The article, published in Clinical Autonomic Research, cites several cases [2-5] including one in which a 46-year-old patient reports increasing pain and swelling in his left foot. The pain was so significant that his leg became dysfunctional, according to the authors. “Even the slightest contact with the skin of the affected area caused the patient unbearable pain.” [2] […]

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH In a 1990 report, Logigian and colleagues from Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, describe rage in patients with chronic neurologic Lyme disease. “Eight patients had excessive daytime sleepiness, and seven had extreme irritability. They became angry over circumstances that previously caused only minor annoyance.” [1] In 1994, Fallon […]

The retrospective study included 430 patients with uveitis who were referred to the hospital between 2003 and 2016. Seven patients were found to have Lyme-associated uveitis. Six of these individuals had reported walking in the forest previously and two recalled a tick bite. One patient had a history of an erythema migrans (EM) rash. Three […]

However, in their case study Clinical association: Lyme disease and Guillain-Barre Syndrome, the authors highlight “Borrelia burgdorferi as an important antecedent infection associated with the development of GBS,” [1] and describe a 31-year-old man diagnosed with both Lyme disease and GBS. The case raises the question: Could Lyme disease be an underrecognized infectious disease triggering or […]

In Wisconsin, between 2001 and 2015, “there was a 26-fold increase in the incidence of confirmed babesiosis, in addition to geographic expansion,” according to MMWR. [1] The report listed suburbanization, forest fragmentation patterns, and warming average temperatures as potential causes behind the surge. The rising prevalence of co-infections in rodents may also be to blame […]

Clinicians have been increasingly concerned with the low levels of gratitude and poor quality of life for fibromyalgia patients, particularly when compared with patients who have other chronic diseases. Gratitude has been associated with lower levels of depression and enhanced quality of life for patients with chronic illnesses such as heart failure and breast cancer, […]

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH A recent study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine examines doctors’ knowledge and acceptance of antibiotic-prescribing guidelines for 3 common illnesses: a skin and soft tissue infection, suspected hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB). [3] IDSA recommendations for treating such conditions were given to 30 hospital staff physicians, […]

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH In an article entitled “Doctor Says You Are Cured, But You Still Feel the Pain. Borrelia DNA Persistence in Lyme Disease,” Cervantes, from Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, addresses the persistence of pain as the result of Lyme disease. Studies indicate that […]

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH Now, a new study explores the effects of low-dose naltrexone (LDN) on cytokines in patients with fibromyalgia. The 10-week, single-blind pilot trial conducted by Parkitny and colleagues, from the University of Alabama, examined whether LDN was associated with reduced markers of inflammation in a small group of women with […]

Professor Durland Fish, an epidemiologist at Yale School of Public Health, reminds readers in an article published in Business Insider of the importance in recognizing the following six tick-borne diseases: [1] 1. Lyme disease 2. Babesiosis 3. Anaplasmosis 4. Borrelia miyamotoi 5. Ehrlichiosis 6. Powassan virus Fish discusses the Powassan virus in detail in the article, […]

The patient was evaluated in the emergency room with presyncope (lightheadedness, muscle weakness) and worsening fatigue. Telemetry monitoring demonstrated a “2:1 AV block alternating with complete heart block and a junctional escape rhythm in the range of 30 beats per minute,” according to Chaudhry and colleagues. [1] Doctors suspected Lyme disease and started intravenous ceftriaxone, […]

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH “On presentation to our hospital, the patient continued to complain of severe headaches and was noted to have mild unilateral right-sided facial droop and a diffuse macular rash throughout the body,” explains Kantamaneni in his article, A Case of Early Disseminated Neurological Lyme Disease Followed by Atypical Cutaneous Manifestations. […]

“The patient is a 12-year-old previously healthy boy with a recent history of participation in an outdoor camp for 2–3 weeks who began to gasp for air while riding as a passenger in a car, with subsequent cyanosis and cardiac arrest, following participation in recreational outdoor activities earlier that afternoon,” states Cunningham from the Division […]

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH The seroprevalence of positive tests for B. burgdorferi in dogs was highest in areas with close proximity to the United States. The highest seroprevalence was 15.7% in Nova Scotia and 5.1% in Eastern Ontario with surrounding areas of “moderate to low seroprevalence,” according to the study’s lead author, Herrin, […]

Feng and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University have identified FDA-approved drugs that might work on in vitro B. burgdorferi persisters. [2] Persistence may be a subset of dormancy. “Evidence suggests dormancy consists of a continuum of interrelated states including viable but nonculturable (VBNC) and persistence states,” according to Mali. “VBNC and persistence contribute to antibiotic […]