Hi everyone,
Below is both the article and the link for the blog of Dr. Jernigan. Dr. Jernigan is a lyme-literate doc who has written some books and many articles about Lyme disease. Check out his blog and make sure you read this article.
Be well,
Richard
http://www.drjerniganblog.com/articles/infections/843
Why is Lyme Disease Largely Being Ignored?
August 31, 2010 in Infections with Comments (0)
Today I was asked the following question via a comment on my Facebook page
“In your humble opinion, WHY is media & gov’t ignoring the plight of over 2.3+ billion people in their suffering? Is it because of their involvement in bioweaponizing this bacteria on Plum Island or is it deeper than this? This is question many of us are plagued with… God Bless Always. Thank you.” Mary B.
Dear Mary, I have pondered this same question for the past 12 years that I have been helping people with this illness. While Lyme disease might have been a weaponized bug from Plum Island, it comes down to who is going to treat these chronically ill people in a hospital setting. In a hospital the human conditions are departmentalized into Neurology, Cardiology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, Infectious Disease, and every other ‘…ology.
Most chronic Lyme sufferers have virtually every system being effected to one degree or another, so unless the hospital is going to send these patients to every department there is no one in the their system who understand the totality of everything that is going wrong. The Infectious Disease docs don’t deal with neurology nor do the Neurologists deal with Infectious Disease and so on. So in reality no one wants to take ultimate responsibility for the multi-system collapse seen in chronic Lyme case. I believe the hospital system is down playing the infection of LD so that the Infectious Disease docs can put the patient on antibiotics for six weeks…declare them “cured” and then funnel each person to the next most applicable department to deal with their piece of the puzzle.
Every doctor can only go as far as they have been taught. Doctors can train in American Biological Medicine for up to an additional 2000 extra training hours beyond their doctorate to learn to deal with these incredibly complex multi-system illnesses. At this time there is not a Department of Chronic Illness in any hospital nor is there a specialty that focuses upon the complex inter-connections between every system of the body…only Biological Medicine docs are trained to handle everything from Infectious Disease to Cardiology to Neurology to Rheumatology, and so on.
As it stands, many doctors are so specialized in one aspect of healing that it is very much like picking one piece of a puzzle that has 1000′s of pieces and trying to determine what the puzzle picture is before putting it together. As far as I know only Doctors of Biological Medicine are trained extensively enough and have the necessary healing tools to put the puzzle of the chronically ill patient together.
Showing posts with label Infectious diseases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Infectious diseases. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
ISDA has again showed extreme ignorance!
Hello friends,
I have to again report that the ISDA leadership has shown extreme ignorance in regard to the long term treatment of Lyme patients with antibiotics. I reference to you the Under Our Skin Blog at http://underourskin.com/blog/?p=738 concerning this matter. Jordan Smith, the park ranger featured in the film has written the ISDA a letter announcing his displeasure with the stance taken by this group again. This group continues to prove it is biased against current testimonies of Lyme patients. I have copied the text of Jordan's letter for you to read below:
Begin Quote
To the Infectious Diseases Society of America:
Almost twelve years ago, I was bitten by a tick at work, and contracted Lyme Disease and Babesiosis. Because of the job you’ve done at diminishing the perception of danger about tick-borne disease and pressuring doctors who treat it aggressively out of business, it took a year and a half and a nationwide search to find a doctor who would treat me.
By then I was dreadfully ill, and as a result I lost my job and my 21-year career. In my first year of antibiotic treatment I got worse. I pursued aggressive treatment for another six years, during which time I got steadily, if slowly better. During this time one of my two doctors was forced out of practice as a result of your work. Thanks to my heroic physicians, I am recovered after a nine-year battle with tick-borne disease. And I am now contributing to society, working, and raising my kids.
Your ineffectiveness and the extent of your compromise with the insurance and HMO businesses are noted. You and your work will be forgotten eventually, as we have forgotten the names of the opponents of Copernicus. Shame on you for the suffering you are causing on the way to your eventual obscurity as prideful scientists who called it tragically wrong. The monument to your life’s work is an unchecked epidemic.
—Jordan Fisher Smith, recovered victim of tick-borne disease
End Quote
Join Jordan and write your letter to the ISDA
Be well,
Richard
I have to again report that the ISDA leadership has shown extreme ignorance in regard to the long term treatment of Lyme patients with antibiotics. I reference to you the Under Our Skin Blog at http://underourskin.com/blog/?p=738 concerning this matter. Jordan Smith, the park ranger featured in the film has written the ISDA a letter announcing his displeasure with the stance taken by this group again. This group continues to prove it is biased against current testimonies of Lyme patients. I have copied the text of Jordan's letter for you to read below:
Begin Quote
To the Infectious Diseases Society of America:
Almost twelve years ago, I was bitten by a tick at work, and contracted Lyme Disease and Babesiosis. Because of the job you’ve done at diminishing the perception of danger about tick-borne disease and pressuring doctors who treat it aggressively out of business, it took a year and a half and a nationwide search to find a doctor who would treat me.
By then I was dreadfully ill, and as a result I lost my job and my 21-year career. In my first year of antibiotic treatment I got worse. I pursued aggressive treatment for another six years, during which time I got steadily, if slowly better. During this time one of my two doctors was forced out of practice as a result of your work. Thanks to my heroic physicians, I am recovered after a nine-year battle with tick-borne disease. And I am now contributing to society, working, and raising my kids.
Your ineffectiveness and the extent of your compromise with the insurance and HMO businesses are noted. You and your work will be forgotten eventually, as we have forgotten the names of the opponents of Copernicus. Shame on you for the suffering you are causing on the way to your eventual obscurity as prideful scientists who called it tragically wrong. The monument to your life’s work is an unchecked epidemic.
—Jordan Fisher Smith, recovered victim of tick-borne disease
End Quote
Join Jordan and write your letter to the ISDA
Be well,
Richard
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Dr. Dave Martz - A Lyme Disease Champion
Hi My Friends,
My Dr. Dave Martz was one of the doctors that diagnosed and treated me for Lyme disease. Dr. Martz is a very pleasant man with a determination to find a cure for Lyme disease. He gave up his Lyme disease practice in Colorado Springs due to his illness but is now starting a new job as President of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society. Below is an article from the California Lyme Disease Association which talks about Dr. Martz. The full text of the article can be found on http://www.lymedisease.org/news/touchedbylyme/372.html. Dr. Martz was responsible for starting me on Rocephine
Begin Article:
TOUCHED BY LYME: Dr. Dave Martz, who overcame his own ALS death sentence with Lyme treatment, will keynote CALDA conference April 24
15 March, 2010
As Dave Martz lay dying, an idea serpentined around his mind and would not loosen its grip: Despite the absolute diagnosis and the insistence of the doctors, including a world expert, that he was dying of ALS, despite his own vow to face things head-on and reject the lure of denial, Martz couldn’t shake the notion that possibly, just maybe, he actually had Lyme disease. (from "Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic," by Pamela Weintraub.)
Dr. David Martz is kind of a rock star in the Lyme world. You may have read about him in Pam Weintraub’s Cure Unknown, and seen footage of him in the documentary Under Our Skin.
His story is riveting. After a lifetime of good health and a successful career as a physician practicing internal medicine-hematology-oncology for 30 years, in 2003, Martz suddenly started experiencing strange symptoms. First deep fatigue, then profound muscle aches and body-wide pain. Soon he was too weak to get out of bed. As his condition rapidly deteriorated, his physicians gave him a devastating diagnosis: ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease). They said nothing could stem his physical decline and he would likely be dead within two years.
But events went in a different direction. As his health spiraled downward, Martz connected with a Lyme specialist who prescribed hard-hitting, long-term antibiotics. The gamble paid off. By the end of 2004, Martz was a new man. In fact, the doctor who had diagnosed him so definitively with ALS, now pronounced that condition completely gone.
Martz devoted the next two and a half years to a project that gave extended antibiotics to about 90 ALS patients, and demonstrated objective improvements in 15% of them. He has also treated more than 800 chronic Lyme patients, with good response and minimal side effects. That work is currently being written up for publication.
Martz is moving into a new phase of life now, having recently been named president-elect of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society. His term will start in 2011.
Martz will be the keynote speaker at CALDA’s annual patient conference, “Getting Healthy Again in 2010,” on April 24. The event will be held at the Dougherty Station Community Center, 17011 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA.
End Article
Thursday, July 23, 2009
What is Ehrlichiosis?
Hello again,
There are many other diseases that can be associated with the dreadful tick bite. Most are very serious and need to be given much attention. Ehrilichiosis is one of these diseases. This is an article from the Glasgow Daily Times by Lisa Strange and it explains the plight of one young mother and her child with this disease. I hope you pay close attention to the symptoms.
Be well,
Richard
Boy overcomes tick-borne illness
By LISA SIMPSON STRANGE
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW July 22, 2009 10:44 am
— One local mother hopes she can help keep other parents and their children from going through what she and her son faced recently.
Valerie Lewis found a tick on her son, Parker, 2, on Father’s Day. She removed it and didn’t really think anything else about it.
Three days later, Parker had developed a high fever and was lethargic.
Valerie took her son to her local family physician, Dr. David German, who checked Parker’s tonsils and ears, but couldn’t find an immediate source of infection. He told her to wait a day and see if there were any changes.
Parker’s high fever and lethargy continued the next day and he had a febrile seizure, which consists of convulsions brought on by a fever in infants and small children.
Valerie took Parker to the emergency room at T.J. Samson Community Hos-pital and he was admitted.
Parker was given Doxocycline, an antibiotic, but his white blood cell count kept dropping and Dr. German realized there was “something different about this one.”
Parker was diagnosed with Ehrlichiosis, an illness carried by the Lone Star tick that is found in the southeastern United States.
He was treated at the local hospital for two days, but was not showing improvement.
The boy’s white cell count continued to decrease from 3,500 to 2,000 to 800, according to German, so the decision was made to send Parker to Vanderbilt Hospital, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, in Nashville.
After Parker arrived at Vandy, he began to bounce back and was released after two more days of treatment there.
“It took four days to get as bad as he was going to get,” Valerie said. “After that he started bouncing back.”
Parker has now completely recovered with no lasting ill effects or organ damage.
“The doctors at Vanderbilt told me that Ehrlichiosis is especially bad this year in Tennessee and Kentucky, up 100-fold from last year,” Valerie said. “ The disease is potentially deadly (two children died from it while Parker was at Vanderbilt). It's important that parents think about tick bites if their child has an unexplained high fever in the summer with low white blood cell counts.
Valerie said doctors in Tennessee attributed German with quick thinking that helped Parker’s case be resolved with a positive outcome.
“He is the reason. They said Dr. German did everything exactly right,” Valerie said.
“I was just doing my job,” German said.
The thing to take away from all this, he said, is in the summertime, if a child 8 or younger has an unexplained fever of 104 degrees or higher that is not going away and a white cell count that keeps dropping, parents and physicians need to think about tick bites as a possible cause of the illness.
Other than that, German was humble about his discovery of the right diagnosis in Parker’s case.
“Praise the Lord he got better,” he said. “God puts those ideas in your mind at the right time.”
What is Ehrlichiosis?
Ehrlichiosis is the general name used to describe several bacterial diseases that affect animals and humans. These diseases are caused by the organisms in the genus Ehrlichia. In the United States, there are currently two ehrlichial species that are known to cause disease in humans: Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii. Ehrlichia chaffeensis causes human ehrlichiosis also described as human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME). In addition, human infections with Ehrlichia ewingii have also been documented.
How do people get ehrlichiosis?
In the United States, ehrlichiae are transmitted by the bite of an infected tick. The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) is the primary vector of both Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii in the United States.
What are the symptoms of ehrlichiosis?
The symptoms of ehrlichiosis may resemble symptoms of various other infectious and non-infectious diseases. The initial signs and symptoms generally include:
* fever
* headache
* fatigue
* muscle aches
Other signs and symptoms may include:
* nausea
* vomiting
* diarrhea
* cough
* joint pains
* confusion
* occasionally rash
Symptoms typically appear after an incubation period of 5-10 days following the tick bite. It is possible that many individuals who become infected with ehrlichiae do not become ill or they develop only very mild symptoms.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
There are many other diseases that can be associated with the dreadful tick bite. Most are very serious and need to be given much attention. Ehrilichiosis is one of these diseases. This is an article from the Glasgow Daily Times by Lisa Strange and it explains the plight of one young mother and her child with this disease. I hope you pay close attention to the symptoms.
Be well,
Richard
Boy overcomes tick-borne illness
By LISA SIMPSON STRANGE
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW July 22, 2009 10:44 am
— One local mother hopes she can help keep other parents and their children from going through what she and her son faced recently.
Valerie Lewis found a tick on her son, Parker, 2, on Father’s Day. She removed it and didn’t really think anything else about it.
Three days later, Parker had developed a high fever and was lethargic.
Valerie took her son to her local family physician, Dr. David German, who checked Parker’s tonsils and ears, but couldn’t find an immediate source of infection. He told her to wait a day and see if there were any changes.
Parker’s high fever and lethargy continued the next day and he had a febrile seizure, which consists of convulsions brought on by a fever in infants and small children.
Valerie took Parker to the emergency room at T.J. Samson Community Hos-pital and he was admitted.
Parker was given Doxocycline, an antibiotic, but his white blood cell count kept dropping and Dr. German realized there was “something different about this one.”
Parker was diagnosed with Ehrlichiosis, an illness carried by the Lone Star tick that is found in the southeastern United States.
He was treated at the local hospital for two days, but was not showing improvement.
The boy’s white cell count continued to decrease from 3,500 to 2,000 to 800, according to German, so the decision was made to send Parker to Vanderbilt Hospital, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, in Nashville.
After Parker arrived at Vandy, he began to bounce back and was released after two more days of treatment there.
“It took four days to get as bad as he was going to get,” Valerie said. “After that he started bouncing back.”
Parker has now completely recovered with no lasting ill effects or organ damage.
“The doctors at Vanderbilt told me that Ehrlichiosis is especially bad this year in Tennessee and Kentucky, up 100-fold from last year,” Valerie said. “ The disease is potentially deadly (two children died from it while Parker was at Vanderbilt). It's important that parents think about tick bites if their child has an unexplained high fever in the summer with low white blood cell counts.
Valerie said doctors in Tennessee attributed German with quick thinking that helped Parker’s case be resolved with a positive outcome.
“He is the reason. They said Dr. German did everything exactly right,” Valerie said.
“I was just doing my job,” German said.
The thing to take away from all this, he said, is in the summertime, if a child 8 or younger has an unexplained fever of 104 degrees or higher that is not going away and a white cell count that keeps dropping, parents and physicians need to think about tick bites as a possible cause of the illness.
Other than that, German was humble about his discovery of the right diagnosis in Parker’s case.
“Praise the Lord he got better,” he said. “God puts those ideas in your mind at the right time.”
What is Ehrlichiosis?
Ehrlichiosis is the general name used to describe several bacterial diseases that affect animals and humans. These diseases are caused by the organisms in the genus Ehrlichia. In the United States, there are currently two ehrlichial species that are known to cause disease in humans: Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii. Ehrlichia chaffeensis causes human ehrlichiosis also described as human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME). In addition, human infections with Ehrlichia ewingii have also been documented.
How do people get ehrlichiosis?
In the United States, ehrlichiae are transmitted by the bite of an infected tick. The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) is the primary vector of both Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii in the United States.
What are the symptoms of ehrlichiosis?
The symptoms of ehrlichiosis may resemble symptoms of various other infectious and non-infectious diseases. The initial signs and symptoms generally include:
* fever
* headache
* fatigue
* muscle aches
Other signs and symptoms may include:
* nausea
* vomiting
* diarrhea
* cough
* joint pains
* confusion
* occasionally rash
Symptoms typically appear after an incubation period of 5-10 days following the tick bite. It is possible that many individuals who become infected with ehrlichiae do not become ill or they develop only very mild symptoms.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Visit underourskin.com and order this movie!
Hi My Friends,
I am sure many of you have heard about a new movie about people dealing with Lyme Disease. The title of this movie is "Under our Skin." On November 14th, UNDER OUR SKIN received two prestigious awards at the annual Freddie Awards, sponsored by the International Health and Medical Media Awards and considered to be the “Oscars of health care films.” At the black-tie event in Philadelphia’s historic Crystal Tea Room, film Producer/Director Andy Abrahams Wilson accepted the award for Best Production in the category of Infectious Diseases. In his acceptance speech, he noted the importance of this validation by the medical establishment, and thanked the judges for helping raise the visibility of chronic Lyme disease. Former CNN health reporter and author Daryn Kagan, the event MC, also presented UNDER OUR SKIN with one of the top overall awards, the Robert E. Wise Award for Outstanding Cinematography, chosen from all the 32 category winners. In addition to these honors, another Open Eye Pictures production, THE CAREGIVERS, was recognized as a Finalist in the category of Caregiving.(Underourskin.com/blog/?p=80. You can watch a trailer and some excerpts of the movie on this Website and their Blog. I have ordered my copy of the movie and can't wait to watch the whole movie. This movie will do a great deal in helping people unfamiliar with Lyme disease, just how devastating it can be. The movie is extremely well done and full of heart tugging stories. Do yourself a real favor and watch this movie.!
Be well,
Richard
I am sure many of you have heard about a new movie about people dealing with Lyme Disease. The title of this movie is "Under our Skin." On November 14th, UNDER OUR SKIN received two prestigious awards at the annual Freddie Awards, sponsored by the International Health and Medical Media Awards and considered to be the “Oscars of health care films.” At the black-tie event in Philadelphia’s historic Crystal Tea Room, film Producer/Director Andy Abrahams Wilson accepted the award for Best Production in the category of Infectious Diseases. In his acceptance speech, he noted the importance of this validation by the medical establishment, and thanked the judges for helping raise the visibility of chronic Lyme disease. Former CNN health reporter and author Daryn Kagan, the event MC, also presented UNDER OUR SKIN with one of the top overall awards, the Robert E. Wise Award for Outstanding Cinematography, chosen from all the 32 category winners. In addition to these honors, another Open Eye Pictures production, THE CAREGIVERS, was recognized as a Finalist in the category of Caregiving.(Underourskin.com/blog/?p=80. You can watch a trailer and some excerpts of the movie on this Website and their Blog. I have ordered my copy of the movie and can't wait to watch the whole movie. This movie will do a great deal in helping people unfamiliar with Lyme disease, just how devastating it can be. The movie is extremely well done and full of heart tugging stories. Do yourself a real favor and watch this movie.!
Be well,
Richard
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About Me
- rbowman838
- Pueblo, Colorado, United States
- I am a Chronic Lyme disease patient. I was bitten by a tick in 2001 and have been very sick ever since. Subsequently, you could say I am a Lyme disease junkie.I thirst for any information about it,any treatments, research etc. It has been a life altering experience, which has kept me away from our business and at home most of the time. I use to own A-1 Barricade and Sign Inc. here in Pueblo, Co, but because of the Lyme disease, my sons are running the business for the most part with my wife. I have been married for 48 years to a wonderful woman who is also my best friend. We have five children, all grown. Four boys live here in Pueblo and my only daughter lives in Bonney Lake, Washington. We miss her a lot. I have 7 grandchildren, which are the greatest of all. They are all exceptionally beautiful! The last thing you need to know about me is that I am proud to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Because of this I have the knowledge that life is eternal and that it does not end here, but it will go on after death because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This truth I bear witness of!