Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding • Hacker News Board

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#61

Post by perfmode » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:12 PM UTC

pmoriarty wrote: post #35

nouveaux wrote: post #4

I've recently gotten into backpacking and learned that the most effective way of dealing with mosquitoes and ticks in nature is Permetherin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin . It is intended for clothing and not the skin. The best way to apply it is to soak your clothes and let it dry. Spray on applicators are also available. Once it is dry, it is very stable and safe. It does breakdown with UV and washes, so…

Ticks can drop out of trees on your head, or attach to your hair when your head brushes past some leaves on a tree. Also, if your bare skin is not covered in insect repellent, that could also be a route that they get to the rest of your body. The most effective method of not getting bitten is not to go in to the woods at all.

> The most effective method of not getting bitten is not to go in to the woods at all.

your profile reads:

He who lives without folly is not as wise as he thinks. -- Rouchefoucald

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#62

Post by davidgh » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:12 PM UTC

nouveaux wrote: post #4

I've recently gotten into backpacking and learned that the most effective way of dealing with mosquitoes and ticks in nature is Permetherin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin . It is intended for clothing and not the skin. The best way to apply it is to soak your clothes and let it dry. Spray on applicators are also available. Once it is dry, it is very stable and safe. It does breakdown with UV and washes, so…

Permethrin in retail outdoor stores can be a bit expensive. In the US, stores that sell military surplus often carry the permethrin kits that are issued to soldiers and they are usually much cheaper and contain enough to cover several clothing items.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#63

Post by nate_meurer » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:12 PM UTC

nicolaslem wrote: post #33

bryanlarsen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had dozens of ticks as a kid. Lyme disease hadn't spread to Canada yet, so it wasn't a big deal. I never once felt them bite; they produce an anesthetic so you don't feel it. Sometimes you could feel them crawling on you, but most of the time you didn't even feel that. And you didn't hear the jaws snap when you pulled it off, you heard the mouth parts tearing. You have to be careful pulling a tick off or the mouth…

You should avoid pulling, instead hold it with a tool and turn it. After about two or three turns it usually comes right off.

I've heard of such a tool, but never seen one. Otherwise, twisting a tick using tweezers or your fingers is a great way to break its head off under your skin.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#64

Post by chris72205 » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:14 PM UTC

Even if there's only one mention of it in the article, I'm glad they included it: alpha-gal syndrome. Not a ton of people seem to know about it and yet I continue to meet more and more people that are affected by it.

For those unaware, it causes a person to develop an allergy to red meat and there's currently no treatment for it other than to wait. Granted, it's not as serious as Lyme Disease, I hope it gets to be well known so there's increased chances of finding a cure for it.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#65

Post by creato » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:14 PM UTC

Causality1 wrote: post #25

kaycebasques wrote: post #17

I remember standing in line at a coffee shop, after walking some dogs on a nature trail. I felt a sharp pain on my hip flexor and knew right away it was a tick bite, even though I had never had one before. I rushed into the bathroom and lo and behold, it was a tick. In a panic I asked all the women in the coffee shop if they had tweezers. They must have thought I had a screw loose. None of them did so I rushed home t…

Nobody in the shop was carrying a multitool? Must be Europe or California.

I have multiple multitools and none of them have a tool suitable for grabbing ticks. The pliers are the closest, and probably aren't precise enough.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#66

Post by ColanR » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:16 PM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #16

gregoryexe wrote: post #2

This article blames sprawl and climate change, but neglects the connection to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center right off the coast of Lyme CT. Borrelia has been in the US for ages, but wasn't known for causing the debilitating symptoms this modern strain causes.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/books/04/02/lab.257/index.ht... > Moreover, a Department of Agriculture spokesperson, Sandy Miller-Hays, told the news service that -- counter to Carroll's claims -- Lyme disease was never studied at Plum Island. As for symptoms, it was described in the 1760s as "exquisite pain [in] the interior parts of the limbs", neurological symptoms in the 1920s, etc. That it took a while to recog…

I think that a government spokesperson should not be considered a reputable source when speaking on potential misdoings by the same government. Is there an independent source that can speak to the Plum Island claims?

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#67

Post by baxtr » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:16 PM UTC

When we go hiking, we won’t leave the house without a tick card or something similar, e.g tick squeezers. When we get back we scan everyone from head to toe for ticks. At least Lyme disease can be prevented quite successfully if the tick is removed within the first 24 hours.

https://www.cdc.gov/features/lymedisease/index.html

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#68

Post by Aloisius » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:17 PM UTC

joyjoyjoy wrote: post #8

Don't know about US products. But in Europe, this is one of the few ones guaranteed to work: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anti-Brumm-Forte-150-ml/dp/B006ZL4H...

Really, anything with DEET.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#69

Post by spacebatsghost » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:18 PM UTC

Assossa wrote: post #43

robolange wrote: post #31

My father nearly died of [what we believe to be] Lyme disease. A few years ago he started getting awful bouts of pain all over his body. He couldn't eat, was losing weight, was losing muscle mass fast. It got the the point where he was using a walker (he was less than 60 years old at the time) and could barely lift a 5 pound weight. He went to a bunch of different doctors, had all kinds of scans run, and only kept ge…

I would greatly appreciate it if you could find the name of that medication. My sister has Lyme Disease and is still suffering health effects from it despite various treatments.

Most non-Lyme Literate Medical doctors prescribe Doxycyclin. If you are seeing a Lyme Literate Medical doctor they'll put you on a cocktail (often Clarithromycin, Doxy, Alinia (anti-parasitic), and a few others. This also depends if you have co-infections or not.

Re: Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding

#70

Post by biohax2015 » Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 9:19 PM UTC

Lyme disease is awful, and ticks are truly evil creatures. The intellectual disabilities it causes are especially scary to me as a knowledge worker. It's about time we start treating this as the public health crisis that it is and targeting concerted efforts towards eradicating ticks.