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A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

outsideonline.com

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Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#81

Post by inter_netuser »

jemurray wrote: post #75

I know this is about Lyme disease, but let me add another word of caution while we are discussing ticks. Two years ago I was bit by the Lone Star tick. Since that time I developed an allergy to all red meat. It was hard to diagnose and a few of the doctors I worked with along the years still don’t believe its true. If your interested in learning more search for Alpha Gal. There is an excellent Radio Lab podcast about…

This cannot be repeated enough: "few of the doctors I worked with along the years still don’t believe its true"

a medical opinion is just that. an opinion. consensus often takes decades to change.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#82

Post by akyu »

contravariant wrote: post #54

> a relatively uncommon treatment for Lyme in which doctors siphon some blood, blast it with electromagnetic waves, and then drip it back into the bloodstream That's a weird description, depending on what kind of waves this could be anything from microwaving the blood to blasting it with UV or just shining some rainbow coloured lights on it.

>microwaving the blood to blasting it with UV or just shining some rainbow coloured lights on it.

Or you could just say, "blast it with electromagnetic waves".

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#83

Post by inter_netuser »

ce4 wrote: post #69
voisin wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are you getting checked? I understood (perhaps wrongly) that the blood tests are only accurate well beyond the window with which the medications are effective, creating a chicken and egg issue.

There's no definitive accredited lab check as far as I know. At least here in Germany the official serologic tests for late stage Lyme can come back negative for years until the disease really progresses badly - even cerebrospinal fluid results may be normal despite neurological symptoms. My specialist uses elispot lab tests for Borrelia b. OspA, antigen and LFA-1 markers. Other practitioners use westernblot lab resu…

have you seen recent immunostaining result? albeit in research, amazingly you can actually see the bacteria.

They claim it can be cultured too.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.6280...

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#84

Post by yodsanklai »

akyu wrote: post #79
yodsanklai wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd encourage anyone interested to do their own research. The scientific consensus today is what is stated in the linked wikipedia article. There are lot of myths around Lyme disease. https://eu.delawareonline.com/story/sponsor-story/nemours/20... Myth #5: Lyme disease can have debilitating, lifelong effects. Fact: When treated with antibiotics, Lyme disease, at any stage of presentation, is curable. Myth #6: My chil…

>The scientific consensus today is what is stated in the linked wikipedia article. Simply saying this doesn't make it true. This is not true and that Wikipedia article is outdated.

Just like saying it's not true doesn't make it untrue. Which is why I'd encourage everybody to do their own research, and at least know that there are a lot of controversies around this topic.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#85

Post by mauvehaus »

spicybright wrote: post #23

As a US new england-er, this is game changer for walking through woods. For those un-informed, on a walk through any woods, you should always wear high socks, and do a full body check for ticks after. Deer ticks can be as small as a few grains of sand, and near undetectable if they latch on unless you have sharp eyes. Obviously they can transmit lymes. I had a close encounter a few years ago, but very luckily giant r…

I would get this vaccine yesterday if it were available.

Shit, if I were planning on spending a lot of time in the woods (like, more than I already do), I would go to a vet and see if they would give me the one that's for dogs. Untreated Lyme messes people up.

A whole bunch of people I knew who thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2010 got Lyme. I did not get it, but I don't think I was appreciably more cautious than the people I directly knew who did. Part of what makes Lyme scary is the randomness of who gets it and how easy it is to not know you've contracted it.

Fortunately, hikers are at least generally aware that it's a possibility and know to seek treatment for it specifically. Awareness in the general population is probably still much lower.

P.S. Hello from WRJ, VT, fellow New Englander!

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#86

Post by giantg2 »

jf22 wrote: post #63
somehnacct3757 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The deer themselves are a problem in the northeast. They are greatly overpopulated and eat the native understory, preventing the next generation of trees from growing past adolescence. As the existing trees slowly die, there will be none younger to replace them. This also clears out the competition to the benefit of non-native plants, which the deer don't eat. Some of these plants are invasive, such as japanese barbe…

I'm sure deer populations have been higher in the past and the forests survived.

There have been times of higher deer population. The population was much higher in PA when my dad was a kid. It currently sits around 30 deer per square mile, which 3 times higher than pre colonial times.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#88

Post by dmos62 »

In some parts of the world (e.g. the Eastern Bloc) you find tick-borne encephalitis. That's a horrible disease that can cause cerebral and neural damage. What's more, the number of reported human cases of TBE in all endemic regions of Europe have increased by almost 400% within the last three decades.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick-borne_encephalitis

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#89

Post by inter_netuser »

yodsanklai wrote: post #84
akyu wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The scientific consensus today is what is stated in the linked wikipedia article. Simply saying this doesn't make it true. This is not true and that Wikipedia article is outdated.

Just like saying it's not true doesn't make it untrue. Which is why I'd encourage everybody to do their own research, and at least know that there are a lot of controversies around this topic.

Please do YOUR research and read the paper that went thru peer review and was published.

once YOU read that paper, please post YOUR peer review summary here.

enough with appeals to authority. wikipedia is not even an authoritative source to begin with.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#90

Post by xyzzy21 »

Honestly, I live in the the WORST NY county for Lyme but it really isn't that big a deal. The country across in Vermont is Vermont's top Lyme county. And I live in the woods.

Basically it's easily treated once you are fairly sure you have it with VERY MILD antibiotics that aren't super at risk for resistance. Getting Lyme is a pretty normal and common thing. Akin to catching a cold - it's simply inevitable but you will be treatable.

You also need to check for ticks and putting on DEET is always an option. Thinking about what you wear is also SOP but no big deal (per spicybright's comment).

But honestly WE don't worry about it that much despite being completely endemic.

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