Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Beating Lyme, The Disease, The Diagnosis, Controversy And Treatment For Lyme Disease

Authors: Constance Bean with Lesley Ann Fein, M.D.

ISBN: 9780814409442

“If your disease is not cured in a few weeks, you may be told, mistakenly, that you have chronic fatigue syndrome, that your excruciating pain is due to fibromyalgia, to an unknown virus, new allergies, or other chronic conditions that we don’t yet know about.” Does this sound familiar?

If you have Lyme disease, you will probably have seen a multitude of doctors and specialists; have been diagnosed with everything from hiccups to Parkinson’s; and have suffered the headaches, joint/muscle pain and swelling, fatigue, fog, cognitive defects, sleep disturbances, numbness and tingling, fevers, stiffness of the neck, Bell’s Palsy, EM rash, migrating pain, and other such symptoms that most physicians find baffling. These physicians are “untrained in evaluating and treating on-going Lyme disease, and are usually frustrated and unable to help.”

Not only do you suffer because from the untrained physicians, there is on-going illness, “families may be torn apart, chronic fatigue makes holding a job difficult or impossible, and medical insurance can be lost.”

The physicians who are in the trenches and treating “hundreds, or thousands of cases,” tend to “have [to] tread a rocky road, including loss of medical license, for using clinical judgment instead of adhering to limitations published by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), a private, non-profit, professional organization headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.” 

Despite the physicians in the trenches who see that there is such a thing as “chronic Lyme disease,” never mind the physicians who have actual clinical experience with this disease and do not agree that it is what IDSA calls “post-Lyme syndrome,” and choose to ignore the peer reviewed articles by those without conflict of interest – there are still some men and women in white coats who have their feet planted firmly in the mire of IDSA guidelines. “To this day, the writers of the guidelines have produced no evidence for the theory of “post –Lyme syndrome.” Although admitting that continuing symptoms will occur in 10-20% of patients, they say that these may be due to an unexplained autoimmune reaction, and that continuing symptoms are no different from the pains people experience in their daily lives. Despite years of evidence and clinical experience that do not support the hypothesis, including testimony presented at state legislative hearings, they continue to resist the logical explanation, which is that symptomatic patients are still infected with Lyme bacteria. Therein lies the controversy and the problem for those who become victims of Lyme disease.”  And even though the IDSA is a private organization, the Center for Disease Control [CDC] has published only this set of guidelines – which are readily available for the caring, yet unsuspecting, physician. Not only does this impede immediate care, “the guidelines make it possible for insurance companies to deny or limit reimbursement for Lyme disease.”

Chapter four is extremely beneficial to patients and physicians, “Is It Chronic Fatigue? Is It Fibromyalgia” Diagnosis Of Lyme And Other Tick-Borne Diseases.” Here you will learn that “if not caught early, the disease can be incredibly difficult for many doctors to identify.” Ms. Bean explains why and provides a “guide to the many possible symptoms and how the disease is diagnosed.” She explains the various tests and what to do after a tick bite. She goes on, in chapter five, to discuss the “critical factors that may result in misdiagnosis.” There was even a committee that “introduced a proposal to revise the Lyme disease national Surveillance definition. The purpose [was] to limit the number of reported cases. The stated reason for new recommendations is the need to reduce the Lyme surveillance burden on the states. The number of Lyme cases had nearly doubled since 1991.” Can you imagine, wanting to unburden the states, but allowing innocent patients to go undiagnosed or to be misdiagnosed? Have they done the same with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or Syphilis? Of course not! Between this, the unwilling and uneducated physicians, the CDC boldly presenting only one set of narrow and less-than-scientific backed IDSA guidelines – it’s a wonder anyone will ever receive the much needed treatment for this disabling and often deadly disease. 

Ms Bean outlines the politics of Lyme, treating persistent Lyme disease and artfully describes the Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction [herx]. She speaks about the doctors, living with the disease, and insurance. Ms. Bean also discusses antibiotics, presents expert material, and talks about the Lyme Vaccine. She ends the book nicely with “tick bite prevention.”

Constance Bean dispels the myths, clears the misunderstandings, and presents the facts that will allow us to make the first step on our path in search of treatment and recovery.

This is the Lyme disease book you will want to give to your physician on your next visit; your family members because you love them; and to your friends because you care.

Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Beating Lyme, The Disease, The Diagnosis, Controversy And Treatment For Lyme Disease

The above review was contributed by: Sue Vogan: Sue is a Writer & Author of NCO-No Compassion Observed: To read more of Sue's reviews Click Here 

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