Re: "The whole thing with Lyme disease really is diagnosis and treatment,"

This is what he said, dammit.
K

kathleen wrote:
> "The whole thing with Lyme disease really is diagnosis and treatment,"
> said David Weld, executive director of the American Lyme Disease
> Foundation. "If caught early, you can prevent later-stage problems."
>
>
> ----------------
> Don't Take Lyme Disease Lightly
> The tick-borne illness remains a serious threat, experts caution
>
> The mention of West Nile virus can send some people into an unwarranted
> panic.
>
> But did you know that Lyme disease infected more than 23,000 Americans
> in 2002, more than double the number of those infected by West Nile?
>
> Both are insect-borne diseases, both can have a debilitating effect on
> the human body, and both are continuing their relentless spread into
> new areas of the country.
>
> So why do headlines seem to scream every new case of West Nile virus,
> while Lyme disease is met with a "ho-hum" shrug?
>
> Doctors believe the explanation lies in the fact that West Nile virus
> can kill -- taking 264 lives in 2003 -- while Lyme disease is
> considered potentially debilitating but not fatal.
>
> "The whole thing with Lyme disease really is diagnosis and treatment,"
> said David Weld, executive director of the American Lyme Disease
> Foundation. "If caught early, you can prevent later-stage problems."
>
> Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. These
> bacteria are transmitted to humans through the bite of infected deer
> ticks, and caused 23,763 infections in the United States in 2002,
> according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
>
> Lyme disease was discovered in 1977 when arthritis was observed in
> children in Lyme, Conn.
>
> People with Lyme disease generally have a rash in the shape of a
> bulls-eye at the site of infection, and also can suffer from such
> symptoms as fever, malaise, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and joint
> aches. The incubation period from infection to the onset of the rash is
> typically seven to 14 days but may be as short as three days and as
> long as 30 days.
>
> If left untreated, more dire symptoms can arise: arthritis, mainly in
> the large joints; neurologic abnormalities, such as aseptic meningitis,
> facial palsy, motor and sensory nerve inflammation and inflammation of
> the brain; and cardiac problems, such as an enlarged heart or acute
> inflammation of the tissues surrounding the heart.
>
> Doctors treat Lyme disease using oral antibiotics, or intravenous
> antibiotics if the disease has progressed to its later stages, said Dr.
> Peter Welch, an infectious disease doctor at Northern Westchester
> Hospital Center in Mount Kisco, N.Y.
>
> "The most common reason for intravenous treatment is if the disease has
> invaded the nervous system," Welch said. "The pills don't penetrate
> into the nervous system as well."
>
> There is some debate among doctors over whether Lyme disease is
> completely curable.
>
> "There's one school of medical thought that antibiotics should be given
> for months or years, and that the disease is not curable," Welch said.
> "I'm not in that camp."
>
> Welch believes the human body can be rid of the bacteria with proper
> weeks-long treatment using antibiotics.
>
> In 2002, the latest year for available statistics, 95 percent of Lyme
> disease cases were from the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
> Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
> York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
>
> However, the disease continues to crop up in new areas, mainly where
> both deer and human populations are growing, Weld said.
>
> "In the last two years, five or six counties just north of San
> Francisco have been identified as a real hot spot," he said. "There are
> a lot of deer there, and a lot of people.
>
> People likely to catch Lyme disease are those who enjoy outdoor
> activities, such as hiking, camping or fishing, or live or work in
> residential areas surrounded by tick-infested woods or overgrown brush.
> Individuals engaged in outdoor occupations, including landscaping,
> forestry, and wildlife and parks management in endemic areas, may also
> be at risk, health officials said.
>
> To protect yourself against Lyme disease, doctors recommend, first,
> that you avoid places likely to be infested with ticks, particularly in
> the spring and summer. Deer ticks favor a moist, shaded environment,
> especially areas with leaf litter and low-lying vegetation in wooded,
> brushy or overgrown grassy locales, according to the CDC.
>
> People who do venture into tick habitats should wear light-colored
> clothing to help spot ticks. Wearing long-sleeved shirts and tucking
> pants into socks or boot tops can help keep ticks from reaching your
> skin.
>
> Welch also recommends the use of insect repellents containing DEET,
> although he added that the best way to prevent Lyme disease is to
> perform frequent tick checks.
>
> "Remember that if ticks are removed before they've been attached for 48
> hours, they usually do not transmit the disease," he said. "If you find
> a tick on you and remove it, only about 2 percent of those bites result
> in Lyme disease."
>
> One of the newer advances in the fight against Lyme disease has been
> technology to help eliminate ticks, Weld said.
>
> The Lyme foundation promotes the use of a bait station that lures deer
> in with corn, then coats their ears and neck with insecticide while
> they feed. Two studies have found that a station can eliminate up to 98
> percent of the ticks in a given area, he said.
>
> "It's the ultimate answer, from my viewpoint," Weld said.
>
> More information
>
> American Lyme Disease Foundation
>
> To learn more about Lyme disease, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease
> Control and Prevention.
>
> Story from REDNOVA NEWS:
> http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=153766
>
> Published: 2005/06/04 10:52:44 CDT
>
> © Rednova 2004

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