George & Paulette shared some interesting advice / info from their doctors on Lyme Disease this week. While we haven't seen any deer ticks around Queens lately (NYC prefers bed bugs, thank you very much), I thought I would re-post the info here:
1. Because the deer tick needs only four hours to pass LD bacteria, it's a good idea to treat all deer ticks as LD carriers.
2. Call your doctor for proactive treatment in the event that you remove a deer tick.
3. If you're treated within the first three days of infection, you should only need two days of antibiotic treatment.
4. If initially left untreated, you will need two weeks of treatment.
5. Untreated LD can be debilitating and can require long bouts of treatment.
6. You may never experience the common bulls eye rash.
7. Blood tests may be inconclusive and / or may never show "positive" results for LD.
Also, for whatever reason, some physicians are hesitant to recognize LD, especially when blood tests don't provide proof of infection.
Did you know that LD has surpassed both AIDS & TB as the fastest growing infectious disease in the country? For more information, check out this very informative radio segment about the disease:
http://beta.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2008/jul/01/the-lyme-disease-epidemic/
http://beta.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2010/sep/03/please-explain-lyme-disease/
Or, there is a fairly new documentary about LD called "Under My Skin"
http://www.underourskin.com/
You can view a trailer for the film on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxWgSOXLVqw
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