Ensimmäistä borrelioosielokuvaa "Under Our Skin" on esitetty laajasti USA:ssa. Elokuva esitettiin myös esim. Norjassa Bergenin filmifestivaaleilla. Suomessa filmiä on esitetty ensisijassa Suomen Lyme-Borrelioosi ry:n järjestämissä tapaamisissa.
Elokuvan trailerin on on nähnyt You Tubessa jo yli 70 000 kävijää. Se löytyy osoitteesta: http://www.underourskin.com/
Nyt aiheesta kiinnostuneet voivat liittyä myös Facebookiin jossa on mahdollista keskustella mm. elokuvan tuottajien kanssa:
Under Our SkinSocial Media Release02.01.2009 UNDER OUR SKIN Twitter Conference ? Everyone Invited!
Lyme Documentary Creates Powerful Grassroots Movement
Quick Pitch
Discuss Lyme disease documentary with filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson and senior producer Kris Newby. Full ReleaseJoin UNDER OUR SKIN filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson and senior producer Kris Newby on Twitter.com this Thursday, February 5th at 8 p.m. EST to talk about the acclaimed documentary about Lyme disease, its upcoming theatrical release in spring 2009 and the impact the film has had on your life.
UNDER OUR SKIN has become an Internet blockbuster. A trailer for the documentary has been watched nearly 70,000 times on YouTube. Many times in the past year, the UNDER OUR SKIN YouTube channel has been ranked in the top 10 of all non-profit channels in the world. There are also over 800 fans for the UNDER OUR SKIN Facebook fan club.
Now UNDER OUR SKIN is on Twitter! Join our Twitter Chat ? here?s how.
If you haven?t joined Twitter ? it?s easy! Here?s how to join Twitter and the Twitter Chat.
1) Go to Twitter.com and sign up for an account, if you don?t already have one.
(It?s easy! Just fill in your name, come up with a user name, a password and enter your e-mail address. Then hit ?Create My Account.? That?s it. You?re now a Tweeter. Congrats!
2) The live, streaming conversation takes place Thursday, February 5 at 8pm Eastern, 5pm Pacific.
3) To follow the conversation, go to http://tweetchat.com. Type in your Twitter username and password.
4) Once you?re in, enter #UOS and hit ?Enter Room.?
5) To join in the conversation, type in your comment and hit ?Tweet Chat.? Tweet your comments as much as you like!
6) Your comments have to be 140 characters or less.
7) There are other ways to follow the conversation, but we think this is the easiest.
8 ) Questions? Contact Marc Silverstein at marc@onthemarcmedia.com at twitter.com/onthemarcmedia.
9) Spread the word to friends! Let?s make this chat a success!
If you would like to join the Under Our Skin Facebook page just sign up to facebook.com and search for Under Our Skin or Lyme disease.
If you would like to interview Andy Abrahams Wilson or please contact Marc Silverstein of On The Marc Media at 410-963-2345 or marc@onthemarcmedia.com
Resources
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Acclaimed Documentary UNDER OUR SKIN Boffo on Internet
01.28.2009 - (Sausalito, CA) ?UNDER OUR SKIN, the acclaimed documentary about the debilitating and often heartbreaking effects of Lyme disease, has become an international Internet sensation. A production of Open Eye Pictures...
Read More
FACEBOOK USED TO PROMOTE DOCUMENTARY
01.21.2009 - ...
Read More
Filmmaker Wins Prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Award
01.12.2009 - ...
Read More
UNDER OUR SKIN on Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends SiriusXM Radio
11.21.2008 - (New York, NY)?Under Our Skin, an award winning documentary about Lyme disease, is featured on the Dr. Oz Show on Oprah and Friends SiriusXM Radio, Wednesday, November 26th. Dr. Mehmet...
Read More
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BORRELIOOSIELOKUVA: "UNDER OUR SKIN"
Valvojat: Jatta1001, Borrelioosiyhdistys, Bb
-
Sailairina
- Viestit: 567
- Liittynyt: Ma Tammi 19, 2009 16:04
- Paikkakunta: Kaarina
Mitä kuuluu nykyisin Mandylle, Jordanille, Danalle tai tohtori Jonesille. Lue blogista:
http://underourskin.com/blog/
http://underourskin.com/blog/
"Borrelioosiepidemia aiheuttaa terveydenhuollon kriisin. Borrelioosielokuva paljastaa borrelioosin vaikutukset tartunnan saaneisiin ja lääkäreihin."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/l ... dist=msr_2
Lyme Disease Epidemic Causing Healthcare Crisis
Under Our Skin Documentary Reveals Impact of Lyme Disease on Patients and Physicians
Last update: 9:04 p.m. EST Feb. 24, 2009
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb 24, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- An ongoing battle over the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness, is pitting doctors against doctors, prompting health insurance companies to deny medical claims at an alarming rate, and leaving suffering patients stuck in the middle.
Transmitted through the bite of a tick, the number of Lyme disease cases in the United States has doubled since 1991--with at least 27,000 new cases reported each year. But because of inaccurate tests and under-reporting the actual numbers may be up to 12 times higher, according to the CDC, making Lyme disease an epidemic larger than AIDS, West Nile Virus and Avian Flu combined.
Tens of thousands of people suffer from what they say are the debilitating effects of chronic Lyme disease, which can lead to lifelong disabilities or even death. Yet many doctors deny that such a disease even exists, and doctors willing to treat it using long-term antibiotic therapy have faced losing their medical licenses.
The award-winning documentary Under Our Skin takes an unflinching look at the controversy surrounding Lyme disease and its impact on the national healthcare system, with billions of dollars of insurance claims, doctors' medical licenses and patients' lives hanging in the balance.
The implications are staggering. Irwin Vanderhoof, PhD professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, in 1993 estimated that Lyme disease cost society nearly $1billion per year. That estimate has since skyrocketed to about $2billion per year, including diagnosis, treatment, and lost wages, according to Contingencies, an actuarial trade publication for the insurance industry.
"Given the CDC's admitted underreporting bias, the ultimate cost to society may prove to be even more alarming," said Dr. Joseph Jemsek, a Charlotte-area physician featured in Under Our Skin. "The cost in lives unfulfilled by an illness that today's medical profession refuses to acknowledge is incalculable."
In a landmark prosecution announced last year, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal brought charges against the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) for abuse of Lyme disease treatment guidelines and conflicts of interest for guideline committee members. In response, the IDSA agreed to restructure its committee and revise its controversial Lyme Disease Guidelines. Meanwhile, as shown in Under Our Skin, patients continue to suffer through misdiagnosis while seeking treatment for a disease they're often told is just in their heads.
"The most important documentary to come out this year."--Molly Bedham, XM Radio
"Well-researched, suspenseful, artfully shot."--Alissa Simon, Variety.
Under Our Skin makes its southeastern US theatrical premiere as part of the Into the Light Gala on March 20 at Ballantyne Village Theatre in Charlotte, N.C. The Gala aims to raise Lyme disease awareness.
Jemsek Specialty Clinic
Our mission at the Jemsek Specialty Clinic is to provide the highest standard of care and compassion to our patients, to engage in research, and to be a model of excellence to those serving the Lyme community worldwide.
To arrange interviews with patients or physicians profiled in Under Our Skin, or to receive more information about the impact Lyme disease is having on the national healthcare system, contact Michele Barth Thomas at 803-396-5885 ext. 212 or mthomas@jemsekspecialty.com. If you would like to attend the Into the Light Gala on March 20, please contact Michele Barth-Thomas at your earliest convenience so accommodations can be made to suit your media needs.
SOURCE: Jemsek Specialty Clinic
Jemsek Specialty Clinic
Michele Barth Thomas, 803-396-5885, ext. 212
mthomas@jemsekspecialty.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/l ... dist=msr_2
Lyme Disease Epidemic Causing Healthcare Crisis
Under Our Skin Documentary Reveals Impact of Lyme Disease on Patients and Physicians
Last update: 9:04 p.m. EST Feb. 24, 2009
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb 24, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- An ongoing battle over the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness, is pitting doctors against doctors, prompting health insurance companies to deny medical claims at an alarming rate, and leaving suffering patients stuck in the middle.
Transmitted through the bite of a tick, the number of Lyme disease cases in the United States has doubled since 1991--with at least 27,000 new cases reported each year. But because of inaccurate tests and under-reporting the actual numbers may be up to 12 times higher, according to the CDC, making Lyme disease an epidemic larger than AIDS, West Nile Virus and Avian Flu combined.
Tens of thousands of people suffer from what they say are the debilitating effects of chronic Lyme disease, which can lead to lifelong disabilities or even death. Yet many doctors deny that such a disease even exists, and doctors willing to treat it using long-term antibiotic therapy have faced losing their medical licenses.
The award-winning documentary Under Our Skin takes an unflinching look at the controversy surrounding Lyme disease and its impact on the national healthcare system, with billions of dollars of insurance claims, doctors' medical licenses and patients' lives hanging in the balance.
The implications are staggering. Irwin Vanderhoof, PhD professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, in 1993 estimated that Lyme disease cost society nearly $1billion per year. That estimate has since skyrocketed to about $2billion per year, including diagnosis, treatment, and lost wages, according to Contingencies, an actuarial trade publication for the insurance industry.
"Given the CDC's admitted underreporting bias, the ultimate cost to society may prove to be even more alarming," said Dr. Joseph Jemsek, a Charlotte-area physician featured in Under Our Skin. "The cost in lives unfulfilled by an illness that today's medical profession refuses to acknowledge is incalculable."
In a landmark prosecution announced last year, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal brought charges against the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) for abuse of Lyme disease treatment guidelines and conflicts of interest for guideline committee members. In response, the IDSA agreed to restructure its committee and revise its controversial Lyme Disease Guidelines. Meanwhile, as shown in Under Our Skin, patients continue to suffer through misdiagnosis while seeking treatment for a disease they're often told is just in their heads.
"The most important documentary to come out this year."--Molly Bedham, XM Radio
"Well-researched, suspenseful, artfully shot."--Alissa Simon, Variety.
Under Our Skin makes its southeastern US theatrical premiere as part of the Into the Light Gala on March 20 at Ballantyne Village Theatre in Charlotte, N.C. The Gala aims to raise Lyme disease awareness.
Jemsek Specialty Clinic
Our mission at the Jemsek Specialty Clinic is to provide the highest standard of care and compassion to our patients, to engage in research, and to be a model of excellence to those serving the Lyme community worldwide.
To arrange interviews with patients or physicians profiled in Under Our Skin, or to receive more information about the impact Lyme disease is having on the national healthcare system, contact Michele Barth Thomas at 803-396-5885 ext. 212 or mthomas@jemsekspecialty.com. If you would like to attend the Into the Light Gala on March 20, please contact Michele Barth-Thomas at your earliest convenience so accommodations can be made to suit your media needs.
SOURCE: Jemsek Specialty Clinic
Jemsek Specialty Clinic
Michele Barth Thomas, 803-396-5885, ext. 212
mthomas@jemsekspecialty.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009
Borrelioosielokuvaa aletaan esittää elokuvateattereissa eri puolilla Amerikkaa. Alla on kerrottu esim. mihin tulee ottaa yhteyttä mikäli haluaa filmin esitettäväksi oman alueensa elokuvateatterissa.
THEATRICAL PREMIERE SET FOR JUNE 19TH IN NY
It's official: UNDER OUR SKIN finally has a release date in theaters. The film will premiere at the IFC Center in New York City on June 19th for a one week run. It will open on June 26th in Los Angeles at the Music Box Theater. After this, the film will will play in select markets across the country. These venues and dates have not yet been determined, but our distributor--Shadow Distribution--is working on the line-up. If you'd like to see your local independent theater show UNDER OUR SKIN and you believe you can rally your community to show up, then please ask the theater's management to contact Shadow Distribution. Also, if you or your group would like to "sponsor" a screening and organize a community awareness event, contact us with your thoughts. We'll need to fill the theaters so that the film will be seen by wider and wider audiences and help create a tipping point in Lyme awareness.
UOS STAYS IN THE LYMELIGHT
Last month we told you how Oprah and Dr. Oz were interested in hearing about your experiences with Lyme disease, and we asked you to share your comments on Oprah.com. The thread became one of the "Hottest Discussions" on the website. Now, thanks to our publicists at On The Marc Media, Greta Van Susteren from Fox News has taken an interest in our film. On her blog, she is sharing our trailer and asking for your comments. UNDER OUR SKIN also was recently written about in The Huffington Post, the largest online news blogspot. We continue to do radio and print interviews on behalf of the movie and movement, on our mission to make the film an instrument of change.
Visit the press page on our website
UOS HONORS ITS ACTIVISTS & VOLUNTEERS
Every month we honor individuals in the community who are doing exemplary work to promote UNDER OUR SKIN. We know that whatever success we have is built by partnerships with our viewers and supporters, and that grassroots efforts are the key to this success. The people we have honored use their talents and resources to promote the film in press and media, organize screenings and briefings with policymakers, facilitate repeat community screening events, help put DVDs into the right hands, and bring the film into the corporate sector. We are greatly indebted to these individuals and countless others. Thank you!
Visit our online appreciation corner
Find out how you can take action
THEATRICAL PREMIERE SET FOR JUNE 19TH IN NY
It's official: UNDER OUR SKIN finally has a release date in theaters. The film will premiere at the IFC Center in New York City on June 19th for a one week run. It will open on June 26th in Los Angeles at the Music Box Theater. After this, the film will will play in select markets across the country. These venues and dates have not yet been determined, but our distributor--Shadow Distribution--is working on the line-up. If you'd like to see your local independent theater show UNDER OUR SKIN and you believe you can rally your community to show up, then please ask the theater's management to contact Shadow Distribution. Also, if you or your group would like to "sponsor" a screening and organize a community awareness event, contact us with your thoughts. We'll need to fill the theaters so that the film will be seen by wider and wider audiences and help create a tipping point in Lyme awareness.
UOS STAYS IN THE LYMELIGHT
Last month we told you how Oprah and Dr. Oz were interested in hearing about your experiences with Lyme disease, and we asked you to share your comments on Oprah.com. The thread became one of the "Hottest Discussions" on the website. Now, thanks to our publicists at On The Marc Media, Greta Van Susteren from Fox News has taken an interest in our film. On her blog, she is sharing our trailer and asking for your comments. UNDER OUR SKIN also was recently written about in The Huffington Post, the largest online news blogspot. We continue to do radio and print interviews on behalf of the movie and movement, on our mission to make the film an instrument of change.
Visit the press page on our website
UOS HONORS ITS ACTIVISTS & VOLUNTEERS
Every month we honor individuals in the community who are doing exemplary work to promote UNDER OUR SKIN. We know that whatever success we have is built by partnerships with our viewers and supporters, and that grassroots efforts are the key to this success. The people we have honored use their talents and resources to promote the film in press and media, organize screenings and briefings with policymakers, facilitate repeat community screening events, help put DVDs into the right hands, and bring the film into the corporate sector. We are greatly indebted to these individuals and countless others. Thank you!
Visit our online appreciation corner
Find out how you can take action
Borrelioosielokuva "Under Our Skin" - marraskuun uutiset. Elokuvaa voi käydä äänestämässä ja antamassa arvosanan osoitteessa
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1202579/ratings
Klikkaa "Vote" ; filmin arvosanan voi itse määritellä 1 - 10.
Sivulle täytyy ensin rekisteröityä. Sieltä tulee viesti rekisteröitymisen onnistumisesta omaan sähköpostiosoitteeseen. Viestin linkkiä tulee klikata jonka jälkeen he aktivoivat mahdollisuuden äänestää sivujen elokuvia. Mitä useammin ja korkeammalle borrelioosielokuva on äänestetty sitä enemmän borrelioosiasia tietenkin saa näkyvyyttä.
Rank UNDER OUR SKIN on IMDb.com. The Internet Movie Database is the film industry's online encyclopedia. Right now, UNDER OUR SKIN is #37 of the top-ranked documentaries, thanks to your votes! Register with IMDb.com and rank the film, 1-10. The higher the ranking, the more visibility for the film and Lyme issue. With your input, maybe we can move to #1!
NOVEMBER 2009 ISSUE:
UOS HITS HOLLYWOOD
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS ARE BACK
EASY THINGS YOU CAN DO
TURN THE CORNER LEADS THE WAY
BUY THE DVD
‣ Visit the UNDER OUR SKIN online store
NOVEMBER SCREENINGS
? Bellingham, WA
? New York, NY
? Hudson, NY
? Denver, CO
? Portland, OR
? Burlington, ON
? Minneapolis, MI
? West Tisbury, MA
? Platteville, WI
? Tucson, AZ
‣ View complete schedule with links to venues
ACTIVIST OF THE MONTH
‣ Jan Thietje working hard to educate the Twin Cities
HELP TURN THE CORNER
‣ Create Footprints: Join Turn The Corner Foundation's trek for a cure!
‣ Unmask A Cure: Attend the Gala Event 11/5
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
‣ 5100 fans!
Stay updated and connected
UNDER OUR SKIN HITS HOLLYWOOD
On October 26th, UNDER OUR SKIN screened at the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood as part of Variety's Screening Series of "the most anticipated movies of the season." Only a handful of documentaries were chosen for the series, which highlights films seen as possible contenders for the Oscar race. Filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson and actress Joanna Kerns (above) were on hand for a lively Q&A. Kerns spoke of the struggles with her daughter's Lyme disease, only recently diagnosed after years of health problems and misdiagnoses. She also acknowledged how celebrities with the disease are reluctant to come forward because of fear for their careers. On November 4th, Variety shows UNDER OUR SKIN as part of its screening series in New York, where many press and film industry representatives promise to attend. Thanks to Turn The Corner Foundation (see below) for generously sponsoring these screenings!
Then on November 11th, UNDER OUR SKIN returns to Los Angeles where it will show in The Wrap.com's Screening Series of "eight leading motion pictures in contention for this season's awards." The Wrap is the newest online sensation in the film world, quickly becoming the source for all things Hollywood. UNDER OUR SKIN is the only documentary selected, and sits in a field with films such as DISTRICT 9, UP IN THE AIR, PRECIOUS, THE HURT LOCKER and other top-studio films. Actress Joanna Kerns will again join the filmmaker for a post-screening Q&A.
__________________________________________________
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS ARE BACK: HOW TO HOST OR WATCH
Last year, after the film's premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, we launched a community screening initiative as a way to bring the film and Lyme awareness into communities nationwide. An outstanding success, the film has had several hundreds of these screenings. The initiative was temporarily suspended during theatrical distribution, but now it's back. This is an excellent way to bring the film to smaller areas, share it with those who may not otherwise have the resources or means to view it, organize support groups, facilitate Lyme education forums, and network with others. Find out how to host a screening in your community or for your organization, and view all upcoming screenings.
__________________________________________________
EASY THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE MOVIE AND MOVEMENT
You would be surprised how much grass-roots efforts can create change. Without committed and active grassroots support, UNDER OUR SKIN would not have been completed and could never compete in its outreach and distribution campaign. Activists have brought the film to local theaters, organized educational events around the film, and spread film news to create an unprecedented wave of awareness. We are indebted to our activists, and we honor one person each month for his or her extraordinary efforts. But everyone can do very small things to make a difference. Here are a few:
Rank UNDER OUR SKIN on IMDb.com. The Internet Movie Database is the film industry's online encyclopedia. Right now, UNDER OUR SKIN is #37 of the top-ranked documentaries, thanks to your votes! Register with IMDb.com and rank the film, 1-10. The higher the ranking, the more visibility for the film and Lyme issue. With your input, maybe we can move to #1!
Also, thanks to some very dedicated and crusading Lyme activists, filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson has been nominated as a Change.org "changemaker". If Andy is ultimately selected, he will be invited to get spread the word to over 500,000 activists and 20,000 bloggers. Vote for Andy and help us reach more avenues and venues for impacting Lyme awareness and healthcare change.
‣ Find out more ways you can take action
__________________________________________________
TURN THE CORNER LEADS THE WAY IN LYME RESEARCH & EDUCATION
We are appreciative of and indebted to the tremendous support we have received from Turn The Corner Foundation, the film's official outreach partner. The premiere national organization for Lyme research and education, TTC recognized that it was not enough just to make a movie, but that strategic resources and relationships were essential in building success. TTC has followed through with financial and strategic help in using the film as a tool to impact change and advance its own goals of research and education. Other than its outreach support for the film, TTC is engaged with several innovative projects to continue its mission, including the "Create Footprints" Lyme awareness walks, and their annual "Unmask A Cure" Fundraising Gala. The gala takes place this Thursday in Manhattan and tickets are still available. We urge you to seek support from Turn The Corner Foundation and, in turn, consider a gift of support with a tax-deductible donation.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1202579/ratings
Klikkaa "Vote" ; filmin arvosanan voi itse määritellä 1 - 10.
Sivulle täytyy ensin rekisteröityä. Sieltä tulee viesti rekisteröitymisen onnistumisesta omaan sähköpostiosoitteeseen. Viestin linkkiä tulee klikata jonka jälkeen he aktivoivat mahdollisuuden äänestää sivujen elokuvia. Mitä useammin ja korkeammalle borrelioosielokuva on äänestetty sitä enemmän borrelioosiasia tietenkin saa näkyvyyttä.
Rank UNDER OUR SKIN on IMDb.com. The Internet Movie Database is the film industry's online encyclopedia. Right now, UNDER OUR SKIN is #37 of the top-ranked documentaries, thanks to your votes! Register with IMDb.com and rank the film, 1-10. The higher the ranking, the more visibility for the film and Lyme issue. With your input, maybe we can move to #1!
NOVEMBER 2009 ISSUE:
UOS HITS HOLLYWOOD
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS ARE BACK
EASY THINGS YOU CAN DO
TURN THE CORNER LEADS THE WAY
BUY THE DVD
‣ Visit the UNDER OUR SKIN online store
NOVEMBER SCREENINGS
? Bellingham, WA
? New York, NY
? Hudson, NY
? Denver, CO
? Portland, OR
? Burlington, ON
? Minneapolis, MI
? West Tisbury, MA
? Platteville, WI
? Tucson, AZ
‣ View complete schedule with links to venues
ACTIVIST OF THE MONTH
‣ Jan Thietje working hard to educate the Twin Cities
HELP TURN THE CORNER
‣ Create Footprints: Join Turn The Corner Foundation's trek for a cure!
‣ Unmask A Cure: Attend the Gala Event 11/5
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
‣ 5100 fans!
Stay updated and connected
UNDER OUR SKIN HITS HOLLYWOOD
On October 26th, UNDER OUR SKIN screened at the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood as part of Variety's Screening Series of "the most anticipated movies of the season." Only a handful of documentaries were chosen for the series, which highlights films seen as possible contenders for the Oscar race. Filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson and actress Joanna Kerns (above) were on hand for a lively Q&A. Kerns spoke of the struggles with her daughter's Lyme disease, only recently diagnosed after years of health problems and misdiagnoses. She also acknowledged how celebrities with the disease are reluctant to come forward because of fear for their careers. On November 4th, Variety shows UNDER OUR SKIN as part of its screening series in New York, where many press and film industry representatives promise to attend. Thanks to Turn The Corner Foundation (see below) for generously sponsoring these screenings!
Then on November 11th, UNDER OUR SKIN returns to Los Angeles where it will show in The Wrap.com's Screening Series of "eight leading motion pictures in contention for this season's awards." The Wrap is the newest online sensation in the film world, quickly becoming the source for all things Hollywood. UNDER OUR SKIN is the only documentary selected, and sits in a field with films such as DISTRICT 9, UP IN THE AIR, PRECIOUS, THE HURT LOCKER and other top-studio films. Actress Joanna Kerns will again join the filmmaker for a post-screening Q&A.
__________________________________________________
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS ARE BACK: HOW TO HOST OR WATCH
Last year, after the film's premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, we launched a community screening initiative as a way to bring the film and Lyme awareness into communities nationwide. An outstanding success, the film has had several hundreds of these screenings. The initiative was temporarily suspended during theatrical distribution, but now it's back. This is an excellent way to bring the film to smaller areas, share it with those who may not otherwise have the resources or means to view it, organize support groups, facilitate Lyme education forums, and network with others. Find out how to host a screening in your community or for your organization, and view all upcoming screenings.
__________________________________________________
EASY THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE MOVIE AND MOVEMENT
You would be surprised how much grass-roots efforts can create change. Without committed and active grassroots support, UNDER OUR SKIN would not have been completed and could never compete in its outreach and distribution campaign. Activists have brought the film to local theaters, organized educational events around the film, and spread film news to create an unprecedented wave of awareness. We are indebted to our activists, and we honor one person each month for his or her extraordinary efforts. But everyone can do very small things to make a difference. Here are a few:
Rank UNDER OUR SKIN on IMDb.com. The Internet Movie Database is the film industry's online encyclopedia. Right now, UNDER OUR SKIN is #37 of the top-ranked documentaries, thanks to your votes! Register with IMDb.com and rank the film, 1-10. The higher the ranking, the more visibility for the film and Lyme issue. With your input, maybe we can move to #1!
Also, thanks to some very dedicated and crusading Lyme activists, filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson has been nominated as a Change.org "changemaker". If Andy is ultimately selected, he will be invited to get spread the word to over 500,000 activists and 20,000 bloggers. Vote for Andy and help us reach more avenues and venues for impacting Lyme awareness and healthcare change.
‣ Find out more ways you can take action
__________________________________________________
TURN THE CORNER LEADS THE WAY IN LYME RESEARCH & EDUCATION
We are appreciative of and indebted to the tremendous support we have received from Turn The Corner Foundation, the film's official outreach partner. The premiere national organization for Lyme research and education, TTC recognized that it was not enough just to make a movie, but that strategic resources and relationships were essential in building success. TTC has followed through with financial and strategic help in using the film as a tool to impact change and advance its own goals of research and education. Other than its outreach support for the film, TTC is engaged with several innovative projects to continue its mission, including the "Create Footprints" Lyme awareness walks, and their annual "Unmask A Cure" Fundraising Gala. The gala takes place this Thursday in Manhattan and tickets are still available. We urge you to seek support from Turn The Corner Foundation and, in turn, consider a gift of support with a tax-deductible donation.
Borrelioosielokuva UOS:n esitykset elokuvateattereissa jatkuvat ja elokuva on ylittänyt edelleen uutiskynnyksen kaikkialla missä sitä on esitetty. Elokuva valmistui v. 2008.
http://www.shorelinetimes.com/articles/ ... 544454.txt
Under our skin: Lyme disease continues to baffle medical science
Published: Thursday, April 15, 2010
Lyme disease. The disease of strange pains and mental lapses that has become incongruously linked to this pretty little town on the Connecticut River. The somber gathering might have been seen as a sign that people urgently want to learn about Lyme disease?or as a landmark on a path to discovery?or further evidence that the disease is spreading, is still often misdiagnosed, is frequently incurable.
By Barbara Carlson, Special to the Times
LYME - On a sunny spring afternoon recently, close to 90 people gathered at the Lyme Public Hall to watch a harrowing movie and talk about a disease.
Lyme disease.
The disease of strange pains and mental lapses that has become incongruously linked to this pretty little town on the Connecticut River.
The somber gathering might have been seen as a sign that people urgently want to learn about Lyme disease?or as a landmark on a path to discovery?or further evidence that the disease is spreading, is still often misdiagnosed, is frequently incurable.
The reason for the program was to raise awareness and educate the public about Lyme disease, which remains controversial and puzzling 35 years after it was identified here ? at first as Lyme arthritis. It was for a while the disease of the Connecticut shoreline and woodlands, but it has now been reported in all 50 states and abroad, and is spreading like wildfire. In the United States, state health departments reported 28,921 confirmed cases and 6,277 probable cases of the disease in 2008, a 5 percent increase over 2007?but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that only one of ten cases of Lyme disease gets reported. The incidence of cases remains highest in the northeast. In 2008, Connecticut reported an incidence of 78.2 cases per 1,000 population?a rate topped only by Delaware and New Hampshire.
The film shown at the public hall, Under Our Skin, was produced in 2008 and is an award-winning documentary that shows daily events in the lives of people with late-stage Lyme disease: seizures, excruciating pain, neurological effects causing memory loss (not just forgetting a name, but forgetting how to get home), swollen joints, numbness, an inability to walk or to pick up a fork and knife. While physicians have disputed that the disease could be chronic, the film made it all too clear that it can and does recur, that some symptoms never quite go away.
In case this point was lost, two speakers, Eva Sapi, a professor of biology at the University of New Haven, and Kim Ruggiero of Madison, who both have Lyme disease, followed the movie with reports of current research at UNH and descriptions of how the disease progresses. And Wendy Hill, a Public Hall board member, had opened the program by telling of the years her daughter, Hester Sutton, now 25, was ?sick a lot and had protracted episodes of ?brain fog???a dis-engagement, a lack of focus. She spent nine years ?of dismissal and basically un-diagnosis from her doctors? who said there was nothing wrong with her, and that she should seek help ?outside the medical establishment?? in other words, they suggested that maybe Hester was?what? acting out? pretending? With some anger, Hill asked, ?How could they be so clueless??
Suggesting that Lyme sufferers may be hypochondriacs or doctor stalkers or demented hasn?t been unusual. ?Nobody believes this until they are affected,? says Hill.
She feels programs like the one at the public hall are important not only to counteract the controversy about the disease, which makes it a ?current and disturbing issue,? but also because ?it?s an important part of our history, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to Polly Murray.?
Polly Murray, a Lyme resident, was the one who brought the disease to public notice. She and her children became mysteriously ill in the late 1960s, and she began noticing clusters of people in the Lyme area, many of them children, with what seemed like arthritis. She kept detailed records, she told doctors what she was discovering, she wrote about her findings. At first, not much happened. But in 1975 a Yale researcher took note, and in 1982, the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi (a researcher named Willy Burgdorfer first isolated it), was designated the culprit. It?s a corkscrew-shaped bacterium (the corkscrew shape helps it spiral into organs) carried by deer and also by white-footed mice and other small animals and birds and transmitted to humans by ticks that live off the blood of these animals.
In the early days, it was generally believed that the onset of the disease came with a bite by a deer tick and the appearance of a red circular rash, sometimes raised, a few inches in diameter?what?s called a bull?s-eye rash?at the point of the bite. It is generally accepted today that a few weeks of antibiotics will cure the disease transmitted by the tick?if the regimen is started immediately.
The trouble is that not everybody bitten by a tick shows a rash. And often people bitten don?t know it?the nymph or immature tick is the size of a poppy seed, and the bite doesn?t itch. So when strange symptoms come about later?days or weeks or months later?there is little reason to say aha, Lyme disease. Blood tests are inconclusive, and often give false negatives. (Current research may change this.) The only way of diagnosing the disease, says Hill, is clinically?through both tests and discussing symptoms with the patient. Once diagnosed, there are steps that can be taken; some physicians now recommend combining antibiotics and herbal remedies.
There are other complications fuzzing any neat solutions:
- As the movie showed, Lyme disease is a great imitator. Because it can have neurological effects, it can be mistaken for multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer?s or ALS (Lou Gehrig?s disease) or Bell?s palsy (facial paralysis).
- The insurance industry is reluctant to pay for Lyme-disease treatments..
- There is disagreement by Lyme-literate doctors (as the Lyme patients call them) with the CDC over what are felt to be too narrow and inaccurate guidelines defining the disease. The CDC panel that created the guidelines, the film avers, has ignored a large part of the knowledge and research about chronic Lyme.
- The chronic aspect. Kim Ruggiero, who, like many Lyme patients, has become a serious student of the disease, explains that the Borrrelia organism ?can go deep inside tissue, right to the nerves and can hide inside the brain or other organs. It?s elusive.? It can stay inside the body in a dormant ?cyst? form,? she adds, ?waiting for favorable conditions to proliferate??somewhat the way the chicken pox virus can reactivate as shingles after many years of dormancy.
Lyme disease: Complex. Controversial. Puzzling.
For further information: Insights and personal experiences of Lyme disease patients as well as information on research will appear in next week?s ShoreLine Times. The documentary ?Under Our Skin? will be shown at the Lyme Art Association, 90 Lyme St., Old Lyme, on June 6 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Editor?s note: This is part one in a two part series on Lyme Disease.
http://www.shorelinetimes.com/articles/ ... 544454.txt
Under our skin: Lyme disease continues to baffle medical science
Published: Thursday, April 15, 2010
Lyme disease. The disease of strange pains and mental lapses that has become incongruously linked to this pretty little town on the Connecticut River. The somber gathering might have been seen as a sign that people urgently want to learn about Lyme disease?or as a landmark on a path to discovery?or further evidence that the disease is spreading, is still often misdiagnosed, is frequently incurable.
By Barbara Carlson, Special to the Times
LYME - On a sunny spring afternoon recently, close to 90 people gathered at the Lyme Public Hall to watch a harrowing movie and talk about a disease.
Lyme disease.
The disease of strange pains and mental lapses that has become incongruously linked to this pretty little town on the Connecticut River.
The somber gathering might have been seen as a sign that people urgently want to learn about Lyme disease?or as a landmark on a path to discovery?or further evidence that the disease is spreading, is still often misdiagnosed, is frequently incurable.
The reason for the program was to raise awareness and educate the public about Lyme disease, which remains controversial and puzzling 35 years after it was identified here ? at first as Lyme arthritis. It was for a while the disease of the Connecticut shoreline and woodlands, but it has now been reported in all 50 states and abroad, and is spreading like wildfire. In the United States, state health departments reported 28,921 confirmed cases and 6,277 probable cases of the disease in 2008, a 5 percent increase over 2007?but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that only one of ten cases of Lyme disease gets reported. The incidence of cases remains highest in the northeast. In 2008, Connecticut reported an incidence of 78.2 cases per 1,000 population?a rate topped only by Delaware and New Hampshire.
The film shown at the public hall, Under Our Skin, was produced in 2008 and is an award-winning documentary that shows daily events in the lives of people with late-stage Lyme disease: seizures, excruciating pain, neurological effects causing memory loss (not just forgetting a name, but forgetting how to get home), swollen joints, numbness, an inability to walk or to pick up a fork and knife. While physicians have disputed that the disease could be chronic, the film made it all too clear that it can and does recur, that some symptoms never quite go away.
In case this point was lost, two speakers, Eva Sapi, a professor of biology at the University of New Haven, and Kim Ruggiero of Madison, who both have Lyme disease, followed the movie with reports of current research at UNH and descriptions of how the disease progresses. And Wendy Hill, a Public Hall board member, had opened the program by telling of the years her daughter, Hester Sutton, now 25, was ?sick a lot and had protracted episodes of ?brain fog???a dis-engagement, a lack of focus. She spent nine years ?of dismissal and basically un-diagnosis from her doctors? who said there was nothing wrong with her, and that she should seek help ?outside the medical establishment?? in other words, they suggested that maybe Hester was?what? acting out? pretending? With some anger, Hill asked, ?How could they be so clueless??
Suggesting that Lyme sufferers may be hypochondriacs or doctor stalkers or demented hasn?t been unusual. ?Nobody believes this until they are affected,? says Hill.
She feels programs like the one at the public hall are important not only to counteract the controversy about the disease, which makes it a ?current and disturbing issue,? but also because ?it?s an important part of our history, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to Polly Murray.?
Polly Murray, a Lyme resident, was the one who brought the disease to public notice. She and her children became mysteriously ill in the late 1960s, and she began noticing clusters of people in the Lyme area, many of them children, with what seemed like arthritis. She kept detailed records, she told doctors what she was discovering, she wrote about her findings. At first, not much happened. But in 1975 a Yale researcher took note, and in 1982, the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi (a researcher named Willy Burgdorfer first isolated it), was designated the culprit. It?s a corkscrew-shaped bacterium (the corkscrew shape helps it spiral into organs) carried by deer and also by white-footed mice and other small animals and birds and transmitted to humans by ticks that live off the blood of these animals.
In the early days, it was generally believed that the onset of the disease came with a bite by a deer tick and the appearance of a red circular rash, sometimes raised, a few inches in diameter?what?s called a bull?s-eye rash?at the point of the bite. It is generally accepted today that a few weeks of antibiotics will cure the disease transmitted by the tick?if the regimen is started immediately.
The trouble is that not everybody bitten by a tick shows a rash. And often people bitten don?t know it?the nymph or immature tick is the size of a poppy seed, and the bite doesn?t itch. So when strange symptoms come about later?days or weeks or months later?there is little reason to say aha, Lyme disease. Blood tests are inconclusive, and often give false negatives. (Current research may change this.) The only way of diagnosing the disease, says Hill, is clinically?through both tests and discussing symptoms with the patient. Once diagnosed, there are steps that can be taken; some physicians now recommend combining antibiotics and herbal remedies.
There are other complications fuzzing any neat solutions:
- As the movie showed, Lyme disease is a great imitator. Because it can have neurological effects, it can be mistaken for multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer?s or ALS (Lou Gehrig?s disease) or Bell?s palsy (facial paralysis).
- The insurance industry is reluctant to pay for Lyme-disease treatments..
- There is disagreement by Lyme-literate doctors (as the Lyme patients call them) with the CDC over what are felt to be too narrow and inaccurate guidelines defining the disease. The CDC panel that created the guidelines, the film avers, has ignored a large part of the knowledge and research about chronic Lyme.
- The chronic aspect. Kim Ruggiero, who, like many Lyme patients, has become a serious student of the disease, explains that the Borrrelia organism ?can go deep inside tissue, right to the nerves and can hide inside the brain or other organs. It?s elusive.? It can stay inside the body in a dormant ?cyst? form,? she adds, ?waiting for favorable conditions to proliferate??somewhat the way the chicken pox virus can reactivate as shingles after many years of dormancy.
Lyme disease: Complex. Controversial. Puzzling.
For further information: Insights and personal experiences of Lyme disease patients as well as information on research will appear in next week?s ShoreLine Times. The documentary ?Under Our Skin? will be shown at the Lyme Art Association, 90 Lyme St., Old Lyme, on June 6 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Editor?s note: This is part one in a two part series on Lyme Disease.
Borrelioosista ja siihen sairastuneista ihmisistä kertova elokuva "Under Our Skin" on valittu myös Amerikan kirjastojen DVD valikoimiin.
http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.or ... eos-adults
VRT Notable Videos for Adults
Submitted by Greg Landgraf on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 09:41
The ALA Video Round Table Notable Videos for Adults committee discusses the titles added to the list in 2011, as well as the criteria of what makes a video Notable.
(You have to view the video clip to see it mentioned)
Round Table News
Screen shot from the Video Round Table videoVideo Round Table discusses Notable Videos for Adults
In this video (1:38), the ALA Video Round Table Notable Videos for Adults Committee discusses the titles VRT added to the list at the 2011 Midwinter Meeting in San Diego, as well as the criteria that make a video ?notable?: ?We are looking for films that push the boundaries of the video medium, that say something new, or contribute to the resolution of a contemporary problem.?...
AL Focus, Jan. 26
http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.or ... eos-adults
VRT Notable Videos for Adults
Submitted by Greg Landgraf on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 09:41
The ALA Video Round Table Notable Videos for Adults committee discusses the titles added to the list in 2011, as well as the criteria of what makes a video Notable.
(You have to view the video clip to see it mentioned)
Round Table News
Screen shot from the Video Round Table videoVideo Round Table discusses Notable Videos for Adults
In this video (1:38), the ALA Video Round Table Notable Videos for Adults Committee discusses the titles VRT added to the list at the 2011 Midwinter Meeting in San Diego, as well as the criteria that make a video ?notable?: ?We are looking for films that push the boundaries of the video medium, that say something new, or contribute to the resolution of a contemporary problem.?...
AL Focus, Jan. 26
-
Jatta1001
Borrelioosielokuvaa esitetään nyt myös USA:n TV:ssä. Suomessa elokuvaa on esitetty keväisin jo parin vuoden ajan. Seuraavan kerran elokuva on nähtävissä YLE Teemalla heinäkuussa; 13.7 ja 16.7.
LYME DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH
MAY 2011
UOS BROADCASTS ON PBS STATIONS
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS ROUNDUP
NEW UOS WEBSITE LAUNCHES
TURN THE CORNER VIRTUAL LYME WALK
____________________
THIS MONTH CATCH UNDER OUR SKIN...
ON TV
Charleston, IL
Colorado Springs, CO
Dallas, TX
Daytona, FL
Denver, CO
Duluth, MN
Durham, NH
Erie, PA
Eureka, CA
Evansville, IN
Harrisonburg, VA
Kalamazoo, MI
Las Vegas, NV
Lexington, KY
Long Island, NY
Marquette, MI
Miami, FL
New York, NY
Norfolk, VA
Pittston, PA
Portland, OR
Providence, RI
Research Triangle, NC
Sacramento, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
University Park, PA
Watertown, NJ
and more
ON SCREEN
Troy, NY
Pennington, NJ
Ashburn, VA
Healdsburg, CA
Hollis, NH
Santa Barbara, CA
Candia, NH
Newton, NJ
Duxbury, MA
Meadville, PA
Idaho Falls, ID
Tunkhannock, PA
Wakefield, MA
Guerneville, CA
La Mirada, CA
Fairplay, MD
Jackson, TN
Newton, NJ
Guerneville, CA
Ponte Vedra, FL
Boxborough, MA
Bethlehem, PA
‣ Organize a screening
‣ View screening schedule
ON DEMAND
iTunes
Amazon VOD
Comcast Xfinity
Verizon VOD
Cablevision
Best Buy VOD
DirectTV
AT&T
Shaw (Canada)
and more
ON DVD
uos_dvd_3d_sm-101110
‣ Home Edition now $29.95
ON FACEBOOK
facebook
‣ 11,448 fans! Stay updated and connected
ON YOUTUBE
Youtube
‣ 74 videos and 553,425 views!
ON YOUR MIND
donate
‣ Help us fund our outreach and community engagement work
UOS BEGINS BROADCASTS ON PBS STATIONS
pbs_logo1 Finally, UNDER OUR SKIN will be seen on TV, reaching millions of viewers! Starting this month, Lyme Disease Awareness Month, a slimmed-down, updated version will be shown on select PBS stations across the country. Thanks to viewer calls and emails, more and more PBS affiliates are picking up the show. Stations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Miami are leading the pack with broadcasts on May 1, with scores of other stations following. Broadcasts will continue throughout the summer and beyond. Check the current schedule of broadcasts; if you don't see your local PBS station listed, feel free to contact them, urging that they program the film if they haven't already.
Despite the representation of their viewpoint in the film, the Infectious Diseases Society of America is raising its voice and standing on its bully pulpit to try to stop broadcasts. In an intimidating letter, the organization president warned that the film is "dangerous to viewers" and shouldn't be seen.
tv_censorship2The PBS mandate is to "provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard,? and serve as ?a forum for controversy and debate? by broadcasting programs that ?help us see America whole, in all its diversity.? We're glad that PBS affiliate stations are honoring this mission and not caving in to the IDSA's attempt to silence dissenting voices.
Remember, if you can't catch UNDER OUR SKIN on TV, the film is also available nationwide as Video On Demand, in community screenings everywhere, and on DVD.
pbs_teaser
__________________________________________________
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS ROUNDUP
uos_screenings_map 2It has been three years since UNDER OUR SKIN premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. To date, we have had over 800 community screenings around the US and Canada. They are still going strong! New and seasoned community screening volunteers call or email us every day to talk about their plans to host UNDER OUR SKIN events in their towns. First-time hosts Connie Dickey and Jenny Clark of Knoxville, TN, just organized a highly successful screening at their local Regal Cinema, drawing over 200 people and garnering significant media coverage on TV and in newspapers. Perseverance and charm convinced the theater to offer the cinema free of charge and the filmmaker to return to his boyhood hometown for the screening! Most of all, with the screening of UNDER OUR SKIN, they've launched a local support group with over 50 new members!
This month, there are 30 upcoming screenings around the country for Lyme Disease Awareness Month. As exciting as all these events are, the average American understands little about the dangers of Lyme disease in their community. If you would like to host a community screening, or are just curious to learn more, we invite you to contact our Community Engagement Coordinator, Regan Brashear. bio_regan Regan is here to work with you to help develop a concrete, manageable game plan and provide you with tools and resources to help make your event a success. She can also put you in touch with a growing network of UNDER OUR SKIN volunteers who would be happy to share their experience.
__________________________________________________
NEW UNDER OUR SKIN WEBSITE LAUNCHES
website 2The newly designed, easier to navigate UNDER OUR SKIN website launches today. Feel free to explore it and let us know about ways we can continue to improve it, so that it really can be a top clearinghouse for Lyme and related information, resources and media. As always, we keep a list and map of screenings, press materials, and tools for hosting the film in your community. And don't forget to learn about our UNDER OUR SKIN Angels, individuals we regularly honor for their passion and commitment to use the film as a tool of awareness. This month we honor Dr. Bob Uppgaard of Crosslake, MN.
__________________________________________________
TURN THE CORNER FOUNDATION INAUGURATES VIRTUAL "LYME WALK"
ttc_walkOur official outreach partner, Turn the Corner Foundation, is sponsoring its 1st annual International Virtual Lyme Walk to Turn the Corner on Lyme on May 15th. Dedicated to the support of research, education, awareness and innovative treatments for Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases, Turn the Corner Foundation hopes to create awareness and help raise funds for projects such as Lyme-literate physician training and innovative scientific research. Find out more!
LYME DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH
MAY 2011
UOS BROADCASTS ON PBS STATIONS
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS ROUNDUP
NEW UOS WEBSITE LAUNCHES
TURN THE CORNER VIRTUAL LYME WALK
____________________
THIS MONTH CATCH UNDER OUR SKIN...
ON TV
Charleston, IL
Colorado Springs, CO
Dallas, TX
Daytona, FL
Denver, CO
Duluth, MN
Durham, NH
Erie, PA
Eureka, CA
Evansville, IN
Harrisonburg, VA
Kalamazoo, MI
Las Vegas, NV
Lexington, KY
Long Island, NY
Marquette, MI
Miami, FL
New York, NY
Norfolk, VA
Pittston, PA
Portland, OR
Providence, RI
Research Triangle, NC
Sacramento, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
University Park, PA
Watertown, NJ
and more
ON SCREEN
Troy, NY
Pennington, NJ
Ashburn, VA
Healdsburg, CA
Hollis, NH
Santa Barbara, CA
Candia, NH
Newton, NJ
Duxbury, MA
Meadville, PA
Idaho Falls, ID
Tunkhannock, PA
Wakefield, MA
Guerneville, CA
La Mirada, CA
Fairplay, MD
Jackson, TN
Newton, NJ
Guerneville, CA
Ponte Vedra, FL
Boxborough, MA
Bethlehem, PA
‣ Organize a screening
‣ View screening schedule
ON DEMAND
iTunes
Amazon VOD
Comcast Xfinity
Verizon VOD
Cablevision
Best Buy VOD
DirectTV
AT&T
Shaw (Canada)
and more
ON DVD
uos_dvd_3d_sm-101110
‣ Home Edition now $29.95
ON FACEBOOK
‣ 11,448 fans! Stay updated and connected
ON YOUTUBE
Youtube
‣ 74 videos and 553,425 views!
ON YOUR MIND
donate
‣ Help us fund our outreach and community engagement work
UOS BEGINS BROADCASTS ON PBS STATIONS
pbs_logo1 Finally, UNDER OUR SKIN will be seen on TV, reaching millions of viewers! Starting this month, Lyme Disease Awareness Month, a slimmed-down, updated version will be shown on select PBS stations across the country. Thanks to viewer calls and emails, more and more PBS affiliates are picking up the show. Stations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Miami are leading the pack with broadcasts on May 1, with scores of other stations following. Broadcasts will continue throughout the summer and beyond. Check the current schedule of broadcasts; if you don't see your local PBS station listed, feel free to contact them, urging that they program the film if they haven't already.
Despite the representation of their viewpoint in the film, the Infectious Diseases Society of America is raising its voice and standing on its bully pulpit to try to stop broadcasts. In an intimidating letter, the organization president warned that the film is "dangerous to viewers" and shouldn't be seen.
tv_censorship2The PBS mandate is to "provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard,? and serve as ?a forum for controversy and debate? by broadcasting programs that ?help us see America whole, in all its diversity.? We're glad that PBS affiliate stations are honoring this mission and not caving in to the IDSA's attempt to silence dissenting voices.
Remember, if you can't catch UNDER OUR SKIN on TV, the film is also available nationwide as Video On Demand, in community screenings everywhere, and on DVD.
pbs_teaser
__________________________________________________
COMMUNITY SCREENINGS ROUNDUP
uos_screenings_map 2It has been three years since UNDER OUR SKIN premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. To date, we have had over 800 community screenings around the US and Canada. They are still going strong! New and seasoned community screening volunteers call or email us every day to talk about their plans to host UNDER OUR SKIN events in their towns. First-time hosts Connie Dickey and Jenny Clark of Knoxville, TN, just organized a highly successful screening at their local Regal Cinema, drawing over 200 people and garnering significant media coverage on TV and in newspapers. Perseverance and charm convinced the theater to offer the cinema free of charge and the filmmaker to return to his boyhood hometown for the screening! Most of all, with the screening of UNDER OUR SKIN, they've launched a local support group with over 50 new members!
This month, there are 30 upcoming screenings around the country for Lyme Disease Awareness Month. As exciting as all these events are, the average American understands little about the dangers of Lyme disease in their community. If you would like to host a community screening, or are just curious to learn more, we invite you to contact our Community Engagement Coordinator, Regan Brashear. bio_regan Regan is here to work with you to help develop a concrete, manageable game plan and provide you with tools and resources to help make your event a success. She can also put you in touch with a growing network of UNDER OUR SKIN volunteers who would be happy to share their experience.
__________________________________________________
NEW UNDER OUR SKIN WEBSITE LAUNCHES
website 2The newly designed, easier to navigate UNDER OUR SKIN website launches today. Feel free to explore it and let us know about ways we can continue to improve it, so that it really can be a top clearinghouse for Lyme and related information, resources and media. As always, we keep a list and map of screenings, press materials, and tools for hosting the film in your community. And don't forget to learn about our UNDER OUR SKIN Angels, individuals we regularly honor for their passion and commitment to use the film as a tool of awareness. This month we honor Dr. Bob Uppgaard of Crosslake, MN.
__________________________________________________
TURN THE CORNER FOUNDATION INAUGURATES VIRTUAL "LYME WALK"
ttc_walkOur official outreach partner, Turn the Corner Foundation, is sponsoring its 1st annual International Virtual Lyme Walk to Turn the Corner on Lyme on May 15th. Dedicated to the support of research, education, awareness and innovative treatments for Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases, Turn the Corner Foundation hopes to create awareness and help raise funds for projects such as Lyme-literate physician training and innovative scientific research. Find out more!
Amerikan infektiolääkärien yhdistys on yrittänyt estää Borrelioosielokuva, Under Our Skinin" TV-esitykset. IDSAn jäsenet ovat ottaneet yhteyttä lähetyksistä vastaaviin TV-yhtiöihin kertoen elokuvan olevan "vaarallista katsottavaa ja täynnä salaliittoja" yms.
TV-yhtiöt eivät ole taipuneet painostuksen alla. Elokuvassa esiintyy myös IDSAn kantaa edustavia lääkäreitä.
http://www.underourskin.com/news/idsa-a ... broadcasts
IDSA aims to censor UNDER OUR SKIN TV broadcasts
Open Eye Pictures has recently learned that the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has been trying to stop the television broadcast of its award-winning documentary on Lyme disease, UNDER OUR SKIN. Working behind the scenes, IDSA officers and members have been contacting the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), and local PBS stations, calling our film ?dangerous for viewers? and full of ?conspiracies.?
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was created in 1967 to ?provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard,? and serve as ?a forum for controversy and debate? by broadcasting programs that ?help us see America whole, in all its diversity.?
We are heartened that no PBS affiliate station has folded under the pressure. UNDER OUR SKIN is the first televised documentary dedicated to educating the public about the plight of Lyme disease patients, who have been abandoned by the medical establishment, in part, because of the IDSA?s flawed Lyme guidelines development process.
While the primary focus of UNDER OUR SKIN is to inform viewers about Lyme disease through the eyes of patients, it also includes interviews with several authors of the IDSA Lyme disease treatment guidelines. These authors were briefed by the IDSA vice president of communications before the filming began, and we believe these interviews accurately represent the IDSA viewpoint on Lyme disease.
UNDER OUR SKIN also shows the unfolding of the investigation into the IDSA Lyme disease guidelines by former Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. His final investigative report found that there was:
? Significant conflicts of interest among the original IDSA guidelines authors,
? Suppression of scientific evidence by authors, and,
? Exclusion of panel members with opposing viewpoints.
The IDSA?s suppression of dissenting views continues. This time the target is UNDER OUR SKIN. (More examples of IDSA censorship are listed at the end of this article.)
Recently, the importance of transparency and open dialogue in medical guidelines development were underscored in a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), ?Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust.? In this mandate for guidelines reform, the IDSA Lyme guidelines were called out as an example of a process gone awry:
?This case highlights the need for standardization and transparency in all aspects of systemic data collection and review, committee administration, and guideline development, so that questions about these issues do not detract from the science. [Guideline developers]? must be aware of the many, varied observers who will consider their development processes, particularly when their recommendations are likely to be controversial.?
And in a recent study in Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers found that out of 4,200 IDSA guideline recommendations, more than half were based on no more than expert opinion and anecdote, not hard evidence, reinforcing points made in our film. (See references below.)
So, as investigative news organizations and documentary film producers ? with the help of the Physicians Sunshine Act ? begin to shine the light on endemic commercial influences on ?evidence-based medicine,? it?s a wake up call to the medical establishment to clean up their own act before attacking outside organizations dedicated to protecting the public.
In other words, don?t shoot the messenger.
____________________________________
To read more about past IDSA efforts to censor dissenting opinions:
Poses, R. (2006) ?The Conflicted Defending the Conflicted: Infectious Disease Specialists? Attack on the LA Times Goes Awry.?
Henderson CW, DeNoon, DJ. (1997) ?Strange Bedfellows Damage CDC and NIH Credibility? AIDSWEEKLY Plus. Feb 3 1997.
Oransky, I. ?Transparency needed in drug researchers? finances.? Boston Globe. Oct. 7, 2006.
To read more about the flawed IDSA guidelines development process:
Johnson, L. and R. B. Stricker (2010). ?The Infectious Diseases Society of America Lyme guidelines: a cautionary tale about the development of clinical practice guidelines.? Philos Ethics Humanit Med 5: 9.
IOM. (2011) ?Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust.? Washington D.C. National Academies Press.
Lee, D. H. and O. Vielemeyer (2011). ?Analysis of Overall Level of Evidence Behind Infectious Diseases Society of America Practice Guidelines.? Arch Intern Med 171(1): 18-22.
Frederik Joelving, Medical ?best practice? often no more than opinion?,
To download a detailed history of the IDSA investigation, click here.
To read the Attorney General?s press release on the IDSA guidelines investigation, click here.
TV-yhtiöt eivät ole taipuneet painostuksen alla. Elokuvassa esiintyy myös IDSAn kantaa edustavia lääkäreitä.
http://www.underourskin.com/news/idsa-a ... broadcasts
IDSA aims to censor UNDER OUR SKIN TV broadcasts
Open Eye Pictures has recently learned that the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has been trying to stop the television broadcast of its award-winning documentary on Lyme disease, UNDER OUR SKIN. Working behind the scenes, IDSA officers and members have been contacting the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), and local PBS stations, calling our film ?dangerous for viewers? and full of ?conspiracies.?
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was created in 1967 to ?provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard,? and serve as ?a forum for controversy and debate? by broadcasting programs that ?help us see America whole, in all its diversity.?
We are heartened that no PBS affiliate station has folded under the pressure. UNDER OUR SKIN is the first televised documentary dedicated to educating the public about the plight of Lyme disease patients, who have been abandoned by the medical establishment, in part, because of the IDSA?s flawed Lyme guidelines development process.
While the primary focus of UNDER OUR SKIN is to inform viewers about Lyme disease through the eyes of patients, it also includes interviews with several authors of the IDSA Lyme disease treatment guidelines. These authors were briefed by the IDSA vice president of communications before the filming began, and we believe these interviews accurately represent the IDSA viewpoint on Lyme disease.
UNDER OUR SKIN also shows the unfolding of the investigation into the IDSA Lyme disease guidelines by former Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. His final investigative report found that there was:
? Significant conflicts of interest among the original IDSA guidelines authors,
? Suppression of scientific evidence by authors, and,
? Exclusion of panel members with opposing viewpoints.
The IDSA?s suppression of dissenting views continues. This time the target is UNDER OUR SKIN. (More examples of IDSA censorship are listed at the end of this article.)
Recently, the importance of transparency and open dialogue in medical guidelines development were underscored in a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), ?Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust.? In this mandate for guidelines reform, the IDSA Lyme guidelines were called out as an example of a process gone awry:
?This case highlights the need for standardization and transparency in all aspects of systemic data collection and review, committee administration, and guideline development, so that questions about these issues do not detract from the science. [Guideline developers]? must be aware of the many, varied observers who will consider their development processes, particularly when their recommendations are likely to be controversial.?
And in a recent study in Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers found that out of 4,200 IDSA guideline recommendations, more than half were based on no more than expert opinion and anecdote, not hard evidence, reinforcing points made in our film. (See references below.)
So, as investigative news organizations and documentary film producers ? with the help of the Physicians Sunshine Act ? begin to shine the light on endemic commercial influences on ?evidence-based medicine,? it?s a wake up call to the medical establishment to clean up their own act before attacking outside organizations dedicated to protecting the public.
In other words, don?t shoot the messenger.
____________________________________
To read more about past IDSA efforts to censor dissenting opinions:
Poses, R. (2006) ?The Conflicted Defending the Conflicted: Infectious Disease Specialists? Attack on the LA Times Goes Awry.?
Henderson CW, DeNoon, DJ. (1997) ?Strange Bedfellows Damage CDC and NIH Credibility? AIDSWEEKLY Plus. Feb 3 1997.
Oransky, I. ?Transparency needed in drug researchers? finances.? Boston Globe. Oct. 7, 2006.
To read more about the flawed IDSA guidelines development process:
Johnson, L. and R. B. Stricker (2010). ?The Infectious Diseases Society of America Lyme guidelines: a cautionary tale about the development of clinical practice guidelines.? Philos Ethics Humanit Med 5: 9.
IOM. (2011) ?Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust.? Washington D.C. National Academies Press.
Lee, D. H. and O. Vielemeyer (2011). ?Analysis of Overall Level of Evidence Behind Infectious Diseases Society of America Practice Guidelines.? Arch Intern Med 171(1): 18-22.
Frederik Joelving, Medical ?best practice? often no more than opinion?,
To download a detailed history of the IDSA investigation, click here.
To read the Attorney General?s press release on the IDSA guidelines investigation, click here.
BORRELIOOSILAUSUNTOJA
Muutaman IDSA:n ajattelutapaa edustavan lääkärin lausuntoja Borrelioosista. Pari heistä esitti mielipiteensä myös Borrelioosielokuvassa, Under Our Skin.Lausunnot on kerännyt vuosien aikana muutama Borrelioosia sairastava amerikkalainen.
Tri Ostroff, infektiolääkäri: "Borrelioosi on juppitauti jota esiintyy ainoastaan esikaupunkialueiden ihmisillä."
Tri Nadelman "Mikäli henkilöllä on etenevä ihomuutos mutta hän ei asu alueella jossa Borrelioosi olisi yleistä, ei ihomuutos mitä todennäköisimmin ole borrelia-bakteerin aiheuttama."
Tri Daniel Rahn:"Borrelioosiin ei liity minkäänlaisia sydänperäisiä sairauksia."
Tri Janine Evansin näkemys asiasta: "Borrelia-bakteerin aiheuttama sydäntulehdus voi olla erittäin vaikea. Tila edellyttää sairaalahoitoa ja huolellista seurantaa mahdollisten vakavien komplikaatioiden estämiseksi."
Tri Raymond Dattwyler. 1993: "Negatiivinen testitulos merkitsee negatiivista. Positiivisista testituloksista sen sijaan puolet voi olla virheellisiä. Positiivinen tulos ei myöskään merkitse sitää etteikö olisi parantunut."
Alan Barbour: "Borrelioosi on nykyään niin sosiaalisesti hyväksytty puheenaihe, että siitä keskustellaan jokaisessa coctail-tilaisuudessakin."
"Borrelioosi tappaa erittäin harvoin. Koko maailmassa on raportoitu vain muutamia tapauksia."
"Borrelioosi on täysin parannettavissa"
"Punkinpureman jälkeen on suositeltavaa laittaa iholle antibioottivoidetta tartunnan estämiseksi." (s.244) .. aiemmin (s.222) Barbour sanoo kuitenkin kirjansa sivuilla että voide saattaa estää muiden bakteerien aiheuttaman infektion mutta ei borrelia-bakteerin."
Tällä hetkellä Borrelioosista on saatavilla tietoa monista eri lähteistä. Useat niistä ovat ristiriidassa asiantuntijoiden ohjeiden kanssa. Tällaisia lähteitä ovat esim. Internet, Borrelioosia käsittelevät maallikkojen kirjoittamat kirjat, erilaiset uutiskirjeet ja potilasjärjestöjen tiedotteet."
"Kansallisen terveysjärjestön (NIH) tutkijat aikovat käyttää 4 miljoonaa dollaria tutkiakseen onko pitkillä antibioottihoidoilla vaikutusta Borrelioosiin. Tämä merkitsee sitä että tuo rahasumma on poissa muilta paljon hyödyllisemmiltä tutkimushankkeilta."
Tri Shapiro: "Aikaa myöten infektio monien kohdalla "palaa loppuun" ilman hoitoakin.
Tri Stephen Gluckman, infektiotaudit: "Borreliatestit ovat erinomaisen hyviä. Ainoana ongelmana ovat lääkärit jotka haluavat diagnosoida Borrelioosia. On olemassa kahdenlaisia lääkäreitä: tieteellisesti suuntautuneet, kuten minä, ja on myös paljon "itseoppineita" lääkäreitä. Puhumme keskenämme aivan eri kieltä. Meillä ei ole mitään yhteistä."
Tri Eugene Shapiro
"Borrelioosin ennaltaehkäisyyn ei juuri tarvitse kiinnittää huomiota, ei sellaisissakaan tapauksissa joissa asuinalueella tiedetään esiintyvän Borrelioosia runsaasti."
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Barbour
"Lyme disease is rarely fatal: only a few deaths are attributable to the disease in the entire world":
-Alan Barbour, MD, in Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, page 34
"[Lyme disease] is curable and stigma-free":
-Alan Barbour, MD, ibid., page 192
"Lyme disease bacteria remain in the skin for two or more days until spreading to the other parts of the body. Until the microorganisms spread, there is no need for an antibiotic that is distributed throughout the body":
-Alan Barbour, MD, Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, page 225
"Like Lyme disease, CFS and fibromyalgia are diagnosed using strict criteria that have been agreed upon by physicians and other experts. . . . Diagnoses of CFS, fibromyalgia and chronic Lyme disease undoubtedly are being made in cases that do not fully meet the strict criteria":
-Alan Barbour, MD, Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, pages 202-203
"Many consider Lyme disease to be a nuisance that involves a trip to the physician's office every year or two and a few weeks of antibiotics":
-Alan G. Barbour, MD, Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, page 243
". . . a topical antibiotic to prevent Lyme disease after a tick bite is desirable":
-Alan Barbour, MD, Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, page 244
"An antibiotic ointment might prevent infection from other bacteria but would likely have little effect on B. burgdorferi":
-Alan Barbour, MD, ibid., page 222
"For many people who become infected with Lyme disease spirochetes, this immune response that limits the erythema rash is sufficient to cure them of the infection. The spirochetes have either been completely eliminated from the body or so limited in their spread that they no longer can cause harm":
-Alan Barbour, MD, ibid., page 8
"Eventually, antibodies, perhaps aided by lymphocytes, attach to spirochetes in the blood and remove them from the circulation. However, by the time that occurs, some spirochetes have left the blood and entered distant organs. They are able to do this because they can attach themselves to the sides of blood vessels and then penetrate the cells that line veins and arteries. Once they reach the other side of the blood vessels, spirochetes can reside and move in the liquid between cells":
-Alan Barbour, MD, ibid., page 9
A B. burgdorferi organism may spend some of its life inside cells. After all, for these bacteria to leave the blood and go into tissues, they must pass through cells that line the blood vessels. . . . these intracellular spirochetes can escape the effects of the antibiotics that do not penetrate into cells well. When an antibiotic of that class is stopped, so the argument goes, the live bacteria inside the cells could reseed the rest of the body":
-Alan Barbour, ibid., pages 125-126
"The fact that the N.I.H. plans to spend about $4 million on this study [the long-term use of antibiotics to treat Lyme disease] means less money for more useful projects":
-Alan Barbour, MD, in The New York Times OP-ED of July 5, 1997
?Lyme disease is primarily a disorder of suburban, educated middle- and upper-class people. Lyme disease can be as disabling as syphilis, but there usually is not a stigma to having Borrelia burgdorferi infection.?
-Alan Barbour, MD. Journal of the American Medical Association, January 21, 1998
?Currently, there are many sources of information about Lyme disease, much of which is in disagreement with the experts' advice. These sources include the Internet, books on Lyme disease written by laypersons, and pamphlets, newsletters, and call-in help lines of patient advocacy groups.?
-Alan Barbour, MD. Journal of the American Medical Association, January 21, 1998
Dattwyler
"Negative serologic tests mean negative, and positive tests have up to a 50 to 1 chance of being false, and having a positive test does not mean you're not cured":
-Raymond Dattwyler, MD, in 1993 WLIW TV interview
Fish
"Without the Lyme disease vaccine, we're back to ground zero in terms of how
we're going to combat the Lyme disease epidemic," says Fish, conference
program co-chair?Companies "may not want to take on (development of) a vaccine for a disease that is treatable and has a relatively low incidence.?
Durland Fish, in USA Today quoted by Anita Manning, August 21, 2002
Gluckman
Dr. Stephen Gluckman, director of clinical services in the University of Pennsylvania Hospital?s infectious disease division, says the tests for Lyme are "wonderfully good." He believes the real problem is the doctors who are too willing to diagnose Lyme disease. "There are two types of Lyme doctors ? and I?m not saying this in a negative way ? there are doctors who are scientific, like me, and there are a lot of self-proclaimed Lyme doctors. We speak two different languages, we have nothing in common."
Steven Gluckman, MD, Philadelphia City Paper quoted by Stephanie Ramp, July 8, 1999
Nadelman
"The erythema migrans rash, which occurs within a mean of 7 to 10 days after a tick bite, is present in 90% or more of patients with objective evidence of Lyme disease":
-Nadelman and Wormser, MDs, ibid., page 69
" . . . transmission of B. burgdorferi by I. Scapularis (hard ticks) probably takes days. In experimental animal systems (21) and humans (5), I. Scapularis rarely transmitted infection before 48 hours of attachment":
-Robert B. Nadelman, MD, and Gary P. Wormser, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 51
"However, most patients with late-stage Lyme disease are believed to have had antecedent erythema migrans (EM), a readily identified lesion, at the site of the bite (14,35-38). Among more than 1,000 participants followed in prospective studies at our center (unpublished data) and elsewhere (10-13), none has been reported to have developed late or latent infection (latent infection is defined as asymptomatic seroconversion, the clinical significance of which is unknown)":
-Robert B. Nadelman, MD, and Gary P. Wormser, MD, ibid., page 53
"In a person from an area not endemic for Lyme disease, Lyme disease is an unlikely cause of an expanding erythematous rash":
-Robert B. Nadelman, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 206
"The timing and distribution of this patient's rash (occurring after antibiotic therapy) suggest a photosensitive reaction to antibiotics":
-Robert B. Nadelman, MD, ibid., page 208
Ostroff
"Lyme is a yuppie disease that only rich suburbanites get":
-Dr. Steven Ostroff, Associate Director in the Infectious Diseases Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during interview by Illinois legislators in June 1997
Rahn
"In the pre-antibiotic era of Lyme disease, they all [acute neurologic abnormalities of Lyme disease] were shown to remit spontaneously with complete recovery being the rule":
-Daniel W. Rahn, MD, in the American College of Physicians' Lyme Disease, page 39
"[Lyme] disease onset is heralded by appearance of a characteristic skin lesion, erythema migrans, at the site of a tick bite":
-Daniel W. Rahn, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 45
"Most patients with Lyme carditis experience complete recovery, even without antibiotic therapy":
-Janine Evans, MD, co-author with Daniel W. Rahn, MD, of ACP's Lyme Disease, page 86
"No long-term cardiac sequelae have been attributed to cardiac involvement in Lyme disease":
-Daniel W. Rahn, MD, ibid., page 40
"Patients with Lyme carditis can present quite dramatically. They usually require hospitalization and careful cardiac monitoring for potential serious complications":
-Janine Evans, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Rheumatology, Yale School of Medicine, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 221
"When the pre-test probability [of Lyme disease] starts high, the post-test remains high when the test result is positive--and again, the treatment decision remains unchanged. . . . If the pre-test probability is high, but the test result is negative, the post-test probability may be substantially lower. In both cases, the use of serologioc testing can shift the treatment decision. . . . Patient expectations may also influence a physician's decision to perform a diagnostic test or to institute empiric therapy. . . . On the practice-enabling side, a final component of the American College of Physicians Disease Management Program includes patient education tools":
-Anthony D. So, MD, MPA (Senior Advisor to the Administrator, Agency for Health Care, Policy, and Research. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C., and Daniel W. Rahn, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 193
Schoen
"When I contradict a previous diagnosis of Lyme disease by another doctor, it is in order to reassure the patient":
-Robert T. Schoen, MD, Yale School of Medicine, quoted in a Letter to The Editor, New Haven Register, June 3, 1997
"Your history and exam do not suggest that you had Lyme disease per se but your positive Lyme titers suggest that you were exposed to the Lyme bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi. To be on the safe side we generally recommend a three-week course of Doxycycline as you are getting for asymptomatic patients with positive Lyme titers; although we don't know for sure that even this amount of therapy is necessary":
-Anne R. Bass, MD, of Robert T. Schoen, MD's office, in letter dated August 2, 1991
"The patient's history does not suggest Lyme disease but suggests more a viral illness of undetermined type. . . . I have sent an ELISA and Western blot from my office particularly at the patient's husband's urging although I anticipate that these will be negative. Even if they turn out to be positive I do not think that the patient's recent illness was due to Lyme disease, and in any case she has received a two- week course of Doxycycline":
-Anne R. Bass, MD, in letter dated August 2, 1991
"The result of Lyme titers from Yale came back. The ELISA was positive with an IgM of 200 and an IgG of 100, positive being greater than 100. A Western blot was done and showed a band at 41KD for both IgM and IgG. What all this suggests is that she has been exposed to Lyme disease at some time in the past. But once again, the clinical history that she has and the laboratory changes that she had when she was in the hospital over the summer do not suggest particularly acute Lyme disease but looked rather more like a viral hepatitis, even if we couldn't identify which virus. In any case, Patienthas gotten the two-week course of Doxycycline which should be adequate treatment given her positive test":
-Anne R. Bass, MD, in letter dated August 31, 1991
"In Lyme disease recipients, Western Blot analysis is indicated to distinguish disease from seroconversion caused by vaccination":
-Robert T. Schoen, MD, ACP's Lyme Disease, page 239
Eugene Shapiro
"Lyme disease prevention requires only minimal precautions; even for people living in areas with the highest concentration of positively identified cases":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, Yale Children's Health Letter, April 1995
"Over time, the [Lyme] disease tends to burn itself out, even without treatment, in many people":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, quoted by Karen Freeman in The New York Times, October 24, 1996
"Children with only non-specific symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, or arthralgia, are very unlikely to have Lyme disease. Serologic tests for Lyme disease should not be ordered for such patients because a positive test result is very likely to be a false-positive":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 131
"Nearly 90% of children who develop Lyme disease have either single or multiple sites of erythema migrans":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, ibid., page 132
"As many as 40% of the patients with well-documented late stage Lyme disease will not have had a preceding lesion of erythema migrans . . . as the only clinical manifestation of early Lyme disease. . . . The existence of a flu-like illness without erythema migrans of early Lyme disease has been clearly established":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, et al., "Early Lyme Disease: A Flu- like Illness Without Erythema Migrans," Pediatrics 91, (1993): 456-59
"There is no evidence that congenital Lyme disease is a problem":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 132
"The prognosis of children with Lyme disease, both early and late, is excellent, with no evidence of chronic symptoms or long- term sequelae":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, ibid., page 132
"Because of the low risk of Lyme disease and the excellent prognosis of children who do develop Lyme disease, prophylactic antimicrobial treatment is not recommended for children who are bitten by a deer tick":
-Eugene D.Shapiro, MD, ibid., page
"In patients presenting with nonspecific symptoms, the positive predictive value of serologic testing for Lyme disease is low":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, ACP's Lyme Disease, page 224
"There are a ton of people with non-specific symptoms and most of their positives are false positives [for the ELISA and Western Blot], so they think they have this diagnosis of Lyme":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, quoted by Stefanie Ramp in the Fairfield County Weekly, May 20, 1999
"If all you know is that you found a deer tick on your child, the risk is 1 to 2 percent at most of having Lyme disease. And then greater than 90 percent of those will show a rash at the site of the bite":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, in the April 1995 issue of Yale Children's Health Letter
"Most ticks are not infected and even if a child has been bitten by an infected tick, 36 to 48 hours are needed before transmission of the bacteria takes place":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, ibid.
"There are probably better ways to spend health-care dollars" than on a vaccine for Lyme disease:
-Eugene Shapiro, MD in the April 1995 issue of Yale Children's Health Letter
"It [LYMErix vaccine] is fairly expensive, and I think that the biggest problem is not Lyme disease but anxiety about Lyme disease, and I'm not sure how effective the vaccine is against anxiety about Lyme disease. . . . I don't think most people are at really high risk for Lyme disease, so the benefits don't necessarily qualify the costs":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, a professor of pediatrics at Yale, quoted by Stefanie Ramp in the Fairfield Co. Weekly on May 20, 1999
"It's usually not Lyme disease unless it looks, smells, and tastes like Lyme disease":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, in the April 1995 issue of Yale Children's Health Letter
Sigal
"There is no risk involved in taking the vaccine. It's not as though we're taking the organism and mucking around with it, and giving you some of it. We're giving you pure protein. It's impossible to get Lyme disease from this vaccine":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, principal investigator of the "whole nine yards study" of a Lyme disease vaccine, quoted in the Vineyard Gazette, July 24, 1999
"The cognitive dysfunction that occurs with depression, fibromyalgia, anxiety, or primary sleep disorder can mimic the cognitive dysfunction of late Lyme disease"
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 141
"With the statistical methods used in ELISA, one is essentially assured that a positive test result will be obtained ultimately if the test is done often enough, and such a result would be a false-positive":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 174
"Many patients have found a place in their personas for 'chronic Lyme disease,' and this may be the most permanently damaging aspect of Lyme disease":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, ACP's Lyme Disease, page 149
"It could be the fibromyalgia, but you cannot assume it is Lyme disease. Or it could be Lyme disease, but you should not assume it is the fibromyalgia":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, in American Journal of Medicine, vol. 98, suppl. 4A
"Tertiary neuroborreliosis can be differentiated from the early disseminated neurological disease by the fact that it is later, very frequently in association with inflammatory joint disease, but quite frequently it will be on its own, and sometimes it will be the very first manifestation of Lyme disease":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, Chief, Division of Rheumatology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, N.J., in his paper read at Yale's 6th Annual Lyme Disease Symposium, June 16, 1993
"Lyme disease, although a problem, is not nearly as big a problem as most people think." The bigger epidemic," Dr. Sigal said, "is Lyme anxiety." And, he said, "even if you get the disease, it is easily treatable and it is curable."
- Leonard H. Sigal, MD, Quoted by Gina Kolata in New York Times, June 13, 2001
Steere
"Standard antibiotic treatment [of Lyme disease] probably fails less often than one might think. Most apparent treatment failures actually reflect misdiagnosis":
-Allen C. Steere in Hospital Practice, April 1993
"Of the patients [788] who did not have Lyme disease, 45% had had positive serological test results for Lyme disease in other laboratories, but all were seronegative in our laboratory (17)":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, as quoted by Polly Murray in The Widening Circle, page 238
"Almost two decades after Steere, now a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, identified the first cases of Lyme disease, he finds that 'because of misdiagnosis, the spread of this disease may be more apparent than real.' What might have looked like an epidemic of a new, highly dangerous disease, instead seems to have been blown out of proportion to the real danger":
-Yale Children's Health Letter, April 1995
"Eventually, both intermittent and chronic Lyme arthritis resolve, even in untreated patients":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, in the New England Journal of Medicine, January 27, 1994
"In all too many cases what's being called psychiatric disease due to Lyme disease is not and other forms of treatment than prolonged antibiotic therapy would be more effective for these people. . . . Lyme disease can give rise to a subtle neuropsychiatric picture in which subtle memory deficit is the most common manifestation:"
-Allen C. Steere, MD, in the The Boston Globe, August 9, 1999
"Misdiagnosis not only leads to underreporting of new cases, but also may lead at times to overdiagnosis, since Lyme disease has almost become a euphemism for chronic cases of pain and fatigue syndromes":
-Steere et al., "The Overdiagnosis of Lyme Disease," JAMA 269 (1993): #1812-1816
"A common problem in diagnosis [of Lyme disease] is mistaking fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome for Lyme disease (Box 6.2). This problem is compounded by the fact that a small percentage of patients develop fibromyalgia in association with or soon after erythema migrans or Lyme arthritis, suggesting that B. burgdorferi is one of the stressful events that may trigger this chronic pain syndrome":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 114
"We remain skeptical that antibiotic therapy helps":
-Allen C. Steere, et al., Annals of Internal Medicine 86 (1997): 685
"To sum up the therapy of Lyme arthritis (Lyme disease), it appears that at this point only symptomatic treatment is feasible":
-Steere et al., Hospital Practice 143 (April 1978)
On the neurological abnormalities of Lyme disease, Dr. Steere and his colleagues reported that they "have noted no benefit from antibiotic treatment":
-Reik, L., Steere, A.C. et al., Medicine 58, 281 (1979)
"When Steere assured me that the disease was self-limiting, I stopped using antibiotics":
-Dr. Edgar Grunwaldt of Shelter Island, N.Y., quoted by Berton Roueche in The New Yorker, September 12, 1988
"The fibromyalgia syndrome, even if triggered by infection with B. burgdorferi, seems not to respond to antibiotic therapy (48). There is no evidence that prolonged antibiotic therapy for many months or years is of benefit in the treatment of either Lyme arthritis or fibromyalgia . . . (49)":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 119
"Multijoint swelling accompanied by tendinitis [also tendonitis] and bursitis would be an unusual presentation of Lyme disease. Alternative diagnoses should be pursued, including systemic lupus erythematosus, seronegative arthropathies, and crystal-induced arthritis (gout or pseudogout)":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, ACP's Lyme Disease, page 218
"Within days or weeks after inoculation, the Lyme spirochete may spread in the patient's blood or lymph to many sites. . . . The spirochete has been recovered several times from blood during this stage, and it has also been seen in small numbers in specimens of myocardium, retina, muscle, bone, synovium, spleen, liver, meninges, and brain":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, New England Journal of Medicine, August 1989
"A lot of what has been described as Lyme disease, and attributed to Lyme disease, would not stand up to the scrutiny of peer review":
-Allen C. Steere, The Boston Globe, August 9, 1999
"There is more fiction to Lyme disease than fact, and only experts like myself know how to tell the two apart":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, at the 1998 Dutchess County meeting
"[I'll talk] only about Lyme arthritis, not all features of Lyme disease--which is too big a topic. . . . [Let me] just be a rheumatologist":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, San Francisco, April 1999, interview with Jean Hubbard of Lyme Times, April-June 1999 edition
"The symptoms [of Lyme disease] are slowly progressive, I think, with the spirochete still present. But syphilis is treatable with antibiotics, and so is Lyme disease . . . and central nervous system symptoms in Lyme disease, like CNS symptoms seen in syphilis, can occur after a long latent period":.
-Allen C. Steere, MD, ibid.
"I suppose Lyme disease is one of the few diseases that some people want to have because it's defined. I think it's very difficult to have something that is not well understood":
-Allen C. Steere, The New York Times, May 4, 1999
"Eventually, both intermittent and chronic Lyme arthritis resolve, even in untreated patients":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, New England Journal of Medicine, January 27, 1994
He read a part of the letter that said that the patient had undergone an M.R.I. for her dizziness but that the results came back negative. If a spirochete had damaged her brain, he said, the tests would show lesions. "Let me read you another part," he said, "so that you understand: 'What do I do to be well again? My life has been turned upside down by "Lyme." I . . . haven't been able to work in 5 years. I've been divorced and have claimed bankruptcy due to mounting medical bills. Currently I am also trying to take care of my mother who lives with me and is suffering from pancreatic cancer, on top of all this I feel terrible."' Steere put down the letter and stared at me for a long moment. "What I suspect is that she doesn't have Lyme disease but some kind of psychiatric illness," he said.
Stalking Dr. Steere Over Lyme Disease, New York Times, June 17, 2001
Things had gotten so bad that by the time I tried to reach Steere in February, he had gone into seclusion, refusing to give interviews and, according to a friend, traveling to speaking engagements under an alias. When I called the public-relations firm that he had recently hired, the spokeswoman told me that he was afraid for his life. ?.Steere's lab and private office were in their own section of the hospital, tightly guarded by bolts and alarms. When I rang the bell at his lab, a woman looked at me through a glass pane and then buzzed me in?.. Hovering nervously about the room, he told me that every time someone had done an article, the media had botched the facts and that he had simply given up trying to illuminate them. ??"We are now in the political phase of the disease, and I am not a very public person." Despite his obvious discomfort, he invited me to sit in on several consultations the next morning. But then, in the midst of those rounds, he again grew wary and led me into a different office and shut the door. He said that he wanted to talk to me, to help me better understand the illness, but that he was afraid of the public reaction to his words: "Doctors can't say what they think anymore. If you quote me as saying these things, I'm as good as dead."
Stalking Dr. Steere Over Lyme Disease, New York Times, June 17, 2001
Weld
"A negative test [for Lyme disease] is about 99% correct":
-David Weld, Executive Director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation (which should not be confused with The Lyme Disease Foundation in Hartford) in The Healthy Traveler, November 1997
"Many of the researchers from whom we derive new information, including Dr. Steere, are also practicing physicians with years of experience in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease. The suggestion that clinicians, who depend on medical journals for information, do not share the conclusions of Dr. Steere and other like-minded researchers is, at best, misguided. . . . The views of these researchers are, in fact, widely respected and adopted by their practicing colleagues":
-Reply by David L. Weld, executive director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation in Somers, N.Y., to an article in The New York Times of May 4, 1999
"Lyme is a socially acceptable disease. You can talk about it at any cocktail party":
-David Weld, head of the American Lyme Disease Foundation, in USA TODAY
Tri Ostroff, infektiolääkäri: "Borrelioosi on juppitauti jota esiintyy ainoastaan esikaupunkialueiden ihmisillä."
Tri Nadelman "Mikäli henkilöllä on etenevä ihomuutos mutta hän ei asu alueella jossa Borrelioosi olisi yleistä, ei ihomuutos mitä todennäköisimmin ole borrelia-bakteerin aiheuttama."
Tri Daniel Rahn:"Borrelioosiin ei liity minkäänlaisia sydänperäisiä sairauksia."
Tri Janine Evansin näkemys asiasta: "Borrelia-bakteerin aiheuttama sydäntulehdus voi olla erittäin vaikea. Tila edellyttää sairaalahoitoa ja huolellista seurantaa mahdollisten vakavien komplikaatioiden estämiseksi."
Tri Raymond Dattwyler. 1993: "Negatiivinen testitulos merkitsee negatiivista. Positiivisista testituloksista sen sijaan puolet voi olla virheellisiä. Positiivinen tulos ei myöskään merkitse sitää etteikö olisi parantunut."
Alan Barbour: "Borrelioosi on nykyään niin sosiaalisesti hyväksytty puheenaihe, että siitä keskustellaan jokaisessa coctail-tilaisuudessakin."
"Borrelioosi tappaa erittäin harvoin. Koko maailmassa on raportoitu vain muutamia tapauksia."
"Borrelioosi on täysin parannettavissa"
"Punkinpureman jälkeen on suositeltavaa laittaa iholle antibioottivoidetta tartunnan estämiseksi." (s.244) .. aiemmin (s.222) Barbour sanoo kuitenkin kirjansa sivuilla että voide saattaa estää muiden bakteerien aiheuttaman infektion mutta ei borrelia-bakteerin."
Tällä hetkellä Borrelioosista on saatavilla tietoa monista eri lähteistä. Useat niistä ovat ristiriidassa asiantuntijoiden ohjeiden kanssa. Tällaisia lähteitä ovat esim. Internet, Borrelioosia käsittelevät maallikkojen kirjoittamat kirjat, erilaiset uutiskirjeet ja potilasjärjestöjen tiedotteet."
"Kansallisen terveysjärjestön (NIH) tutkijat aikovat käyttää 4 miljoonaa dollaria tutkiakseen onko pitkillä antibioottihoidoilla vaikutusta Borrelioosiin. Tämä merkitsee sitä että tuo rahasumma on poissa muilta paljon hyödyllisemmiltä tutkimushankkeilta."
Tri Shapiro: "Aikaa myöten infektio monien kohdalla "palaa loppuun" ilman hoitoakin.
Tri Stephen Gluckman, infektiotaudit: "Borreliatestit ovat erinomaisen hyviä. Ainoana ongelmana ovat lääkärit jotka haluavat diagnosoida Borrelioosia. On olemassa kahdenlaisia lääkäreitä: tieteellisesti suuntautuneet, kuten minä, ja on myös paljon "itseoppineita" lääkäreitä. Puhumme keskenämme aivan eri kieltä. Meillä ei ole mitään yhteistä."
Tri Eugene Shapiro
"Borrelioosin ennaltaehkäisyyn ei juuri tarvitse kiinnittää huomiota, ei sellaisissakaan tapauksissa joissa asuinalueella tiedetään esiintyvän Borrelioosia runsaasti."
jne...[/b]
Barbour
"Lyme disease is rarely fatal: only a few deaths are attributable to the disease in the entire world":
-Alan Barbour, MD, in Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, page 34
"[Lyme disease] is curable and stigma-free":
-Alan Barbour, MD, ibid., page 192
"Lyme disease bacteria remain in the skin for two or more days until spreading to the other parts of the body. Until the microorganisms spread, there is no need for an antibiotic that is distributed throughout the body":
-Alan Barbour, MD, Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, page 225
"Like Lyme disease, CFS and fibromyalgia are diagnosed using strict criteria that have been agreed upon by physicians and other experts. . . . Diagnoses of CFS, fibromyalgia and chronic Lyme disease undoubtedly are being made in cases that do not fully meet the strict criteria":
-Alan Barbour, MD, Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, pages 202-203
"Many consider Lyme disease to be a nuisance that involves a trip to the physician's office every year or two and a few weeks of antibiotics":
-Alan G. Barbour, MD, Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, page 243
". . . a topical antibiotic to prevent Lyme disease after a tick bite is desirable":
-Alan Barbour, MD, Lyme Disease, The Cause, The Cure, The Controversy, page 244
"An antibiotic ointment might prevent infection from other bacteria but would likely have little effect on B. burgdorferi":
-Alan Barbour, MD, ibid., page 222
"For many people who become infected with Lyme disease spirochetes, this immune response that limits the erythema rash is sufficient to cure them of the infection. The spirochetes have either been completely eliminated from the body or so limited in their spread that they no longer can cause harm":
-Alan Barbour, MD, ibid., page 8
"Eventually, antibodies, perhaps aided by lymphocytes, attach to spirochetes in the blood and remove them from the circulation. However, by the time that occurs, some spirochetes have left the blood and entered distant organs. They are able to do this because they can attach themselves to the sides of blood vessels and then penetrate the cells that line veins and arteries. Once they reach the other side of the blood vessels, spirochetes can reside and move in the liquid between cells":
-Alan Barbour, MD, ibid., page 9
A B. burgdorferi organism may spend some of its life inside cells. After all, for these bacteria to leave the blood and go into tissues, they must pass through cells that line the blood vessels. . . . these intracellular spirochetes can escape the effects of the antibiotics that do not penetrate into cells well. When an antibiotic of that class is stopped, so the argument goes, the live bacteria inside the cells could reseed the rest of the body":
-Alan Barbour, ibid., pages 125-126
"The fact that the N.I.H. plans to spend about $4 million on this study [the long-term use of antibiotics to treat Lyme disease] means less money for more useful projects":
-Alan Barbour, MD, in The New York Times OP-ED of July 5, 1997
?Lyme disease is primarily a disorder of suburban, educated middle- and upper-class people. Lyme disease can be as disabling as syphilis, but there usually is not a stigma to having Borrelia burgdorferi infection.?
-Alan Barbour, MD. Journal of the American Medical Association, January 21, 1998
?Currently, there are many sources of information about Lyme disease, much of which is in disagreement with the experts' advice. These sources include the Internet, books on Lyme disease written by laypersons, and pamphlets, newsletters, and call-in help lines of patient advocacy groups.?
-Alan Barbour, MD. Journal of the American Medical Association, January 21, 1998
Dattwyler
"Negative serologic tests mean negative, and positive tests have up to a 50 to 1 chance of being false, and having a positive test does not mean you're not cured":
-Raymond Dattwyler, MD, in 1993 WLIW TV interview
Fish
"Without the Lyme disease vaccine, we're back to ground zero in terms of how
we're going to combat the Lyme disease epidemic," says Fish, conference
program co-chair?Companies "may not want to take on (development of) a vaccine for a disease that is treatable and has a relatively low incidence.?
Durland Fish, in USA Today quoted by Anita Manning, August 21, 2002
Gluckman
Dr. Stephen Gluckman, director of clinical services in the University of Pennsylvania Hospital?s infectious disease division, says the tests for Lyme are "wonderfully good." He believes the real problem is the doctors who are too willing to diagnose Lyme disease. "There are two types of Lyme doctors ? and I?m not saying this in a negative way ? there are doctors who are scientific, like me, and there are a lot of self-proclaimed Lyme doctors. We speak two different languages, we have nothing in common."
Steven Gluckman, MD, Philadelphia City Paper quoted by Stephanie Ramp, July 8, 1999
Nadelman
"The erythema migrans rash, which occurs within a mean of 7 to 10 days after a tick bite, is present in 90% or more of patients with objective evidence of Lyme disease":
-Nadelman and Wormser, MDs, ibid., page 69
" . . . transmission of B. burgdorferi by I. Scapularis (hard ticks) probably takes days. In experimental animal systems (21) and humans (5), I. Scapularis rarely transmitted infection before 48 hours of attachment":
-Robert B. Nadelman, MD, and Gary P. Wormser, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 51
"However, most patients with late-stage Lyme disease are believed to have had antecedent erythema migrans (EM), a readily identified lesion, at the site of the bite (14,35-38). Among more than 1,000 participants followed in prospective studies at our center (unpublished data) and elsewhere (10-13), none has been reported to have developed late or latent infection (latent infection is defined as asymptomatic seroconversion, the clinical significance of which is unknown)":
-Robert B. Nadelman, MD, and Gary P. Wormser, MD, ibid., page 53
"In a person from an area not endemic for Lyme disease, Lyme disease is an unlikely cause of an expanding erythematous rash":
-Robert B. Nadelman, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 206
"The timing and distribution of this patient's rash (occurring after antibiotic therapy) suggest a photosensitive reaction to antibiotics":
-Robert B. Nadelman, MD, ibid., page 208
Ostroff
"Lyme is a yuppie disease that only rich suburbanites get":
-Dr. Steven Ostroff, Associate Director in the Infectious Diseases Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during interview by Illinois legislators in June 1997
Rahn
"In the pre-antibiotic era of Lyme disease, they all [acute neurologic abnormalities of Lyme disease] were shown to remit spontaneously with complete recovery being the rule":
-Daniel W. Rahn, MD, in the American College of Physicians' Lyme Disease, page 39
"[Lyme] disease onset is heralded by appearance of a characteristic skin lesion, erythema migrans, at the site of a tick bite":
-Daniel W. Rahn, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 45
"Most patients with Lyme carditis experience complete recovery, even without antibiotic therapy":
-Janine Evans, MD, co-author with Daniel W. Rahn, MD, of ACP's Lyme Disease, page 86
"No long-term cardiac sequelae have been attributed to cardiac involvement in Lyme disease":
-Daniel W. Rahn, MD, ibid., page 40
"Patients with Lyme carditis can present quite dramatically. They usually require hospitalization and careful cardiac monitoring for potential serious complications":
-Janine Evans, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Rheumatology, Yale School of Medicine, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 221
"When the pre-test probability [of Lyme disease] starts high, the post-test remains high when the test result is positive--and again, the treatment decision remains unchanged. . . . If the pre-test probability is high, but the test result is negative, the post-test probability may be substantially lower. In both cases, the use of serologioc testing can shift the treatment decision. . . . Patient expectations may also influence a physician's decision to perform a diagnostic test or to institute empiric therapy. . . . On the practice-enabling side, a final component of the American College of Physicians Disease Management Program includes patient education tools":
-Anthony D. So, MD, MPA (Senior Advisor to the Administrator, Agency for Health Care, Policy, and Research. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C., and Daniel W. Rahn, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 193
Schoen
"When I contradict a previous diagnosis of Lyme disease by another doctor, it is in order to reassure the patient":
-Robert T. Schoen, MD, Yale School of Medicine, quoted in a Letter to The Editor, New Haven Register, June 3, 1997
"Your history and exam do not suggest that you had Lyme disease per se but your positive Lyme titers suggest that you were exposed to the Lyme bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi. To be on the safe side we generally recommend a three-week course of Doxycycline as you are getting for asymptomatic patients with positive Lyme titers; although we don't know for sure that even this amount of therapy is necessary":
-Anne R. Bass, MD, of Robert T. Schoen, MD's office, in letter dated August 2, 1991
"The patient's history does not suggest Lyme disease but suggests more a viral illness of undetermined type. . . . I have sent an ELISA and Western blot from my office particularly at the patient's husband's urging although I anticipate that these will be negative. Even if they turn out to be positive I do not think that the patient's recent illness was due to Lyme disease, and in any case she has received a two- week course of Doxycycline":
-Anne R. Bass, MD, in letter dated August 2, 1991
"The result of Lyme titers from Yale came back. The ELISA was positive with an IgM of 200 and an IgG of 100, positive being greater than 100. A Western blot was done and showed a band at 41KD for both IgM and IgG. What all this suggests is that she has been exposed to Lyme disease at some time in the past. But once again, the clinical history that she has and the laboratory changes that she had when she was in the hospital over the summer do not suggest particularly acute Lyme disease but looked rather more like a viral hepatitis, even if we couldn't identify which virus. In any case, Patienthas gotten the two-week course of Doxycycline which should be adequate treatment given her positive test":
-Anne R. Bass, MD, in letter dated August 31, 1991
"In Lyme disease recipients, Western Blot analysis is indicated to distinguish disease from seroconversion caused by vaccination":
-Robert T. Schoen, MD, ACP's Lyme Disease, page 239
Eugene Shapiro
"Lyme disease prevention requires only minimal precautions; even for people living in areas with the highest concentration of positively identified cases":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, Yale Children's Health Letter, April 1995
"Over time, the [Lyme] disease tends to burn itself out, even without treatment, in many people":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, quoted by Karen Freeman in The New York Times, October 24, 1996
"Children with only non-specific symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, or arthralgia, are very unlikely to have Lyme disease. Serologic tests for Lyme disease should not be ordered for such patients because a positive test result is very likely to be a false-positive":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 131
"Nearly 90% of children who develop Lyme disease have either single or multiple sites of erythema migrans":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, ibid., page 132
"As many as 40% of the patients with well-documented late stage Lyme disease will not have had a preceding lesion of erythema migrans . . . as the only clinical manifestation of early Lyme disease. . . . The existence of a flu-like illness without erythema migrans of early Lyme disease has been clearly established":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, et al., "Early Lyme Disease: A Flu- like Illness Without Erythema Migrans," Pediatrics 91, (1993): 456-59
"There is no evidence that congenital Lyme disease is a problem":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 132
"The prognosis of children with Lyme disease, both early and late, is excellent, with no evidence of chronic symptoms or long- term sequelae":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, ibid., page 132
"Because of the low risk of Lyme disease and the excellent prognosis of children who do develop Lyme disease, prophylactic antimicrobial treatment is not recommended for children who are bitten by a deer tick":
-Eugene D.Shapiro, MD, ibid., page
"In patients presenting with nonspecific symptoms, the positive predictive value of serologic testing for Lyme disease is low":
-Eugene D. Shapiro, MD, ACP's Lyme Disease, page 224
"There are a ton of people with non-specific symptoms and most of their positives are false positives [for the ELISA and Western Blot], so they think they have this diagnosis of Lyme":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, quoted by Stefanie Ramp in the Fairfield County Weekly, May 20, 1999
"If all you know is that you found a deer tick on your child, the risk is 1 to 2 percent at most of having Lyme disease. And then greater than 90 percent of those will show a rash at the site of the bite":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, in the April 1995 issue of Yale Children's Health Letter
"Most ticks are not infected and even if a child has been bitten by an infected tick, 36 to 48 hours are needed before transmission of the bacteria takes place":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, ibid.
"There are probably better ways to spend health-care dollars" than on a vaccine for Lyme disease:
-Eugene Shapiro, MD in the April 1995 issue of Yale Children's Health Letter
"It [LYMErix vaccine] is fairly expensive, and I think that the biggest problem is not Lyme disease but anxiety about Lyme disease, and I'm not sure how effective the vaccine is against anxiety about Lyme disease. . . . I don't think most people are at really high risk for Lyme disease, so the benefits don't necessarily qualify the costs":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, a professor of pediatrics at Yale, quoted by Stefanie Ramp in the Fairfield Co. Weekly on May 20, 1999
"It's usually not Lyme disease unless it looks, smells, and tastes like Lyme disease":
-Eugene Shapiro, MD, in the April 1995 issue of Yale Children's Health Letter
Sigal
"There is no risk involved in taking the vaccine. It's not as though we're taking the organism and mucking around with it, and giving you some of it. We're giving you pure protein. It's impossible to get Lyme disease from this vaccine":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, principal investigator of the "whole nine yards study" of a Lyme disease vaccine, quoted in the Vineyard Gazette, July 24, 1999
"The cognitive dysfunction that occurs with depression, fibromyalgia, anxiety, or primary sleep disorder can mimic the cognitive dysfunction of late Lyme disease"
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 141
"With the statistical methods used in ELISA, one is essentially assured that a positive test result will be obtained ultimately if the test is done often enough, and such a result would be a false-positive":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 174
"Many patients have found a place in their personas for 'chronic Lyme disease,' and this may be the most permanently damaging aspect of Lyme disease":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, ACP's Lyme Disease, page 149
"It could be the fibromyalgia, but you cannot assume it is Lyme disease. Or it could be Lyme disease, but you should not assume it is the fibromyalgia":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, in American Journal of Medicine, vol. 98, suppl. 4A
"Tertiary neuroborreliosis can be differentiated from the early disseminated neurological disease by the fact that it is later, very frequently in association with inflammatory joint disease, but quite frequently it will be on its own, and sometimes it will be the very first manifestation of Lyme disease":
-Leonard H. Sigal, MD, Chief, Division of Rheumatology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, N.J., in his paper read at Yale's 6th Annual Lyme Disease Symposium, June 16, 1993
"Lyme disease, although a problem, is not nearly as big a problem as most people think." The bigger epidemic," Dr. Sigal said, "is Lyme anxiety." And, he said, "even if you get the disease, it is easily treatable and it is curable."
- Leonard H. Sigal, MD, Quoted by Gina Kolata in New York Times, June 13, 2001
Steere
"Standard antibiotic treatment [of Lyme disease] probably fails less often than one might think. Most apparent treatment failures actually reflect misdiagnosis":
-Allen C. Steere in Hospital Practice, April 1993
"Of the patients [788] who did not have Lyme disease, 45% had had positive serological test results for Lyme disease in other laboratories, but all were seronegative in our laboratory (17)":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, as quoted by Polly Murray in The Widening Circle, page 238
"Almost two decades after Steere, now a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, identified the first cases of Lyme disease, he finds that 'because of misdiagnosis, the spread of this disease may be more apparent than real.' What might have looked like an epidemic of a new, highly dangerous disease, instead seems to have been blown out of proportion to the real danger":
-Yale Children's Health Letter, April 1995
"Eventually, both intermittent and chronic Lyme arthritis resolve, even in untreated patients":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, in the New England Journal of Medicine, January 27, 1994
"In all too many cases what's being called psychiatric disease due to Lyme disease is not and other forms of treatment than prolonged antibiotic therapy would be more effective for these people. . . . Lyme disease can give rise to a subtle neuropsychiatric picture in which subtle memory deficit is the most common manifestation:"
-Allen C. Steere, MD, in the The Boston Globe, August 9, 1999
"Misdiagnosis not only leads to underreporting of new cases, but also may lead at times to overdiagnosis, since Lyme disease has almost become a euphemism for chronic cases of pain and fatigue syndromes":
-Steere et al., "The Overdiagnosis of Lyme Disease," JAMA 269 (1993): #1812-1816
"A common problem in diagnosis [of Lyme disease] is mistaking fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome for Lyme disease (Box 6.2). This problem is compounded by the fact that a small percentage of patients develop fibromyalgia in association with or soon after erythema migrans or Lyme arthritis, suggesting that B. burgdorferi is one of the stressful events that may trigger this chronic pain syndrome":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 114
"We remain skeptical that antibiotic therapy helps":
-Allen C. Steere, et al., Annals of Internal Medicine 86 (1997): 685
"To sum up the therapy of Lyme arthritis (Lyme disease), it appears that at this point only symptomatic treatment is feasible":
-Steere et al., Hospital Practice 143 (April 1978)
On the neurological abnormalities of Lyme disease, Dr. Steere and his colleagues reported that they "have noted no benefit from antibiotic treatment":
-Reik, L., Steere, A.C. et al., Medicine 58, 281 (1979)
"When Steere assured me that the disease was self-limiting, I stopped using antibiotics":
-Dr. Edgar Grunwaldt of Shelter Island, N.Y., quoted by Berton Roueche in The New Yorker, September 12, 1988
"The fibromyalgia syndrome, even if triggered by infection with B. burgdorferi, seems not to respond to antibiotic therapy (48). There is no evidence that prolonged antibiotic therapy for many months or years is of benefit in the treatment of either Lyme arthritis or fibromyalgia . . . (49)":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, in ACP's Lyme Disease, page 119
"Multijoint swelling accompanied by tendinitis [also tendonitis] and bursitis would be an unusual presentation of Lyme disease. Alternative diagnoses should be pursued, including systemic lupus erythematosus, seronegative arthropathies, and crystal-induced arthritis (gout or pseudogout)":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, ACP's Lyme Disease, page 218
"Within days or weeks after inoculation, the Lyme spirochete may spread in the patient's blood or lymph to many sites. . . . The spirochete has been recovered several times from blood during this stage, and it has also been seen in small numbers in specimens of myocardium, retina, muscle, bone, synovium, spleen, liver, meninges, and brain":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, New England Journal of Medicine, August 1989
"A lot of what has been described as Lyme disease, and attributed to Lyme disease, would not stand up to the scrutiny of peer review":
-Allen C. Steere, The Boston Globe, August 9, 1999
"There is more fiction to Lyme disease than fact, and only experts like myself know how to tell the two apart":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, at the 1998 Dutchess County meeting
"[I'll talk] only about Lyme arthritis, not all features of Lyme disease--which is too big a topic. . . . [Let me] just be a rheumatologist":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, San Francisco, April 1999, interview with Jean Hubbard of Lyme Times, April-June 1999 edition
"The symptoms [of Lyme disease] are slowly progressive, I think, with the spirochete still present. But syphilis is treatable with antibiotics, and so is Lyme disease . . . and central nervous system symptoms in Lyme disease, like CNS symptoms seen in syphilis, can occur after a long latent period":.
-Allen C. Steere, MD, ibid.
"I suppose Lyme disease is one of the few diseases that some people want to have because it's defined. I think it's very difficult to have something that is not well understood":
-Allen C. Steere, The New York Times, May 4, 1999
"Eventually, both intermittent and chronic Lyme arthritis resolve, even in untreated patients":
-Allen C. Steere, MD, New England Journal of Medicine, January 27, 1994
He read a part of the letter that said that the patient had undergone an M.R.I. for her dizziness but that the results came back negative. If a spirochete had damaged her brain, he said, the tests would show lesions. "Let me read you another part," he said, "so that you understand: 'What do I do to be well again? My life has been turned upside down by "Lyme." I . . . haven't been able to work in 5 years. I've been divorced and have claimed bankruptcy due to mounting medical bills. Currently I am also trying to take care of my mother who lives with me and is suffering from pancreatic cancer, on top of all this I feel terrible."' Steere put down the letter and stared at me for a long moment. "What I suspect is that she doesn't have Lyme disease but some kind of psychiatric illness," he said.
Stalking Dr. Steere Over Lyme Disease, New York Times, June 17, 2001
Things had gotten so bad that by the time I tried to reach Steere in February, he had gone into seclusion, refusing to give interviews and, according to a friend, traveling to speaking engagements under an alias. When I called the public-relations firm that he had recently hired, the spokeswoman told me that he was afraid for his life. ?.Steere's lab and private office were in their own section of the hospital, tightly guarded by bolts and alarms. When I rang the bell at his lab, a woman looked at me through a glass pane and then buzzed me in?.. Hovering nervously about the room, he told me that every time someone had done an article, the media had botched the facts and that he had simply given up trying to illuminate them. ??"We are now in the political phase of the disease, and I am not a very public person." Despite his obvious discomfort, he invited me to sit in on several consultations the next morning. But then, in the midst of those rounds, he again grew wary and led me into a different office and shut the door. He said that he wanted to talk to me, to help me better understand the illness, but that he was afraid of the public reaction to his words: "Doctors can't say what they think anymore. If you quote me as saying these things, I'm as good as dead."
Stalking Dr. Steere Over Lyme Disease, New York Times, June 17, 2001
Weld
"A negative test [for Lyme disease] is about 99% correct":
-David Weld, Executive Director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation (which should not be confused with The Lyme Disease Foundation in Hartford) in The Healthy Traveler, November 1997
"Many of the researchers from whom we derive new information, including Dr. Steere, are also practicing physicians with years of experience in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease. The suggestion that clinicians, who depend on medical journals for information, do not share the conclusions of Dr. Steere and other like-minded researchers is, at best, misguided. . . . The views of these researchers are, in fact, widely respected and adopted by their practicing colleagues":
-Reply by David L. Weld, executive director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation in Somers, N.Y., to an article in The New York Times of May 4, 1999
"Lyme is a socially acceptable disease. You can talk about it at any cocktail party":
-David Weld, head of the American Lyme Disease Foundation, in USA TODAY