Lyme
disease more than a simple bug
The
Journal News
Original
publication: December 14, 2006
Lyme disease more than a simple bug
In his Dec. 7 letter,
"Lyme guidelines protest misguided," Ira Schwartz,
professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and
Immunology at New York Medical College, wrote that the hundreds
of participants in the Nov. 30 rally against new Lyme disease
diagnosis and treatment guidelines were partly misguided because
"the infection can only be acquired after a tick bite."
If that were true,
the American Red Cross, the Food and Drug Administration and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would not stop
Lyme disease patients from donating blood. This is in their
guidelines: "Lyme disease: If this is a chronic condition
you cannot donate. If you were treated with antibiotics and
completely recovered, you can donate 12 months after the last
dose of antibiotics was taken." This same information is
posted on the CDC Web site (cdc.gov). American Red Cross also
states that anyone who has ever had babesia can never donate
blood. Babesia is another tick-borne disease, often a co-infection
with Lyme and other diseases. Other studies have found Borrelia
burgdorferi spirochetes (the bacteria that causes Lyme disease)
in mother's milk and in newborns. While the CDC does not confirm
those studies, it does state on its Web site: "Lyme disease
acquired during pregnancy may lead to infection of the placenta
and possible stillbirth."
Obviously, Lyme disease
is not a simple bug caught in the backyard only.
Helen Jonsen
Chappaqua
Documented
evidence of chronic Lyme
Drs. Gary Wormser,
Robert Nadelman and Raymond Dattwyler and Professor Ira Schwartz
of the New York Medical College were dismayed by the Nov. 30
Lyme disease protest outside Westchester Medical Center in response
to the new Lyme disease treatment guidelines from the Infectious
Disease Society of America. Patients were protesting on the
basis that the guidelines would further restrict their access
to care and create a new generation of people with chronic Lyme.
I was not surprised
by the protest. I see it as a natural response to the new guidelines'
views that the symptoms of chronic Lyme disease are merely the
"aches and pains of daily living," and that chronic
Lyme disease may not even exist. Key evidence that chronic Lyme
disease remains a serious problem has already been published
in the evidence-based guidelines by the International Lyme and
Associated Diseases Society and listed at the U.S. government's
National Guideline Clearinghouse (guideline.gov).
In close to 20 years
of clinical practice, seeing the growth in the number of patients
with Lyme disease, I feel the solution to chronic Lyme disease
in my practice is to look for appropriate ways to care for my
patients and add to the body of knowledge about this complex
disease, rather than to deny its existence. You can obtain a
copy of the ILADS guidelines at ILADS.com
Daniel Cameron, M.D.
Mount Kisco
The writer is the chief author of "Evidence-based guidelines
for the management of Lyme disease," published by ILADS.
Thousands
suffer from chronic Lyme disease
There are thousands
upon thousands of people internationally who have been treated
and are significantly better as a direct result of longer-term
antibiotics (including my daughter). How is it that Dr. Gary
Wormser could not find even one patient? One has to wonder (even
a lay person like me) what Ira Schwartz and Dr. Wormser's motivations
are? It is quite clear that something else must be motivating
these two individuals to ignore the experience of the International
Lyme and Associated Diseases Society. The ILADS group has treated
hundreds of thousands of people with Lyme disease.
Interestingly, Schwartz'
letter focused on Dr. Wormser's literary credentials. My question
is, has he treated thousands upon thousands of patients with
chronic Lyme disease? There is no substitute for experience.
Of course, Dr. Wormser could not have treated thousands upon
thousands of Lyme patients. How could he? He doesn't even believe
chronic Lyme disease exists. So, if he has not treated patients
with chronic Lyme disease, how can one call him an expert on
it? Furthermore, we know there are 300 strains of Lyme disease
and then there are co-infections. We know that depending on
which strain and combination of co-infection one has that the
disease presents itself differently and might require different
treatment.
Reviewing 400 cases
of Lyme disease, as Dr. Wormser admits, is hardly adequate.
His findings are discredited on this point alone.
Marie Bess
Putnam Valley
**
[Note: These letters from the Journal News are in response to
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/LymeInfo/message/3536
entitled "Guidelines present a rational approach to Lyme
disease" and http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/LymeInfo/message/3526
entitled "Lyme guidelines protest misguided."]
**
Letters to the Editor:
letters@thejournalnews.com
[
