteins, nPTLS (n = 25) contained 2,768 proteins, and healthy normals had 2,630 proteins. Preliminary pathway analysis demonstrated that the data could be useful for hypothesis generation on the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying these two related syndromes.
Conclusions
nPTLS and CFS have distinguishing CSF protein complements. Each condition has a number of CSF proteins that can be useful in providing candidates for future validation studies and insights on the respective mechanisms of pathogenesis. Distinguishing nPTLS and CFS permits more focused study of each condition, and can lead to novel diagnostics and therapeutic interventions.
Mis diagnosed as Fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, Musculoskeletal Disease,Poly Myalgia Rheumatica - significantly improved when treated for Lyme Disease. Perhaps more aptly described as Multi-Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome - MSIDS.
Thursday 24 February 2011
Wednesday 23 February 2011
IDSA GUIDELINE AUTHOR ON FAILURE OF LYME DISEASE TESTS
Alan Barbour's patent tells the tale
This one statement is powerful, contradicting the stance that Barbour and the IDSA Lyme Disease Guideline supporters have made for years.
Alan Barbour in one paragraph summarizes strain variation, immune system evasion, persistent infection, failure of Lyme tests and the uniqueness of Borrelia amongst other pathogens.
"This mechanism of genetic switching appears to be different from any other antigenic variation mechanism described in bacteria or protozoa and has important implications in Lyme disease. By combining different regions of the silent vls cassettes, it is possible for many different vlsE serotypes to coexist the same patient. It may be impossible for the host to mount a protective response against any one of these clonal populations, because of the small number of each type. Even mounting a response against one serotype would not protect against rapidly evolving, new serotypes."
Read an excellent report on this patent by Camp Other Blog, helpful for those who are not able to understand the technicalities, at the link here
To access the full patent click here
Another extract:-
[0006] These organisms are closely related and cause similar manifestations with multiple stages: an expanding rash at the site of the tick bite (erythema migrans), fever, lymphadenopathy, fatigue, and malaise; effects of disseminated infection, including carditis, meningoradiculitis, and polyarthritis; and chronic manifestations including arthritis and neurologic disorders. Lyme disease is often difficult to diagnose because of shared manifestations with other disorders, and it can also be refractory to treatment during late stages of the disease."
My Chronic symptoms of Arthritis, Muscle Weakness, Fatigue and peripheral neuropathies turned out to be Lyme Disease and on long term antibiotics have all resolved, how many more patients with similar symptoms as a result of a tick bite could be helped on just simple antibiotics?
I posted earlier on Barbour here
This one statement is powerful, contradicting the stance that Barbour and the IDSA Lyme Disease Guideline supporters have made for years.
Alan Barbour in one paragraph summarizes strain variation, immune system evasion, persistent infection, failure of Lyme tests and the uniqueness of Borrelia amongst other pathogens.
"This mechanism of genetic switching appears to be different from any other antigenic variation mechanism described in bacteria or protozoa and has important implications in Lyme disease. By combining different regions of the silent vls cassettes, it is possible for many different vlsE serotypes to coexist the same patient. It may be impossible for the host to mount a protective response against any one of these clonal populations, because of the small number of each type. Even mounting a response against one serotype would not protect against rapidly evolving, new serotypes."
Read an excellent report on this patent by Camp Other Blog, helpful for those who are not able to understand the technicalities, at the link here
To access the full patent click here
Another extract:-
[0006] These organisms are closely related and cause similar manifestations with multiple stages: an expanding rash at the site of the tick bite (erythema migrans), fever, lymphadenopathy, fatigue, and malaise; effects of disseminated infection, including carditis, meningoradiculitis, and polyarthritis; and chronic manifestations including arthritis and neurologic disorders. Lyme disease is often difficult to diagnose because of shared manifestations with other disorders, and it can also be refractory to treatment during late stages of the disease."
My Chronic symptoms of Arthritis, Muscle Weakness, Fatigue and peripheral neuropathies turned out to be Lyme Disease and on long term antibiotics have all resolved, how many more patients with similar symptoms as a result of a tick bite could be helped on just simple antibiotics?
I posted earlier on Barbour here
Tuesday 15 February 2011
ANNETTE WHITTEMORE ON THE XMRV RETROVIRUS 1-17-11
Friday 11 February 2011
LYME DISEASE IN THE NEWS
Lyme Disease in the news thanks to Total Essex covering a story on Ruth Black. here
As many local newspapers do not keep these stories on line indefinitely I will copy and post below.
HUTTON: Mum Ruth Black left virtually bed bound as NHS 'fails to identify illness'
By editorial@gazettenews.co.uk
A WOMAN has accused the NHS of ruining her life, after medics failed to identify a debilitating illness which left her virtually bed-bound.
Mum-of-two Ruth Black, 34, spent eight months battling the symptoms of Lyme disease, but only diagnosed the condition after research on the internet.
She is now receiving treatment for the disease but fears it could take her up to a decade to recover.
"My experience with the NHS was horrific," Ruth said.
"They have cost me my health and left me with a chronic condition which could have been easily treated if it had been diagnosed earlier.
"I was a very lively, healthy woman before I became ill.
"It has completely devastated my life."
Ruth, who lives in Hutton with husband Cliff and sons Jamie, 6, and Lewis, who is 20 months old, fell ill in March 2010.
This prompted a series of visits to her GP over the next few months and trips to hospitals in Romford and Basildon.
Ruth said: "My first symptoms were just general tiredness.
"I felt exhausted and disorientated and was coming out in fevers. Then I started to get bad back pain, but I didn't think about it as I thought it was due to my carrying Lewis around."
However, as the weeks wore on, her symptoms became worse.
"I started itching like crazy and I had severe pain in my muscles.
"My skin was burning and it felt like I had been doused in petrol."
After a range of tests, including a brain scan and blood tests, Ruth gave up on the NHS and decided to visit a private hospital.
But she still could not get a diagnosis and so decided to turn to the internet for help.
"The more I researched, the more my illness seemed to fit a condition called Lyme disease," Ruth said. "The bizarre thing was that I had already been tested for Lyme disease via the NHS and privately."
During her research, she found the tests used by the NHS to diagnose Lyme disease are "very disputed".
She also eventually found a private clinic in Hertfordshire which diagnosed her with the condition in November last year.
However, because of the time it took to identify the illness, it is now chronic, meaning Ruth could take a long time to recover.
"It is a very, very slow process," she said. "I know people that have been on treatment for ten years and they are still not right."
Ruth is now taking antibiotics but, in another blow, is not eligible to receive them free on the NHS.
As a result, she now has to spend around £350 a month on drugs and other supplements.
She said: "The fact I am now left paying for all the treatment is a very bitter pill to swallow."
Cliff, 51, added: "It is difficult enough for people to battle against this horrendous illness without having to battle the establishment as well.
"This has impacted on our family, and I cannot understand how people are subjected to the lack of care and understanding that is required from our so-called health professionals."
Dr Kannan Athreya, 44, has been a GP at The Surgery in Mount Avenue, Shenfield, since 1996.
He told the Gazette that the internet could be a "useful tool" for helping people diagnose their illness, but stressed that it could also have its pitfalls.
"It is a very useful tool provided you know how to use it," he said.
A spokesman for Queen's Hospital, in Romford, said: "We have not had any contact from Mrs Black regarding the treatment she received.
"Lyme disease can be very difficult to diagnose, with tests often only showing an infection once the disease is advanced.
"If Mrs Black chooses to contact us we will, of course, look into her complaint."
A spokesman for Basildon Hospital said: "All patients brought to A&E as emergencies are given thorough investigation and treatment according to the symptoms they present.
"Sometimes it is appropriate for A&E to treat patients for immediate symptoms and then discharge back to their GP."
Meanwhile, NHS South West Essex, which runs GP services in Brentwood, said: "We cannot comment on this case without a review of the patient's case notes."
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However perhaps even more telling are the comments left on this article:-
I had no idea this was such a big problem but the messages on this website would seem to suggest so. Very interesting and I'm glad it has been brought to my attention.
Unamit, Chelmsford
commented on 11-Feb-2011 01:01
Lyme (Borrelia) infection is usually caught from infected ticks, which are found everywhere, as they are carried by birds and all domestic animals and wildlife. Hosts for ticks can be any small animal, like hedgehogs, so allotments often comprise hot-spots for Lyme.
Even if you remove the tick before it has time to transmit Lyme, you can still get serious co-infections from the tick, such as Bartonella ("cat-scratch fever"). Babesia is a malaria-like infection. There¿s a list of other infections including Ehrlichia, Mycoplasma and others which may not yet be recognised in the UK like Tick-Borne Encephalitis.
Lyme Disease can be transmitted by other biting insects like stable-flies, fleas, lice, mites - and can be transmitted from a mother to her offspring, either via the placenta or through the milk. Or like its cousin syphilis, by sexual contact. It appears to be a major cause of autism in children and also Alzheimer's.
The scary thing about Lyme (Borrelia) infection is its effects on the body. It can mimic virtually every other disease. The bacterium itself is the most sophisticated known to man. Being a corkscrew-shape spirochaete it resembles its relatives like Leptospira (Weil's Disease) caught from rat's urine, and Syphilis, but it has many more genes and plasmids to generate its outer surface proteins (OSP's) so it can change its coat to avoid detection by the body's immune system. Which is a reason why we get negative blood tests, as our current blood tests (serology) are very primitive and only pick up antibodies generated by our immune systems in response to OSP's presented to it.
Simple bacteria often move around by being driven by a rotating filament attached to one end, that acts just like an outboard motor, spins and moves the bacterium. Borrelia has a bundle of flagellae wrapped around its cellular contents, which act like an "inboard motor" and drive the bacterium in a corkscrew manner which enables it to penetrate every cell in the body.
Classically it penetrates the cartilage of joints and causes an arthritis that appears to move from joint to joint, so-called "migratory arthritis", and which occurs even in young children. In fact it was first characterised because of an outbreak of arthritis in children. Its main effect is to penetrate nerves and disrupt them, technically "neuro-borreliosis". Facial nerves are attacked and you get classic Bell's Palsy with droopy eyelids and jaw. This can spread to the intestine and cause signs of constipation and colic, known as Bell's Palsy of the Gut. It can affect nerves feeding glands so there are many effects like diabetes & thyroid problems. Many people recover from allergic situations when treated for Lyme.
If a suspected Lyme infection is treated within the first few (4 to 6) weeks of the actual infection, with reasonably high doses of even simple penicillin, it may be eliminated. But many people don't know whether they've been bitten, let alone when, as they may not have the classic tick-bite "bull's eye" rash, said to be unique to Lyme.
Once the bacteria have penetrated deep into the tissues - they prefer the low oxygen levels found in cartilage, tendon, etc - they can be difficult to reach with antibiotics. High doses and long courses are absolutely essential. Rotating antibiotics can help.
The bacterium can also hide away in the form of cysts, coccal and CWD (mycoplasmal) forms, and in biofilms where they are neither recognised by the immune system nor touchable by antibiotics - just the same as Syphilis and Tuberculosis. But once established, you may have the infection for life, and you can only control, perhaps never cure it, even with repeated courses of antibiotics.
One myth is that all antibiotics have potentially serious side effects, such as you may develop an allergy to penicillin. None of the side effects are unconquerable and are often worth the risk considering the life destroying effects of Lyme Disease.
It is normal to prescribe long-term antibiotics for certain well-known diseases like TB, Brucellosis, Syphilis and even acne. Lyme is at least as important as these.
The problem of resistant bacteria, like MRSA in hospitals, has everything to do with the hospital environment and hygiene and very little to do with the use of antibiotics.
In fact, it is "under-treatment" of infections by doctors that has allowed resistant organisms to survive. If they used higher doses and longer courses in the first place, the organisms would not have had a chance to develop resistance.
Drug resistance in Lyme doesn't seem to be a problem when antibiotics are rotated properly - it's co-infections like Babesia that cause the problems. Rarely does Borrelia come on its own. Ticks often transmit other bugs, called "co-infections". Babesia is a malaria-like parasite that only responds to anti-malarials.
Laurence Swift (retired vet), Herne Bay, Kent, ENGLAND
commented on 10-Feb-2011 19:40
For anyone struck down with the many and varied symptoms of this debilitating disease it can be a very frightening experience excerbated by the ignorance about diagnosis and required treatment which varies considerably across the country. Fortunately when I was struck down,bedridden and finally hospitalised in 2008 I was in the right area to get a confirmed diagnosis and treatment to enable my to regain nearly but not all my pre illness health.
This illness should not be a postcode lottery for if diagnosed and treated in the early stages it prevents the extreme and debilitaing symptoms which for some can be permanent.
It needs to be recognised across the board no matter which part of the uk you live in.
My own local authority have a web page dedicated to tick awareness, Lyme disease and associated issues and yet my county council appear ignorant because on a secret shopper phone call to them I hit a brick wall- I ask how can this be.?
Every organisation, health authority, outdoor workers employer, countryside user, park control authorities, etc etc etc needs to be clued up on lyme disease ,the risks, the precautions and what to do if you think you may have had a tick bite regardless of whether the tick is carrying the borrellia bacteria. ( even IF you see a tick attached, many are seed size,it won't tell you it carries the bacteria!)
Simple precautions can help to eliminate the risk from contracting lyme disease but unfortunately it is often long after a bite, which a victim may not even been aware of, before symptoms start and they may not always be associated with lyme and a tick bite.
Finally to the gentleman who in a earlier comment wrote 'oh shut up' I sincerely hope you/family member/friend never get infected by lyme because I can assure you it would definately make you change your attitude.
Sue Mitchell, West Sussex
commented on 10-Feb-2011 19:02
Thank you to Ruth and the Essex Chronicle. Ruth's story is very similar to my own. I had decades of illness before I finally got the right diagnosis.
Years ago I started to get episodes of flu-like illnesses and a sort of brain fog and fatigue that rest or sleep wouldn't shift. I'd recover from each one and feel fine, but a few weeks later I'd be ill again. Doctors told me I'd probably picked up a virus, or I had post-viral syndrome, or it was caused by stress, or I was working too hard and needed a holiday. As the years went by my health very gradually deteriorated further. I saw numerous GPs and I was referred to different specialists in the NHS, including an infectious diseases specialist who told me I was suffering from anxiety and I wasn't ill at all.
Each time I was prescribed a short course of antibiotics I felt much better, but when I finished it I'd become ill again.
At one point I was admitted to hospital and given a blood transfusion when my blood count suddenly crashed for apparently no reason, but no diagnosis was offered.
I carried on trying to lead as normal a life as possible, but eventually I became so ill I could barely function and I was diagnosed by the NHS with CFS. By then I was also having repeated migraine and vomiting attacks, dreadful cramps in my legs and feet, I'd developed loud tinnitus, I seemed to have become dyslexic and my balance was poor. I was very weak, but out of desperation I managed to do a little research on the internet and kept coming up with Lyme Disease as a match for my symptoms.
I found the Lyme Disease Action, BADA-UK and Eurolyme websites and they have been a great source of information and support. I discovered a specialist private clinic that treats Lyme Disease and it's through their expertise that I discovered I have 3 strains of Lyme Disease and 2 other infections ticks often carry.
My health is finally improving for the first time in years thanks to their treatment, but it will take a long time for me to regain anything approaching normal health after so many decades of untreated neurological infections.
My life has been completely derailed by this awful illness. I'm paying for my treatment myself, having sold my home, as the NHS has declined to fund my treatment costs. It is indeed a bitter pill to swallow.
Lesley, Hertfordshire
commented on 10-Feb-2011 11:25
do shut up George
Anon, Maldon commented on 10-Feb-2011 08:20
I too have Lyme disease, confirmed by blood tests from laboratories in the USA and Germany. I cannot access care for my condition on the NHS and like Ruth have to pay privately for my treatment and antibiotics.I have now been in treatment for nearly 2 years and still have days when I am overwhelmed by fatigue and have to stay in bed. However, I am also now having days when I can function well.
The neglect of patients with Lyme disease is disgraceful.
I worked for the NHS for 14 years and was proud to do so. However, I now feel completely let down by the organisation I once thought so highly of.
The NHS needs to educate their staff about Lyme disease and get up to speed with accurate diagnosis and treatment.
The numbers of infected patients are increasing year on year.
Catherine, UK
commented on 09-Feb-2011 20:36
Another one, thank you very much to Ruth and Essex Chronicle for publishing this story.
One day, just one day, someone will eventually join the dots and realise this is a major problem.
How many people are trying to 'manage' their symptoms under the ME, CFS, Fibromyalgia, etc. labels when really they should be continuing to look for the cause and treating that?
If there are any doctors reading this, I would be very grateful if you would take some time to look up the many reams of research from very well-respected experts out there and stop assuming we don't have Lyme in the UK. Your patients will thank you for it.
So, stop hiding away from it just because it's political, let's get it out there!
Jan, Ipswich
commented on 09-Feb-2011 15:53
Is there no Dr House in the house ?
George, Chelmsford
commented on 09-Feb-2011 15:17
Ruth's story is like so many more here in the UK and sadly that also includes children who after all are the most vulnerable.
There is not one Paediatrician in the UK who has bothered to throughly understand this disease.
Our doctors are advised by the HPA who say that the IDSA guidelines are authoritive and yet there is a considerable body of evidence on this emerging disease that contradicts those guidelines. http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/lyme_slides.html
Ben Luft's research sequenced the Genome and he found that some strains of Borrelia are simple and easy to cure whilst others are more complex and harder to treat.(Of course in the UK we have other species which further complicates things)
Then Ben Luft says about the many co infections that can also be transmitted by the bite of the tick.
(We need to stop and consider that in their early stages these ticks will have fed on vermin and other small mammals before injecting that blood and infections into us.)
Luft presented at the following Workshop. Congress mandated the NIH to hold a workshop on the state of the science in Lyme Disease and other tick borne illnesses this was held by the Institute of Medicine and can be watched at the videocast here
http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/iom/101011/
This leaves those watching in no doubt as to the complexities of tick borne illness, it is far too early to be imposing restrictive treatment practises.
I was fortunate in having a very thinking GP although it took 5 doctors and 3 Rheumatologists 4 years to diagnose me with Lyme Disease.
It was a chance course of antibiotics which improved my symptoms and led GP to suspect Lyme Disease, I had attended the surgery at the time of bites, bulls eye rashes, summer flu and migrating arthralgias ( all red flags for Lyme Disease).
As my symptoms progressed I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, Arthritis, Muscle Weakness, Musculoskeletal Disease and then Polymyalgia Rheumatica and unfortunately put on steroids which are contra indicated if you are fighting a bacterial infection.
There have been several other patients diagnosed with Lyme Disease now at my surgery and in my locality near Guildford, once doctors start to look they will find.
I am 100% recovered now but it has been a very long struggle, I was Retired early from the Civil Service on Ill health grounds, at my worst I had difficulty standing from a chair and walking across a room and for 3 1/2 years had difficulty walking up or down stairs properly now I have no pain or disability and can garden and cycle again. How amazing is that.
There is important information available through UK charity at www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk
This is a Medical disgrace of International proportions because everyone cow tows to a small group of biased doctors who wrote the outdated and much contested IDSA Lyme Disease Guidelines, guidelines which were based more on the opinions of those who receive significant financial rewards from their involvement with Lyme Disease and not on all the scientific evidence available.
The makers of the test kits used in the UK Trinity Biotech say that a negative test can not be used to rule out Lyme Disease, it's an antibody test!! and yet Doctors are not made aware of this and therefore say to patients you can't have Lyme.
What they fail to know is that the tests can miss up to 50% of cases.
Imagine spending the rest of your life with a painful, debilitating and crippling illness when just simple oral antibiotics can restore your health if it is found to be a bacterial infection Lyme Disease and co infections.
Joanne Drayson, Guildford Surrey
commented on 09-Feb-2011 14:48
The situation with Lyme disease is dreadful, and not just in the UK, although perhaps our country has had the worst deal in Europe as far as warning signs to the general public go.
At least in Germany and other EU countries, GPs surgeries have warning posters. Why don't we?
In the Netherlands, 65,000 people signed a petition last year demanding treatment for chronic sufferers, and a public health strategy to combat new infections.
Here in the UK a similar petition is under weigh, here at:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/uklymepetition/and I urge everyone to take a look at the signatures and comments, and see that Ruth's story is being repeated all over the country. And please sign to support us!
Only those with private funds are being treated properly.
Many people with Lyme don't know they have it - but they may be diagnosed as having Multiple Sclerosis type symptoms, ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Parkinson's type symptoms, jaw and dental symptoms, strange optical problems, even dementia, and mental health problems.
Lyme was first recognised as being endemic in the UK in 1989, but only a few people know what a tick looks like or that its bite is painless and the newly-hatched baby ticks are as small as a poppy seed.
Why this has been kept so hush-hush is very puzzling, as each day there will be more people infected because they had no idea that Lyme is in Britain.
My own GPs practice head said "It's only in deer ticks" and that such ignorance exists in GPs is incredible - Lyme is carried by the sheep tick, and by vole ticks and mouse ticks and bird ticks, and you can get bitten in your own back garden or a park in a city.
A big "Thank you" to Ruth and your paper for bringing this state of affairs into the public eye, because each article like this, in the absence of a government strategy, may help hundreds or thousand of people to learn about Lyme.
I myself was left for 20 years before I had a diagnosis, being labelled instead as having post viral fatigue then ME and Fibromyalgia. I am now trying to survive on state benefits having sold my house long ago, and I cannot afford any treatment at all.
I worked and contributed until I was 38 years old, paying my taxes and National Insurance, only to be left infected with a disease worse than AIDS and syphilis and TB combined.
The symptoms seem to move around the body, and many people have Fibromyalgia pains, but some might have palpitations, or even a stroke or heart weakening as a result of Lyme and the other bacteria and viruses carried in ticks.
The infection can lie dormant for a month or even longer after the bite. It's a hard disease to diagnose, but the health services are doing none of us any favours by playing down the fact that Lyme is not rare at all, and by also saying their tests are 100% accurate, when all of the scientific literature has said again and again that the tests are very variable and just cannot be relied on to say whether the person has the disease or not.
Even the test kit manufacturers say this. But the Lyme testing labs do not pass that information on to any doctors, not even the top infectious disease doctors as far as I know.
This is a scandal which has been simmering under the horizon for 40 years and it needs top thinking directed at the problem rather than the pretence that there is no problem.
Denise Longman MSc, Lowestoft Suffolk
commented on 09-Feb-2011 12:17
As many local newspapers do not keep these stories on line indefinitely I will copy and post below.
HUTTON: Mum Ruth Black left virtually bed bound as NHS 'fails to identify illness'
By editorial@gazettenews.co.uk
A WOMAN has accused the NHS of ruining her life, after medics failed to identify a debilitating illness which left her virtually bed-bound.
Mum-of-two Ruth Black, 34, spent eight months battling the symptoms of Lyme disease, but only diagnosed the condition after research on the internet.
She is now receiving treatment for the disease but fears it could take her up to a decade to recover.
"My experience with the NHS was horrific," Ruth said.
"They have cost me my health and left me with a chronic condition which could have been easily treated if it had been diagnosed earlier.
"I was a very lively, healthy woman before I became ill.
"It has completely devastated my life."
Ruth, who lives in Hutton with husband Cliff and sons Jamie, 6, and Lewis, who is 20 months old, fell ill in March 2010.
This prompted a series of visits to her GP over the next few months and trips to hospitals in Romford and Basildon.
Ruth said: "My first symptoms were just general tiredness.
"I felt exhausted and disorientated and was coming out in fevers. Then I started to get bad back pain, but I didn't think about it as I thought it was due to my carrying Lewis around."
However, as the weeks wore on, her symptoms became worse.
"I started itching like crazy and I had severe pain in my muscles.
"My skin was burning and it felt like I had been doused in petrol."
After a range of tests, including a brain scan and blood tests, Ruth gave up on the NHS and decided to visit a private hospital.
But she still could not get a diagnosis and so decided to turn to the internet for help.
"The more I researched, the more my illness seemed to fit a condition called Lyme disease," Ruth said. "The bizarre thing was that I had already been tested for Lyme disease via the NHS and privately."
During her research, she found the tests used by the NHS to diagnose Lyme disease are "very disputed".
She also eventually found a private clinic in Hertfordshire which diagnosed her with the condition in November last year.
However, because of the time it took to identify the illness, it is now chronic, meaning Ruth could take a long time to recover.
"It is a very, very slow process," she said. "I know people that have been on treatment for ten years and they are still not right."
Ruth is now taking antibiotics but, in another blow, is not eligible to receive them free on the NHS.
As a result, she now has to spend around £350 a month on drugs and other supplements.
She said: "The fact I am now left paying for all the treatment is a very bitter pill to swallow."
Cliff, 51, added: "It is difficult enough for people to battle against this horrendous illness without having to battle the establishment as well.
"This has impacted on our family, and I cannot understand how people are subjected to the lack of care and understanding that is required from our so-called health professionals."
Dr Kannan Athreya, 44, has been a GP at The Surgery in Mount Avenue, Shenfield, since 1996.
He told the Gazette that the internet could be a "useful tool" for helping people diagnose their illness, but stressed that it could also have its pitfalls.
"It is a very useful tool provided you know how to use it," he said.
A spokesman for Queen's Hospital, in Romford, said: "We have not had any contact from Mrs Black regarding the treatment she received.
"Lyme disease can be very difficult to diagnose, with tests often only showing an infection once the disease is advanced.
"If Mrs Black chooses to contact us we will, of course, look into her complaint."
A spokesman for Basildon Hospital said: "All patients brought to A&E as emergencies are given thorough investigation and treatment according to the symptoms they present.
"Sometimes it is appropriate for A&E to treat patients for immediate symptoms and then discharge back to their GP."
Meanwhile, NHS South West Essex, which runs GP services in Brentwood, said: "We cannot comment on this case without a review of the patient's case notes."
----------------------------------
However perhaps even more telling are the comments left on this article:-
I had no idea this was such a big problem but the messages on this website would seem to suggest so. Very interesting and I'm glad it has been brought to my attention.
Unamit, Chelmsford
commented on 11-Feb-2011 01:01
Lyme (Borrelia) infection is usually caught from infected ticks, which are found everywhere, as they are carried by birds and all domestic animals and wildlife. Hosts for ticks can be any small animal, like hedgehogs, so allotments often comprise hot-spots for Lyme.
Even if you remove the tick before it has time to transmit Lyme, you can still get serious co-infections from the tick, such as Bartonella ("cat-scratch fever"). Babesia is a malaria-like infection. There¿s a list of other infections including Ehrlichia, Mycoplasma and others which may not yet be recognised in the UK like Tick-Borne Encephalitis.
Lyme Disease can be transmitted by other biting insects like stable-flies, fleas, lice, mites - and can be transmitted from a mother to her offspring, either via the placenta or through the milk. Or like its cousin syphilis, by sexual contact. It appears to be a major cause of autism in children and also Alzheimer's.
The scary thing about Lyme (Borrelia) infection is its effects on the body. It can mimic virtually every other disease. The bacterium itself is the most sophisticated known to man. Being a corkscrew-shape spirochaete it resembles its relatives like Leptospira (Weil's Disease) caught from rat's urine, and Syphilis, but it has many more genes and plasmids to generate its outer surface proteins (OSP's) so it can change its coat to avoid detection by the body's immune system. Which is a reason why we get negative blood tests, as our current blood tests (serology) are very primitive and only pick up antibodies generated by our immune systems in response to OSP's presented to it.
Simple bacteria often move around by being driven by a rotating filament attached to one end, that acts just like an outboard motor, spins and moves the bacterium. Borrelia has a bundle of flagellae wrapped around its cellular contents, which act like an "inboard motor" and drive the bacterium in a corkscrew manner which enables it to penetrate every cell in the body.
Classically it penetrates the cartilage of joints and causes an arthritis that appears to move from joint to joint, so-called "migratory arthritis", and which occurs even in young children. In fact it was first characterised because of an outbreak of arthritis in children. Its main effect is to penetrate nerves and disrupt them, technically "neuro-borreliosis". Facial nerves are attacked and you get classic Bell's Palsy with droopy eyelids and jaw. This can spread to the intestine and cause signs of constipation and colic, known as Bell's Palsy of the Gut. It can affect nerves feeding glands so there are many effects like diabetes & thyroid problems. Many people recover from allergic situations when treated for Lyme.
If a suspected Lyme infection is treated within the first few (4 to 6) weeks of the actual infection, with reasonably high doses of even simple penicillin, it may be eliminated. But many people don't know whether they've been bitten, let alone when, as they may not have the classic tick-bite "bull's eye" rash, said to be unique to Lyme.
Once the bacteria have penetrated deep into the tissues - they prefer the low oxygen levels found in cartilage, tendon, etc - they can be difficult to reach with antibiotics. High doses and long courses are absolutely essential. Rotating antibiotics can help.
The bacterium can also hide away in the form of cysts, coccal and CWD (mycoplasmal) forms, and in biofilms where they are neither recognised by the immune system nor touchable by antibiotics - just the same as Syphilis and Tuberculosis. But once established, you may have the infection for life, and you can only control, perhaps never cure it, even with repeated courses of antibiotics.
One myth is that all antibiotics have potentially serious side effects, such as you may develop an allergy to penicillin. None of the side effects are unconquerable and are often worth the risk considering the life destroying effects of Lyme Disease.
It is normal to prescribe long-term antibiotics for certain well-known diseases like TB, Brucellosis, Syphilis and even acne. Lyme is at least as important as these.
The problem of resistant bacteria, like MRSA in hospitals, has everything to do with the hospital environment and hygiene and very little to do with the use of antibiotics.
In fact, it is "under-treatment" of infections by doctors that has allowed resistant organisms to survive. If they used higher doses and longer courses in the first place, the organisms would not have had a chance to develop resistance.
Drug resistance in Lyme doesn't seem to be a problem when antibiotics are rotated properly - it's co-infections like Babesia that cause the problems. Rarely does Borrelia come on its own. Ticks often transmit other bugs, called "co-infections". Babesia is a malaria-like parasite that only responds to anti-malarials.
Laurence Swift (retired vet), Herne Bay, Kent, ENGLAND
commented on 10-Feb-2011 19:40
For anyone struck down with the many and varied symptoms of this debilitating disease it can be a very frightening experience excerbated by the ignorance about diagnosis and required treatment which varies considerably across the country. Fortunately when I was struck down,bedridden and finally hospitalised in 2008 I was in the right area to get a confirmed diagnosis and treatment to enable my to regain nearly but not all my pre illness health.
This illness should not be a postcode lottery for if diagnosed and treated in the early stages it prevents the extreme and debilitaing symptoms which for some can be permanent.
It needs to be recognised across the board no matter which part of the uk you live in.
My own local authority have a web page dedicated to tick awareness, Lyme disease and associated issues and yet my county council appear ignorant because on a secret shopper phone call to them I hit a brick wall- I ask how can this be.?
Every organisation, health authority, outdoor workers employer, countryside user, park control authorities, etc etc etc needs to be clued up on lyme disease ,the risks, the precautions and what to do if you think you may have had a tick bite regardless of whether the tick is carrying the borrellia bacteria. ( even IF you see a tick attached, many are seed size,it won't tell you it carries the bacteria!)
Simple precautions can help to eliminate the risk from contracting lyme disease but unfortunately it is often long after a bite, which a victim may not even been aware of, before symptoms start and they may not always be associated with lyme and a tick bite.
Finally to the gentleman who in a earlier comment wrote 'oh shut up' I sincerely hope you/family member/friend never get infected by lyme because I can assure you it would definately make you change your attitude.
Sue Mitchell, West Sussex
commented on 10-Feb-2011 19:02
Thank you to Ruth and the Essex Chronicle. Ruth's story is very similar to my own. I had decades of illness before I finally got the right diagnosis.
Years ago I started to get episodes of flu-like illnesses and a sort of brain fog and fatigue that rest or sleep wouldn't shift. I'd recover from each one and feel fine, but a few weeks later I'd be ill again. Doctors told me I'd probably picked up a virus, or I had post-viral syndrome, or it was caused by stress, or I was working too hard and needed a holiday. As the years went by my health very gradually deteriorated further. I saw numerous GPs and I was referred to different specialists in the NHS, including an infectious diseases specialist who told me I was suffering from anxiety and I wasn't ill at all.
Each time I was prescribed a short course of antibiotics I felt much better, but when I finished it I'd become ill again.
At one point I was admitted to hospital and given a blood transfusion when my blood count suddenly crashed for apparently no reason, but no diagnosis was offered.
I carried on trying to lead as normal a life as possible, but eventually I became so ill I could barely function and I was diagnosed by the NHS with CFS. By then I was also having repeated migraine and vomiting attacks, dreadful cramps in my legs and feet, I'd developed loud tinnitus, I seemed to have become dyslexic and my balance was poor. I was very weak, but out of desperation I managed to do a little research on the internet and kept coming up with Lyme Disease as a match for my symptoms.
I found the Lyme Disease Action, BADA-UK and Eurolyme websites and they have been a great source of information and support. I discovered a specialist private clinic that treats Lyme Disease and it's through their expertise that I discovered I have 3 strains of Lyme Disease and 2 other infections ticks often carry.
My health is finally improving for the first time in years thanks to their treatment, but it will take a long time for me to regain anything approaching normal health after so many decades of untreated neurological infections.
My life has been completely derailed by this awful illness. I'm paying for my treatment myself, having sold my home, as the NHS has declined to fund my treatment costs. It is indeed a bitter pill to swallow.
Lesley, Hertfordshire
commented on 10-Feb-2011 11:25
do shut up George
Anon, Maldon commented on 10-Feb-2011 08:20
I too have Lyme disease, confirmed by blood tests from laboratories in the USA and Germany. I cannot access care for my condition on the NHS and like Ruth have to pay privately for my treatment and antibiotics.I have now been in treatment for nearly 2 years and still have days when I am overwhelmed by fatigue and have to stay in bed. However, I am also now having days when I can function well.
The neglect of patients with Lyme disease is disgraceful.
I worked for the NHS for 14 years and was proud to do so. However, I now feel completely let down by the organisation I once thought so highly of.
The NHS needs to educate their staff about Lyme disease and get up to speed with accurate diagnosis and treatment.
The numbers of infected patients are increasing year on year.
Catherine, UK
commented on 09-Feb-2011 20:36
Another one, thank you very much to Ruth and Essex Chronicle for publishing this story.
One day, just one day, someone will eventually join the dots and realise this is a major problem.
How many people are trying to 'manage' their symptoms under the ME, CFS, Fibromyalgia, etc. labels when really they should be continuing to look for the cause and treating that?
If there are any doctors reading this, I would be very grateful if you would take some time to look up the many reams of research from very well-respected experts out there and stop assuming we don't have Lyme in the UK. Your patients will thank you for it.
So, stop hiding away from it just because it's political, let's get it out there!
Jan, Ipswich
commented on 09-Feb-2011 15:53
Is there no Dr House in the house ?
George, Chelmsford
commented on 09-Feb-2011 15:17
Ruth's story is like so many more here in the UK and sadly that also includes children who after all are the most vulnerable.
There is not one Paediatrician in the UK who has bothered to throughly understand this disease.
Our doctors are advised by the HPA who say that the IDSA guidelines are authoritive and yet there is a considerable body of evidence on this emerging disease that contradicts those guidelines. http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/lyme_slides.html
Ben Luft's research sequenced the Genome and he found that some strains of Borrelia are simple and easy to cure whilst others are more complex and harder to treat.(Of course in the UK we have other species which further complicates things)
Then Ben Luft says about the many co infections that can also be transmitted by the bite of the tick.
(We need to stop and consider that in their early stages these ticks will have fed on vermin and other small mammals before injecting that blood and infections into us.)
Luft presented at the following Workshop. Congress mandated the NIH to hold a workshop on the state of the science in Lyme Disease and other tick borne illnesses this was held by the Institute of Medicine and can be watched at the videocast here
http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/iom/101011/
This leaves those watching in no doubt as to the complexities of tick borne illness, it is far too early to be imposing restrictive treatment practises.
I was fortunate in having a very thinking GP although it took 5 doctors and 3 Rheumatologists 4 years to diagnose me with Lyme Disease.
It was a chance course of antibiotics which improved my symptoms and led GP to suspect Lyme Disease, I had attended the surgery at the time of bites, bulls eye rashes, summer flu and migrating arthralgias ( all red flags for Lyme Disease).
As my symptoms progressed I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, Arthritis, Muscle Weakness, Musculoskeletal Disease and then Polymyalgia Rheumatica and unfortunately put on steroids which are contra indicated if you are fighting a bacterial infection.
There have been several other patients diagnosed with Lyme Disease now at my surgery and in my locality near Guildford, once doctors start to look they will find.
I am 100% recovered now but it has been a very long struggle, I was Retired early from the Civil Service on Ill health grounds, at my worst I had difficulty standing from a chair and walking across a room and for 3 1/2 years had difficulty walking up or down stairs properly now I have no pain or disability and can garden and cycle again. How amazing is that.
There is important information available through UK charity at www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk
This is a Medical disgrace of International proportions because everyone cow tows to a small group of biased doctors who wrote the outdated and much contested IDSA Lyme Disease Guidelines, guidelines which were based more on the opinions of those who receive significant financial rewards from their involvement with Lyme Disease and not on all the scientific evidence available.
The makers of the test kits used in the UK Trinity Biotech say that a negative test can not be used to rule out Lyme Disease, it's an antibody test!! and yet Doctors are not made aware of this and therefore say to patients you can't have Lyme.
What they fail to know is that the tests can miss up to 50% of cases.
Imagine spending the rest of your life with a painful, debilitating and crippling illness when just simple oral antibiotics can restore your health if it is found to be a bacterial infection Lyme Disease and co infections.
Joanne Drayson, Guildford Surrey
commented on 09-Feb-2011 14:48
The situation with Lyme disease is dreadful, and not just in the UK, although perhaps our country has had the worst deal in Europe as far as warning signs to the general public go.
At least in Germany and other EU countries, GPs surgeries have warning posters. Why don't we?
In the Netherlands, 65,000 people signed a petition last year demanding treatment for chronic sufferers, and a public health strategy to combat new infections.
Here in the UK a similar petition is under weigh, here at:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/uklymepetition/and I urge everyone to take a look at the signatures and comments, and see that Ruth's story is being repeated all over the country. And please sign to support us!
Only those with private funds are being treated properly.
Many people with Lyme don't know they have it - but they may be diagnosed as having Multiple Sclerosis type symptoms, ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Parkinson's type symptoms, jaw and dental symptoms, strange optical problems, even dementia, and mental health problems.
Lyme was first recognised as being endemic in the UK in 1989, but only a few people know what a tick looks like or that its bite is painless and the newly-hatched baby ticks are as small as a poppy seed.
Why this has been kept so hush-hush is very puzzling, as each day there will be more people infected because they had no idea that Lyme is in Britain.
My own GPs practice head said "It's only in deer ticks" and that such ignorance exists in GPs is incredible - Lyme is carried by the sheep tick, and by vole ticks and mouse ticks and bird ticks, and you can get bitten in your own back garden or a park in a city.
A big "Thank you" to Ruth and your paper for bringing this state of affairs into the public eye, because each article like this, in the absence of a government strategy, may help hundreds or thousand of people to learn about Lyme.
I myself was left for 20 years before I had a diagnosis, being labelled instead as having post viral fatigue then ME and Fibromyalgia. I am now trying to survive on state benefits having sold my house long ago, and I cannot afford any treatment at all.
I worked and contributed until I was 38 years old, paying my taxes and National Insurance, only to be left infected with a disease worse than AIDS and syphilis and TB combined.
The symptoms seem to move around the body, and many people have Fibromyalgia pains, but some might have palpitations, or even a stroke or heart weakening as a result of Lyme and the other bacteria and viruses carried in ticks.
The infection can lie dormant for a month or even longer after the bite. It's a hard disease to diagnose, but the health services are doing none of us any favours by playing down the fact that Lyme is not rare at all, and by also saying their tests are 100% accurate, when all of the scientific literature has said again and again that the tests are very variable and just cannot be relied on to say whether the person has the disease or not.
Even the test kit manufacturers say this. But the Lyme testing labs do not pass that information on to any doctors, not even the top infectious disease doctors as far as I know.
This is a scandal which has been simmering under the horizon for 40 years and it needs top thinking directed at the problem rather than the pretence that there is no problem.
Denise Longman MSc, Lowestoft Suffolk
commented on 09-Feb-2011 12:17
Tuesday 8 February 2011
ACTION FOR LYME DISEASE
We need ACTION FOR LYME DISEASE and this is one way we can help raise awareness by following Dr Mualla's example.
Thank you Dr Mualla Mcmanus.
Dear Lyme crusaders,
I am from Australia. My husband died from Lyme disease complications because the Aust government denies the existence of Lyme disease in Australia. I founded the Karl Mcmanus Foundation for Lyme Disease research and awareness ( www.karlmcmanusfoundation.org.au).
I have contacted the Norwegian, Danish, German Lyme disease associations and we are proposing to contact Sir Bob Geldof to recruit musicians to have a Lyme Aid concert globally.
I was wondering if you could also lobby Bob Geldof to to organise a Lyme Aid concert. We can have a huge global event so that governments take notice of Lyme disease worldwide.
This applies to Africa where the symptoms of Lyme disease is confused with malaria and the medical system don't know anything about Lyme yet
Africa has one of the most lethal strains of Lyme- B. crocidurae. Ticks occur in every continent in the world even in Antarctica. Hence Lyme Borreliosis is a global problem.
Let us all work together as one BODY so we can have the maximum persuasive power in the global sense.
Have Lyme disease legitimised so sufferers can be diagnosed and treated before it becomes chronic.
I am attaching a letter I have written representing Australia.
If you write one representing your State and send it to the email address on the letter for Bob Geldof's agent we can persuade him about the seriousness of Lyme neuroborreliosis.
Please help to spread this message to other associations and then if you have contacts you can recruit rock bands , rock stars to play for this very worthwhile cause, Lyme Borreliosis.
Best regards Dr Mualla McManus
p/s sorry if you get this email twice as I was trying to ensure everyone received it.
9 Jan 2011
Sir Bob Geldof,
tina@bobgeldof.info
Dear Sir Bob:
Re: Lyme disease - the 'leprosy of the 21stcentury'
You have the foresight, the passion and an amazing ability to unite so many musicians and help many urgent and important causes around the world.
I am writing to ask for your help to raise awareness of Lyme disease (borreliosis), one the fastest growing infectious diseases in the world - faster than AIDS in some countries.
Lyme disease can affect any age group - children, adults, the elderly, male or female. It is transmitted by a tick bite and the Lyme disease bacteria (borrelia) are present in every country where there are ticks.
However, many governments ignore/deny this disease, which means sufferers are often unable to access appropriate treatment.
Worse than that, awareness of ticks and this disease is underplayed resulting in unnecessary significant spread .
Even if bitten, an immediate inexpensive short course of antibiotics has shown to be effective in halting the development of this devastating chronic disease, yet ignorance denies this strategy.
Unlike AIDS the onset of symptoms are subtle and overwhelm the patient slowly, so many patients are considered mentally unstable when they try to explain their symptoms., which range from muscle twitches, skin conditions, arthritis, memory loss, depression, paralysis, Parkinson's-like symptoms and other neurological symptoms.
Thus their infection is ignored and further spread unchecked (it is sexually transmitted).
The problem is that each person with Lyme disease can have different set of symptoms, so diagnosis is difficult. Sufferers are often misdiagnosed as having neurodegenerative diseases, such as MS, motor neuron disease, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and fibromyalgia.
Also, testing is often inadequate in many countries hence confirmation of Lyme is not possible.
Sufferers often have to pay for private testing at overseas labs in order to get a correct serum result and diagnosis.
Global manifestations
Statistics on the incidence of Lyme disease are quite poor in most countries, both developed and underdeveloped, including the USA, UK, EU, countries in Asia and Africa.
This is because of difficulties in establishing a correct diagnosis (vague, varied symptoms & inadequate testing) and the denial of Lyme disease existence.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta USA, consider Lyme disease, the fastest growing vector-borne disease in the USA.
By conservative estimate, the number of new Lyme disease infections per year may be ten times higher than the 45,000 cases reported to the CDC during 2009
(http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/ld_UpClimbLymeDis.html)
In regards to chronicling Lyme disease in Africa, more than 40 published studies have been released.
A 14-year study in the Senegalese village of Dielmo found an average of 11 per cent of the villagers presented with the infection each year.
Also, the researchers from the Institut du Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), who carried out the study are quoted in Afriqu' Echos magazine as saying: “Lyme disease is the most frequent bacterial disease in Africa, but it is also an affliction that is completely unknown to health professionals.” The IRD evaluated a rural African area of Dakar and found that “Lyme borreliosis was the most frequent reason for dispensary consultations after malaria.”
Imagine the complexity now in Africa of untangling the diagnosis and treatment of two diseases Lyme and malaria, both of which have similar symptoms and both presently ravaging in Africa. Healthcare practitioners are not trained to differentiate.
A public health issue Like AIDS, the infected individual can transmit the disease sexually, in utero and via blood transfusion; hence it is a public health issue.
It has the potential to grow exponentially and reach the proportions of an epidemic.
Lyme disease can be a treated successfully when and if it is diagnosed early.
If it is unnoticed and becomes a chronic disease that not only becomes debilitating and sometimes fatal, but costs millions of dollars in health costs to the community.
My personal InvolvementI have become a campaigner for this cause because my husband, Karl, had Lyme disease. He died from the ignorance and neglect by the medical system in July 2010.
It was bad enough being seriously ill, but without help and support from the medical system in Australia, it was the worst hell you could imagine.
Despite my academic background in neuro-pharmacology, immunology and haematology, and my associations with credible institutions (The University of Sydney and Garvan Institute), the supportive scientific international papers for Lyme diagnosis and the positive test results with the international lab Igenex, my husband and I were still ignored.
I have set up the Karl McManus Foundation for Lyme Disease Research & Awareness to www.karlmcmanusfoundation.org.au raise money for research of Lyme in Australia, training of Australian doctors in how to treat Lyme, as well as raising Australian public awareness.
With the guidance of the foundation's directors (professors from relevant fields) I hope to address Lyme disease needs in Australia, but I am acutely aware that Australia is just one of the many countries affected.
This is a worldwide problem.
Urgent help needed
Please help the global community of Lyme disease sufferers bring this awful disease into the spotlight so that its spread is stopped and sufferers can get care and treatment.
There are many Lyme disease organisations in the world that can work together with to raise awareness for this disease.
These include:
International Lyme & Associated Diseases Society ( www.ilads.org ),
the UK's Lyme Disease Action ( www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk ),
California Lyme Disease Association ( www.lymedisease.org ),
Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation ( www.canlyme.org ) ,
Norwegian Lyme disease association ( www.lyme.no )
and many more.
The poorer countries of the world don't have any associations to lobby their governments. Most people in poor countries don't even know they have Lyme disease.
We are in the 21stcentury but Lyme disease is considered as an 'untouchable disease'.
It is the leprosy of this century.
If you could please help us to organise a worldwide concert to raise funds for the diagnosis, treatment of Lyme disease (borreliosis), it would save lives and protect our future generations.
It would also get the attention of governments to actually recognise this disease as a serious infection.
Yours truly
Dr Mualla Akinci McManus
Director, Karl McManus Foundation for Lyme Disease Research & Awareness
www.karlmcmanusfoundation.org.au
Thank you Dr Mualla Mcmanus.
Dear Lyme crusaders,
I am from Australia. My husband died from Lyme disease complications because the Aust government denies the existence of Lyme disease in Australia. I founded the Karl Mcmanus Foundation for Lyme Disease research and awareness ( www.karlmcmanusfoundation.org.au).
I have contacted the Norwegian, Danish, German Lyme disease associations and we are proposing to contact Sir Bob Geldof to recruit musicians to have a Lyme Aid concert globally.
I was wondering if you could also lobby Bob Geldof to to organise a Lyme Aid concert. We can have a huge global event so that governments take notice of Lyme disease worldwide.
This applies to Africa where the symptoms of Lyme disease is confused with malaria and the medical system don't know anything about Lyme yet
Africa has one of the most lethal strains of Lyme- B. crocidurae. Ticks occur in every continent in the world even in Antarctica. Hence Lyme Borreliosis is a global problem.
Let us all work together as one BODY so we can have the maximum persuasive power in the global sense.
Have Lyme disease legitimised so sufferers can be diagnosed and treated before it becomes chronic.
I am attaching a letter I have written representing Australia.
If you write one representing your State and send it to the email address on the letter for Bob Geldof's agent we can persuade him about the seriousness of Lyme neuroborreliosis.
Please help to spread this message to other associations and then if you have contacts you can recruit rock bands , rock stars to play for this very worthwhile cause, Lyme Borreliosis.
Best regards Dr Mualla McManus
p/s sorry if you get this email twice as I was trying to ensure everyone received it.
9 Jan 2011
Sir Bob Geldof,
tina@bobgeldof.info
Dear Sir Bob:
Re: Lyme disease - the 'leprosy of the 21stcentury'
You have the foresight, the passion and an amazing ability to unite so many musicians and help many urgent and important causes around the world.
I am writing to ask for your help to raise awareness of Lyme disease (borreliosis), one the fastest growing infectious diseases in the world - faster than AIDS in some countries.
Lyme disease can affect any age group - children, adults, the elderly, male or female. It is transmitted by a tick bite and the Lyme disease bacteria (borrelia) are present in every country where there are ticks.
However, many governments ignore/deny this disease, which means sufferers are often unable to access appropriate treatment.
Worse than that, awareness of ticks and this disease is underplayed resulting in unnecessary significant spread .
Even if bitten, an immediate inexpensive short course of antibiotics has shown to be effective in halting the development of this devastating chronic disease, yet ignorance denies this strategy.
Unlike AIDS the onset of symptoms are subtle and overwhelm the patient slowly, so many patients are considered mentally unstable when they try to explain their symptoms., which range from muscle twitches, skin conditions, arthritis, memory loss, depression, paralysis, Parkinson's-like symptoms and other neurological symptoms.
Thus their infection is ignored and further spread unchecked (it is sexually transmitted).
The problem is that each person with Lyme disease can have different set of symptoms, so diagnosis is difficult. Sufferers are often misdiagnosed as having neurodegenerative diseases, such as MS, motor neuron disease, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and fibromyalgia.
Also, testing is often inadequate in many countries hence confirmation of Lyme is not possible.
Sufferers often have to pay for private testing at overseas labs in order to get a correct serum result and diagnosis.
Global manifestations
Statistics on the incidence of Lyme disease are quite poor in most countries, both developed and underdeveloped, including the USA, UK, EU, countries in Asia and Africa.
This is because of difficulties in establishing a correct diagnosis (vague, varied symptoms & inadequate testing) and the denial of Lyme disease existence.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta USA, consider Lyme disease, the fastest growing vector-borne disease in the USA.
By conservative estimate, the number of new Lyme disease infections per year may be ten times higher than the 45,000 cases reported to the CDC during 2009
(http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/ld_UpClimbLymeDis.html)
In regards to chronicling Lyme disease in Africa, more than 40 published studies have been released.
A 14-year study in the Senegalese village of Dielmo found an average of 11 per cent of the villagers presented with the infection each year.
Also, the researchers from the Institut du Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), who carried out the study are quoted in Afriqu' Echos magazine as saying: “Lyme disease is the most frequent bacterial disease in Africa, but it is also an affliction that is completely unknown to health professionals.” The IRD evaluated a rural African area of Dakar and found that “Lyme borreliosis was the most frequent reason for dispensary consultations after malaria.”
Imagine the complexity now in Africa of untangling the diagnosis and treatment of two diseases Lyme and malaria, both of which have similar symptoms and both presently ravaging in Africa. Healthcare practitioners are not trained to differentiate.
A public health issue Like AIDS, the infected individual can transmit the disease sexually, in utero and via blood transfusion; hence it is a public health issue.
It has the potential to grow exponentially and reach the proportions of an epidemic.
Lyme disease can be a treated successfully when and if it is diagnosed early.
If it is unnoticed and becomes a chronic disease that not only becomes debilitating and sometimes fatal, but costs millions of dollars in health costs to the community.
My personal InvolvementI have become a campaigner for this cause because my husband, Karl, had Lyme disease. He died from the ignorance and neglect by the medical system in July 2010.
It was bad enough being seriously ill, but without help and support from the medical system in Australia, it was the worst hell you could imagine.
Despite my academic background in neuro-pharmacology, immunology and haematology, and my associations with credible institutions (The University of Sydney and Garvan Institute), the supportive scientific international papers for Lyme diagnosis and the positive test results with the international lab Igenex, my husband and I were still ignored.
I have set up the Karl McManus Foundation for Lyme Disease Research & Awareness to www.karlmcmanusfoundation.org.au raise money for research of Lyme in Australia, training of Australian doctors in how to treat Lyme, as well as raising Australian public awareness.
With the guidance of the foundation's directors (professors from relevant fields) I hope to address Lyme disease needs in Australia, but I am acutely aware that Australia is just one of the many countries affected.
This is a worldwide problem.
Urgent help needed
Please help the global community of Lyme disease sufferers bring this awful disease into the spotlight so that its spread is stopped and sufferers can get care and treatment.
There are many Lyme disease organisations in the world that can work together with to raise awareness for this disease.
These include:
International Lyme & Associated Diseases Society ( www.ilads.org ),
the UK's Lyme Disease Action ( www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk ),
California Lyme Disease Association ( www.lymedisease.org ),
Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation ( www.canlyme.org ) ,
Norwegian Lyme disease association ( www.lyme.no )
and many more.
The poorer countries of the world don't have any associations to lobby their governments. Most people in poor countries don't even know they have Lyme disease.
We are in the 21stcentury but Lyme disease is considered as an 'untouchable disease'.
It is the leprosy of this century.
If you could please help us to organise a worldwide concert to raise funds for the diagnosis, treatment of Lyme disease (borreliosis), it would save lives and protect our future generations.
It would also get the attention of governments to actually recognise this disease as a serious infection.
Yours truly
Dr Mualla Akinci McManus
Director, Karl McManus Foundation for Lyme Disease Research & Awareness
www.karlmcmanusfoundation.org.au
TICK-BORNE INFECTIONS & LYME DISEASE CONTRIBUTE TO AUTISM
How Tick-Borne Infections & Lyme Disease Contribute to Autism Spectrum Disorders.
A power point presentation from Robert C Bransfield MD
presented at the Autism One conference link here
extracts-
What Causes Autism?
•“Data suggest that autism results from multiple etiologies with both genetic and environmental contributions, which may explain the spectrum of behaviors seen in this disorder.”*
•“Whereas Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases are a serious public health threat;…Findings more common in children include autism, Tourette’s syndrome, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, lethargy, and a decline in grades, tantrums;…” Bransfield, Fallon, Raxlen, Shepler, Sherr
“A Modest Proposal,” Psychiatric News (Newspaper of the APA), Vol. XXXIII, Number 18, September 18, 1998, p. 16.
Opinion of Dr Burrascano•
“It is my contention that Autism is an inflammatory encephalitis cause by a pathogen such as Bartonella or Mycoplasma. I share the view that Bartonella/BLO is a major infection that may eclipse Bb as the ultimate cause of the morbidity in chronic Lyme. Mycoplasma too is a major concern of mine- in reviewing my 7000+ cases, those patients who were relentlessly chronic all, at one point or another in their illness, were PCR + for Mycoplasma.”
A power point presentation from Robert C Bransfield MD
presented at the Autism One conference link here
extracts-
What Causes Autism?
•“Data suggest that autism results from multiple etiologies with both genetic and environmental contributions, which may explain the spectrum of behaviors seen in this disorder.”*
•“Whereas Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases are a serious public health threat;…Findings more common in children include autism, Tourette’s syndrome, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, lethargy, and a decline in grades, tantrums;…” Bransfield, Fallon, Raxlen, Shepler, Sherr
“A Modest Proposal,” Psychiatric News (Newspaper of the APA), Vol. XXXIII, Number 18, September 18, 1998, p. 16.
Opinion of Dr Burrascano•
“It is my contention that Autism is an inflammatory encephalitis cause by a pathogen such as Bartonella or Mycoplasma. I share the view that Bartonella/BLO is a major infection that may eclipse Bb as the ultimate cause of the morbidity in chronic Lyme. Mycoplasma too is a major concern of mine- in reviewing my 7000+ cases, those patients who were relentlessly chronic all, at one point or another in their illness, were PCR + for Mycoplasma.”
Friday 4 February 2011
UNRELIABLE SPINAL TAP ASSAYS USED TO IDENTIFY LYME DISEASE
Institute of Medicine
A Workshop on the Critical Needs and Gaps in Understanding Prevention, Amelioration, and Resolution of Lyme and Other Tick-borne Diseases: the Short-Term and Long-Term Outcomes
Questions and answers at the end of day one about 72 in on the following videocast
http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/iom/101011/default.cfm?id=12863&type=flv&test=0&live=0
I didn't catch his name but he says- I presented this to the Lyme Disease review panel of IDSA society in July 2009.
'I do a fair number of spinal taps in my practise and also save and freeze spinal fluid, serum and urine.
I had the opportunity to send 140 specimens of spinal fluid to Dattwyler's labs where he was working on osp A and osp C antigen capture.
Compared to standard assays for spinal fluid 2% were positive but using one or several of the research assays 61% were positive.
That research was funded by the CDC and was done by Dattwyler, Quo( not sure of spelling) and Shultzer but has never been published.'
He urges the Institute of Medicine to investigate further into these assays as it might enable use to diagnose more people with CNS Lyme than we are able to do presently.
How many patients with Neurological problems have been told they can't have Lyme Disease because these unreliable tests came back negative and have spent the rest of their lives with a Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, or ALS diagnosis when infact it was seronegative Lyme Disease and adequate antibiotic treatment could have improved their health?
A Workshop on the Critical Needs and Gaps in Understanding Prevention, Amelioration, and Resolution of Lyme and Other Tick-borne Diseases: the Short-Term and Long-Term Outcomes
Questions and answers at the end of day one about 72 in on the following videocast
http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/iom/101011/default.cfm?id=12863&type=flv&test=0&live=0
I didn't catch his name but he says- I presented this to the Lyme Disease review panel of IDSA society in July 2009.
'I do a fair number of spinal taps in my practise and also save and freeze spinal fluid, serum and urine.
I had the opportunity to send 140 specimens of spinal fluid to Dattwyler's labs where he was working on osp A and osp C antigen capture.
Compared to standard assays for spinal fluid 2% were positive but using one or several of the research assays 61% were positive.
That research was funded by the CDC and was done by Dattwyler, Quo( not sure of spelling) and Shultzer but has never been published.'
He urges the Institute of Medicine to investigate further into these assays as it might enable use to diagnose more people with CNS Lyme than we are able to do presently.
How many patients with Neurological problems have been told they can't have Lyme Disease because these unreliable tests came back negative and have spent the rest of their lives with a Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, or ALS diagnosis when infact it was seronegative Lyme Disease and adequate antibiotic treatment could have improved their health?
OUTDATED MEDICAL DOGMA MISSING CNS AND BRAIN DISEASE CAUSED BY INFECTION.
The latest issue of Public Health Alert has several very interesting articles but here are two of particularly interest.
Spirochetes on the Brain
by Dr. Robert C. Bransfield
As a Psychiatrist in a Lyme Endemic area Dr Bransfield has so much to offer.
( I have posted previously about Dr Bransfield, to find posts use the search box in the right hand column or click here then at the top there is a facility to find older posts too.
This is a link to his research related to cases of Autism and Lyme Disease here )
In this article Spirochetes on the Brain Dr Bransfield talks about the role of infections in mental disorders an area where research is currently becoming more involved.
This is a brief but thought provoking article if only the doctors that treat us would find the time to listen and do further reading before dismissing us the patients as inconsequential.
To read the full article click here
An interesting interview with Bransfield can be found through an earlier post here
Lyme is a Brain Disease
by Virginia T. Sherr
Virginia talks about Lyme Borreliosis being a brain disease as well as a multi systemic disease. She reminds us that it is often accompanied by several other tick borne infections that have been identified.
This is just one of many excellent articles Virginia has written on the subject of Lyme Disease and to read this article click here
Virginia finishes with a quote -
*Alan G. Barbour, MD: "These tick-borne infections are notable for multiphasic antigenic variation through DNA recombinations in the case of relapsing fever, the occurrence of chronic arthritis in the case of Lyme disease, and invasion of and persistence in the brain in the case of both diseases." www.ucihs.uci.edu/microbio/
( For anyone who has not yet watched the Institute of Medicine -
A Workshop on the Critical Needs and Gaps in Understanding Prevention, Amelioration, and Resolution of Lyme and Other Tick-borne Diseases: the Short-Term and Long-Term Outcomes -
It is a must watch and is still available here .
It leaves the listener in no doubt as to the complexity of Lyme and other tick borne illnesses showing that in view of this it is far too early to apply restrictive practise guidelines such as the IDSA developed and to which most other countries currently follow)
Spirochetes on the Brain
by Dr. Robert C. Bransfield
As a Psychiatrist in a Lyme Endemic area Dr Bransfield has so much to offer.
( I have posted previously about Dr Bransfield, to find posts use the search box in the right hand column or click here then at the top there is a facility to find older posts too.
This is a link to his research related to cases of Autism and Lyme Disease here )
In this article Spirochetes on the Brain Dr Bransfield talks about the role of infections in mental disorders an area where research is currently becoming more involved.
This is a brief but thought provoking article if only the doctors that treat us would find the time to listen and do further reading before dismissing us the patients as inconsequential.
To read the full article click here
An interesting interview with Bransfield can be found through an earlier post here
Lyme is a Brain Disease
by Virginia T. Sherr
Virginia talks about Lyme Borreliosis being a brain disease as well as a multi systemic disease. She reminds us that it is often accompanied by several other tick borne infections that have been identified.
This is just one of many excellent articles Virginia has written on the subject of Lyme Disease and to read this article click here
Virginia finishes with a quote -
*Alan G. Barbour, MD: "These tick-borne infections are notable for multiphasic antigenic variation through DNA recombinations in the case of relapsing fever, the occurrence of chronic arthritis in the case of Lyme disease, and invasion of and persistence in the brain in the case of both diseases." www.ucihs.uci.edu/microbio/
( For anyone who has not yet watched the Institute of Medicine -
A Workshop on the Critical Needs and Gaps in Understanding Prevention, Amelioration, and Resolution of Lyme and Other Tick-borne Diseases: the Short-Term and Long-Term Outcomes -
It is a must watch and is still available here .
It leaves the listener in no doubt as to the complexity of Lyme and other tick borne illnesses showing that in view of this it is far too early to apply restrictive practise guidelines such as the IDSA developed and to which most other countries currently follow)
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