Lyme Hangout With Dr. Daniel Cameron

Lyme Hangout: Teen Lyme

It has been more than 40 years since Steere and colleagues Logigian described Lyme disease in children and young adults. I will include a discussion of a 16-year-old boy, named David, with Lyme disease who was initially presumed to suffer from long-standing depression. He presented with anger, frustration, insomnia, poor appetite, mild weight loss, passive suicidal ideation, and steep decline in cognitive behavior. His longstanding depression was “exacerbated recently when he stopped dating a girl after only two weeks because he felt too tired and not smart enough,” according Fallon and colleagues in Psychiatric Clinics of North America.

Host: Dr. Daniel Cameron

Lyme Hangout: Rage, extreme irritability, and Lyme disease

It has been 28 years since Logigian and colleagues described seven chronic neurologic patients with extreme irritability. “They became angry over circumstances that previously caused minor annoyance,” writes Logigian in the 1990 New England Journal of Medicine. The same investigators describe irritability in a case series of 18 patients who met strict criteria for Lyme encephalopathy.

Host: Dr. Daniel Cameron

Lyme Hangout: Dementia And Lyme Disease

Dementia and Lyme disease are common. Kris Kristofferson was thought to have suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for ten years before he was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Two other individuals who were thought to suffer from dementia before being diagnosed with Lyme disease were also described in my book, Lyme Disease takes on Medicine. I will discuss these three cases during my next live Lyme Hangout Tuesday, March 27, 8PM EST.

Host: Dr. Daniel Cameron

Lyme Hangout: Good, bad, and ugly side of Post-Treatment-Lyme-Disease-Syndrome (PTLDS)

We will discuss the good, bad, and ugly side of PTLDS. The good news is that a chronic manifestation of Lyme disease has been recognized. The bad news is that PTLDS is a serious illness that can last for years. The ugly news are the obstacles to solving the PTLDS. I don’t even like the term PTLDS. I will explain in my next live Lyme Hangout Tuesday, March 13, 8PM EST.

I will start the discussion with a 23 year-old-woman with severe chronic pain due to PTLDS. “Her functionality was severely affected; she was bedbound for approximately 5 years and required a wheelchair,” writes Lim from the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco in the Saudi Journal of Anaesthesia.¹ The case was initially described in the latest All Things Lyme Blog.

Host: Dr. Daniel Cameron

Lyme Hangout: Three Newborn children contract Babesia through blood transfusions

We discussed three newborn children who contracted Babesia, a parasitic tick borne pathogen, through blood transfusions. The newborn children contracted Babesia through a transfusion from an asymptomatic donor. The cases were initially described in the 2017 issues of Journal Pediatric Infectious Disease Society and in my book “Lyme Disease takes on Medicine.”

Host: Dr. Daniel Cameron

Lyme Hangout: Newborns contracted Babesia, a parasitic tick borne pathogen

We discussed five newborn children who contracted Babesia, a parasitic tick borne disease. Three of the newborn children contracted Babesia through a transfusion. Two of the new born children contracted Lyme disease from their mother while in utero. The cases were featured in the 2017 issues of Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal and the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society and in my book “Lyme Disease takes on Medicine.”

Host: Dr. Daniel Cameron