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According to Wikipedia,
“Chronic Lyme disease is a generally unrecognized diagnosis that encompasses a broad array of illnesses or symptom complexes for which there is no reproducible or convincing scientific evidence of any relationship to B. Burgdorferi infection.
[1]There is no clinical evidence that “chronic” Lyme disease is caused by a persistent infection.
[2] It is distinct from post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, a set of lingering symptoms which may persist after successful treatment of infection with Lyme spirochetes. The symptoms of “Chronic Lyme” are generic and non-specific “symptoms of life“.
There is no doubt that the above definition was written by a healthcare professional working for the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) or abiding by its guidelines.
WHY THE CONTROVERSY?
The topic of Chronic Lyme disease treatment is very tendentious. The physicians abiding by the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS) treatment guidelines, recognize it as persistent, active polymicrobial infection which require a long and repeated course of antibiotic therapy.
The medical community refuses to accept the evidence that Chronic Lyme disease exists, despite the fact that recent studies are revealing more and more proofs. They deny its existence and its severity. Their approach of ruling out an active infection, only exacerbates the problem. It leads to prolonged illnesses and a poor quality of life, causing limitations in the physical functioning of the patients.
Research has shown that Lyme disease spirochetes are able to survive the antibiotic therapy. There are studies and reviews presenting some of the survival mechanisms by which Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) evades the immune system of its hosts.
HOW DOES ALL THIS CONTROVERSY AFFECTS THE PATIENT?
By ruling out the existence of an active infection, the efforts to finding a Chronic Lyme disease cure are hindered. An early diagnosis may have better treatment outcomes, while a delayed diagnosis and treatment can have devastating consequences for the patient.
Most Lyme sufferers are not diagnosed with Lyme disease until they have reached a chronic phase of this illness, also called Late Stage Lyme Disease. They are victims of the lack of training or experience in recognizing Lyme disease symptoms.
Many Chronic Lyme disease sufferers are mistakenly thought to have a rheumatoid or a neurologic diagnosis. Most of them get diagnosed with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative disease of the spine, multiple sclerosis, demyelinating diseases, neuropathies, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or even dementia.
In order to get the proper treatment for Chronic Lyme disease it is recommended that you consult a Lyme disease literate doctor.
Here are other Lyme-related posts:
TOP 10 WORST SYMPTOMS OF LYME DISEASE
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF LYME DISEASE?
WHY IS LYME DISEASE TOUGH TO DIAGNOSE?
HOW CAN YOU PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST TICK BITES?
JOURNEY TO SELF-DISCOVERY?
HOW I FOUND THE SILVER LINING OF LYME DISEASE?
9 WAYS TO KEEP A RELATIONSHIP GOING WHEN BOTH PARTNERS ARE ILL?
All of the above posts were written by me, as part of my Lyme Disease awareness campaign. They were originally published on my personal website A-ZLYME.COM .
If you would like to learn more about Lyme disease, visit A-ZLYME.COM. On my A-Z Lyme blog, I post weekly Lyme-related articles which I might re-post on Steemit, in order to increase the awareness about this infamous illness.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to resteemit or upvote it!
Please leave your feedback in the comments, I would love to hear your thoughts!
@2018 LaviPicu aka The Lyme Poet. All rights reserved.
art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
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