Madison Area Lyme Support Group

Due to the unreliability of most lab testing, the CDC has advised that the optimal Lyme Disease test is to have a physician conduct a clinical diagnosis based on a patient’s symptoms. If you decide to seek a physician for Lyme Disease testing, it’s important to locate an infectious diseases doctor, optimally an LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor) such as Dr. Horowitz or Dr. Jemsek. When determining a positive or negative test for Lyme Disease, Dr. Jemsek specifically focuses on a patient’s symptoms, their resistance to prior treatments and the response to antibiotic therapy.

Aside from seeing an established LLMD, the best thing a Lyme patient can do is to immerse themselves into the Lyme Disease community. The National Capital Lyme Disease Association, led by Executive Director and Lyme Disease activist Monte Skall, is an excellent resource that provides information about Lyme disease prevention, its controversial place in modern medicine and relevant ongoing research. Facebook is also an invaluable means of connecting to other Lyme patients, learning from their experiences and sharing with them your own experiences. After all, when we’re confronted by a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, we can get by with a little help from our friends. (See link for article and video)

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**Comment**

I’m pleased to report that this is one of the most balanced pieces I’ve read on the topic to date.  And that’s saying something!

The embedded CNN video also shows both sides of the Lyme controversy and actually starts out with entomologist Kerry Clark who has done Lymeland a huge service by proving Lyme disease exists in the South, despite what the CDC and IDSA say.

Completely in denial, Dr. Paul Auwaerter of Johns Hopkins states that although deer ticks exist down South and even carry the Lyme bacteria, they simply don’t bite people down South.

Yeah, right.

• Sadly the video pushes the ‘climate change’ narrative – which independent research has proven to be a mute point regarding tick and Lyme disease proliferation.
• It also pushes the faulty notion that only 10-20% go on to suffer long-term symptoms, when it’s actually 40-60% when those who are diagnosed and treated late are included.
• Further, Auwaerter regurgitates the ancient Klempner study as ‘proof’ long-term antibiotics don’t work, despite the fact the trial was stopped after only 90 days.  According to Lyme advocate and patient, Carl Tuttle, Klempner’s methodology is fatally flawed in the two NIH studies that set the stage for treatment denial, and that there are over 360 references concluding the exact opposite of Klempner’s findings.
  • Tuttle spoke with Dr. Sin Hang Lee of Milford Molecular Diagnostics Lab about the fact there is significant risk associated with purifying a single target DNA molecule from a pool of non-target DNA for PCR amplification, because it could potentially lose the very target DNA during the purification process.  This would completely strike at the heart of the Klempner study.
• Then the video states that although some patients do have real symptoms they are caused by nerve damage and not infection.  Thankfully the video mentions there are others who disagree.

On balance even the CNN video attempts to be fair, however, public health officials are truly beginning to look like they are completely out of touch with reality and refuse to listen to any logic, reason, or facts.