Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

Even in Winter, Lyme Ticks Can Be a Treat

https://6abc.com/5835756/  Video Here

Even in winter, Lyme ticks can be a threat

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — With a warm weekend ahead, many people will be outdoors, working in the yard, golfing, or taking walks.

Most probably don’t realize they’ll have company – ticks.

The ticks, which carry Lyme Disease, are active whenever it’s above freezing.

They hide in the leaves in grassy, or brushy areas, making tick bites a real risk.

Lyme Disease is fairly easy to treat if it’s caught early.

Doctors are spreading the word about a faster, easier FDA-approved test.

Called the Sofia-2 test, it uses one drop of blood from a finger stick and gives results in 15 minutes or less.

That answers two big shortfalls of current tests.

“People could have Lyme and the tests will say they don’t have Lyme. The other big problem is it takes several days for that first round of testing to come back,” says Dr. Sean McCloy, a family medicine practitioner with the Integrative Medical Center in Portland, Maine.

So, treatment can be delayed.

Dr. McCloy says Lyme disease is such a problem among his patients he tried out the Sofia 2 test shortly after it got its FDA approval.

“I’ve had patients coming in January with a bull’s eye rash,” he says.

“We know right away if they’ve likely been exposed to Lyme disease, and the physician can either start treatment right then and there and feel comfortable, comfortable and confident doing that,” he adds.

Even in winter, doctors say daily ticks checks are a must.

“When you brush your teeth at night, check every square inch of your body. And you’re looking for poppy seed. The little ticks are as small as a poppy seed,” he says.

“They especially to go to the areas of the body where the sun doesn’t shine,” Dr. McCloy says with a grin.

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**Comment**
I’ve posted this before, but it clearly shows ticks are active even in winter:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/20/polar-vorticks/
The idea that the climate affects these monsters is asinine if you study them for more than 5 minutes.  They seek out leaf litter, snow, and anything that protects them when conditions become harsh.  They survive 3 degree weather under snow and have been found on the blazing hot sand on beaches:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/07/ticks-on-beaches/  They are in caves:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/27/israeli-kids-get-lyme-disease-from-ticks-in-caves/
Again, the climate change narrative is a joke for ticks.

Regarding this Sophia-2 test and being CLIA waived:

Although the CLIA requires a waived test to be simple and have a low risk for erroneous results, it does not mean that they are completely free from error. Errors can happen during the testing process, especially when the instructions of the manufacturer were not completely followed. An error could also happen when the person conducting the test lacks familiarity with the testing system. Also, the only thing needed to be CLIA-waived is a free pass from the FDA.  https://testcountry.com/pages/what-is-clia-waived

For decades the CDC has vilified CLIA-certified labs specializing in Lyme testing.  In fact, for years they called these “home-brewed” tests,  a label meant to inspire doubt and skepticism.  Why?  Well, let’s see, could the fact authorities often own the patents on test kits have anything to do with it?

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A little background on CLIA certification:

CLIA refers to Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments. These amendments were passed by the Congress way back in 1988. These laws stipulate that laboratory testing procedures should ensure timeliness, accuracy, and dependability irrespective of the location of the tests.

Prior to 1988, roughly 25% of patient testing conducted in laboratories was not meeting minimum quality requirements. Studies showed that the laboratories that followed minimum quality standards performed better than the laboratories that did not.

The CLIA standards were created in order to ensure that a patient’s test results would be accurate, timely and reliable, regardless of where in the United States the test would be performed.

Seems to me authorities have it all wrong.  FDA approval means little more than cronyism where one health and human services operating division gives another operating division a free pass, whereas, CLIA certification was put in place to at least assure minimum quality standards.  If you look at the organizational chart within the FDA you quickly see that the office of vaccine research and review is directly under the office of compliance & biologics quality.  https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-organization-charts/center-biologics-evaluation-and-research-organization-chart

Again, quite interesting when you understand the Lyme vaccine debacle and backstory.  These people are not to be trusted.  At all.

Many people, including doctors, state that certain labs are FDA approved.  This is untrue. There are FDA approved tests – NOT LABS. And again, just because the FDA approves the tests doesn’t mean they are good and/or accurate.

For more on the Sofia-2 Test:  https://globallymealliance.org/gla-pov-fda-clears-quidel-lyme-disease-immunoassay-sofia-2/

Excerpt:

This rapid test is not intended as a stand-alone determinant of B. burgdorferi infection status and a negative result does not preclude infection with B. burgdorferi. Nevertheless, a negative result would save time and expense insofar as testing by the more elaborate and second-tier Western immunoblot assay, which requires subjective interpretation of results, would be contraindicated.

Despite the rapid results obtained using the Sofia Lyme FIA, as pointed out in another GLA POV entitled “Advances in Serodiagnostic Testing for Lyme Disease Are at Hand,” improvements in serologic testing methods or protocols will not differentiate active infection from past exposure. Thus, ideally, use of NextGen tests like Quidel’s Sofia Lyme FIA will be coupled with other diagnostic methods to directly detect the presence of B. burgdorferi and other tick-borne pathogens in patient samples, thereby allowing discrimination between active vs. past infections. GLA is a leader in actively supporting research efforts to develop such direct detection methods.

And as always, testing isn’t perfect.  

Please notice the illogic in the statement that a negative result doesn’t preclude infection but that a negative result will save time and money in further testing.  Come again?  You just said a negative result doesn’t mean you aren’t infected but they expect you to just sit down and take it.

This attitude is why thousands upon thousands are walking around with undiagnosed infections.

Category:

Lyme, Testing

Conversion Disorder, Guillain-Barre Syndrome or Lyme Disease?

https://danielcameronmd.com/conversion-disorder-guillain-barre-syndrome-or-lyme-disease/

CONVERSION DISORDER, GUILLAIN-BARRÉ SYNDROME OR LYME DISEASE?

The authors of “Atypical Lyme Neuroborreliosis, Guillain-Barré Syndrome or Conversion Disorder: Differential Diagnosis of Unusual Neurological Presentations,” present a challenging diagnostic case involving a 62-year-old woman with symptoms consistent for multiple neurologic disorders.

By

Teodoro and colleagues describe the case of a woman, who was initially suspected of having a conversion disorder but later diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, possibly triggered by an infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of  Lyme disease. ¹

(Conversion disorder is a mental condition in which a person has blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system (neurologic) symptoms that cannot be explained by medical evaluation.)

The woman reported to the emergency room with weakness in her left hand and both of her legs, which resulted in 2 consecutive falls with head trauma. Test results were normal, and she was discharged. But the following day her symptoms worsened, and she returned to the hospital with significant motor impairment (an inability to walk independently) and urinary incontinence.

“On admission, her neurological examination revealed asymmetric tetraparesis, hyporeflexia, doubtful hemihypesthesia, and left extensor plantar reflex,” writes Teodoro and colleagues in the journal Case Reports in Neurology.

(Tetraparesis means weakness in all extremities. Hemihypesthesia is a reduction in sensitivity on one side of the body.)

Conversion Disorder

The woman was initially treated for a conversion disorder since her findings suggested this diagnosis including “the absence of a typical pattern the reference to a positive Hoover sign in one of the early evaluations, inconsistent and fluctuating motor deficits, coinciding timeline with stressful life events, and a predominantly anxious basal affective state,” writes Teodoro.

The patient reported having a recent stressful event and symptoms of anxiety.  In turn, she was prescribed the antidepressant Sertraline (100mg) and Pregabalin (150mg), a nerve pain drug, also known as Lyrica.

But by day 5, the woman’s symptoms had worsened. Her upper and lower limbs were areflexic. And, needle electromyography revealed “a subacute motor axonal neuropathy pattern and a right median nerve mononeuropathy.”

Guillain-Barré syndrome

Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder, was considered based on EMG findings and a spinal tap which revealed albuminocytologic dissociation, a hallmark finding of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

A 5-day course of 32 g/day of intravenous immunoglobulin (0.4 g/kg/day) was initiated and led to a partial improvement in motor function.

Lyme disease

She was subsequently diagnosed with Lyme disease based on a positive IgM titer and a repeat spinal tap, which showed an elevated mononuclear white blood cell count of 20/μL and positive IgM.

“None of the most common infectious agents associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome were identified.  Surprisingly serologies for Borrelia were revealed to be positive, with further finding of IgM Borrelia antibodies in CSF,” writes Teodoro.

“The possibility of a Guillain-Barré syndrome due to Borrelia infection should be considered,” the authors point out, “although this syndrome usually develops as a post-infectious syndrome.”

The woman was given a 14-day course of Ceftriaxone (2 g/day) and showed significant improvement in motor function. However, she was discharged requiring additional physical therapy and rehabilitation.

This is not the first case of a medical condition being diagnosed as a conversion disorder.  “There are case reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome misdiagnosed as a conversion disorder² highlighting the importance of considering the clinical heterogeneity of the possible presentations,” writes Teodoro.

Furthermore, although it is rare, there have been reports of Lyme disease mimicking Guillain-Barré syndrome.³

“This case highlights the importance of the differential diagnosis of atypical presentations of neurological disease, including the possibility of functional neurological symptoms,” the authors conclude.

Related Articles:

Lyme disease manifests as autoimmune disorder, Sjogrens Syndrome

Can Lyme disease trigger an autoimmune disease

Lyme disease mimics autoimmune disorder in elderly woman

References:
  1. Teodoro T, Oliveira R, Afonso P. Atypical Lyme Neuroborreliosis, Guillain-Barré Syndrome or Conversion Disorder: Differential Diagnosis of Unusual Neurological Presentations. Case Rep Neurol. 2019 Apr 30;11(1):142-147.
  2. Edelsohn G. Guillain-Barré misdiagnosed as conversion disorder. Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1982 Sep;33(9):766–7.
  3. Tyagi N, Maheswaran T, Wimalaratna S. Neuroborreliosis: the Guillain-Barré mimicker. BMJ Case Rep. 2015 Jun 25;2015.pii:bcr2014209080.

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For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/01/09/transverse-myelitis-guillain-barre-associated-with-bartonella/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/07/acute-flaccid-paralysis-is-most-often-guillain-barre-syndrome/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/01/18/acute-transverse-myelitis-a-clinical-manifestation-of-lyme-that-nobody-has-a-clue-about-prevalence/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/07/nevada-man-diagnosed-with-guillain-barre-syndrome-after-getting-flu-shot/

VARIOUS VACCINES ARE DEFINITELY CAUSING GBS.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/19/rise-in-acute-flaccid-myelitis-cases-and-the-link-to-vaccinations/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/11/07/connection-of-acute-flaccid-myelitis-and-vaccinations/ The connection between vaccination and paralysis has been known since the 40’s and 50’s and was written about in The Lancet by Stephen Mawdsley in an article titled, “Polio Provocation: Solving a Mystery With the Help of History.”

Mawdsley states:

“The application of epidemiological surveillance and statistical methods enabled researchers to trace the steady rise in polio incidence along with the expansion of immunization programs for diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus. A report that emerged from Guy’s and Evelina Hospitals, London, in 1950, found that 17 cases of polio paralysis developed in the limb injected with pertussis or tetanus inoculations. Results published by Australian doctor Bertram McCloskey also showed a strong association between injections and polio paralysis. Meanwhile, in the USA, public health researchers in New York and Pennsylvania reached similar conclusions.Clinical evidence, derived from across three continents, had established a theory that required attention.”

Category:

Lyme, research

Complex Multisystemic Illnesses Lead to Psychiatric Diagnosis

https://danielcameronmd.com/complex-multisystemic-illnesses-lead-to-psychiatric-diagnosis/

COMPLEX MULTISYSTEMIC ILLNESSES LEAD TO PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSIS

All too frequently patients with complex, multisystem illnesses are dismissed by clinicians, their symptoms often attributed to a psychiatric illness simply as “a diagnosis of default,” writes Bransfield in “Differentiating Psychosomatic, Somatopsychic, Multisystem Illnesses and Medical Uncertainty.”¹ This attitude can lead to tragic delays in identifying a correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

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In their article, Bransfield et al. describe two patients with complex, multisystemic illnesses, which included Lyme disease. Both patients suffered from debilitating symptoms over several years, which left them unable to walk and confined to a wheelchair. Doctors dismissed their complaints, which ranged from fatigue and weight loss to seizures and cognitive impairments. They were labeled as having “hysteria” and “wanting attention.”

From martial arts athlete to wheelchair-bound

The first case involved a healthy, athletic 18-year-old female who was skilled at Taekwondo. The girl developed a Bull’s-eye rash, followed by Bell’s palsy. Over a 4-year period, she became increasingly disabled and eventually required a wheelchair. She also suffered from seizures.

The girl’s symptoms included: cognitive impairments (attention, memory, processing speed, concentration/executive functioning), tactile hypersensitivity, sun sensitivity, orthostatic hypotension, weight loss, fatigue, non-restorative sleep, pelvic pain, difficulty urinating, headaches, peripheral neuropathy, muscle atrophy, cervical radiculopathy, hair loss, costochondritis, subluxation of multiple joints, and generalized pain.

Clinicians initially diagnosed her with fibromyalgia, “wanting attention,” chronic fatigue syndrome, hypoglycemia, and pseudoseizures, according to Bransfield.

However, she was eventually diagnosed with late-stage Lyme borreliosis with multisystem symptoms, along with porphyria, Ehlers-Danlos/ALPIM syndrome (anxiety-laxity-pain-immune-mood) with seizures caused by increased intracranial pressure from cranio-cervical instability, writes Bransfield.

Upon further evaluation, clinicians diagnosed the girl with complex partial seizures, rather than ‘pseudoseizures.’

“The patient was subsequently treated,” writes Bransfield, “and is now physically active, married, and leading a productive life.”

From ‘hysteria’ diagnosis to encephalitis

A 12-year-old girl from England suffers from leg pain and is diagnosed with reactive arthritis. She is admitted to the hospital complaining of “excruciating headaches, a complete loss of balance, and involuntary jerking movements,” explains Bransfield. The girl was discharged but her symptoms worsened.

One clinician’s assessment described the girl’s condition as “Hysteria, possible conversion disorder.” The patient “was left deteriorating and untreated, by which time she was having constant seizures and needed a wheelchair,” writes Bransfield.

Unfortunately, doctors ignored repeated requests by the mother to consider Lyme disease, as the family lived in an endemic region and other family members had been infected.

The girl was moved to another clinic where she was diagnosed with “encephalitis and possible encephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain/brainstem/spinal cord), probably due to Lyme disease,” writes Bransfield.

She immediately began IV antibiotics and within 36 hours, the girl’s seizures had stopped and her headaches began to subside. Tests for Lyme disease came back positive.

After 2 months of IV treatment, the patient was able to walk again. But once antibiotics were stopped, the symptoms returned. The girl continued treatment in the United States but reported having persistent symptoms due to a delay in treatment.

Making the diagnosis can be difficult.

“Some healthcare providers have great difficulty understanding and making an accurate diagnosis when these symptoms are present and categorize them as being ‘vague’ or ‘subjective’ symptoms and, therefore, less valid,” writes Bransfield.

Individuals can be mislabeled as hypochondriacs.

“The number and the complexity of these symptoms can be overwhelming to the patient, and the patient may be labeled as being hypochondriacal, a psychosomatic illness, or having bodily distress disorder or somatic symptom disorder,” writes Bransfield.

“Historically, there has been a tendency to label physical symptoms that could not be explained as being of a psychiatric origin,” writes Bransfield.

“As a result, many patients with complex, confusing symptoms and poorly understood diseases who receive an inadequate assessment for their condition are often referred to psychiatrists until the time when the disease is better understood and defined.”

Related Articles:

Seizures and altered mental status after a tick bite

Dismissing chronic Lyme disease for somatic symptom disorder diagnosis

Yale doctor says children don’t have Lyme but medically unexplained symptoms

References:
  1. Bransfield RC, Friedman KJ. Differentiating Psychosomatic, Somatopsychic, Multisystem Illnesses and Medical Uncertainty. Healthcare 2019, 7, 114.

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**Comment**

Thank God for practitioners like Dr. Bransfield who continually show the devastation tick-borne illness can cause.

Please note the quick response and alleviation of symptoms when appropriate treatment is given.  The problem is that many are still misdiagnosed and untreated – yet suffering just like those mentioned in this article.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/04/15/ld-the-brain-podcast-with-dr-bransfield/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/11/22/differentiating-psychosomatic-somatopsychic-multisystem-illnesses-and-medical-uncertainty/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/11/29/its-all-in-your-head-medicines-silent-epidemic/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/27/have-you-been-told-its-all-in-your-head-the-new-biology-of-mental-illness/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/06/20/suicide-lyme-and-associated-diseases/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/10/18/psychiatric-lymemsids/

Category:

Lyme, Psychological Aspects, research, Treatment

Cigna Becomes 3rd Insurance Company Defendant to Settle in Lyme Lawsuit

https://www.facebook.com/marybethpf/posts/10157866913199801?notif_id=1580914203679931&notif_t=fundraiser_for_story_creation_top_friends

BREAKING: Cigna becomes the third insurance company defendant to settle in Torrey v Infectious Diseases Society of America.

As in other two settlements (Kaiser and BCBS/Tx), this is also being done under cover of secrecy — documents sealed. We may never know what plaintiffs got or what was accomplished. Remaining defendants are the IDSA, 5 other insurance companies and 6 of the prime MDs who crafted the flawed American model of Lyme disease care.

Patients deserve answers. I’m hoping, ultimately, they will get them.

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For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/12/06/latest-in-anti-idsa-insurers-lawsuit-kaiser-settles/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/11/15/lyme-patients-file-lawsuit-against-idsa-and-insurers-over-treatment-denials

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/03/05/patient-lawsuit-against-idsa-insurers-moves-forward-in-texas/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/12/09/25303/  10-Points- Suing Architects of Lyme Policy As Task Force Meets to Review it

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/27/amended-complaint-in-lyme-lawsuit-battle-lines-are-drawn/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/03/26/idsa-lawsuit-patients-may-have-to-undergo-independent-medical-exams/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/27/should-lyme-patients-rico-lawsuit-include-yale/

Category:

Activism, Lyme

Oxford Textbook of Medicine (Completely Wrong About Lyme disease)

https://oxfordmedicine.com/view/10.1093/med/9780198746690.001.0001/med-9780198746690-chapter-137?

Oxford Textbook of Medicine

Oxford Textbook of Medicine (6 edn)

Edited by John Firth, Christopher Conlon, and Timothy Cox

Previous Edition (5 ed.)

Publisher: Oxford University Press
Print Publication Date: Mar 2020
Print ISBN-13: 9780198746690
Published online: Jan 2020
DOI: 10.1093/med/9780198746690.001.0001

Lyme borreliosis 

Chapter:  Lyme borreliosis
Author(s): Gary P. Wormser, John Nowakowski , and Robert B. Nadelman
DOI:  10.1093/med/9780198746690.003.0137

Lyme borreliosis is a zoonotic bacterial infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, a spirochaetal agent transmitted by certain species of Ixodes ticks. Small rodents and birds serve as reservoirs. It is the most common vector-borne infection in the United States of America and an important infection in many countries throughout the temperate regions of Europe and northern Asia, where a wider variety of borrelia species account for differences in clinical manifestations in Eurasia compared with the United States. The most common and earliest clinical manifestation is erythema migrans, a distinctive cutaneous lesion that occurs at the site of deposition of the spirochaete by the vector tick. Most people treated for Lyme borreliosis respond well to a 2-week course of antibiotic therapy. Symptomatic treatment is recommended for patients who have or develop subjective complaints of unclear aetiology despite successful resolution of the objective manifestation of Lyme borreliosis following antibiotic therapy.

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.  Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

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**Comment**

Same garbage, different day.  Where to begin?

Two of the authors of this worthless chapter are also authors of the unscientific IDSA Lyme guidelines:  https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/43/9/1089/422463

Reptiles are also reservoirs, and although some research has suggested the prevalence of Lyme disease in California is lower due to the Blue-Belly Lizard’s ability to kill the Lyme disease bacteria, since that research, much more has come out on California having far more Lyme than previously thought:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/08/07/california-lyme-cases-get-no-respect/

I agree with Dr. Murray that reptiles can bring ticks into your yard and the risk isn’t worth any potential benefit:   https://www.murraysussermd.com/lyme-disease-and-lizards-los-angeles/

Excerpt:

Some studies show the tick population plummets in absence of lizard hosts. The removal of Western Fence lizards decreased the number of nymphal ticks and of infected nymphal ticks. It appears ticks get used to their “diet” of lizard and do not find adequate substitutes in their absence. As a result, the population of ticks is greatly reduced. [3]

Inviting Blue Bellies to your property may be inviting the ticks that feed on them, or even their offspring (Nymph Ticks).  Did you know that one tick can lay over 3,000 eggs? The idea of that many potential Nymph Ticks on your property would be problematic. There is no guarantee that every infected tick in the area will feed on a Blue Belly and have the Lyme disease bacteria killed. One lizard with 20 ticks on it could produce over 30,000 eggs (assuming half of them were female) to your property. This could produce a great number of nymphal ticks, causing the opposite effect these people desire.

They are right to admit there is a wider variety of borrelia species and subsequently different clinical manifestations but you can be infected with different species right here in the U.S.  The idea that species are separated by geography is outdated information that was never accurate to begin with.  Migrating birds and animals take ticks and their pathogens everywhere in the world.  

This is a global issue and isn’t restricted to geography.

The most common clinical manifestation is NOT the EM rash.  That too is ancient data that never was accurate.  Only 25-80% get it depending on who’s counting, leaving out a large subset of patients. Often, studies claim that the disappearance of the EM rash proves successful treatment.  The EM rash can come and go at will and its disappearance does not prove treatment was adequate. Lyme disease is a systemic infection that can infect every organ within the body.  It quickly gets into the brain.

The false statement that most people respond to a 2-week course of antibiotic doesn’t account for the thousands of patients with remaining symptoms.  According to microbiologist Holly Ahern, that could be more than 60% of patients.

Symptomatic treatment for those with remaining symptoms dooms patients to a life-time of hell.

For an explanation and references to back up what I just wrote:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/22/why-mainstream-lyme-msids-research-remains-in-the-dark-ages/

Category:

Lyme, Treatment