20 Reasons Why Lyme Disease Is Underdiagnosed

By on Sep 7, 2010 in Infections

Full article:  http://lyme.kaiserpapers.org/20-reasons-why-lyme-disease-is-undiagnosed.html

Excerpt:

Note to Reader;
This paper was written to outline some of the problems associated with the diagnosis of Lyme disease. It turned out much longer than expected. The paper has been broken up into brief sections. A two page summary is available. Link to two page summary

In 1993, Allen Steere MD, a rheumatologist, wrote a paper titled “The Overdiagnosis of Lyme Disease.” His conclusions were based on a sampling of the serum of patients run through his laboratory. Most of these patients’ serum samples were negative in his laboratory while positive in other laboratories. An obvious defect in this study is that Steere was comparing an unreliable test done in his laboratory with the same unreliable test done in outside laboratories. Therefore, the entire basis for this study is flawed. Also, for this study, Steere discarded Lyme disease victims who did not meet his biased and exclusionary definition of Lyme disease. 

Steere’s study was promptly and expertly criticized shortly following its publication.

Nevertheless, Steere’s paper has had an oppressive effect on the diagnosis of Lyme disease which, in turn, has caused much harm to Lyme disease victims and is, at least, partially responsible for destroying countless lives and causing unnecessary deaths.