Lyme disease

From RationalWiki
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
("Chronic" Lyme Disease)
m
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Lyme disease''' is an infectious disease carried by ticks.  The disease is caused primarily by the bacteria ''Burrelia burgdorferi'' in the [[United States]] and by ''Borrelia afzelii'' and ''Borrelia garinii'' in [[Europe]].  For a tick to transmit the bacteria, it must have taken a blood meal, which can take more than 48 hours.<ref name="Mayo">[http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lyme-disease/DS00116 Mayo Clinic: Lyme Disease]</ref>  Symptoms include headache, fever, fatigue, and a distinctive rash.  Diagnosing Lyme disease without a visible rash can be confirmed by performing tests known as an ELISA and a Western blot, though this is not recommended for those with non-specific symptoms like chronic fatigue.<ref name="quackwatch">[http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/lyme.html Quackwatch: Lyme Disease]</ref>  Because it is a newer disease, Lyme is not as well understood as other diseases.  This leaves it rife with [[woo]].
+
'''Lyme disease''' is an infectious disease carried by ticks.  The disease is caused primarily by the bacteria ''Burrelia burgdorferi'' in the [[United States]] and by ''Borrelia afzelii'' and ''Borrelia garinii'' in [[Europe]].  For a tick to transmit the bacteria, it must have taken a blood meal, which can take more than 48 hours.<ref name="Mayo">[http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lyme-disease/DS00116 Mayo Clinic: Lyme Disease]</ref>  Symptoms include headache, fever, fatigue, and a distinctive rash.  Diagnosing Lyme disease without a visible rash can be confirmed by performing tests known as an ELISA and a Western blot, though this is not recommended for those with non-specific symptoms like chronic fatigue.<ref name="quackwatch">[http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/lyme.html Quackwatch: Lyme Disease]</ref>  Because its discovery is recent, Lyme is not as well understood as other diseases.  This leaves it rife with [[woo]].
  
 
==Treatment==
 
==Treatment==

Revision as of 19:09, 6 February 2011

Lyme disease is an infectious disease carried by ticks. The disease is caused primarily by the bacteria Burrelia burgdorferi in the United States and by Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii in Europe. For a tick to transmit the bacteria, it must have taken a blood meal, which can take more than 48 hours.[1] Symptoms include headache, fever, fatigue, and a distinctive rash. Diagnosing Lyme disease without a visible rash can be confirmed by performing tests known as an ELISA and a Western blot, though this is not recommended for those with non-specific symptoms like chronic fatigue.[2] Because its discovery is recent, Lyme is not as well understood as other diseases. This leaves it rife with woo.

Contents

Treatment

Early stage Lyme disease is treated with oral antibiotics for 2-3 weeks. Lyme disease diagnosed at a later stage is treated with intravenous antibiotics for 2-4 weeks.[1]

Woo

Like most diseases, Lyme disease has a number of alternative cures that can range from ineffective to dangerous.

  • Bismacine, sometimes known as Chromacine, is an injection containing the metal bismuth. The FDA has put out a warning on Bismacine, which has not been shown to help with Lyme disease and can lead to heart and kidney problems.[1][2]
  • Colloidal silver[3] is the suspension of silver particles in water and can be taken either topically (on the skin) or orally. It has shown no efficacy as an antibacterial inside a living body, and can lead to Smurfism a bluish discoloration of the skin called argyria and possible kidney damage.
  • Hydrogen peroxide[4] injections are basically what they sound like, and not recommended by the IDSA.[5]
  • Hyperbaric oxygen therapy[6][7][8] is the practice of subjecting a patient to a large amount of oxygen. It is not recommended by the IDSA.[5]
  • Malariotherapy[9][10] involves purposely infecting the patient with malaria through an injection of infected blood, in the belief that the high fever will kill the bacteria (first proposed by Henry Heimlich, creator of the Heimlich maneuver). This is strongly discouraged by the CDC[11] and the IDSA.[5]

"Herxing"

About 15% of those undergoing normal antibiotic treatment experience pains and fever within the first 24 hours of treatment because of the Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction.[5] However, some (a.k.a. those who don't listen to standard medical advice) believe that they have "herxes" weeks after anti-biotics are finished, that they "herx" cyclically for weeks at a time, or that "herxing" is necessary and should be evident in all treated cases.[12] Symptoms occurring over 24 hours after initial treatment are not a Herxheimer Reaction.[5] These misconceptions stem from a misguided belief that antibiotics are supposed to make a patient feel worse if they are working.[2] As a result, "herxing" people often do not get their Lyme-unrelated symptoms checked out and continue to suffer unnecessary pain.

"Chronic" Lyme Disease

A small portion of those who undergo regular antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease suffer muscle aches, pains, and fatigue after their treatment is finished. Many of them believe this is because of "chronic Lyme disease".[12][13][14] The Infectious Diseases Society of America,[15] the Centers for Disease Control,[16] the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (run by the National Institutes of Health),[17] and the American Academy of Neurology[18] all agree that there is no such condition as "Chronic Lyme disease." Lest one think this list US-specific, this claim is supported by the European Federation of Neurological Societies, the European Union of Concerted Action on Lyme Borreliosis, the Canadian Public Health Network, and the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology.[19] A study of those claiming Lyme disease persistence after an antibiotic course found no traces of B. burgdorferi in any of the subjects.[20] Others with the disease have no evidence of having "regular" Lyme disease in the first place.[21] Testing for chronic Lyme disease is often performed by Lyme-specific laboratories that do not follow evidence-based guidelines.[20][21] People who believe they have a chronic infection often take antibiotics for a long period of time in order to fight the infection; there is no evidence to show that this helps with the symptoms and plenty of evidence that it is harmful,[17][5][2][21] both to the patient and to the general populace. Use of antibiotics for as little as ten weeks (still over twice the recommended time for treatment) can allow drug-resistant bacteria to develop, infect, and kill a patient.[22]

Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome

On the other hand, there is evidence to support that fact that some symptoms do linger past initial treatment of Lyme disease, in what the IDSA and others term "post-Lyme disease syndrome."[23] However, it's important to note that, as stated above, there is no evidence of Lyme disease-causing bacteria in patients with this syndrome, and long-term antibiotic treatments are still not recommended.[24]

Lawsuit

In 2008, Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal launched an anti-trust investigation of the IDSA for not citing (non-existant) evidence about chronic Lyme disease in its 2006 guidelines.[19] Blumenthal's office ordered the IDSA to create a new panel with an independent head to evaluate the original guidelines.[25] In 2010, the new panel unanimously upheld the 2006 guidelines.[19]

Legislation

Pennsylvania bill SB 1199 proposes the construction of a Lyme-disease task force. The composition of the task force includes two physicians, both of whom are required to be members of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society[26] a large proponent of chronic Lyme disease.[27] This is despite the organization being cited by the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal as a source of inaccurate information (ranking either "inaccurate" or "not found" in every one of their categories).[28] The bill is, as of January 2011, still pending. Massachusetts and Connecticut passed laws in 2010 and 2009 respectively, protecting the rights of physicians to prescribe long-term antibiotics to fight "chronic Lyme disease."[29] Rhode Island and California have similar laws, and Minnesota dropped its legislation after the state medical board lost its professional dignity agreed to put a five year ban on investigating doctors who treat "chronic Lyme disease" without a specific complaint from a patient.[22]

External Links

Accurate

All of the following sites received at least four "accurate" ratings in eight categories by the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, and no "inaccurate" ratings:[28]

Inaccurate

All of the following sites received at least five "inaccurate" ratings and two or fewer "accurate" ratings:[28]

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mayo Clinic: Lyme Disease
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Quackwatch: Lyme Disease
  3. Advertises colloidal silver to people who believe they have "chronic Lyme disease"
  4. 60 Minutes: A Prescription For Death? CBS
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 IDSA Lyme disease guidelines
  6. HBO treatment
  7. An Overview of Lyme Disease and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
  8. Efficacy of using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy In treatment for Chronic Lyme Disease
  9. 1993 CDC response to Heimlich Institute AIDS research proposal
  10. Letter:Lyme disease offers a diagnostic puzzle; try malariotherapy
  11. Induced Malariatherapy for Lyme Disease
  12. 12.0 12.1 Herx Reaction Fundamentals
  13. LYME DISEASE (Borreliosis)
  14. Chronic Lyme Disease
  15. IDSA: Frequently Asked Questions About Lyme Disease
  16. CDC: Lyme Disease Treatment and Prognosis
  17. 17.0 17.1 NIAID on Lyme disease
  18. Practice Parameter: Treatment of nervous system Lyme disease (an evidence-based review)
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 Chronic Lyme disease: in defense of the scientific enterprise
  20. 20.0 20.1 A Critical Appraisal of “Chronic Lyme Disease”
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 Dispelling theChronic Lyme Disease Myth
  22. 22.0 22.1 Chronic Lyme disease: A dubious diagnosis. Chicago Tribune
  23. PubMed Health: Lyme disease
  24. Chronic Lyme Disease vs. Post-Lyme Disease
  25. Attorney General's Investigation Reveals Flawed Lyme Disease Guideline Process, IDSA Agrees To Reassess Guidelines, Install Independent Arbiter
  26. Pennsylvania SB 1199
  27. ILADS
  28. 28.0 28.1 28.2 Inaccurate Information About Lyme Disease on the Internet
  29. Law clears aggressive Lyme disease therapy. Cape Cod Times
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support