alfreda89 | The politics of Lyme Disease:

[I should state that none of you have ever said this (And you thought I was exaggerating....) to me personally.] I'm thinking of doctors who will remain unnamed.

http://www.myleftnutmeg.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8493

The best condensation of the politics of Lyme Disease that I've yet seen. Here's just from the comments:

Simple explanation: why short course antibiotics don't work (0.00 / 0)

"The division time of Borrelia burgdorferi is very long. Most other pathogens such as Streptococcus, or Staphylococcus, only take 20 minutes to double, the doubling time of Borrelia burgdorferi is usually estimated to be 12-24 hours. Since most antibiotics are cell wall agent inhibitors, they can only kill bacteria when the bacteria begins to divide and form new cell wall.(35,59-62)

This means: Since most antibiotics can only kill bacteria when they are dividing, a slow doubling time means less lethal exposure to antibiotics. Most bacteria are killed in 10-14 days of antibiotic. To get the same amount of lethal exposure during new cell wall formation of a Lyme spirochete, the antibiotic would have to be present 24 hours a day for 1 year and six months!"

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Wow. I mean, I knew that Lyme disease was a tough nut to crack, but knowing why is like, well.... Knowing why is really interesting to me.

I love knowing why!!! Why about anything.

Hmm, they say "most" antibiotics only kill when the cells are multiplying. I wonder what the other antibiotics do, and if they are a viable alternative.

See? One why answer leads to more why questions. It's insatiable, my curiosity.

Lyme has multiple forms. There's the spirochete form you usually see in articles, there's a spore form (a therapist could feel tiny bumps in my muscles...very weird, I wondered if it was the disease) and a cell wall deficient form as well.

Which is another reason I'm on the "rotation" treatment. The Lyme changes form to hide from the antibiotic -- and we nail it with an antibiotic used for another form.

I am seriously tired of all this....

arrrgh. It really drives me nuts when people get so dogmatic that they try to block new information.
I have seen articles in which they claim that no illness needs prolonged antibiotics. But isn't that the protocol for TB?

Definitely reminds me of the CFIDs-deniers (who are subsiding these days). I always wondered, what fills them with such passion to tell sick people that they aren't sick?

My doctor said to me that it's a minimum 18 months for TB. It takes forever when treating syphilis, too.

Here's a scary stat for you:

T. pallidum (syphilis) has 22 functioning genes.
B. burgdorferi (Lyme) has at least 132 functioning genes. There may be more.

How can anyone in their right mind CLOSE their mind to the possibility that Bb has a great deal in common with TB and syphilis? And must be treated accordingly in people whose condition was missed immediately after exposure?

Will these people let their loved ones deteriorate into a wheelchair, or mental breakdown, or death -- because they refuse to believe that the threat is real?

Years ago I came across an article about the different ways Lyme presents in different geographical areas. In the Soviet Union for example, it presented predominantly as a neurological disease. Apparently there are different 'races' of Lyme and if you pick it up while traveling, it is even more difficult to get it diagnosed!

Very interesting -- and so true. Doctors will tell you "We don't have Lyme in XXX" and then you say: "But I spent a week in YYY, and they DO have Lyme, so could you run a Western Blot for me, please?" Then, if they WILL run it, they want an ELISA, which is useless as a diagnostic tool.

I think I'll look for that article, if I can find it. We have something like over 300 different ticks in the US (and there are also ones that are regional, like Lone Starii (sp?), with its own disease) and the craziness goes on and on.

The politics of Lyme Disease:

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