Posted by SLS on April 29, 2018, at 9:32:11
In reply to Re: Number of cases of Lyme Disease in the USA?, posted by Lamdage22 on April 29, 2018, at 5:34:32
Hi, Lamdage.
> Did bleauberry get you to think?
Bleauberry motivated me to question his contention that 9 out of 10 (90%) of psychiatric cases are caused by Lyme Disease. I consider this number to be greatly inflated and a dangerous one upon which to make clinical decisions.
I have never questioned the potential for Lyme Disease to produce psychiatric symptoms. After all, both Syphilis and Lyme Disease are caused by spirochete bacteria. Syphilis has been called the "great imitator". It drove Al Capone mad. However, I still think that the 9/10 number is beyond reason.
My goal here is to produce a more realistic number. I already have some calculations, but I don't want to present them without receiving more input as to the incidence of Lyme Disease cases in the USA - just in case the CDC estimate is wrong.
> I feel stupid asking my doctor for tests-
Some people say that there is no reliable assay to test for Lyme Disease - at least for late-stage infection. Perhaps cultures can verify infection. I really don't know. Lamdage, you might as well bring up the subject of Lyme Disease with your doctor and see what he says. Perhaps it makes sense to perform a 3 month trial using doxycycline - just in case? My doctor performed a trial of doxycyline on me. It didn't seem to make a difference, but I'm glad he did it. You've tried so many things. There are a few reasons not to do it, but I am not in your position.
1. Developing "superbugs" that are resistant to treatment.
2. Upsetting the intestinal flora - which in itself can, theoretically, cause psychiatric symptoms.
3. Cardiac side effects, especially for people who are already compromised. Azithromycin and levofloxacin have been implicated.Ed_UK can elaborate on this. I'm not sure 3 months is long enough for these effects to emerge.
For the sake of producing an estimate of the Lyme/Depression ratio, I would like Bleauberry or someone else to offer a single number to work with. It would also be nice to fact-check such a number before inserting it into a calculation, so citations would be helpful.
What is the incidence of Lyme Disease in the USA?
Bleauberry?
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1098387
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20180331/msgs/1098402.html