Lyme disease is prevalent across the United States. Ticks do not know geographic boundaries. A patient's county of residence does not accurately reflect their total Lyme disease risk, since people travel, pets travel, and ticks travel. This creates a dynamic situation with many opportunities for exposure for each individual.
Lyme disease is a clinical diagnosis. Spirochetal infection of multiple organ systems causes a wide range of symptoms. Familiarity with its varied presentations is key to recognizing disseminated Lyme disease. Case reports in the medical literature document its protean manifestations.
Fewer than half of patients with Lyme disease recall a tick bite. In some studies this number is as low as 15% in culture-proven Lyme borrelial infection.
Fewer than half of patients with Lyme disease recall any rash. Although the bull's eye presentation is considered classic, it is not the most common dermatologic manifestation of early-localized Lyme infection. Atypical forms of this rash are seen far more commonly. It is important to know that the Erythema Migrans rash is pathognomonic of Lyme disease and requires no further verification prior to starting 6 weeks of antibiotic therapy. Shorter treatment courses have resulted in upwards of a 40% relapse rate.
There has never in the history of this illness been one study that proves even in the simplest way that 30 days of antibiotic treatment cures Lyme disease. However, there is a plethora of documentation in the US and European medical literature demonstrating histologically and in culture that short courses of antibiotic treatment fail to eradicate the Lyme spirochete.
An uncomplicated case of chronic Lyme disease requires an average of 6-12 months of high-dose antibiotic therapy. The return of symptoms and evidence of the continued presence of Borrelia burgdorferi indicates the need for further treatment. The very real consequences of untreated chronic, persistent Lyme infection far outweigh the potential consequences of long-term antibiotic therapy.
Many patients with Lyme disease require treatment for 1-4 years, or until the patient is symptom free. Relapses occur and maintenance antibiotics may be required. There are no tests available to assure us whether the organism is eradicated or the patient is cured.
There are 5 subspecies of Borrelia burgdorferi, over 100 strains in the US, and 300 strains worldwide. This diversity is thought to contribute to Borrelia burgdorferi's antigenic variability and its various antibiotic resistances.
Lyme disease is the latest great imitator and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of MS, ALS, seizure and other neurological conditions, as well as arthritis, CFS, gulf war syndrome, ADHD, hypochondriasis, fibromyalgia, somatization disorder and patients with various difficult-to-diagnose multi-system syndromes.
Lyme is the number one tick-borne illness in the US. The CDC reports there are 24,000 new cases of Lyme disease in the US, but the CDC says that figure could be under reported by tenfold. ILADS believes newly diagnosed cases of Lyme may occur at a rate five times higher than the number of new AIDS cases. Chronic Lyme is reported in up to half of patients treated for Lyme.
Symptomatic presentations of Lyme disease include:
Fatigue
Low grade fevers, "hot flashes" or chills
Night sweats
Sore throat
Swollen glands
Stiff neck
Migrating arthralgias, stiffness and frank arthritis
The Pastor's Ass The pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won. The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and it won again.
The local paper read: PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT. The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race. The next day, the local paper headline Read: BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS. This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey. The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent. The local paper, hearing of the news, posted The following headline the next day: NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN. The Bishop fainted. He informed the nun that she would have to Get rid of the donkey, she sold it to a farmer for $10. The next day the paper read: NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.
This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild. The next day the headlines read: NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.
The bishop was buried the next day. The moral of the story is . .. . Being overly concerned about people's opinions can bring you much grief and misery . . even shorten your life. So be yourself and enjoy life.
I am tripartite:
2-parts: Insatiably curious, enthusiastic optimist embracing life with child-like abandon;
1-part: Jaded misanthropic curmudgeon scoffing irreverently.
I've done a few laps at 150MPH on the Monster Mile at Dover Downs International Speedway.
I've been behind the "Iron Curtain" when it existed.
Although I've never shot a living thing, I became a distinguished expert in riflery at age 13.
My Philosophy
Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?
He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And, if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
A great truth wants to be criticized, not idolized. And, we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.
Character is determined more by the lack of certain experiences than by those one has had.
That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
---- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
What Gives Me Hope
People/Animals who lovingly and joyfully THRIVE despite very difficult circumstances.
The Buddha's observation that:
Praise and blame,
Gain and loss,
Pleasure and pain,
Fame and disrepute
Are eight wordly winds.
They ceaslessly change.
As the mountain is
Unshaken
So the heart of a wise person is
Unmoved
By all the changes on this earth.
If I were Mayor, I'd make the world a better place by
Test Your Knowledge about Lyme Disease
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LEARN about LYME DISEASE
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UNDER OUR SKIN
Lyme disease film “Under Our Sk...
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Tibetan Sand Mandala
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Tashi Delek my new-found Dharma sister! Thanks for inviting me to be your friend; seems we have a lot in common. I look forward to getting to know you and sharing Buddhist teachings and discussions with you - me being housebound with FMS too. I've come to think of fibro' as my best practice for Patience ... and I need lots of practice! I note (& appreciate ) evidence of a sense of humour on your profile. Best wishes, Jenny
Tonglen - A Buddhist Prayer/Meditation First sit quietly, take some deep breaths, try as best you can to observe your breathing, follow your breath, feel the air enter your nose on the in-breath (if you can, BUT, let it go if you cannot), feel your belly expand and deflate as you exhale (again, focus as best you can), simply allow your breathing and yourself to be..... Once you feel "centered", relaxed a bit.....
Envision yourself surrounded by a loving, sacred light; Hold yourself in your mind's eye, embraced by this sacred light; Recite aloud or silently to yourself:
May I be at peace; May my heart remain open; May I awaken to the light of my true nature: May I be healed; May I be a source of healing to all sentient beings; May I be safe; May I be happy; May I be healthy; May I be at ease.........
Next, envision someone you love and say the same prayer on that person's behalf by replacing I with their name. Pray for as many loved ones as feels right to you.
Then pray in the same way for a neutral person perhaps someone you don't know well like your mail delivery person, the clerk at the grocery store, the cashier at a place you frequent. Replace the name part of the prayer with a simple personal description, i.e. the mailman, the Fed Ex woman....Pray for as many people as feels comfortable to you. Offer these phrases as a means to connect to and care for all life.
Finally, pray for those people that you dislike perhaps even feel hatred towards. Pray for as many people as you care to, however, try, as best you can, to include as many people as you did in the second category, i.e. those you love, to create balance.
Observe as you move through each "category" of people in this prayer/meditation how the repeated phrases, though identical on one level, offer a different experience, an unfolding, an new insight. And, thus serve to open our hearts and bring loving kindness to all!