The standard CDC-approved ELISA test picks up only 50-65% of Lyme positive patients and is unacceptable as the first step of a screening protocol.
Source: ILADS
Only 3-26% of people see the tick that bites them.
Source: Dr. Christine Green / ILADS
Does your partner have Lyme? Have safe sex!
Fewer than 50% of Lyme patients recall a rash.
Source: ILADS
Short courses of antibiotics lead to upwards of a 40% relapse rate especially if treatment is delayed. There has never been a study demonstrating that 30 days of antibiotic treatment cures Lyme Disease.
However there is much documentation that short courses of antibiotic treatment fail to eradicate the Lyme spirochete.
Source: ILADS
No test exists that can prove if the Lyme organism is eradicated or that the patient is cured.
Source: ILADS
Lyme Disease is the fastest growing infectious disease in America but it is funded less than Headaches.
This excludes funding for research into Chronic Lyme & Co-infections which the CDC claim do not exist, thus are not listed on the NIH budget.
Source: NIH
Estimated total of direct and indirect patient costs vs. total of NIH funding for the CDC's definition of Lyme Disease in 2014. Estimate does not include patients with a misdiagnosis (either of a different disease, syndrome, or simply that they do not have Lyme Disease).
Source: Poughkeepsie Journal, NIH
In a 2014 study, 73% of Chronic Lyme patients reported Fair or Poor Health in comparison to 16% of the general public.
Source: lymedisease.org, PeerJ
There are 5 subspecies of Borrelia Burgdorferi, over 100 strains in the US, and 300 strains worldwide. This diversity is thought to contribute to the antigenic variability of the spirochete and its ability to evade the immune system and antibiotic therapy, leading to chronic infection.
Source: ILADS
Based on 2013 estimates, Lyme Disease topped new cases over Breast Cancer and HIV/AIDS combined, yet received nominal funding which is scheduled to continue through the 2016 NIH budget.
These estimates do not include data regarding Chronic Lyme Disease & Co-infections.
Source: NIH, CDC, cancer.org
Over 40% percent of patients with chronic Lyme disease reported that they currently are unable to work because of Lyme disease. This compares with 6% of the US population who are unable to work due to illness.
Source: lymedisease.org, PeerJ
In a 2001 study by Dr. Monica Embers and colleagues, primates were infected with Borrelia bergdorferi (Bb). After four months, they were treated with 28 days of doxycycline per IDSA guidelines. Following treatment, Bb was found in 100% of the primates. This study was held unpublished until 2012.
Source: lymedisease.org
Meant as companion studies, one in humans, one in non-human primates, the Klempner (human) study was rushed to publication in 2001, while the Embers (primates) study remained unpublished until 2012. The IDSA’s recommendation to the CDC on Lyme treatment guidelines rely heavily on the Klempner study and were released in 2006. The Embers study has notably contradictory results from the Klempner study but was not made public until recently.
Source: lymedisease.org
According to the Red Cross' David Leiby, over the past 30 years, between 70-100 cases of transfusion transmitted Babesia microti (a Lyme co-infection) have been reported, with at least 12 fatalities. Better testing is required for more thorough screening of donated blood.
Source: lymedisease.org
Lyme disease and its co-infections mimic over 300 other diseases including Fibromyaligia, MS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Chronic Fatique (ME/CFS), Lupus, ALS, Anxiety, Gastro diseases, Psychological illnesses, Yeast Overgrowth, Heart disease, and many more.
Source: Under Our Skin, lymedisease.org, clinical accounts
Despite antitrust findings two years after publication, the IDSA 2006 Lyme disease guidelines are still in place and promoted by the CDC, leading to the misdiagnosis of hundreds of thousands of Americans each year.
Source: CT Attorney General, CDC
Do you Herx?
Source: Wikipedia
Do you have biofilms?
Source: NIH
Have you been bitten by a mosquito, large fly, fleas or mites? Check your symptoms.
Source: lymedisease.org.au
West Nile Virus has a fraction of new cases per year compared to Lyme disease, yet it has more than double the research funding.
Physical or mental health problems limit Lyme patient functioning on 19 days each month compared to only 2 days per month for the general population.
Source: lymedisease.org, PeerJ
The CDC states that it does not know how many cases of Lyme disease there are in the US. Estimates range from 300,000 to 1 million new cases each year, the majority of which are unreported.
A 1997 study describes elements of the Borrelia bergdorferia genome.
Source: NIH, lymedisease.org
Dr. Sin Lee asks the IDSA: Why an antibody test?
Source: Carl Tuttle
Lyme carditis is an important cause of heart block, the slowing or stopping of a heartbeat. It is generally completely reversible with antibiotic treatment.
Source: NIH
Has your LLMD asked you to stop eating any and all sugars, including agave and honey, and maintain a low-carb diet with low-sugar fruits?
Source: PLOS Pathogens
Do you notice an increase of symptoms during a Full Moon?
Source: Clinically Observed
The IDSA still does not have a Lyme patient on its Lyme Guidelines Review panel.
Source: lymedisease.org
There are 230 peer-reviewed studies that show evidence of persistent Lyme disease, some dating back to the early 1980s.
Source: NorVect
Robert Lane, co-author of a 2015 study of birds in Northern California, says “The fact that we found this particular bacterium for the first time in birds in California is notable because of the ease with which birds can distribute spirochetes to different regions.” Lane is a Medical entomologist and UC Berkeley Professor of the Graduate School.
Source: UC Berkeley, PLOS ONE
According to Dr. Richard Horowitz, important co-infections and pathogens to address are Erlichiosis/Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, other parasites, Bartonella, Mycoplasma, Rickettsia, Chlamydia, viruses, and Candida.
Source: Dr. Richard Horowitz, ILADS
Rising cases of Lyme disease are one indicator of Climate Change.
Source: EPA
"The "official" number from our IDSA-guides National Reference Center in Munich is 60,000 - 100,000 each year in Germany. The estimated number in Germany just for bulls-eye rashes was 753,000 in 2008. But we know that not each fresh infected patient in Germany develops a bulls-eye rash, because of several subspecies, especially B. burgdorferi garinii. Therefore, you can double the number of infections, which means 1,500,000 fresh infected Borrelia patients each year in Germany."
Source: Dr. Armin Schwarzbach
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