Lifting lid on Lyme disease

May. 28, 2005 12:00 AM
Arizona Republic - Phoenix, AZ, USA

Regarding a recent "How I Did It" article in the Health & Wellness section about Lyme disease:

This was an important breakthrough in the wall of silence that has surrounded Lyme disease in the Valley.

Although it is true that the epidemic is much worse in my previous hometown in Connecticut (the Wilton Bulletin in the summer of '03 reported that 54 percent of families in that town had Lyme!), the prevailing attitude in this medical community is that Lyme is non-existent here. That mindset prevents patients who develop the disease from getting the necessary early diagnosis for successful treatment.

Many Phoenix residents travel to areas where the disease is more common, and frequently do not develop the telltale symptoms until after they return home. Many never notice a tick bite, or the classical "bull's eye" rash that should lead to a month of treatment without even a blood test.

The onset of the second phase of the disease is very unpredictable, and has earned Lyme the nickname "the Great Imitator." The current guidelines for diagnosis and treatment suggest that every new onset of any neurological or psychiatric syndrome should raise the suspicion of Lyme as a cause or an aggravating factor, but neurologists and psychiatrists here don't consider it. The cases of children are especially tragic, because they are frequently given drugs for what appears to be ADHD or autism, while the infection is in the treatable stage.

All over the country, selfless activists like Lisa Katz are courageously rising above their limitations to spread the word - without remuneration and with minimal acknowledgement.

Further articles to help others recognize their illness would be a great service. - Dr. Warren M. Levin, Phoenix