Did you know?

[chilli]

Just watched a screening of a documentary about Lyme disease. I recommend it to all outdoors people so you know the signs and can figure out the medical system enough to get diagnosed and properly treated. It is amazing to see the Bull politics in medicine these days.

<embed src='http://www.myproducer.tv//jw_media_player/mediaplayer.swf' height='350' width='530' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' flashvars='&autostart=true&bandwidth=7075&dock=false&file=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myproducer.tv%2FUploaded%2F816%2FFLV%2F03dae23a-228d-4c3b-aefd-0e1194fb28fd.flv&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myproducer.tv%2FUploaded%2F816%2FThumbs%2F03dae23a-228d-4c3b-aefd-0e1194fb28fd.png&level=0&plugins=viral-2d&quality=high'/>

[Syn]

Thanks for the heads up

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/06/04/f-lyme-disease-ticks.html

 

"How do ticks pass on the disease? Close-up of an adult female deer tick, dog tick, and a lone star tick. (Getty Images) Blacklegged ticks live for about two years. They have three feeding stages: larvae, nymph and adult. When a young tick feeds on an infected animal, it picks up a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. It's normally carried by mice, squirrels, birds and other small animals.

 

The bacterium then lives in the gut of the tick. If you are the tick's next meal after it's ingested infected blood, you could show symptoms in three to 30 days.

 

Most cases are reported in late spring and summer, when the young ticks are most active and people are outdoors more often. Ticks often feed on deer but don't infect them very often. Deer are important to the tick population because they provide them with a lot of food — and a mode of transportation over long distances, which is important in maintaining the tick population.

 

Health Canada estimates that about 10 per cent of blacklegged ticks in any infected area carry the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.

 

 

What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?

The first sign that you may be infected is a circular rash surrounding the spot where the tick bit you. It'll show up between three and 30 days after the tick helped itself to your blood. The rash may be followed by symptoms like fatigue, chills, fever, headache, muscle and joint pain and swollen lymph nodes.

 

If left untreated, the disease can progress to a second phase, which can last several months. Symptoms in the second phase include migraines, weakness, multiple skin rashes, painful or stiff joints, abnormal heartbeat and extreme fatigue.

 

Still not seeking treatment? Well, it's highly unlikely that you will die, but you may suffer symptoms such as chronic arthritis and neurological symptoms, including headaches, dizziness, numbness and paralysis.

 

 

Is there a cure?

Lyme disease is generally easy to treat with antibiotics in its early stages. But if left too long, treatment may involve several rounds of antibiotics.

 

 

How do I protect myself?

Make yourself a difficult meal for a tick.

 

Nova Scotia zoologist Andrew Hebda notes that ticks aren't very active. They can't leap at you as you walk by. But if you brush up against them, they can latch on to you. Hebda recommends that you stay on trails and avoid deep bush.

 

Health Canada offers several tips, including:

 

• If infected ticks are in your area, wear long-sleeved shirts that fit tightly around the wrist, and long-legged pants tucked into socks or boots. Light-coloured clothing makes it easier to see if there are any ticks on your clothes.
• Wear shoes that cover your entire foot - avoid sandals in areas where ticks might be.
• Use insect repellents that contain DEET to repel ticks. Repellents can be applied to clothing as well as exposed skin.

How easy is it spot a tick?

Adult ticks are about two- to five-millimetres long and are not too difficult to spot. But in their nymph form, they are the size of a poppy seed. At this stage, the nymph requires a blood meal to reach adulthood.

 

"Basically look for freckles that move," Hebda said.

 

 

What should I do if I find a tick?

If the tick is embedded in your skin, Hebda says, using tweezers, carefully remove it without detaching its mouth. It's virtually impossible to identify species of ticks without the mouth part. Health Canada labs will not analyze ticks if they are missing the mouth.

 

"If you can't remove it," Hebda says, "see your family physician."

 

 

Do ticks tend to seek out specific areas of the body?

Blacklegged ticks need about 48 hours for a proper feeding. Hebda says they tend to seek out more secluded parts of your body, like "behind the knees and points further north."

 

Hebda adds, despite the risk, there's absolutely no reason you should avoid the woods or stay away from trails.

 

"When you come in, just wipe yourself off and take a gander, see if there's anything moving."

 

 

What other steps can I take to minimize the risk?

There are several steps you can take to make sure your yard does not become a haven for ticks that might be able to infect you with Lyme disease.

 

• Keep grass on your property well cut to reduce the amount of habitat suitable for ticks.
• Remove leaves and brush around your house and at the edges of lawns.
• Create a barrier of wood chips between lawns and wooded areas to restrict the migration of ticks. Ticks love cool, damp areas. They hate hot, dry places.
• Check your pets regularly for ticks.
• Keep the ground around bird feeders clean.
• Stack wood neatly and in dry areas.
• Keep playground equipment, decks and patios away from the edge of your yard and away from trees.
• Discourage deer: if they come on your property, don't feed them. Construct barriers to prevent them from coming on to your property.

Are there other illnesses that can be passed on by ticks?

Yes. Ticks can pass on more than just Lyme disease. These include:

 

• Human granulocytic anaplasmosis — a disease that is often difficult to diagnose because symptoms can be non-specific. Most people experience headaches, fever, chills, myalgia and an overall sensation of not feeling well.
• Human babesiosis — a malaria-like infection first identified in the U.S. on Nantucket Island in Massachusettes. Powassan encephalitis virus — a potentially deadly disease named for the Ontario town where it was first diagnosed. There have been as many as 27 cases across North America since 1958.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/06/04/f-lyme-disease-ticks.html#ixzz0nmIuDJvo"

 

 

[ketchenany]

A wellknown member of our community passed away from the lyme disease not to long ago. An avid hunter.

[12footspringbok]

Be careful out there this summer. Picking weeds in your backyard or bushwacking to some back lakes up north protect yourself. Lyme is everywhere and the situation is only getting worse.

[Twocoda]

A wellknown member of our community passed away from the lyme disease not to long ago. An avid hunter.

 

 

within the last year there was a thread regarding the possibility of one of our members of possibly being mis-diagnosed....is this the same person you are referring to ????

If so ....holy crap !!!! my deapest condolences to his family and friends

[chilli]

It is also known that less than 50% of adults present a rash and less than 10% in children. Deer ticks are not the only thing that can transfer the bacterium and there is a question as to whether it can be sexually transmitted. Mothers have passed it on to their fetuses.

 

It has also recently been discovered the Borrelia bacteria can hide within your cells. It is one of the most complex organisms and reacts differently in each person depending on their immune systems. It also can create a bio film and hide within it. It does not like oxygen rich blood and will leave the bloodstream in favour of your brain, skin or other hiding places not detected in standard blood tests.

 

Misdiagnosis is no surprise after watching this documentary. If you live in the Niagara Pen you can catch a free screening at the Ridgeway Theater on December 24th at 7pm. There will be a guest speaker from http://www.canlyme.com for Q&A. Putting on these free screenings is Melisa Young of Fort Erie who was misdiagnosed for years. Her blog can be found at http://lymetickingtimebomb.blogspot.com/

 

Hey if we can help one person who thinks they have MS or many other diseases it mimics find relief with this information, then this website is doing it's job. Spread the word and have another good look at Lyme.

 

Edited May 13, 2010 by chilli

[walleyejack]

Its awfull, my neighbour who is about 28 or so contracted it last summer and went for tests and all kinds of things and the docs did not know what he had or was going on with him,just before Christmas he was diagnosed with lyme disease,he is self employed as a chiropractor and is hardly working at all,has no energy,wears an intravenous bag and the last time i talked to him appears to be depressed,but who wouldn t be,I asked him how long does this take to run or get rid of ? he said about another yr to yr and a half, that would depress me, 2 young kids and a wife, nasty stuff.It is sad the docs could not detect it and catch it much earlier and he could have avoided some of this.An avid hunter and fisher, but that is all on hold now,as i am sure much of his life is,I think the medical community need to be updated a little bit on some of these things. just my 2 pennies worth.

[ehg]

 

Hey if we can help one person who thinks they have MS or many other diseases it mimics find relief with this information.

 

Apparently the tick population is exploding in Southern Ontario. MS is brutal and permanent, if Lyme disease mimics it most should do their best to be alerted. Thanks for drawing attention to this.

[chilli]

Some of the reasons for misdiagnoses other than it mimics other diseases:

• There have been no reported cases in your area
  

That's because you have to travel to Toronto to get a positive test or see a specialist. Even though Melisa contracted Lyme while hunting in her home town of Fort Erie, her case was registered as a Toronto case.

• You didn't have the bullseye rash
  

Stats show less than half of people with Lyme ever had a bullseye rash.

• There are no deer ticks in your area
  

There have not been any extensive studies carried out in most areas; only those which they already knew deer tick populations were high.

 

The list goes on. The medical industry is not only in denial but they are corrupt. The movie shows how the majority of a panel of doctors who decide how to screen for Lyme and treat it have a conflict of interest as they hold patents on Lyme research, testing procedures and medication. To change the way we test for and treat Lyme would cost them their investment!

 

Doctors who actually try to help and order tests that work and use medications that work are having their licences revoked for operating outside of prescribed guidelines. In order to have your licence reviewed and revoked there has to be a complaint. Problem is that family physicians and patients are not complaining; insurance companies are. The Doctors who make up the Lyme panel have a monopoly and it's cheaper for insurance companies to uphold that monopoly then to cure or even admit you have Lyme.

 

There were two articles printed about it today in Niagara newspapers. Both received information from the public health department and both said the sickness starts with a bullseye rash and it can only be obtained from deer ticks. There needs to be a change in the way we receive our reporting.

 

Remember DDT's? Remember how it killed off so many birds and bugs and see how certain things are returning with a vengeance since DDT's started wearing off? Cormorants, bedbugs and birds of prey are all on a huge upswing. I think we're going to see ticks at the top of the come back list but without the help and open minds of the medical industry and health department we will be unable to find sufficient treatment.

 

Get informed!

[ketchenany]

within the last year there was a thread regarding the possibility of one of our members of possibly being mis-diagnosed....is this the same person you are referring to ????

If so ....holy crap !!!! my deapest condolences to his family and friends

 

 

No it isn't, but I did correspond with that person, he's from Barrie.

 

He was in my thoughts when this post was created.

[12footspringbok]

within the last year there was a thread regarding the possibility of one of our members of possibly being mis-diagnosed....is this the same person you are referring to ????

If so ....holy crap !!!! my deapest condolences to his family and friends

 

I've been in contact with Tambo and he's definatly not dead! He is having a bit of a rough time with the treatment though. The antibiotics can be hard on the liver and sometimes you're forced to have a break from them causing the patient to backslide...

 

As for the bullseye rash the doc that i seen in TO told me less than 30% of his patients remember having the rash or seeing a tick biting them.

 

99% of Doctors here in Canada don't have a frigging clue about lyme disease or they simply don't want to treat it for fear of being shut down. I seen a doctor in Barrie a few months ago because i had suspected lyme after catching the "flu" that never went away last August after a camping trip. He asked me where i got the idea any of my symptoms were lyme related. I told him i had been reading up about it on CANLYME and the ILADS website. He told me they were wrong and to stop reading these things because they are just giving me anxiety. What a joke i left his office shortly after that.... The testing in Canada is a joke and even the testing performed at the specialty labs in the states aren't perfect.

 

Don't think it can't or won't happen to you because it can and will if you aren't careful. Just as someone else here had mentioned tick bites arent the only way to catch it.

[tambo]

thanks for pointing this out 12ft!

 

i'm still here and being treated for lyme with heavy abx

 

i had the rash but had no idea

im really glad there is a lot more publicity going on

 

just be aware. i think i contracted hunting partridge in parry sound

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been in contact with Tambo and he's definatly not dead! He is having a bit of a rough time with the treatment though. The antibiotics can be hard on the liver and sometimes you're forced to have a break from them causing the patient to backslide...

 

As for the bullseye rash the doc that i seen in TO told me less than 30% of his patients remember having the rash or seeing a tick biting them.

 

99% of Doctors here in Canada don't have a frigging clue about lyme disease or they simply don't want to treat it for fear of being shut down. I seen a doctor in Barrie a few months ago because i had suspected lyme after catching the "flu" that never went away last August after a camping trip. He asked me where i got the idea any of my symptoms were lyme related. I told him i had been reading up about it on CANLYME and the ILADS website. He told me they were wrong and to stop reading these things because they are just giving me anxiety. What a joke i left his office shortly after that.... The testing in Canada is a joke and even the testing performed at the specialty labs in the states aren't perfect.

 

Don't think it can't or won't happen to you because it can and will if you aren't careful. Just as someone else here had mentioned tick bites arent the only way to catch it.

[chilli]

A good read that explains it better than I can.

http://www.examiner.com/x-32060-Toronto-Holistic-Health-Examiner~y2010m5d7-Lyme-disease-in-Toronto--The-Ticks-are-back

 

Also from Melisa Young; the woman who inspired me to wrie my paper about lime:

I can only say that I don't think I even count as a Toronto case yet - as we use a very inaccurate 2-tiered testing for screening of Lyme Disease here in Canada - the ELISA is the first and the worst test - never meant to be a diagnostic test for Lyme- the lab techs send back a neg or pos to Dr's who don't see any other results and if you aren't a pos with that inaccurate ELISA you will not get the secondWestern Blot test (used in the US...and Dr's there say IT IS NOT accurate!!) Hhhhmmmm! And we wonder why Canada reports so few cases a year when for example Maine has already reported a 300% (yes that is correct) increase in Lyme disease cases this year!!

 

Did I mention I was holding a fundraiser in Niagara for Doc Feelgood on May 29th? We'll be at the Lazy Lizzard restaurant in St Catharines at 7 pm just off the Ontario St offramp. We have 20 on the guest list so far with a $20 headcharge that covers all you can eat pizza and wings. $12 goes to the restaurant and $8 goes to the Doc so he can get a decent test done and prescriptions and travel expense to Hamilton and back. If the Doc finds out he does not need the money we will donate it to the Lyme Disease Association of Ontario for an awareness campaign. I don't want to spam but the sign up is on NFN. If you want in let me know ASAP even by PM here so I can give the Lizzard an approximate head count. Donations of raffle prizes are appreciated as is the tradition with our get togethers for fundraising.