Full article: http://www.amc.edu/amr/archives/200606/case1.html

Excerpt:

A 52-year-old male marathon runner with a past medical history significant for glaucoma presented to the emergency department with a two-week history of increasing fatigue after an episode of syncope.

He initially presented to his primary care doctor’s office complaining of flu like symptoms one week after running a marathon and three weeks prior to admission. He described fever, chills, night sweats, increasing fatigue and body aches. He was noted to be an avid runner who had finished within the top five to ten athletes in prior marathons. He stated that despite training intensely, he only finished in 50th place. During this visit, a chest x-ray was obtained which showed no evidence of pneumonia or other abnormalities. He was diagnosed with a minor viral upper respiratory tract infection and over the following week began to notice improvement of his symptoms.

He returned to the office two weeks after the initial visit with worsening fatigue and decreased exercise tolerance. He had become increasingly short of breath after running more than 2 milles. A serologic test for Lyme disease was performed to rule out Lyme carditis after an EKG showed first-degree heart block.

Full article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2010.0563.x/abstract

Excerpt:

Suspected Needle Stick Transmission of Bartonella vinsonii

subspecies berkhoffii to a Veterinarian

1. A.M. Oliveira¹,
2. R.G. Maggi¹,
3. C.W. Woods²,
4. E.B. Breitschwerdt¹

Article first published online: 2 AUG 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2010.0563.x

Full article: http://ijms.sums.ac.ir/files/PDFfiles/11-Dr_%20Pouladfar.pdf

Excerpt:

Tick-borne relapsing fever is an endemic disease in some parts
of Iran. Borellia persica, the most common cause of this dis-
ease in Iran, has a wide geographic distribution and is present
in Alborz and Zagros mountain chains.
Here we report a 16ñyear-old male patient who presented
with two episodes of fever within 15 days. He had a history of
few overnight stays in a cave of mountainous area in Fars
province. Sites of tick bites were found on exposed areas of
extremities. Spirochetes were detected in Wright-stained
smears of the patient’s peripheral blood. He was successfully
treated with penicillin. To the best of our knowledge, there has
been no reported case of tick-borne relapsing fever from Fars
province in the literature during the last 28 years.
Tick-borne relapsing fever should be considered in patients
with recurrent fever and peripheral blood smear should be in-
vestigated for spirochetes. Further seroepidemiologic studies
should be carried out to determine the prevalence of this disease
in Fars province.

Full article: http://adv.medicaljournals.se/article/pdf/10.2340/00015555-0756

Excerpt:

An 11-year-old boy presented in February 2008 with a facial
erythematosus was repeatedly suspected and the boy was
referred for further examinations. A detailed medical history
did not reveal any arthralgia, fever, malaise, exanthema,
intense exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light in the period one
to three weeks before onset of the rash.

Excerpt:

Connie Bennett

Special to AOL News

(May 28) — We’re in the midst of a terrifying epidemic, although you wouldn’t know it to talk to most doctors and health specialists.

The disease is growing at a rate faster than AIDS. From 2006 to 2008 alone, the number of cases jumped a whopping 77 percent. In 2008 alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed 28,921 “confirmed” and 6,277 “probable” cases of the disease, but there could be as many as 420,000 because of underreporting.

Prominent victims include Parker Posey, Richard Gere, President George W. Bush, Alice Walker and Christie Brinkley.

If any other disease had stricken so many people, the medical community would be scurrying for knowledge, scrambling for cures or rushing to warn patients (think swine flu).

But that’s not the case with Lyme disease — a disease carried by ticks.

Instead, ill-informed doctors are often flummoxed when patients complain of fatigue, headaches, fever or chills, muscle or joint pain, mental confusion, swollen lymph nodes and neurological symptoms. It’s an appalling display of indifference.

As Lyme Disease Awareness Month comes to a close and Memorial Day travelers flock to grassy, tick-infested holiday spots across America, vacationers and physicians alike need to be on the alert for freckle-sized menaces that are responsible for the fastest-growing, most misdiagnosed infectious disease in the country. The CDC has a map that shows where the ticks are most prevalent.

For my part, I was lucky because my smart nutritionist friend, JJ Virgin, immediately grew suspicious when, almost overnight, I became an exhausted, headache-ridden, nightmare-plagued, memory-challenged zombie suffering from vertigo, sleeping problems, swollen glands, achy eyes, sensitivity to light and noise, fever, chills and a sore neck.

Linda’s comments….ok folks LISTEN UP and pay attention….Dr Gordon sent this post to his private health care professionals email group commenting on what Dr Mercola had sent to his newsletter lists….IT IS ALL TRUE…..I like the idea of organizing either patient office base, OR parents who are concerned….If you do organize a group make sure you research your STATE LAWS on vaccinations….also check the State Laws where your child will attend college.  It is time we ALL start taking a stand against being forced by the government and schools to take the toxic vaccines…..Personally I would NEVER advise anyone to take vaccines….my heart breaks for our military …they are forced and a large percentage of them become very sick and are a mess when discharged from the military….what is worse is our federal government DROPS THEM ON THEIR HEAD AND DON’T CARE……

Continued

Excerpt:

If you have multiple sclerosis (MS)––or you know someone who does––you probably remember how long it took to make the diagnosis.  You also may remember a lot of blood tests, a lumbar puncture, at least one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, as well as many visits and examinations by various doctors.  You may wonder why it still takes so long to make the diagnosis in this modern age of MRIs and other sophisticated tests.  We are going to try to explain why it can be so difficult for even the most expert MS neurologist to determine that someone has MS.  You have to live with the diagnosis and face the disease and the treatments.  You should understand and have confidence in the diagnosis.  Also, if your case of MS does not fit the typical pattern, you need to be aware of the other disorders that can mimic MS.  This is important because the treatments may be very different and, just as in most cases of MS, treatment begun early in the course of the disease is the best way to prevent or slow further neurologic damage.

MRI and new laboratory tests have definitely helped speed the diagnosis, but it still takes longer than anyone would wish, even in easy cases.  This is partly because of the variable nature of the disease in its many signs and symptoms. But it is also because a rather long list of other medical disorders can cause neurologic symptoms and signs that resemble MS. Furthermore, the “white spots” on brain MRI can be caused by a number of other conditions that also need to be ruled out.

The diagnosis of clinically definite MS requires that a person experience at least two neurologic symptoms of the type seen in MS, in two different areas of the central nervous system (CNS), at two different times (‘disseminated in space and time’).  Most typically, the symptoms are optic neuritis plus either an abnormal sensation or a problem with movement.  It can also be numbness in one part of the body and weakness or lack of coordination in another.  But in every case, there can be no other explanation for the symptoms, the changes seen on the MRI, and the abnormalities in the spinal fluid.  Many “mimics” need to be ruled out in order to make the diagnosis of MS. 

Linda’s comments:  Tick population exploding isn’t just on the East coast, it is US wide.  More and more ER’s are reporting a BIG increase with tick bites.   More importantly, you don’t have to have a tick bite to get Lyme disease.  BEWARE and pay attention when in the great outdoors.

Full article: http://www.newburyportnews.com/punews/local_story_099222830.html

Excerpt:

NEWBURYPORT — Deer ticks have been appearing in huge numbers throughout the region, raising concerns about Lyme disease.

All along the East Coast, health experts have seen a sudden and dramatic increase in ticks.

“Just in the past week or two, we have seen an explosion in deer ticks,” said Dr. Heidi Bassler, medical director of the Veterinary Center of Greater Newburyport.

The unusually warm weather and record-setting rains have helped bolster the tick population. Hospitals, such as Addison-Gilbert in Gloucester, have experienced a surge in tick bite cases. Normally, the hospital sees one or two cases per day; now it is seeing eight or 10.

There are two different kinds of ticks that are predominant in the region. Dog ticks are about the size of a pencil eraser; deer ticks, the more dangerous species, are closer to the size of a pen point.

With a single bite, deer ticks can transmit Lyme disease, symptoms of which include a debilitating complex of fever, headache, fatigue and depression, and two other illnesses of similar symptoms.

Ticks are mostly found in woods and fields. High grass, including dune grass, is one of their favored habitats.

Full article: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/18/394678/lyme-disease-found-in-wake.html#ixzz0iaCT9D44

Excerpt:

RALEIGH — As the weather warms and walks through tick-laden woods beckon, state officials have confirmed that Wake County is among the North Carolina counties where Lyme disease is a known threat.

The state Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that in 2009 two cases of the tick-borne disease were found in patients who had not left the county during the 30 days before they contracted the infection.

Four similar cases were confirmed in the state last year, health officials said: one each in Wilkes, Wilson, Pitt and Carteret counties.

Excerpt:

The aim of this study is to report three cases of patients with
endometriosis and infertility, and associated with Lyme disease.
The medical files of 405 women with endometriosis and 200 without
endometriosis were studied retrospectively. We report 3 cases
with endometriosis and Lyme disease. Of 405 patients with
endometriosis treated in our study over a 6-year period, 3(0.8%)
had Lyme disease. All cases presented with typical erythema
migraines, fever and fatigue. The serological findings were
positive for Borrelia burgdorferi, for 3 cases. Two out of 3
women underwent IVF-ET procedures and one of them conceived in
the first cycle without complication during pregnancy or after
childbirth recorded. We concluded that women with endometriosis
are more likely to have chronic fatigue syndrome, systemic lupus
erythematous, Sjogren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple
sclerosis, and other autoimmune inflammatory and endocrine
diseases. A review of the literature confirms the uniqueness of
the co-existence of Lyme disease in women with endometriosis in
these cases.