Why you should be afraid of Lyme disease (Weintraub on CNN)

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http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/12/opinion/weintraub-lyme-disease/index.html?hpt=op_t1

Why you should be afraid of Lyme disease
By Pamela Weintraub, Special to CNN
updated 9:21 AM EDT, Fri July 12, 2013

Excerpts:

"Editor's note: Pamela Weintraub is the author of "Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic" (St. Martin's Press), winner of the 2009 American Medical Writers Association book award, and executive editor of Discover magazine"

"(CNN) -- Our nightmare began in 1993 after we moved from the city to a house down a winding country road abutting a spruce forest in Chappaqua, New York. Our little woods were home to mice, deer and ticks harboring the infectious agent of Lyme disease.
We weren't especially concerned. As seasoned science journalists, my husband and I had researched the risk of tick-borne disease by reading medical journals, finding a raft of articles on a wave of "Lyme hysteria" sweeping the Northeast suburbs; the disease, some of the authors said, was mild and benign. Perhaps that's why, as one of our sons and then the other got sick, our pediatrician resisted testing for Lyme disease.
When my older son, Jason, 14, developed a mottled rash spreading over his torso in 1998, our doctor's office told us that because it wasn't a literal bull's eye -- believed to be the classic indication of Lyme -- it couldn't be Lyme (a misconception still common today despite voluminous research to the contrary)."

"a group of scientists has lobbied against federal legislation to increase funding for Lyme disease research. Why? That's just counterproductive."

"Powerful 21st-century technologies can help us, but first we've got to admit that waters are muddy and urgent questions remain. Calling patients "Lyme-loonies" or "part of an anti-science movement that denies both the viral cause of AIDS and the benefits of vaccines," is hurtful and untrue. After all, questioning the value of research that keeps one locked in illness is hardly on par with denying HIV. The real science deniers are those circling the wagons around outdated studies, leaving patients desperate and sick while protecting their academic turf."

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"Pamela Weintraub's stirring speech at the Institute of Medicine's state-of-the-science Lyme workshop on October 11 (2010) brought a standing ovation from the audience, and spirited discussion from panelists. Read the text of her remarks here."

Institute of Medicine Talk on The Human Face of Tick-Borne Disease by Pamela Weintraub

http://lymedisease.org/news/lyme_disease_views/592.html

Ms. Weintraub's CV is impressive:
http://www.astralgia.com/pamelaweintraubresume18.pdf

Currently she is the Consulting Executive Editor of Discover.

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Another interesting tidbit is shown on this YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9zydWVwL7c

From Dr. S's talk at:
Lyme Disease Think Tank at BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre. April 13, 2013.

Science has disproven the myth about a 48 hour attachment time for infected ticks to transmit Lyme.