Lyme Science Blog

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD, MPH The survey’s data should not come as a surprise. Twelve years ago, in 2004, while testifying before the Connecticut Public Health Department, the state’s chief epidemiologist Dr. James Hadler warned officials that “… roughly 1% of the entire population, or probably 34,000 people, are getting a diagnosis of Lyme disease […]

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD, MPH It has been 25 years since chronic neurologic Lyme disease (CNL) was first described in a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. [1] The study’s investigators included Dr. Alan Steere, the physician credited with discovering Lyme disease in 1977. In describing chronic neurologic Lyme disease (LD),

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD, MPH As the year comes to a close, we look back at some of the top news stories for 2015. 1. Steven A. Cohen’s Foundation Donates $6.5M to Lyme Disease “I was shocked to learn how many people suffer from Lyme disease in silence, and how much we still need

Scientists are increasingly focusing their attention on identifying tick-borne pathogens present in the Southeastern United States. In 2015, Lantos and colleagues released a paper which reviewed the geographic expansion of Lyme disease in the Southeast over the past 14 years. They found “a marked increase in Lyme disease cases in Virginia, particularly from 2007 onwards

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD, MPH “We need more national and international debates on Lyme disease, complemented by a solid research agenda and a focus on cutting edge biological technologies,” writes Borgermans and colleagues. “The medical community has been collectively forced out of its comfort zone on Lyme disease by increasing evidence of the complexity

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH In an article entitled “New-onset Panic, Depression with Suicidal Thoughts and Somatic Symptoms in a Patient with a History of Lyme Disease,” researchers highlight the complexity of evaluating and treating a patient with a history of suspected Lyme disease who presented with neuropsychiatric symptoms. [1] The authors, Amir Garakani

Although much attention has been focused on the dangers blacklegged ticks pose in the Northeast in transmitting Lyme disease, there are multiple tick species in the South that carry a host of diseases travelers should be aware of. The number of tick-borne cases has been steadily rising in the South and tick populations have been

  The goal is to move away from a model of care where the doctor is the sole voice with treatment decisions toward a patient-centered practice that fully involves the patient in each decision at every stage of care. Slowly but steadily, the medical community has responded, adopting a shared decision-making process with a broad

There are doctors who continue to question the existence and severity of chronic manifestations of Lyme disease (LD), despite a growing number of cases described in leading medical journals. [1,2]  The cases include chronic neurologic Lyme disease, [3] Lyme encephalopathy, [4,5] neuropsychiatric LD, [6] post-treatment chronic Lyme disease, [7] post-Lyme disease [8] and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. [9] The