Guest guest Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Thank you. I know a man who has these symptoms--lives in Phoenix--and developed them after he had been digging in the dirt. I am going to call him right now and have already sent the articles to him. He started tingling in his throat, choking and broke out in " eczema " and has been told his immune system is overly stimulated. I bet it is. tigerpaw2c <tigerpaw2c@...> wrote: The Orphan Disease A cure for valley fever is a non-profit proposition Biggs Republic http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0102biggsv alleyfever.html columnist Jan. 2, 2007 12:00 AM Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ You would think that someone who has lived in the Valley of the Sun since 1959 would have contracted valley fever decades ago and developed immunity. You'd be wrong. Last fall, after visiting a doctor several times for symptoms that kept changing but kept making me miserable, I was diagnosed with coccidioidomycosis - the real name for valley fever. The disease is caused by inhaling a coccidioides immitis fungal spore, which inside the lungs grows and multiplies and generally wreaks havoc on the body. The good news is it's not contagious. The bad news is it is often misdiagnosed and can, in some cases, be fatal. By the time my doctor figured it out, the fungus had caused painful, lumpy swelling in my ankles. I'm on medication for at least six months - medication that will not cure the valley fever. Our bodies have to fight off the fungus on their own; the anti-fungal medication only helps stanch the spread of the disease. The only reason I'm sharing this personal medical information is that I've realized how little most people know about the disease, even though we live in an area where the fungus thrives in the soil. In my non-medical opinion, it's not only a weird disease, but also a surprisingly misunderstood disease by people who live here. So I was glad to hear that Congress passed a bill recently that includes $40 million toward research on a vaccine against valley fever. Our Arizona delegates need to advocate for stronger federal support in fighting this disease. Our state legislators also need to do more to ensure the health of their residents. Beyond that, we need to better educate the people living in Arizona. Dr. Galgiani, director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence in Tucson, calls it an " orphan disease " because nationally there are too few cases to make it profitable for pharmaceutical companies to develop better drugs. But half of all the infections occur in Maricopa County, so perhaps we should adopt the orphan and manage it better. Or at least understand it. Most people think, as I did, that if you've lived here for more than a few years you've already inhaled the fungal spore and fought it off without even knowing it. They think they are safe. And who would know to link such disparate symptoms as a cough, swollen ankles and a skin rash to that day spent digging up dirt a couple months earlier? Most doctors don't necessarily think of valley fever when presented with a patient who's feeling ill. Early symptoms include fatigue, low-grade fever, cough, chest pain, muscle and joint aches, loss of appetite and night sweats. Some people develop a skin rash. According to the Galgiani, about two-thirds of those who contract the disease have only mild symptoms and don't even visit a doctor. He estimates that the 5,000 diagnosed cases from 2006 represent about 50,000 cases where people visited doctors but were not properly diagnosed. Those are pretty bad odds. There's no consensus on treatment, either. Some doctors treat everyone; others hold off, figuring the patient will get better without medication. But those who don't fight it off early face possible organ damage and spinal meningitis, which can be deadly. " The problem is there are no clinical studies to tell us what to do, " Galgiani said. " It's not that there's bad data; there's no data. It's embarrassing. " He's working to change that, but of course funding is the key. I've learned a lot about valley fever in the past few months. I still think it's a weird disease. And it's ours. We need to get serious about fighting it. Reach the writer at patricia.biggs@... or (602) 444- 7961. __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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