Diagnosing Chronic Lyme Disease And Lyme Disease Test
Diagnosing chronic Lyme disease is no simple matter since similar symptoms are seen in other infectious or autoimmune diseases like Epstein Barr, chronic fatigue, lupus, fibromyalgia, arthritis and even depression.
A combination of the Western blot and ELISA testswhich measure specific antibodies in the bloodare often recommended, but the test is flawed. For one thing, it takes time for antibodies to develop before the tests can register their presence and, for various other reasons, it is oftentimes inconclusive.
A direct microscopy, which is often performed by holistic health practitioners in combination with other physical exams and patient history to develop a diagnosis, is another option. Often, it is a comprehensive review of your symptoms in addition to the direct microscopy that can best identify chronic Lyme disease.
What Do You Call It
The CDC, an Atlanta-based federal public agency, doesnt currently use the term chronic Lyme disease, saying it often has been used to describe symptoms in people who have no evidence of a current or past infection.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America doesnt believe in chronic Lyme disease, says Dr. Jose Vazquez, chief of the Medical College of Georgias Division of Infectious Diseases. We recognize Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, and so does the CDC.
The Infectious Diseases Society and the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society agree that antibiotics such as doxycycline are appropriate after the rash appears. But the two associations disagree on how long treatment should last, and what can happen afterward, the Associated Press reported in an article last year.
The Infectious Diseases Society says more research is needed on chronic Lyme, but doesnt recommend long-term antibiotics to treat the condition. ILADS, however, argues on its website that the harm of a continuing Lyme infection outweighs the risks of long-term antibiotic use.
A recent rally at the CDC sought to raise awareness of Lyme sufferers. Geraldina attended the rally, as did Mirenda Campirano, a Texas nurse who says she has been suffering from chronic Lyme for 15 years. She runs an online group called the Lyme Army, a platform for sufferers to speak up, reach out and help others.
Very few of them have indications of the disease, Lyon says.
Conditions We Treat At Envita Medical Centers
At Envita Medical Centers, an Integrative Center of Excellence for Lyme Disease Treatment and Precision Oncology, wedive deep into the root causes of each patients disease, to treat them holistically and help them progress towards asuccessful recovery. We go beyond the scope of standard of care provided at specialty healthcare hospitals, byutilizingour proprietary world-class diagnostics and powerful combination treatments.
In our clinical experience of over 20 years, combination treatments including the latest in conventional andresearch-based natural medicines, help potentiate higher response rates in patients. These combination treatments arepersonalized to attack the disease at its core, while rebuilding the patients immune system, giving our patients agreater chance at treatment success.
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Why Dont Medical Professionals Believe That Lyme Disease Is In Georgia
According to northaugustastar.com not only does Lyme Disease exist in Georgia, but so does the Lone Star Tick . While some believe that that the LST does not transmit Lyme, there is agreement that it does transmit bacteria that cause other types of illnesses. Nevertheless, flawed statistics and statements about Lyme Disease being rare in our region are misleading. Georgia Lyme Disease Association and other Southern tick-borne disease organizations have documented thousands of Southern Lyme Disease cases which are not reflected in state reported case numbers. Patients living in southern states report contracting Lyme Disease two and even three times over and families report multiple members infected. This does not happen in an area where a disease is considered rare. But this isnt anything new, this situation has been occurring for decades.
In the late 1980s, the CDC reported native Lyme Disease cases in 27 Georgia counties as well as several in Alabama and Florida. Georgia ranked fourth highest in the nation with 715 CDC-reported cases on record. But by 2010, reported Lyme cases plummeted to 10. How could a disease disappear in the South while cases in the North skyrocketed?
To make things more confusing, this is what the CDC had to say about the Lone Star Tick in 2015.
And this is what is being said about ticks in 2018.
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Detailed Proprietary Tests To Identify Core Causes
The lack of detailed testing in standard healthcare facilities often leads to misdiagnoses and ineffective treatmentplans. If the core causes of diseases are not identified, patients do not respond to treatment or experience temporaryrelief, followed by symptom relapse. At Envita, we specialize in identifying and hitting the treatment targets thatother care facilities have missed, giving our patients the opportunity to outperform the statistics. We are committedtohelping our patients experience lasting results and our world-class proprietary diagnostics are a cornerstone toachieving that mission.
We utilize the most advanced healthcare technologies from around the world to develop detailed proprietary tests,whichare crucial for an accurate diagnosis. These proprietary tests reveal each patients individual genetic markers,infectious load, immune status, and several other factors which influence disease growth and proliferation. A detailedanalysis of all these factors enables our team of specialists to customize a unique treatment plan for each patient,helping them propel towards a holistic recovery.
Lyme Disease Stage 2 Early Disseminated Infection
Untreated, the infection spreads through the bloodstream and lymph nodes within days to weeks, involving the joints, nervous system, and possibly the heart. Multiple rashes may erupt in other places. If the infection affects the nervous system in the second stage of Lyme disease, various acute neurological problems may appear. These include facial palsy, which is the loss of muscle tone on one or both sides of the face, as well as meningitis, which involves severe headaches, neck stiffness, and sensitivity to light. In addition, some case reports have described altered mental status, shooting pains that may interfere with sleep, as well as abnormal skin sensations.
Within days to weeks after the onset of local infection, the bacteria may begin to spread through the bloodstream and a rash may develop at sites across the body that bear no relation to the original tick bite.
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Borrelia The Misunderstood Microbe
Retrospectively, I may have harbored Borrelia burgdorferi for years before I actually developed symptoms. Im an outdoor person tick bites have always been a common affair.
Its not uncommon for people to harbor borrelia and not know it stealth is this microbes middle name.
Lyme disease is mostly transmitted by nymphal ticks, which are about the size of a pin. They bite, transmit the microbe, and then drop off most people arent even aware of being bitten. Because symptoms of the initial infection are so mild , its not uncommon for people to be completely unaware of being infected.
And borrelia isnt the only microbe to worry about. Ticks carry many microbes that have similar characteristics to borrelia. What they all have in common is stealthy characteristics that make them hard to find and even harder to get rid of.
If immune system function is robust, a person can harbor these types of microbes indefinitely, keeping them in check without ever having symptoms. When illness does occur, its typically chronic and debilitating, but not life-threatening. Additionally, the degree of chronic illness is highly variable. Some people are severely debilitated, while others are only marginally miserable.
How To Find A Lyme
When youre dealing with Lyme disease or other tick-borne infections, it can be a daunting task to find a doctor whos familiar with the illness throughout its various stages. Your family doctor or primary care provider may be able treat you when your symptoms correspond to an acute case of the condition. But where do you turn for Lyme disease treatment if your illness doesnt check the traditional boxes for the infection? Or if the disease has progressed to a later stage? Thats where a Lyme-literate medical doctor or Lyme specialist comes in. These physicians have additional training in the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections. Here are resources to find a provider who understands your symptoms and can help guide you toward recovery.
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An Unusual Presentation Of Lyme Disease In Georgia
A 15-year-old young lady came to see me last year with quite an interesting story. Six months prior to her visit, she was at summer camp, when she developed a fever, chills, myalgia and arthralgia. The patient also has a history of cranio-pharyngeal carcinoma discovered when she was a toddler and was treated.
She was admitted to the hospital for observation. No diagnosis was elicited during this time except for a viral syndrome and she received supportive care. The patients medical team would not even consider the thought of Lyme disease and actually became curt to the mother and patient when it was mentioned, because, there is no Lyme disease in Georgia. Eventually the fever and rash resolved but myalgia and arthralgia continued. Walking became difficult due to pain, especially the left knee, which was swollen and red. By the time the patient saw me, she was wheelchair-bound.
Before treatment, Feb. 2014
During Treatment Dec 2014
Serological testing for Lyme was performed and was negative and from an academic point of view it would have been nice to get a biopsy of the lesion. Unfortunately, due to insurance reasons, it was difficult to find a dermatologist to do a biopsy in a timely fashion. To me this appeared to be another case of Lyme disease, based on clinical findings, and I initiated the patient on doxycycline. Unfortunately, there was no response to doxycycline, but there was significant improvement when she was switched to minocycline.
Lyme Disease May Lead To Cancer
The consequences of an unidentified Lyme infection can be severe, including prolonged hospital stays, chronicsymptoms,and in certain cases trigger autoimmune disorders and cancers. Based on our clinical experience of treating cancerpatients for decades, we have published about how the bacteria B.burgdorferi can lead to cancers, in our medical studytitled “Cancer andInfectious Causes“.To avoid such severe consequences, it is crucial to get anaccurate diagnosis and comprehensive treatment.
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Call Ahead And Ask Questions
Even if you find a doctor who specializes in treating tick-borne diseases, you will want to ask some questions before making an appointment and committing your time and money. A few basic questions to consider asking upfront include the following:
- What is your experience in treating patients with tick-borne diseases?
- How do you diagnose diseases? Do you use any specific labs or lab tests to confirm diagnosis?
- Do you test for coinfections?
- Do you use traditional antibiotics and/or herbals?
- Do you have any patient success stories you can share?
- Do you strictly adhere to CDC test interpretation criteria or are you open to alternative criteria?
If youd like to find a LLMD and want to know more about how to vet them, read the Tick Talk blog, What Makes a Doctor Lyme Literate?
Best Lyme Disease And Bannwarth Syndrome Doctors Inatlanta Ga
We found 2500doctors who treat Lyme Disease in Atlanta.
Doctors who treat Lyme Disease in this region have an average rating of 4 stars. Below are some of the best options around Atlanta. The providers below have at least 4 or more past patient ratings, so you can be confident that these providers have the experience that you are looking for.
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Why Antibiotics Have Limited Use For Chronic Lyme
Borrelia clears the blood quickly and uses its corkscrew shape to penetrate deeply into tissues where it is protected from antibiotics and the immune system. It can penetrate into cells, give up the corkscrew shape, and live inside of cells, thus gaining protection from the immune system and antibiotics. If confronted with a full antibiotic assault, it rolls up into dormant cyst and rides out the storm until the antibiotics are gone.
Antibiotics work best on highly threatening microbes that grow very rapidly and congregate densely in localized areas in the body . Borrelia grows very slowly in the body and only occurs in very low concentrations in tissues.
Borrelia is a master at blending in with the trillions of other microbes that make up the human microbiome . Overwhelming the host is not its mission it simply needs to scavenge enough resources to survive. Borrelias stealthy ability to lay low makes diagnosis and treatment a real challenge.
Borrelia never occurs alone. There are many stealthy microbes mycoplasma, chlamydia, Bartonella, Epstein-Barr virus , cytomegalovirus , and others that can occupy space in the microbiome. Sometimes they occur as coinfections with the tick bite, but they can already be present in the microbiome, without causing symptoms, when infection with Borrelia occurs.
Georgia Lyme Disease Association Participates In Institute Of Medicines Lyme Teleconference
The Institute of Medicine invited Georgia Lyme Disease Association members to participate in a Lyme Disease teleconference call on June 2, 2010. This regional listening session for Georgia/North Carolina/South Carolina and surrounding states was arranged as part of the planning for the State of the Science workshop to be held in October. The call was designed so that IOM Lyme Disease panel members would hear concerns pertaining to issues that should be considered and addressed during the upcoming conference.
Scientists in the Southeastern USA are not awarded funding for independent, large-scale human studies of Lyme and tick-borne disease pathogens, based on our flawed Lyme disease statistics. Our few reported cases make it seem as if Lyme is not a problem here. However, as advocates pointed out, Lyme disease IS a problem here – our cases are not counted and reported using CDC reporting criteria. Many continue to be dismissed as false positives. Lyme is often unrecognized in the Southeast, therefore, patients dont get early treatment that could prevent permanent damage and ongoing symptoms. We called for immediate funding to investigate these cases.
To read the comments made by Georgia Lyme Disease Association volunteers and other southeastern advocates click HERE.
Again by Georgia Lyme Disease Association request:
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Important New Primate Study Further Proves Lyme Disease Can Persist Despite Antibiotic Treatment
Study proves what patients have claimed all along – that chronic Lyme disease does indeed exist – and highlights the need to find a cure
A new study from Tulane University, Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Rhesus Macaques following Antibiotic Treatment of Disseminated Infection, was published this month and adds further proof to the mountain of published scientific evidence that chronic Lyme disease exists.
For years, certain “experts” including many who wrote the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s Lyme Disease Treatment Guidelines, have claimed that convincing evidence of persistent infection does not exist. These experts have dismissed patients who claim to suffer after treatment, even going so far as to name their suffering, “Post Lyme Disease Syndrome”, as if they had proven that persistent infection was not the cause.
While antibiotic treatment may not prove to be curative in some cases, many patients claim that longer courses of antibiotic therapy restore them to functionality. Because Lyme disease can cause permanent damage to the heart, brain and other organs, perhaps Lyme patients will need to be treated off and on again to control the infection until a definite cure that works for every case can be found.
How Can I Make A Same
On average, patients who use Zocdoc can search for a Neurologist in Atlanta, GA, book an appointment, and see the Neurologist within 24 hours. Same-day appointments are often available, you can search for real-time availability of Neurologists in Atlanta, GA who accept your insurance and make an appointment online.
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Board Certified Infectious Diseases Specialistsready To Help You
Drs. Mitchell Blass, Margaret Williamson, and Ronald Trible, along with a full support staff, are here to help. We make it our priority to offer comprehensive, compassionate, and confidential care for our patients. We provide services for a wide range of illnesses and ailments due to infectious diseases, including: lung and skin infections, surgical site and wound infections, HIV, hepatitis, C difficile, and many others. We also help manage primary and secondary immunodeficiencies and offer infectious disease screening for individuals undergoing immune-targeted biologic therapy.
Let us help keep you healthy and protected!
Drs. Blass, Williamson, and Trible also service Emory St. Josephs Hospital and Northside Hospital Atlanta.
Lyme Disease In Georgia And The Southeast: A Twenty Year Review
THE firsT TWENTY YEARS
Many people seem to believe that Lyme disease is not a problem in the Southeast. Over the years, we at the Georgia Lyme Disease Association have heard from literallyhundreds of people who would probably disagree: they report that they have contracted Lyme disease right here in our state.
Skeptics may be unconvinced about these reports, dismissing them as anecdotal tales that, standing alone, dont prove a thing. In fact, to the dismay of suffering patients, these cases are sometimes reasoned away by many as false positives without a second thought. Weve found that once someone carefully examines all the data available about Lyme disease in the Southeast, however, even the most doubtful can agree that something is clearly going on here – something that warrants immediate scientific investigation.
Native cases of Lyme disease in the Southeast were definitely acknowledged by both federal and state public health officials in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Numerous scientists and medical providers have documented Lyme Borreliosis in our region through the years, as well.
Start with the fact that in 1989, Georgia ranked 4th highest in the nation in number of CDC-reported Lyme disease cases with a record 715 cases documented . In 1988 Georgia was 12th highest nationally and in 1990 we ranked 9th .
-photo, USDA Lyme antibodies found in GA deer suggest the organism’s presence here since at least 1971
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