A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way • Hacker News Board

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

#141

Post by inter_netuser » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:11 PM UTC

freshpots wrote: post #125

inter_netuser wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Are you also a big fan of the scam Dr. Sponaugle and the multitude of forums about chronic Lyme, and consider those charlatans scammers the truth? https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7jk9q/rick-sponaugle-pots-c... Edit: Is Lyme-literate another term you and your internet friends use? Look at the case against him: https://mqa-internet.doh.state.fl.us/MQASearchServices/Healt... Scam Dr's like this are causing the FUD you…

Take a look here: https://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/628045/fneur-12-6...

These are spirochetes in the brain/spine of a dead patient.

She had proven lyme diagnosis in the past, has been given the standard treatment and had good response(!), only to relapse, never recover and went on to develop neurological issues years later, and died.

The brain was donated and autopsied.

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

Are you saying the lead scientist on this paper, from the Tulane National Primate Research Center is a scammer? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulane_National_Primate_Resear...)

Seems like a big accusation.

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

#142

Post by technothrasher » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:13 PM UTC

Whitespace wrote: post #62

I caught Lyme earlier this year. Recently moved to upstate NY (20 miles from Lyme, CT) and tick checks are a daily thing. Found an adult embedded in my side. Developed a 103ºF fever and fatigue. Dr. took blood for the Lyme test but didn't wait for a positive and prescribed 2 weeks of Doxycycline. A few days later I found a bullseye rash on my leg (not near the bite area) which pretty much confirmed it. I felt 100% ar…

> Recently moved to upstate NY (20 miles from Lyme, CT)

Wait, what? The only part of NY 20 miles from Lyme is the tip of Long Island. It's at least 60 miles from anything upstate.

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

#143

Post by nicoburns » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:17 PM UTC

acdha wrote: post #107

xyzzy21 wrote: post #90

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 wi…

I believe you intended this to be reassuring but consider how it reads to the many people who’ve had significant, long-term effects from the disease. Maybe tone it down a bit on the “no big deal” front and focus on the key part: “if promptly diagnosed” with the advice about prevention and detection that implies.

I think it's just a difference in perspective from someone living where it's endemic and pretty much impossible to outright prevent. You get used to it. You hear similar perspectives on malaria from people living in countriew where that is rife. And indeed on other dangers. For example, australians don't tend to see poisonous snakes or spiders as a big deal.

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

#144

Post by wepple » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:18 PM UTC

d4rkp4ttern wrote: post #139

Are tick repellents any good? Any recommendations?

Permethrin on your clothes (not on your skin), and deet.

But you’ll still get them if you’re outside, and should do daily tick checks anyway.

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

#145

Post by vimy » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:18 PM UTC

Whitespace wrote: post #62

I caught Lyme earlier this year. Recently moved to upstate NY (20 miles from Lyme, CT) and tick checks are a daily thing. Found an adult embedded in my side. Developed a 103ºF fever and fatigue. Dr. took blood for the Lyme test but didn't wait for a positive and prescribed 2 weeks of Doxycycline. A few days later I found a bullseye rash on my leg (not near the bite area) which pretty much confirmed it. I felt 100% ar…

The tests look for antibodies which only are measurable after weeks so a test immediately after a tick bite is useless.

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

#146

Post by Grazester » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:19 PM UTC

Wasn't there already a shot being made a long time ago but was shut down due to a whole lot of hot air from critics and anti-vaxxers?

https://time.com/6073576/lyme-disease-vaccine/

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

#147

Post by kortex » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:20 PM UTC

Graveyard of "not considered a real/serious disease/threat by the medical consensus until a frankly embarrassingly amount of time later"

[x] "cadaverous particles" (washing hands after autopsies)

[x] "hysteria" (likely a combination of various mental health conditions and/or PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome)

[x] "GRID" (HIV/AIDS)

[x] leaded gas bad

[x] asbestos bad

[x] smoking bad

[?] refined sugar bad

[x] Autism

[x] ADHD

[x] COVID-19 (from ??-2019 until Feb/Mar 2020)

[ ] chronic lyme/other tickborne illness

[ ] ME/CFS

Hopefully, the skyrocketing case load of the latter two (due to explosive spread of tickborne illness, and "long covid", respectively ) will get the gears actually turning and change consensus.

I don't get what's wrong with the medical community acknowledging "hey we have all these odd cases, we can't pin down a cause, but here's the leading theories." Instead, just look at the "Myth/Fact" thread elsewhere in the comments here. Stating with such authority "antibiotics totally cure Lyme". Since when is anything in medicine a sure bet? You're telling me it's impossible that an evolving lifeform can't possibly evade the immune system and selection pressure and become persistent? What?

Ok, please rebut me, tell me how this line of reasoning, "these currently 'orphan' diseases deserve taking a closer look, and not dismissed out of hand" is wrong.

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

#148

Post by uncertainrhymes » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:21 PM UTC

Loughla wrote: post #138

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'm convinced you can become and/or grow immune to Lyme, though. It's purely anecdotal. I grew up where we built our house (deep, deep in the woods). I spent my childhood on the farm there. Ticks were a constant menace, I honestly don't know how many hundreds I pulled off myself as a child. When I was able, my spouse and I purchased it and built a house. 6 months after moving in, my spouse developed Lymes disease. I…

When you were young, those ticks may not have had lyme. More importantly, you removed them. They have to be attached for 24 hours before the bacteria comes back out of the tick's gut.

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

#149

Post by bjoli » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:21 PM UTC

somehnacct3757 wrote: post #112

jf22 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

In my area there are over 120 deer per square mile currently. This number was historically 10, when predators existed. Studies have shown that around 30 deer per square mile is when biodiversity starts to suffer. I live in the forest and manage my lot with guidance from foresters and nearby park rangers. It may take a hundred years for these current trees to die, but there's nothing to replace them. You can walk the…

120 deer per square mile?!

In thought the moose problem in Sweden was big. That is just ridiculous. We have a moose population that is waaay higher than ever before because we killed most large predators, and the people responsible for keeping the population down (hunters) want a much larger population than is environmentally defensible.

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

#150

Post by PragmaticPulp » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:26 PM UTC

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…

> It was hard to diagnose and a few of the doctors I worked with along the years still don’t believe its true.

Did they offer alternative explanations or did they simply stonewall you and deny your reported symptoms?

One of the lessons I learned far too late in life was to not waste time with doctors who don’t believe your reported symptoms.

On some level I understand how it happens — Doctors inevitably see a number of hypochondriacs and people with psychosomatic illnesses who need to be handled delicately to avoid further entrenching their perceived illnesses. However, when you’re having legitimate symptoms and your own doctor tries to deny the symptoms without offering further diagnostics, it’s time to cut ties and move on.

It can take a few tries to find a good doctor.