Lyme Disease News and Research

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Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks; laboratory testing is helpful in the later stages of disease. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics. Steps to prevent Lyme disease include using insect repellent, removing ticks promptly, landscaping, and integrated pest management. The ticks that transmit Lyme disease can occasionally transmit other tick-borne diseases as well.

New evidence shows probiotics offer enormous potential for treatment of depression

Probiotics are not new, but their status as a nutritional buzzword is. Most folks have now heard and seen the term countless times in commercials and advertisements, as yogurt, dietary supplement, natural food product, and even cosmetic companies promote their probiotic-containing products.

20 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: The battle over one woman's medical story; why Mass. didn't see a wave of cancellations; politicians' love of anecdotes

Edie Littlefield Sundby may not have thought she'd ignite a national debate when the stage-4 cancer survivor asked us to publish her Monday op-ed on losing her oncologist due to the Affordable Care Act. But she certainly has, and it's important to understand why. Mrs. Sundby and millions like her must be denied their medical choices if ObamaCare is going to work as its liberal planners intend (11/6).

8 Nov 2013

FDA report reveals personal, professional devastation caused by cognitive dysfunctions of ME/CFS

PANDORA Org and other patient organizations say a recent report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shows the agency must take further action to open up opportunities for ME/CFS drug development.

4 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: Rove warns GOP that defunding could be 'self-defeating;' Jonathan Cohn says latest Obamacare fight reveals Republicans' will to overlook gains from law

Today, independents look more like Republicans than Democrats, especially when it comes to health care. In a new Crossroads GPS health-care policy survey conducted in 10 states likely to have competitive Senate races and in House districts that lean Republican or are swing seats, 60 percent of independents oppose President Obama's Affordable Care Act. If this holds through 2014, then Republicans should receive another big boost in the midterms. There is, however, one issue on which independents disagree with Republicans: using the threat of a government shutdown to defund ObamaCare (Karl Rove, 9/18).

20 Sep 2013

Rutgers scientist finds important clue on origins of multiple sclerosis

The search for the cause of multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease that affects up to a half million people in the United States, has confounded researchers and medical professionals for generations. But Steven Schutzer, a physician and scientist at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, has now found an important clue why progress has been slow - it appears that most research on the origins of MS has focused on the wrong part of the brain.

11 Sep 2013

Immunetics receives FDA clearance for BacTx rapid test for bacteria in apheresis platelets

mmunetics, Inc., a leading clinical test provider, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its BacTx® rapid test for bacteria in apheresis platelets. The BacTx system is a colorimetric assay that can detect aerobic, anaerobic, gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria in a single test.

20 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Obama overlooking legal constraints on employer mandate delay; Bush's 'unnecessary' heart procedure; discrimination against people with mental illnesses

In his Friday remarks, Mr. Obama also claimed that he had the "executive authority" for the mandate delay. But if he really believes that, then why did he say he would normally ask for a legislative "tweak." Either the fix requires legislation or it doesn't. His comments are certainly revealing about his attitudes on Presidential power and the constraints of the U.S. Constitution. Article II, Section 3 instructs him to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, not merely what he thinks is "the essence" of laws (8/10).

13 Aug 2013

Tick-borne diseases on the rise in US

With the summer months upon us, Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses are on the rise in the United States. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tick-borne diseases are increasing, with human cases expected to exceed 300,000 annually.

30 Jul 2013

Emergency physicians correctly identify nearly 100% of patients with Bell's palsy

Emergency physicians correctly identified nearly 100 percent of patients with Bell's palsy, the symptoms of which are nearly identical to potentially life-threatening diseases such as stroke and brain tumors.

26 Jul 2013

Ecology, evolution of infectious diseases to be highlighted at ESA's annual meeting

West Nile virus, Lyme disease and hantavirus. All are infectious diseases spreading in animals and in people. Is human interaction with the environment somehow responsible for the increase in these diseases? The ecology and evolution of infectious diseases will be highlighted at two symposia at the Ecological Society of America's annual meeting, held from Aug. 5-9 in Minneapolis, Minn.

29 Jun 2013

Two symposia focusing on infectious diseases to be held in Minnesota

Two symposia focusing on the ecological dynamics of infectious diseases such as avian influenza, Yellow Fever, and Lyme will take place during the Ecological Society of America's 98th Annual Meeting, held this year in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

29 Jun 2013

Weekend reading: Chemo revolution, Lyme disease confusion and the residency mismatch

Because I've lived so long with anxiety, there were lots of things I figured I'd never, ever do -; having children was one of them. In fact, in my 20s, before I'd managed to stumble on the combination of drugs and exercise that allows me to be as sane as I can expect to be, I was so sure I'd never give birth that I got a tattoo of a giant koi fish extending from one end of my abdomen to the other. ... I found myself in a very ironic situation: my decision to have a child was the result of a sense of stability I enjoyed due to taking an array of anti-anxiety medications that I would be strongly advised by most doctors to stop taking now that I was pregnant (Alissa Nutting, 6/23).

28 Jun 2013

Taking precautions to protect health during summer

Summer is a time for enjoying warm weather, but spending time outside also increases the risk of contracting serious conditions like Lyme disease, poison ivy rashes, West Nile virus and allergic reactions to bee stings.

31 May 2013

New approach could democratize viral surveillance, says UCSF scientist

The tick-borne Lone Star virus has been conclusively identified as part of a family of other tick-borne viruses called bunyaviruses, which often cause fever, respiratory problems and bleeding, according to new research led by scientists at UC San Francisco.

3 May 2013

Phase I/II data on Baxter's Lyme disease candidate vaccine presented at NFID conference

Baxter International Inc. today announced Phase I/II data evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of its investigational Lyme disease candidate vaccine during the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases 16th Annual Conference on Vaccine Research in Baltimore, Md.

From Baxter International Inc. 25 Apr 2013

GeneCapture developing new device with one-hour pathogen testing capabilities

A company hatched as a partnership between The University of Alabama in Huntsville and chemical engineering professor Dr. Krishnan Chittur is in the design phase for a device that can provide physicians one-hour pathogen testing capabilities.

23 Apr 2013

Researchers urge doctors to consider Lyme disease as cause when presented with skin lesions

When a person contracts Lyme disease, quick diagnosis and treatment are essential to avoiding long term complications. But the diagnostic process may be delayed if a physician does not recognize a skin rash caused by Lyme disease because it does not have the bull's-eye appearance that is best known to physicians and the public.

23 Apr 2013

New study to discover preventive use of antibiotics for Lyme disease

At the start of the "Tick Week", the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and Wageningen University are commencing a large-scale study to discover whether preventive use of antibiotics can stop Lyme disease developing after a tick bite.

16 Apr 2013

Not all mice that come into contact with Borrelia contract Lyme disease, study finds

Like humans, mice can become infected with Borrelia. However, not all mice that come into contact with these bacteria contract the dreaded Lyme disease: Animals with a particular gene variant are immune to the bacteria, as scientists from the universities of Zurich and Lund demonstrate.

5 Apr 2013

Penn researchers develop nanotechnology-inspired technique for diagnosing Lyme disease

Early diagnosis is critical in treating Lyme disease. However, nearly one quarter of Lyme disease patients are initially misdiagnosed because currently available serological tests have poor sensitivity and specificity during the early stages of infection.

27 Mar 2013