lyme disease
i just finished watching this documentary:
www.youtube.com/watch
"under our skins"
my sister sent it to me a couple weeks ago and I hadn't had a chance to see it due to computer malfunctions. my roomate just got a new computer with a working disk drive, so I borrowed it and watched.
i found it difficult not to get upset, although partially this is due to the fact that my sister has lyme disease, and it is unknown as yet how much of an effect it will have on her...
now this comes as a slight 'wool from the eyes' experience for me, despite the fact that I'm completely jaded about the medical system in the US, even now.
I figured I'd rant here a bit to get you all interested in seeing it. I think the more people that take the time to educate themselves on the controversial truths about lyme disease, the more useless pain and illness can be prevented...
lyme disease is a spirochete bacteria, very similar to syphilis. the reason spirochetes are so virulent is due to the fact that they can corkscrew their way through tissues and cell membranes. this allows them to move into many different tissue types. in fact, looking at the possible effects of syphilis infection, you find all kinds of disorders, from neurological, to skeletal, to brain damage, etc. etc...
the common deer tick is the carrier. deforestation and pollution have contributed to its spread in two ways. one is humans are coming into much more contact with ticks, and two is that the ticks are now carrying many different types of bacteria.
you pick the tick up from tall grass, especially in damp weather, the tick walks around on you for a few hours, seeking the best spot to hid, then the tick latches onto you, often undetected, and sucks your blood for up to 16 hours. as it does this, bacteria swim upstream into your bloodstream and into your heart, lungs and brain.
early symptoms include swollen knees, a bulls eye rash around the site of infection, facial palsy, migraines, extreme fatigue, digestive and neurological problems...
if discovered in time, it is treatable with antibiotics... trouble is...
it is very rare that it is treated in time.
why?
it seems that 9 out of 14 members of the government organization concerned with determining how lyme disease is defined and officially treated are on the payroll of either insurance companies or pharmaceutical companies who own patents on lyme disease genes, vaccinations, or other private interests. this means that the policy is written by lawyers as a means of winning court cases against doctors who threaten corporate monetary interest by actually successfully treating patients...
the controversy is over 'chronic lyme disease'. the official stamp is that it doesn't exist, and that anyone suffering from the intense, painful, debilitating, and crippling symptoms that many chronic lyme disease sufferers go through is 'faking it'.
this means that anyone coming to doctors showing those symptoms will be sent to psychotherapists, instead of getting antibiotics, ensuring that they get sicker.
how sicker?
one doctor, spending 30 years in his basement with the bacteria and a microscope he bought with his own money discovers the spirochete in 7 out of 10 brains of alzheimer patients. parkinsons, lou gherigs disease, ms, and a few other neurological disorders are all linked to this bug, and may be caused by it. he also discovers that some samples are using biofilm secretions to hide themselves from our antibodies, and from antibiotics, leading to reinfection after treatment.
people suffering years of pain, given antibiotics intravenously for over three years show massive improvements in their health and quality of life.
but the doctors proscribing them the antibiotics are stripped of their licences to practice because they were treating a condition that doesn't officially exist...
judging by the fact that there are 20 times as many people contracting lyme disease each year than there are people contracting HIV each year, this is a serious problem, especially considering the distinct possibility that lyme disease is connected with that list of other 'source unknown' neurological diseases I listed above.
but this in itself is the clincher...
each of those patients could spend over $10,000 on antibiotics to 'cure' the disease (using the unconventional but effective antibiotic treatment)... that times the 4 million people a year that contract the disease..... if you live in a country with privatized health insurance...
hmm....
cold we just maybe set up a few profs for life instead of shelling out that massive sum of dough? (this is the insurance company talking)...
so it all points at how privitization of health insurance means that what is treatable depends on what is profitable, not on what is a health risk to the public.
it may be interesting to see how public health insurance in the states changes this problem, if at all..
what I do know is that I'm concerned for my sister.
she has been through years of misdiagnosis. doctors telling her there is nothing wrong with her and that its psychosomatic. being treated for all kinds of other problems to no avail... she's a chinese doctor who treated herself with acupuncture and herbs for years ineffectually. she even started losing faith in her practice because she couldn't heal herself. on one hand being diagnosed wit lyme disease is a relief to her, as it means she can get treatment.
she's starting to show some neurological signs tho. some facial palsy. I'm obviously worried for her.
anyways, see if you can find a torrent of that film. its very informative...
blessings.
www.youtube.com/watch
"under our skins"
my sister sent it to me a couple weeks ago and I hadn't had a chance to see it due to computer malfunctions. my roomate just got a new computer with a working disk drive, so I borrowed it and watched.
i found it difficult not to get upset, although partially this is due to the fact that my sister has lyme disease, and it is unknown as yet how much of an effect it will have on her...
now this comes as a slight 'wool from the eyes' experience for me, despite the fact that I'm completely jaded about the medical system in the US, even now.
I figured I'd rant here a bit to get you all interested in seeing it. I think the more people that take the time to educate themselves on the controversial truths about lyme disease, the more useless pain and illness can be prevented...
lyme disease is a spirochete bacteria, very similar to syphilis. the reason spirochetes are so virulent is due to the fact that they can corkscrew their way through tissues and cell membranes. this allows them to move into many different tissue types. in fact, looking at the possible effects of syphilis infection, you find all kinds of disorders, from neurological, to skeletal, to brain damage, etc. etc...
the common deer tick is the carrier. deforestation and pollution have contributed to its spread in two ways. one is humans are coming into much more contact with ticks, and two is that the ticks are now carrying many different types of bacteria.
you pick the tick up from tall grass, especially in damp weather, the tick walks around on you for a few hours, seeking the best spot to hid, then the tick latches onto you, often undetected, and sucks your blood for up to 16 hours. as it does this, bacteria swim upstream into your bloodstream and into your heart, lungs and brain.
early symptoms include swollen knees, a bulls eye rash around the site of infection, facial palsy, migraines, extreme fatigue, digestive and neurological problems...
if discovered in time, it is treatable with antibiotics... trouble is...
it is very rare that it is treated in time.
why?
it seems that 9 out of 14 members of the government organization concerned with determining how lyme disease is defined and officially treated are on the payroll of either insurance companies or pharmaceutical companies who own patents on lyme disease genes, vaccinations, or other private interests. this means that the policy is written by lawyers as a means of winning court cases against doctors who threaten corporate monetary interest by actually successfully treating patients...
the controversy is over 'chronic lyme disease'. the official stamp is that it doesn't exist, and that anyone suffering from the intense, painful, debilitating, and crippling symptoms that many chronic lyme disease sufferers go through is 'faking it'.
this means that anyone coming to doctors showing those symptoms will be sent to psychotherapists, instead of getting antibiotics, ensuring that they get sicker.
how sicker?
one doctor, spending 30 years in his basement with the bacteria and a microscope he bought with his own money discovers the spirochete in 7 out of 10 brains of alzheimer patients. parkinsons, lou gherigs disease, ms, and a few other neurological disorders are all linked to this bug, and may be caused by it. he also discovers that some samples are using biofilm secretions to hide themselves from our antibodies, and from antibiotics, leading to reinfection after treatment.
people suffering years of pain, given antibiotics intravenously for over three years show massive improvements in their health and quality of life.
but the doctors proscribing them the antibiotics are stripped of their licences to practice because they were treating a condition that doesn't officially exist...
judging by the fact that there are 20 times as many people contracting lyme disease each year than there are people contracting HIV each year, this is a serious problem, especially considering the distinct possibility that lyme disease is connected with that list of other 'source unknown' neurological diseases I listed above.
but this in itself is the clincher...
each of those patients could spend over $10,000 on antibiotics to 'cure' the disease (using the unconventional but effective antibiotic treatment)... that times the 4 million people a year that contract the disease..... if you live in a country with privatized health insurance...
hmm....
cold we just maybe set up a few profs for life instead of shelling out that massive sum of dough? (this is the insurance company talking)...
so it all points at how privitization of health insurance means that what is treatable depends on what is profitable, not on what is a health risk to the public.
it may be interesting to see how public health insurance in the states changes this problem, if at all..
what I do know is that I'm concerned for my sister.
she has been through years of misdiagnosis. doctors telling her there is nothing wrong with her and that its psychosomatic. being treated for all kinds of other problems to no avail... she's a chinese doctor who treated herself with acupuncture and herbs for years ineffectually. she even started losing faith in her practice because she couldn't heal herself. on one hand being diagnosed wit lyme disease is a relief to her, as it means she can get treatment.
she's starting to show some neurological signs tho. some facial palsy. I'm obviously worried for her.
anyways, see if you can find a torrent of that film. its very informative...
blessings.