Fw: Tick expert shares Lyme disease views

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From: Dolores Claesson <dclaesson@...>

Subject: Tick expert shares Lyme disease views

" ph Breen " <jbreen@...>

Date: Monday, February 28, 2011, 1:30 PM

 

<http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/article_47ef8b60-422c-11e0-8a6d-001cc\

4c03286.html>

Tick expert shares Lyme disease views

By Amy Pearson / amy.pearson@... winonadailynews.com |

Posted: Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:00 am

Current methods used to diagnose and treat Lyme disease prevent some

patients from receiving necessary treatment, said one tick-borne disease

researcher.

Tom Grier, from Duluth, Minn., a biology and chemistry graduate from the

University of Minnesota, spoke Saturday morning at the Winona Public

Library about methods used to test for the disease and treatment

guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the

Infectious Disease Society of America.

" Everything is in place to create a disease that's hard to treat, " Grier

said.

Lyme patients should be diagnosed and receive treatment based on

symptoms, not on blood-work results, Grier said.

" We'd be better off if there had never been a test, " he said.

The blood tests used are problematic because they detect antibodies

produced by a body's immune system, not the bacteria that causes the

disease, Grier said. Within the first four to six weeks of infection,

patients won't test positive for the disease because not enough

antibodies are produced, he said.

As the disease progresses, Grier said, bacteria moves out of the

bloodstream and into a person's tissues. Antibodies can no longer be

detected at that point, rendering the tests useless, he said.

Patients would be better served if physicians focused on Lyme symptoms

and did away with blood work, Grier said.

For many Grier's more than 25 audience members, his presentation hit home.

Doctors diagnosed Sharon Kirkpatrick with the disease 20 years ago. Her

husband was infected 14 years later. Both have battled the disease since

they were diagnosed, she said.

IDSA guidelines now prevent Kirkpatrick and her husband from receiving

treatment at Winona Health specifically for Lyme disease. Previously,

they said they'd been receiving antibiotics in the past to control the

disease.

" I'm just getting sicker, " Kirkpatrick said.

Physicians at Winona Health voted in October to not treat patients who

may have symptoms similar to Lyme disease, but don't meet the criteria,

as if they have the disease. Winona Health opted to treat patients with

the disease only if they meet the guidelines set by the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention and the Infectious Disease Society of

America, according to an internal memo obtained by the Daily News. Many

other regional health centers also follow the same guidelines.

The health experts say Lyme disease patients should be treated with

antibiotics for about a month and that longer treatments put patients at

risk. In April, the IDSA released results of a four-year review into its

own standards for treatment that show extended treatment with

antibiotics can cause dangerous health complications, like blood

infection, diarrhea and other drug reactions.

But some Lyme disease patients say the affliction has long-lasting

effects. They want the health groups to adopt a broader definition of

the disease that recognizes antibiotics as an acceptable treatment, even

years after an initial diagnosis. Opponents say the guidelines ignore

the complexity of tick-borne illnesses and discount a number of people

who suffer ongoing symptoms.

Winona Health issued a one-paragraph e-mail response in December to its

adopted guidelines:

" Winona Health considers the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme Disease a

serious and important topic, " the statement read. " As we have done with

a number of medical conditions, we support evidence-based research and

protocols which are the established standard of care. "

Kirkpatrick said she believes the disease has attacked the tissue in her

husband's brain and caused severe dementia.

" He only knows he was once a teacher because I tell him he was, " she said.

Kirkpatrick said she is fearful that without antibiotics, her disease

will progress in a fashion similar to her husband's illness.

" There's an agenda out there to prevent antibiotics from being

overused, " Grier said, " and it's affecting the treatment of patients. "