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Re: Combatting Lyme disease myths and the “chronic Lyme industry”
Those increasing number of concerned Canadians who have been bitten by a tick are right in seeking immediate help. Those lucky enough to get the much overemphasized rash, recall a tick bite, seek and receive prompt attention generally do quite well but there is only a brief window of opportunity for treatment before the planktonic Borrelia bacteria burrow into the tissue and this shape-shifting stealth pathogen deploys its many defensive strategies such as producing antibiotic tolerant cells, settling out in immune protected places like our brain, inside cells or form biofilm that is 1,000 times more resistant to antibiotic treatment. Biofilm or plaque is chronic/ persistent disease by definition. [1]
Lyme and tick-borne diseases are now the commonest vector-borne diseases we have in Canada. There is vast under-reporting and we are likely missing 90% of the cases. [2] Serologic testing is terrible and should be scrapped as this has what has gotten us into all this trouble. Delayed treatment for Lyme can lead to severe disease and fatal outcome. [3]
There is a refusal to recognize that untreated/ undertreated Lyme evolves into an entirely different multi-staged, multi-system, life-altering, life-threatening disease misclassified in 1994 as a minor nuisance disease when the insurance industry red-flagged it as being too expensive to treat. [4] It belongs in the same health risk category as Zika, Ebola, AIDS and West Nile. Lyme is the infectious disease equivalent of cancer. [5]
Members of the Association of Medical Microbiologists and Infectious Disease [AMMI] Canada overemphasize the risk of treatment and false-positives when in reality the worst thing you can do for a patient is give them a false-negative test result or diagnosis.
The Centers for Disease Control [CDC] in the United States has downplayed the severity of Lyme disease; essentially classifying this disease as a low and non-urgent health risk. Public health agencies worldwide are blindly following what has been deceitfully established.
Lyme is the 21st Century plague that became too expensive for insurance companies to treat with unacceptable testing, inadequate treatment, lack of medical training and absolutely no disease control; a public health disaster. The lack of accurate disease reporting leads to a reduction in public health awareness and medical education in areas where it’s needed. This then hinders a patient’s access to timely and accurate diagnosis and early treatment—which are absolutely critical to a good prognosis.
References:
1.) Metamorphoses of Lyme disease spirochetes: phenomenon of Borrelia persisters,
Rudenko N, et al. Parasite Vector [12] 237; 19-05-16: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3495-7
https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s13071-0...
2.) Under-Detection of Lyme Disease in Canada, Lloyd VK, Hawkins R, Healthcare 18-10-02, 6[4], 125; doi:10.3390/healthcare6040125 https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/6/4/125/htm
3.) Lyme carditis and atrioventricular block, Wan D, Baranchuk A, CMAJ 190 [20] E6222 18-06-22: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.171452 https://www.cmaj.ca/content/190/20/E622
4.) Lyme symptoms list: https://canlyme.com/lyme-basics/symptoms/
5.) Lyme: The Infectious Disease Equivalent of Cancer, Says Top Duke Oncologist, Parish D, Huffington Post 17-12-06: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lyme-the-infectious-disea_b_9243460