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  1. #1
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    Default Harvard Med. School article on Lyme disease

    Not that we need another scary article regarding Lyme, this one from the Harvard Medical School has plenty of info I was not aware of, along with some good reminders.

    HarvardMedicalSchool.pdf

    http://www.mvtimes.com/2016/07/13/vi...-lyme-disease/

  2. #2

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    Thanks for posting, Shae. I've lost count of the number of ticks I've encountered this year (both embedded and just crawling). I've been doing lots of gardening, pruning, and weeding, not to mention long walks.

  3. #3

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    Yes, thanks.
    THat's a good article and doesn't sound good for hikers, hunters, or anyone who spends a lot of time in the wild.
    What to do?
    I've heard importing guinea fowl might work and they are doing it on Martha's Vineyard.
    Why the dramatic increase in ticks? I've heard it is related to global warming.
    Don't let your fears stand in the way of your dreams

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by tiptoe View Post
    Thanks for posting, Shae. I've lost count of the number of ticks I've encountered this year (both embedded and just crawling). I've been doing lots of gardening, pruning, and weeding, not to mention long walks.
    Same here as far as lots of yard work here in central NH and there are certainly plenty of them around. Not sure if they are more numerous than years past but regardless, they are out in large numbers.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by fiddlehead View Post
    Yes, thanks.
    THat's a good article and doesn't sound good for hikers, hunters, or anyone who spends a lot of time in the wild.
    What to do?
    I've heard importing guinea fowl might work and they are doing it on Martha's Vineyard.
    Why the dramatic increase in ticks? I've heard it is related to global warming.
    The moose population here in NH (as well as Maine I believe) has really taken a hit - at least in large part because of the huge number of ticks. It's an awful thing to see - a moose literally covered with ticks and which has lost so much blood it can no longer stand on its own. Supposedly part of the reason is the lack of the minus 30 degree temps or colder that in the past kept the tick numbers in check.

  6. #6

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    Thankee thankee thankee

  7. #7

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    Ticks survive primarily on mice and other rodents and the tick population correlates with the mice population. Two people on this thread have already mentioned warm weather and global warming. Remember when Danny Glover blamed the Haitian earthquake on global warming? The tick population isn't correlating with fossil fuel use anymore than earthquakes do. I can tell you from personal experience on 30 acres that when you remove the mouse habitats by mowing, clearing brush, etc., the tick population goes down dramatically.

  8. #8
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    I thought that it was interesting that she said a 2 days prophylactic course of antibiotic after discovering a tick bite was close to useless and that a full 20 day course of antibiotics was recommended.
    If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.

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    I hear the ticks will be bad on the trail this year.

    In Michigan, we have them in many areas where they weren't located before. (Several friends are finding them on their dogs from exposure to their own backyard - something that has not happened before!!!)

  10. #10

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    Thx for the link. As typical, some of the things we've heard opined as "tick or Lyme Disease facts" have turned out later to be not facts but beliefs and medical opinions.

    I think a good reference of protocols, but heavy reading, were two books I've studied by Stephen Bruhner. They helped me understand more of the varied bacteria that ticks carry.

    https://play.google.com/store/books/...FVJTwQodaV4HrQ

    Bruhner also has an amazingly high regard for the survivability of “Borrelia burgdorferi" as Dr Zubcevik

    "Dr. Zubcevik described deer tick nymphs as “the perfect vector” because of their diminutive size — the size of the “D” on a dime — and because of the analgesic in their saliva that often makes their bite almost undetectable.


    The bacteria they inject are equally crafty.


    “Borrelia burgdorferi is an amazing organism; I have a lot of respect for it,” she said. “It is a spirochete, meaning it can corkscrew into tissue as well as travel in the bloodstream. It can do whatever it wants. It’s twice the speed of a [white blood cell], which is our fastest cell. It’s so strong it can swim against the flow of the bloodstream.”


    Dr. Zubcevik said there are videos that show a white blood cell pursuing a spirochete, which evades capture by drilling into tissue.


    “It’s really easy to see why this adaptive bug can avoid the immune system,” she said.

  11. #11

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    Sorry not buying the bit about big pharma not wanting to come out with a remedy for fear of creating a super bug...I call major bull****!

  12. #12

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    The most important part of the article to me is:

    "Prevention, prevention, prevention
    “Once patients are doing better, I will call harass them on the weekend to check if they are taking the proper precautions,” Dr. Zubcevik said. “Are they using repellant? Are they doing daily checks? Are they treating their dogs? I don’t want to do another PICC line [intravenous drug access] or PET scan.”
    Dr. Zubcevik also said many people need to know proper tick removal — using tweezers to grab the head of the tick, not at the body.
    “Don’t don’t squeeze the belly of the tick, it will inject the bacteria into your bloodstream. Do not use oils; it can make the tick vomit the bacteria into the bloodstream. If the tick is deeply embedded, go to the doctor.”"

  13. #13
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    Ticks are scarier than bears! I'm glad I read the article, a friend just told me about using peppermint oil to get them out of your body. Had I. It read this, and done some additional research, I might have tried it.

  14. #14
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    Well after reading that I guess we won't have any more conversations about worrying that permethrin treated clothes are going to destroy the environment.

  15. #15

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    Doctors that actually treat lyme have known this information for many years. It has taken the CDC a long time to listen to what they have been saying.

  16. #16
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    I find this article self-serving. The fearmongering gives it an undeserved credibility, because it creates a "but what if it is true" mentality.
    Where are the references?
    With a 20% chance of a rash, and 60 % on the blood test, it seems that all tick bites must be treated with her recommended 20 day regime. This would result in a large increase in antibiotic usage.
    I'm not expressing an opinion on the science, I object to the acceptance of modern spin that does show accountability on whether an opinion is mainstream or not.
    Have doctors really accepted this article and greatly increased antibiotic usage?

  17. #17
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    Consider the source. Consider the Institution.
    Wayne


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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    Consider the source. Consider the Institution.
    Wayne
    ...
    If they want to be the second best school in Cambridge, next year they need to get a college graduate for a commencement speaker, like Tim Cook.

    This retort at least tangentially addresses you post. You seem to like to diss me without answering either question.

    I assume you agree that she is recommending massive increases in antibiotic usage and you agree with her that this is necessary.

  19. #19
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    I wasted no time reading the article.
    Wayne


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  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by fiddlehead View Post
    Yes, thanks.
    ...Why the dramatic increase in ticks? I've heard it is related to global warming.
    All of Earth's problems are related to Global Warming. Global Cooling even.
    Wayne
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