Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

CDC, EPA Release Framework for Preventing and Controlling Tick & Mosquito-Borne Diseases

https://www.informnny.com/abc50-now/cdc-epa-release-framework-for-preventing-and-controlling-tick-and-mosquito-borne-diseases/

CDC, EPA release framework for preventing and controlling tick and mosquito-borne diseases

ABC50 NOW

by:

Posted: / Updated:

Pixabay

WASHINGTON D.C. (WWTI) — The United States Center for Disease Control has released framework regarding vector-borne diseases in humans.

The CDC framework, “A National Public Health Framework for the Prevention and Control of Vector-Borne Diseases in Humans,” addresses the growing threat of ticks and mosquitoes. The framework discusses diseases such as dengue virus, eastern equine encephalitis virus, malaria, zika virus and lyme disease.

The CDC worked alongside five federal departments and the Environmental Protection Agency to develop the 16-page framework. With goals of better understanding these diseases, developing tools and guidance for protection, developing effective drugs and treatments and providing more information to the public.  (See link for article)

_____________________

For more:  

Brochure_National_Framework_VBDs-PDownload

 

Category:

Lyme, mosquitoes, Ticks, Viruses

Lyme Disease is Associated With Various Sleep Disorders

https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-sleep-disorders/

LYME DISEASE IS ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS SLEEP DISORDERS

woman awake in bed with lyme disease and a sleep disorder

Patients with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) may experience sleep disturbances, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Researchers found,

“PTLDS participants reported significantly worse global sleep and sleep disturbance scores and worse fatigue, functional impact, and more cognitive-affective depressive symptoms compared to poor-sleeping controls.” [1]

By

Dr. Robert Bransfield, a New Jersey-based psychiatrist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne illnesses, has seen a broad range of sleep disturbances in Lyme disease patients treated at his practice. He describes the various sleep disorders in the article “Neuropsychiatric Lyme Borreliosis: An Overview with a Focus on a Specialty Psychiatrist’s Clinical Practice.” [2]

The patients experienced:

  • Non-restorative sleep
  • Early insomnia
  • Middle of the night insomnia
  • Early morning insomnia
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness
  • Loss or reversal of circadian rhythm
  • Restless leg
  • Paroxysmal nocturnal limb movements
  • Sleep apnea (central and/or obstructive)
  • Sleep paralysis
  • Hypnagogic hallucinations
  • Sleep attacks
  • Cataplexy
  • Narcolepsy

The combination of “non-restorative sleep and chronic unremitting stress appear to play a significant role in disease progression,” explains Bransfield.

“Both non-restorative sleep and the chronic unremitting stress seen in these chronically ill patients contribute to disease perpetuation and progression and are associated with fatigue, cognitive impairments, decreased regenerative functioning, compromised immunity, decreased resistance to infectious disease and neurodegenerative processes,” he writes.

Editor’s note: I have also found that Lyme disease patients can suffer from a broad range of sleep issues. However, it can be difficult to determine whether Lyme disease or a comorbidity is responsible for the sleep disturbance. I have found that antibiotic treatment often improves sleep disorder symptoms.

Related Articles:

Poor sleep quality in Lyme disease patients

16-year-old boy with Lyme disease presenting as depression

References:
  1. Weinstein ER, Rebman AW, Aucott JN, Johnson-Greene D, Bechtold KT. Sleep Quality in Well-defined Lyme Disease: A Clinical Cohort Study in Maryland. Sleep. 2018.
  2. Bransfield RC. Neuropsychiatric Lyme Borreliosis: An Overview with a Focus on a Specialty Psychiatrist’s Clinical Practice. Healthcare (Basel). 2018;6(3).
___________________
Chronic lack of sleep is a terrible thing.  Parasites notoriously cause insomnia.  Appropriate treatment for infection(s) is the most important step but often times other adjunctive therapies are needed as well.

Category:

Lyme, research, Sleep

Mid-Ohio Valley Sees Rise in Lyme Disease

https://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/community-news/2020/09/mid-ohio-valley-sees-rise-in-lyme-disease/

Mid-Ohio Valley sees rise in Lyme Disease

Parkersburg resident Kristin Carvell inspects her dog Siren for ticks after a walk at City Park. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — Despite summer being over, warm weather and ideal circumstances for ticks remain and it is important to understand the potential consequences of bites.

According to the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department, lyme disease cases have been on the rise in the region.

(See link for article)

____________________

**Comment**

Remember ticks are in many other places besides wooded and grassy areas. Migrating birds drop them virtually anywhere. Also remember that Lyme is just the ‘tip of the spear’ and numerous pathogens can be transmitted simultaneously in a singular tick bite.

Reports have come in from around the world announcing the unabated spread of ticks and Lyme/MSIDS yet virtually nothing has changed in Lyme-land. Doctors still utilize abysmal testing, are uneducated on tick-borne illness – misdiagnosing a majority of patients, utilize ineffective treatment, and abuse patients by not listening to them and labeling them hypochondriacs.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks

Veterinary Nurse Tells of Long Road to Lyme Disease Diagnosis

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/veterinary-nurse-tells-of-long-road-to-lyme-disease-diagnosis/

Veterinary nurse tells of long road to Lyme disease diagnosis

Caroline Allen
Veterinary nurse tells of long road to Lyme disease diagnosis

A veterinary nurse has told how her road to diagnosis for chronic Lyme disease took almost two years and 22 doctors, including consultant visits.

Siobhan Coleman, a native of Listowel, Co. Kerry, who has worked as a veterinary nurse for over 20 years, was finally diagnosed as having Lyme disease in 2017 after what she said were several medical misdiagnoses.

The former senior head nurse of two equine hospitals in Co. Kildare has been supported by her husband Eamonn in her battle to get a correct diagnosis after being severely neurologically affected. She is now passionate about creating awareness of Lyme disease and working for patient advocacy. (See link for article)

_______________________

**Comment**

Siobhan states what so many patients have experienced:

“I was forced to become my own health advocate after several medical misdiagnoses. I don’t recall the distinct ‘bullseye rash’ despite being symptomatic of the disease,” Siobhan said.

Ireland also suffers with the same issues we all do:
  • the tests are abysmal
  • the reported numbers don’t accurately reflect reality
  • the majority of doctors are uneducated about tick-borne illness (despite it being around for over 40 years)

She, like so many, used a smaller CLIA-certified lab that specializes in tick borne illness, but that ultimately a clinical diagnosis is made based on symptoms.

Interestingly, these smaller labs have been vilified by the CDC and IDSA.  Could this be because these people have a financial conflict in that they own patents on the tests?  I appears so.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/06/28/who-owns-the-elisa-patents/

For those in Ireland, she directs them to Tick Talk Ireland (a great resource):  https://www.ticktalkireland.org

Category:

Activism, Lyme

Where’s the Manhattan Project to Find a Lyme Disease Cure?

https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/

Where is the GOVERNMENT DRIVEN MANHATTAN PROJECT to find a cure?

iu-82

OCT 1, 2020 — 

Please see the letter below regarding Dr. Horowitz’s recent laboratory findings on the effects of dapsone and intracellular antibiotics as a possible treatment for this antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug responsible for chronic Lyme disease.

———- Original Message ———-

From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: “tickbornedisease@hhs.gov” <tickbornedisease@hhs.gov>
Cc: (97 Undisclosed recipients)
Date: 10/01/2020 8:51 AM
Subject: Effect of dapsone alone and in combination with intracellular antibiotics against the biofilm form of B. burgdorferi

To the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group,

When will our public health officials stop denying that we’re dealing with an antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug?

Where is the GOVERNMENT DRIVEN MANHATTAN PROJECT to find a cure?  BMC Research Notes

Published: 29 September 2020

Effect of dapsone alone and in combination with intracellular antibiotics against the biofilm form of B. burgdorferi

Richard I. Horowitz, Krithika Murali, Gauri Gaur, Phyllis R. Freeman & Eva Sapi

https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13104-020-05298-6

Excerpt:

Several theories to explain persistent symptoms have been suggested, including immune evasion in privileged sites [14], antigenic variation [15], persistent antigenic stimulation [16], biofilm formation [17, 18] and B. burgdorferi persister cells, a highly resistant bacterial form which may protect the bacteria from antibacterial therapy. B. burgdorferi can exist in spirochetal, round body forms, intracellularly, as well as in newly discovered biofilm forms [4, 19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29]. Previous data suggested that standard and some newly discovered antibiotics for Lyme disease can be very effective in eliminating spirochetal, round body, intracellular and antibiotic tolerant persister cells [4, 20, 25,26,27] but have little effect on biofilm forms [24, 30]. Persisters are multi-drug tolerant cells present in significant numbers in biofilms [27, 29], and the importance of Borrelia biofilms has been highlighted in autopsy tissues from a well-documented Lyme disease patient [31]. Therefore, to successfully treat Lyme disease, there is an urgent need to find an agent or combination of antimicrobial agents which can efficiently eliminate resistant biofilm forms of B. burgdorferi.

Carl Tuttle

Lyme Endemic Hudson, NH

___________________

**Comment**

Unfortunately, mainstream medicine denies borrelia is pleomorphic & persistent, and calls it ‘quack’ science. This polarization has continued unabated since the 80’s when the Bayh Dole Act was passed authorizing federal agencies to grant exclusive licenses to inventions owned by the federal government.[7]  Since that time, those entrusted with public health have vested financial interests in the form of patents.  At the same time, monies for research came more and more from the federal government – creating an unholy alliance between the government, research institutions, and manufacturing.  This is the corrupted root that has now given way to politicized science that is dominating the research world.

The denial and conflicts have been felt by thousands upon thousands of Lyme/MSIDS patients as well as doctors who defy the narrative.

http://  Approx. 4 Min.

Leonard Hayflick – The Impact of the Bayh-Dole Act

I’m about 75% done with Polly Murray’s, “The Widening Circle,” which details her family’s experience with tick-borne illness as well as the early history of Lyme.

I must admit the information makes me even more frustrated over the lack of response to this debilitating illness.  It’s been over 40 years and yet the polarizing controversy continues and we have so little to show for something that is debilitating/killing people.

I plan to write a summary of the book when I’m through but it’s a whopper and almost familiar in that her litany of symptoms experienced by her ENTIRE family takes me back to my own bitter journey.  If you haven’t read her book, I highly recommend it.  But, prepare to be frustrated!

Category:

Activism, Lyme