Krooninen Borrelioosi hämmentää lääkäreitä

[soijuv]

"Melissa Kerins sairastaa kroonista Borrelioosia. Kolme vuotta sitten hän ei aamulla herättyään kyennyt liikuttamaan ruumistaan. Lääkäri totesi hänellä borrelia-bakteerin aiheuttaman Borrelioosin. Siitä lähtien Kerins on kärsinyt jatkuvista lihas-ja nivelkivuista, päänsärystä, kuumeesta, kognitiivisista häiriöistä jne. Ongelmia ja suuttumusta lisää se, että osa lääkäreistä ei usko taudin kroonistuvan.

Osa potilaista tulee kuntoon muutaman viiikon antibioottihoidolla mutta osalla oireet jatkuvat vuosien/vuosikymmenten ajan. Osa lääkäreistä hoitaa tällaisia potilaita pitkillä antibioottihoidoilla. Infektiolääkäri Laurence Wohl on sitä mieltä että tauti paranee 4 viikon antibioottihoidoilla ja mikäli oireet jatkuvat on syynä jokin muu ongelma kuin borrelia-bakteeri.

Toiset lääkärit ovat kuitenkin eri mieltä hänen kanssaan. Tri Arthur Gertler kertoo bakteerin tuhoavan esim. keskushermostoa. Väitetään että Borrelioosi ei ole tappava eikä sillä sen vuoksi ole samanlaista julkisuusarvoa kuion AIDSilla, mutta Borrelioosi voi olla tappava. Tauti tuhoaa ihmisten elämän ja se on jo kansallinen epidemia. Gertler kertoo näkevänsä kroonista Borrelioosia sairastavia jotka eivät kykene kävelemään kunnolla, heillä on eriasteisia muistihäiriöitä jne. Ongelma on vakava ja jokaisen lääkärin on tiedettävä miten tautia tulee hoitaa. Borrelioosia sairastavien tilanne ja tautitapausten määrä näyttää vuosi vuodelta vain huononevan eikä paranevan."


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Chronic Lyme disease leaves doctors with mixed feelings

By Amy Littlefield
May 06, 2010 @ 08:16 AM

Melissa Kerins of Whitman shows the many daily prescriptions she requires to combat the effects of Lyme disease.


Melissa Kerins of Whitman, who suffers from chronic Lyme disease, displays a can of tick repellant during support group meeting at the Whitman library on Monday.

Mike Thompson of Stoughton looks through informational posters during a Lyme disease support group meeting at the Whitman library on Monday. Thompson was at the meeting to support his friend, Melissa Kerins, who has been diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease.


Melissa Kerins of Whitman awoke one morning three years ago and found she couldn?t move her body.


?I went to bed and I woke up and my life was different,? said Kerins, a former veterinary technician and mother of two.

When she went to the doctor, a blood test confirmed that Kerins had Lyme disease, a bacterial disease carried by ticks.

Since then, Kerins has endured near-constant muscle and joint pain, headaches, fever, cognitive impairment and the infuriating knowledge that the medical community does not believe that her disease exists.

A debate persists among physicians about the existence of chronic Lyme disease, which some doctors say causes severe neurological and muscular problems for years after the person is first infected.

While some patients who are treated early often recover after a few weeks of antibiotics, others complain of symptoms that last for years.

Some doctors treat chronic patients with long-term antibiotics,

?We very rarely see any major problems due to Lyme disease,? said Laurence Wohl, chief of infectious disease at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton.

Wohl said he subscribes to the mainstream belief that antibiotics can cure all Lyme disease in four weeks.

?If it?s not going to take care of it in four weeks then your symptoms are unrelated. It?s something else,? said Wohl.

But some doctors disagree, saying that patients who are not cured by an initial round of antibiotics need more long-term treatment for Lyme disease.


?It ruins people?s lives neurologically,? said Arthur Gertler, a doctor at the D?Arcy Wellness Clinic in Natick and a former internist and gastroenterologist at Good Samaritan.

?It doesn?t have the glamour of HIV because you don?t hear about deaths,? he said. ?But it does kill people ... It?s a national emergency.?

Gertler said he has seen patients with chronic Lyme disease who struggle to walk and who suffer memory loss and other cognitive impairments once the disease has penetrated their nervous system.

?Every doctor should know how to treat it,? said Gertler. ?It?s a public health menace. It?s a huge problem. It?s getting worse every year, it?s not getting better.?

Beyond the controversy, one thing is for sure: Lyme disease is on the rise in Massachusetts. There were 3,946 cases reported to the state Department of Public Health in 2008, a 10.4 percent rise over the previous year.

And as more cases come to light, support groups are sprouting up across the state.

Kerins founded South Shore Lyme Support, which meets once a week at the Whitman Public Library to educate people about Lyme disease.

Since forming the group, Kerins has met dozens of people who struggle with long-term neurological and emotional symptoms.

?I?ve talked to a lot of people who have been suicidal,? said Kerins. ?It?s hard to reassure them because we don?t know what?s going to happen. How can I tell them it?s going to be OK when I?m still sick three years later??

Every day, Kerins takes about 20 pills, three of which are antibiotics. She considers herself lucky, since her doctor and insurance company have so far supported her treatment. But even with insurance, her disease has cost about $50,000 out of pocket, she said.

To reach ?Lyme-literate? physicians, Kerins has had to cross state lines, sometimes driving four hours for an appointment. One of her doctors stopped practicing after she was interrogated by the state medical board, Kerins said.

?They?re chasing these doctors around, and the patients are the ones suffering,? said Kerins.

Most infectious disease practitioners subscribe to the guidelines set by the Infectious Disease Society of America, which say that long-term antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease is ?unwarranted and potentially dangerous.?

The society was investigated in 2008 by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who found that financial conflicts of interests may have played a role in setting the guidelines. But a special panel?s review released last month found that the guidelines did not need to be changed.

Wohl said he agrees with the society?s take on Lyme disease.

?Most of the hard evidence that (Lyme disease) exists in a chronic infectious form is controversial,? said Wohl. ?Most of the presentations by people that are truly expert in Lyme disease question the actual existence of a chronic Lyme disease state.

?Many of these patients fall under the heading of having chronic fatigue syndrome,? he said.

Many patients who say they have chronic Lyme disease have been accused of faking it or sent to psychiatrists, according to a documentary called ?Under Our Skin: There?s No Medicine for Someone Like You,? made by Andy Abrahams Wilson in 2009.

But Kerins isn?t crazy, even though she sometimes feels like she is.

?This disease tends to make you feel crazy,? said Kerins. ?Alone and crazy.?

Amy Littlefield can be reached at alittlef@enterprisenews.com.

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