You've Got to be Kidding Me!

[LymeEnigma]

Minn Med. 2008 Jul;91(7):37-41.

Dispelling the chronic Lyme disease myth.
Kemperman MM, Bakken JS, Kravitz GR.

Minnesota Department of Health, USA.

Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness endemic to Minnesota that can have potentially severe complications. As the incidence of Lyme disease continues to increase, it is important for physicians in Minnesota to become familiar with its clinical aspects, including the concept of "chronic Lyme disease." Chronic Lyme disease is a misnomer that is often applied to patients with nonspecific presentations who may or may not have a history of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent that causes Lyme disease. When a patient does present with persistent nonspecific symptoms attributed to chronic Lyme disease, clinicians should ascertain the presence of objective manifestations, obtain laboratory results, and get a history of tick exposure. If active infection with B. burgdorferi is unlikely, they should avoid prescribing empiric antibiotic therapy and instead thoroughly evaluate the patient for other possible causes of the complaints and recommend appropriate care.

PMID: 18714930 [PubMed - in process]
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18714930?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Emphasis mine.

I just have to roll my eyes at this ... yeah, let's just open up a few more cracks for patients to slip through!!!

[LymeEnigma]

Am J Med. 2008 Jul;121(7):562-4.

Perspectives on "chronic Lyme disease".
Baker PJ.

American Lyme Disease Foundation, Lyme, Connecticut, USA. [e-mail]

There is much controversy about the treatment of Lyme disease with respect to 2 poorly defined entities: "chronic Lyme disease" and "posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome." In the absence of direct evidence that these conditions are the result of a persistent infection, some mistakenly advocate extended antibiotic therapy (>/=6 months), which can do great harm and has resulted in at least 1 death. The purpose of this brief report is to review what is known from clinical research about these conditions to assist both practicing physicians and lawmakers in making sound and safe decisions with respect to treatment.

PMID: 18589049 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18589049?ordinalpos=25&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

I will try to get a copy of the full article; I'm curious as to whether or not any of these people have any real ideas or solutions for those of us who feel we have difficult to treat or tertiary cases.