MSNBC:N UUTISET: BORRELIOOSISTA ERIÄVIÄ NÄKEMYKSIÄ

[soijuv]

"Borrelioosi aiheuttaa kiistaa lääkärien kesken. Tautitapausten määrä on kasvussa Kaliforniassa. CDC:n mukaan uusia tapauksia tulee n. 20 000 vuosittain, mutta se myöntää tapauksien määrän olevan aliraportoituja. Oikeampi määrä saattaa olla kymmenkertainen.

Bakteeri vaikuttaa useisiin elimiin ja oireet vaihtelevat eri henkilöillä. Kuusivuotias Jenny Heyn näyttää normaalilta ulospäin mutta ongelma ei olekaan hänen ulkonäössään. Jenny kertoo jaloissaan olevan toisinaan kipuja. Jaloissa on myös pistelyä. Myös Jennyn äidillä Debbiellä on borrelioosi. Äidin mukaan Jenny sai taudin häneltä. Molemmat saavat parhaillaan pitkää antibioottihoitoa. IDSA:n näkemystä kannattavat lääkärit ovat sitä mieltä että pitkä antibioottihoito ei ole lyhyttä tehokkaampaa. Debbie ja useat lääkärit eivät ole samaa mieltä. Pitkä hoito on auttanut Debbietä huomattavasti tähän mennessä."

Lyme Disease Fuels Debate Among Doctors
Cases Of Disease Growing In California

the KCRAchannel.com
updated 11:35 a.m. ET March 17, 2009
EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - Long thought of as an East Coast problem, cases of reported Lyme disease are growing in California and around the country.

Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria and transmitted by the Western black-legged tick. It has been found in most counties in California; hot spots include Mendocino and Humbolt counties and the western slope of the Sierra Nevada.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 20,000 cases in the United States annually in recent years but said the actual number could be as high as 10 times that amount.

Many body systems can be affected by Lyme disease, and symptoms can vary from person to person. Some patients describe Lyme disease as turning their body into "a torture chamber.

Six-year-old Jenny Heyn looks like any other girl her age, but what you do not see is what is inside her body.

"Well, sometimes when I run, it hurts right about here," Jenny said, pointing to her feet. "I get pins and needles a lot of the times on my feet."

Jenny and her mother, Debbie Heyn, both have Lyme disease. Debbie believes she passed it on to Jenny unknowingly while she was pregnant, but some doctors argue whether or not that is possible. Both Debbie and Jenny are undergoing ongoing treatment for Lyme, including long-term antibiotic therapy.

"Tastes like yucky, this stuff, have to take it every day in the morning," Jenny said of her oral medications.

"It's really a hidden epidemic. Nobody wants to look at it, nobody is acknowledging it, the powers that be are shoving it under the rug," Dr. Raphael Stricker said. The San Francisco-based hematologist specializes in treating Lyme cases and sits on the California Lyme Disease Advisory Committee.

Stricker believes more and more people are coming into contact with ticks and getting Lyme disease. He said doctors are reluctant to diagnose it as Lyme and treat it because they believe it is rare or does not exist in some states.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America, or IDSA, states that when diagnosed and treated quickly, 95 percent of people with Lyme disease are cured. It also said there is no scientific proof at the benefits of long-term antibiotic treatments outweigh the risks.

"Well- and carefully-performed studies using the antibiotics for even three months does not seem to be any different than receiving a placebo," Infectious Diseases Dr. Paul Auwaeter said.

IDSA believes long-term therapy may be dangerous to patients. But Lyme patient Jordan Fisher Smith doesn't buy it.

The former California parks ranger retired early after years of battling Lyme disease. He credits long-term antibiotic therapy with saving his life.

"I'm thankful for it. I was really sick, and now I'm better," Smith said.

While the medical community continues to debate Lyme disease, its effects and treatments, the number of infected people, like Jenny and Debbie Heyn, and Jordan Fisher Smith, is growing.