Favorite Blogs

Spinal Taps: A troubling trend I’ve noticed a troubling trend in Lyme disease care. Some patients are being told they need a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) to “rule out neurological Lyme disease.” While spinal taps are important in cases like suspected meningitis, their role in evaluating Lyme is much more limited. Too often, patients go […]

Why Lyme Rash Misdiagnosis Happens When most people hear “Lyme disease,” they imagine the classic bull’s-eye (erythema migrans) rash. In reality, that textbook image is the exception, not the rule. Fewer than half of patients develop the bull’s-eye pattern. Instead, the rash may appear as a simple red patch, multiple spots across the body, or

A recent study published in Nature Microbiology has revealed how malaria parasites survive in the human body for years without causing symptoms—offering powerful insights into the Lyme disease persister theory. Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, including Dr. Kirk Deitsch, found that Plasmodium falciparum—the parasite responsible for malaria—can evade the immune system by silencing its var

When It’s Not Long COVID—It’s Lyme In the wake of the pandemic, we’ve become more aware of how a virus can lead to long-term, multisystem illness. That’s been a good thing. Patients with brain fog, fatigue, and shortness of breath are no longer automatically dismissed. They’re told it might be Long COVID—and for many, that’s

When patients come to the office with Lyme disease, many have already been treated — yet they’re still sick. Others are newly diagnosed, overwhelmed by strange symptoms and uncertain about what lies ahead. The question most often asked is: “What’s the best treatment?” There’s No One-Size-Fits-All Answer Lyme disease can affect the brain, nerves, joints,

Patients with Lyme disease rarely walk into a clinic with the classic bull’s-eye rash or a clear memory of a tick bite. Instead, they often present with vague, nonspecific symptoms that are easy to overlook — especially when laboratory tests are negative or equivocal. By the time Lyme is considered, many patients have already seen

A Patient’s Story from the South My patient from Florida looked me straight in the eye and said, “But Lyme doesn’t exist down here, right?” That’s what she’d been told—by more than one doctor. She had a rash. Fatigue. Joint pain. Classic signs of Lyme disease. But instead of being tested or treated, she was

It’s not uncommon for the mouthparts of a tick to break off and remain in the skin after removal. Fortunately, this rarely increases the risk of infection, including Lyme disease. Do Tick Mouthparts Increase Risk? No. If the tick’s body is removed, the risk of Lyme or other tick-borne infections does not increase. Most disease

New research into Lyme arthritis (joint pain due to an infection with Borrelia burgdorferi) is challenging long-standing assumptions about what causes persistent symptoms after treatment. For years, many clinicians believed that when patients continued to experience swollen joints, even after treatment with antibiotics, the inflammation was simply due to an overactive immune system. The body’s

How a Shower Can Help Taking a shower after being outdoors is a smart habit, especially during tick season. It can help reduce your chances of getting bitten by a tick, but it’s important to know that a shower won’t remove a tick that has already attached to your skin. Once a tick bites, it