Chronic Lyme still unrecognized
Last week, I was able to participate in a town hall-style conference call with Congressman Chris Gibson in which I was able to discuss some of the problems that the sufferers of Lyme disease face when attempting to receive treatment and care within the United States. Unfortunately, the Center for Disease Control, CDC, the American Medical Association, AMA, and the health insurance companies refuse to accept the validity of new research which proves that the Borrelia Burgdorferi bacteria of Lyme disease is able to mutate and change shape into two other forms of bacteria which are far more resilient to antibiotic treatment and able to lie dormant deep within the cells of the human body. This mutating ability of the Lyme disease bacteria has been known about for over a decade, but because of the design of peer-reviewed journal articles within medical publications, this research is not widely accepted within various circles of the medical community. And because the health insurance companies are more concerned with preserving profits, they hide behind the assertion that this new research is not valid, and they choose not to cover the care and treatment of those who suffer from chronic long-term Lyme disease.
Currently, the traditional protocols which are advocated by the CDC, the AMA and the health insurance companies is 200 MG of Doxycycline for 14-28 days and/or a single shot of Amoxicillin at the site of the tick bite. These forms of treatment and blood tests which test for Lyme disease and liver function are generally the only forms of treatment that most health insurance companies are willing to cover. And the Western Blot blood-based test for Lyme disease (which is the most effective test available) is only 45-55 percent accurate.
In this regard, Congressman Gibson and I discussed the need for research which finds a more accurate blood test, and he discussed how his recently passed Federal legislation on Lyme disease creates a new commission to examine the peer-reviewed journal articles which prove that Lyme disease can have mutating abilities and that it can be a long-term illness. Using the 200 MG protocol of Doxycycline for 14-28 days, there is an incidence of 25-30 percent of sufferers of Lyme disease who develop chronic Lyme, but with a 300-400 MG dosage of Doxycycline for 3-6 months, there is a 5 percent occurrence of long-term chronic Lyme. In my conversation with Congressman Gibson, I pointed out this statistic, and I also pointed out how there is no mechanism within our health care system put forth by the federal government which forces the health insurance companies to recognize the validity of new research on Lyme disease and how larger dosages for longer periods of time have a much better result.
Congressman Gibson’s legislation is a step in the right direction, but the federal government need to force insurance companies to recognize the validity of new research on Lyme and cover long-term treatment, as too many people have been suffering for too long.
Chris Allen
Ulster County Legislature
What’s happening in Herbron
It is rare that a Hudson Valley film-maker will receive an endorsement of her film from Noam Chomsky and at the same time have as the film’s narrator Martin Sheen. But Ellie Bernstein of Albany, New York, has both to her merit – in her stirring documentary, “Ghost Town: Hebron,” screening this Friday night, April 3, at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills.
Ellie Bernstein has always concerned herself with the plight of the common people through her films: “Closing the Open Door-The Fight for a College Education”(2001) on the history of City College and the fight for minority representation; “Waiting for Mercy – The Case Against Mohammed Hossain and Yassin Aref” (2009) that presents the story of the FBI sting operation in Albany 2004 leading to the imprisonment of both these men; “We are Still Standing–The Stories of Women in Black,” (2011), that uses documentary material showing the 20 years of struggle of international women working to oppose war, militarism, fundamentalism and discrimination. And now, “Ghost Town: Hebron.”
Chomsky says: “Bernstein’s documentary should go a long way towards overcoming the general lack of awareness of what has been happening for years in Hebron, and leading to actions to bring this scandal to an end.” It’s important to acknowledge Bernstein’s achievement. I highly recommend her new film.
Jane Toby
Catskill
Seeking optimism
If you’re reading this the day after April Fool’s Day, you probably think this is going to be a joke, but it is not.
Yes, our challenges are great. We have a number of nut cases running for president of the United States; climate change is still being denied by many of our representatives, especially those that are funded by the BOOGI (Big Oil Or Gas Industry) men; and humans all over the earth are killing each other and themselves for reasons that are hard to follow, making optimism a hard thing to find.
But, the alternative is to follow the funders, along with our “representatives” even though we are the ones getting less out of it, because we believe their advertising campaigns and watch Fox News.
I’m suggesting that with the snow melt we dig down carefully and look to our roots for optimism and spring forward. Luckily, we have groups like Transition that we can join with to learn what is happening with our food, air and water and what we can do to help protect it.
This is no time to sit back and surrender, and to prove my point, let’s celebrate the fact that we’ve kept fracking out of our backyards and successfully told Niagara Bottling to leave Cooper Lake alone. We told them to go elsewhere for free water, which they put into plastic bottles, (and which are then disposed of into our oceans), so that they can profit by selling our water back to us.
When we realize that greedy corporations are simply stealing our natural resources and profiting from them, while destroying our Mother Earth, I am hopeful that more of us will stand up together and fight, to protect our precious planet and its children — all of us.
Jill Paperno
Glenford
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