Lyme disease - a controversial topic

The treatment for chronic Lyme disease is a controversial topic. Physicians who adhere to the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) treatment guidelines believe symptoms are due to an active infection and should be treated with antibiotics beyond an arbitrary 30-day period.

Lyme Treatment - ILADS vs IDSA guidelines

Clinicians following guidelines by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) claim that persistent symptoms are due to an overactive immune response, not an active infection. IDSA recommends stopping treatment after 30 days, regardless of whether or not symptoms remain.

Lyme Disease Treatment

Different Points of View

Typically, there is no objective way of determining if the Borrelia burdorferi infection is active in symptomatic patients. And so, when evidence is uncertain and controversy exists, it is critical for the medical community to be able to evaluate conflicting positions – those of ILADS and IDSA.

Only by airing these different points of view will the medical and scientific community reach a better understanding of controversial topics such as treatment of chronic Lyme disease. Meanwhile, physicians must be able to exercise their clinical judgment and patients should be provided with treatment options.

“You have to examine whether you have prescribed appropriate antibiotics for each infection that might have been in that tick. The problem is that doctors are reluctant to treat any more than the bare minimum, and they lose the opportunity to treat people in a timely manner.”
─ Dr. Daniel Cameron NBC News, 3/10/11

More About Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease Diagnosis

The growing number of infectious diseases carried by ticks; the emergence of new vector-borne diseases; the unreliability of laboratory tests; and the complexity of symptom presentations and variations in each patient make Lyme disease one of the most perplexing and elusive medical conditions to identify.
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Lyme Disease Testing

Often the diagnosis of Lyme disease depends upon the physician’s readiness to listen and ask questions and on the mutual exchange of information, beginning with the initial doctor-patient interview. That said, laboratory tests can be used to support the diagnosis.
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Choosing A Treatment

Lyme disease can become persistent, recurrent, and refractory, even with antibiotic therapy. Therefore, treatment should be prompt and thorough with in-depth follow-up to assess new symptoms and treatment response and to rule out other illnesses.
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Social Converations with Dr. Daniel Cameron

Lyme Disease