"Chronic Lyme Disease" grappling seminar on facebook

**Hedgehogey** · Posted On: 10/09/2012 2:25am

No funny Hedge this time. It's serious now.

Jits magazine's FB page linked to a "Choke Out Lyme Disease" seminar. Seemingly a good thing, but the FB page is full of links to 'Chronic Lyme Disease'. I replied. Screenshots, in case of deletion:

http://i.imgur.com/86eSj.png
http://i.imgur.com/lo6Xq.jpg

And my reply in text, in case the screenshot's too small:

I'm not an MD, so please, evaluate my opinion (like all opinions), with critical thinking. Here's what I do know: the facebook page to this event links to organizations that advocate for the continued treatment of 'Chronic Lyme Disease' via multi month courses of strong antibiotics.

This is very controversial within the medical community. Several peer reviewed studies have been done on this subject and all have shown evidence that the percentage of treatment for the symptoms of CLD with antibiotics is no greater than those treated with placebos:

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/lyme...s/chronic.aspx
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2708393/
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMra072023

While there are certainly many patients suffering from (what's more accurately called) Post Lyme Disease Syndrome, and quite a bit more research needs to be done into what can be done to relieve their suffering, the use of antibiotics seems to be discouraged by most doctors. Not only do they appear to have no more effect on the patients than placebos, they may be harmful to the patient (most antibiotics have at least some side effects and many of them are severe) and the community (encouraging the development of antibiotic resistant strains).

I can empathize with the way patients and their loved ones feel. I was misdiagnosed with a persistent staph infection that had actually been cured in its first course of treatment, and went on increasingly strong and expensive antibiotics for some time before the error was discovered. But if we really wanna help ourselves and our loved ones we have to evaluate what treatments actually work using critical thinking skills. We in jiujitsu are in the business of helping people learn how to protect themselves. How to realistically protect yourself medically is well within that mandate.

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 10/09/2012 10:29am

Got any responses yet?

**Permalost** · Posted On: 10/09/2012 11:54am

I noticed it said "A fundraiser for Elaeth McCormick"- are they the sole benefactor for this event? At first I figured they were collecting funds for Lyme disease research or something.

**Res Judicata** · Posted On: 10/10/2012 11:43am

For lack for a better term, it's a "crazy lady" disease. My mother "has" chronic Lyme. It's largely considered a myth in the medical community--basically, it's largely psychosomatic nonsense, much like fibromyalgia.

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 10/10/2012 12:56pm

Originally Posted by Res Judicata

For lack for a better term, it's a "crazy lady" disease. My mother "has" chronic Lyme. It's largely considered a myth in the medical community--basically, it's largely psychosomatic nonsense, much like fibromyalgia.

Um...no, it's not a myth, it's a misnomer. There's a difference.

Fibromyalgia is also not psychosomatic nonsense.

**Smackjack** · Posted On: 10/10/2012 7:18pm

Originally Posted by Bodhi108

Um...no, it's not a myth, it's a misnomer. There's a difference.

Fibromyalgia is also not psychosomatic nonsense.

Indeed it isn't want me to re-elect my god-grandfather Michael debakey on this? He comes in dreams. Any symptom that's more than a epidemic, is not a myth.

**doofaloofa** · Posted On: 10/11/2012 3:14am

Originally Posted by Smackjack

Indeed it isn't want me to re-elect my god-grandfather Michael debakey on this? He comes in dreams. Any symptom that's more than a epidemic, is not a myth.

What?

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 10/11/2012 7:02am

Originally Posted by Smackjack

Indeed it isn't want me to re-elect my god-grandfather Michael debakey on this? He comes in dreams. Any symptom that's more than a epidemic, is not a myth.

Thank you.

I think.

**erezb** · Posted On: 10/11/2012 7:23am

Originally Posted by Res Judicata

For lack for a better term, it's a "crazy lady" disease. My mother "has" chronic Lyme. It's largely considered a myth in the medical community--basically, it's largely psychosomatic nonsense, much like fibromyalgia.

The fact that doctors can't find the cause/damage for your pain does not mean it's in your head. Chronic pain syndromes exist, and we now know that certain changes to your nerve system and brain due to a prior sickness/infection lesion etc. can last for a long long time causing you real horrible pain. It is not psychosomatic and it is not nonsense, it's actually an extremely painful condition, and it doesn't help that people that couldn't figure out what is wrong decided that they are going to refer their patients to psychiatrists.