I see it time and time again. “My doctor said my Lyme antibody test was negative, so my symptoms can’t be due to Lyme disease.” This is unfortunate, because many people in this area are becoming infected with Lyme disease, without being properly diagnosed. Even worse, they give up searching for answers, because their doctors tell them everything is “normal”, allowing Lyme disease to progress into the more chronic stages, potentially causing serious, irreversible health consequences. [Read more…]
Recognizing Lyme Disease and Related Infections
April 18, 2012 by
Although we live in a state where Lyme disease is endemic, the diagnosis and treatment of this condition continues to be controversial. Unfortunately, the political landscape surrounding Lyme disease has steered many doctors away from treating it altogether, putting many patients at risk for developing long-term complications. It’s not uncommon for me to see patients who have been told that their testing for Lyme disease and other co-infections is negative, so therefore there is no possible way that these infections can be responsible for their symptoms. This information can be extremely misleading, since the validity of testing is dependent on what stage of the disease they are performed. Doctors who are well informed about Lyme will typically treat based on clinical criteria (outlined by the CDC), with the argument being that the risk of putting uninfected individuals on antibiotics is not outweighed by the risk of long-term Lyme complications. [Read more…]
CT Physicians and Chronic Lyme Disease
September 2, 2010 by
According to a recent UConn survey, only about 2% of physicians in the state of Connecticut treat chronic Lyme disease, while barely 50% even believe that it exists! This is a travesty for patients who have suffered for months or years without the appropriate treatment, and is largely due to the stances taken by the American College of Rheumatology, Infectious Diseases Society of American, and other organizations that dissuade physicians from treating chronic Lyme. Fortunately, a group of physicians who are aware of chronic Lyme disease, and how to treat it effectively, have formed their own organization (ILADS).
If you have a history of Lyme disease, or believe you may be suffering from chronic Lyme, please contact ILADS (www.ilads.org) for a physician referral.
For a more in-depth article regarding this recent survey, please visit http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/GeneralInfectiousDisease/22000
