Lyme and associated tick-borne diseases: global challenges in the context of a public health threat

BySherwin Arnott

Christian Perronne  c.perronne@rpc.aphp.fr Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted by ticks, was initially considered a recent, rare and regional occurrence. We now have evidence that very similar bacteria infected humans in Europe during the ice age (Keller et al.,2012). Evidence-based data are scarce therefore many aspects of the disease remain controversial (Auwaerter et al.,2011; Lee and Vielmeyer, 2011; Perronne,2012),…

The New Yorker: A New Front in the Lyme Wars [a very balanced well written article]

BySherwin Arnott

By Michael Specter On December 15th, without much ceremony or public comment, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law that has the potential to change the way medicine in New York is practiced. Frequently referred to as the Lyme Doctor Protection Act, the law prohibits the state board of medicine from investigating complaints of substandard care…

Scientific American: Tick-Borne Diseases on the Rise, Thanks to Global Warming

BySherwin Arnott

Lyme disease is bad enough. But it’s just the beginning of a host of odd and ugly diseases ticks transmit, public health officials are finding Sep 24, 2014 | By Marianne Lavelle and The Daily Climate Ticks that spread Lyme disease don’t always deliver their misery neat. They can serve up a cocktail of pathogens with one infectious bite….

Beating Lyme Disease

BySherwin Arnott

By Pamela Weintraub July/August 2014 Katina Makris was living her dream when life derailed. A natural-medicine practitioner with a flourishing career, she had a passionate marriage, a young son she doted on, and a home she had lovingly restored in the New Hampshire woods. But slowly she began to slip.   First, in June 2000,…

Babesia: A Rare Cause of Posttransfusion Hemolytic Anemia

BySherwin Arnott

Kathman D, Nesanelis D, Fitzgibbons C. Chest, 2013 Oct 1; 144 (4_MeetingAbstracts): 197A. *Abstract*https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.1700928 <https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.1700928>*SESSION TITLE:* Infectious Disease Cases II*SESSION TYPE:* Affiliate Case Report Slide*PRESENTED ON:* Sunday, October 27, 2013 at 01:15 PM – 02:45 PM   *INTRODUCTION:* We report a case of post-transfusion Babesia infection masquerading as autoimmune hemolytic anemia.   *CASE PRESENTATION:* A…

Off-the-Charts Anxiety: Is a Tick Bite Making You Nuts?

BySherwin Arnott

Tick-borne infections aren’t just causing sore joints and swollen knees. Some cause psychiatric symptoms that often go untreated, some experts say. “…tick-borne infections could actually trigger panic attacks and other psychiatric disorders in some people. “After treating thousands of patients with tick-borne disease in the past 20 years, it appears psychiatric symptoms are more commonly…

Eva Sapi, Ph.D discusses her extensive Lyme disease research

BySherwin Arnott

This video is a 10 minute clip, part of a 70 minute interview with Dr. Sapi from the University of New Haven. She is credited with being the first researcher to demonstrate that Lyme spirochetes can actually create their own complex biofilm community to survive indefinitely within their hosts; both human and animal. [Eva is…