8 years ago
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Ticked Off - What We Don't Know About Lyme Disease
There are many things that we don’t know. There is a critical need for better diagnostic tests, especially for early Lyme, and for picking up other tick species and tick-transmitted diseases. As Dr. Monica Embers of OneHealth commented, a “test for distinguishing between an active infection and someone who has been clinically and biologically cured, that would be essential.”
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http://www.forbes.com
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Very interesting. I only remember hearing a lot about Lyme disease when I was really young. It's weird that it's suddenly popping back up in the news.
According to the article the number of cases are increasing. The risk of becoming infected depends on where you live, though. The north east U.S. has a terrible Lyme problem. Maybe you don't live in an area where it's an issue.
I'm from Michigan and it was definitely a hot topic back in the 90's. I wonder what's causing the numbers to go up... I know in Michigan at least the deer population has been on the rise because of a decrease in hunting, and I know the MDNR has been having management troubles because of it.
I usually get a tick bite or two every year. No illness from them yet, however.
I'm glad you haven't contracted anything! Lyme disease is horrible, and there are other tick-borne illnesses that are also quite nasty.
Tick bites are serious shit if you get bitten by the right tick. Lyme, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Alpha-Gal are freaking terrible.
Few years back me and the wife went hiking in the woods. Ended up having to turn back and leave the area after pulling off 20 ticks. Lots of mutual inspections and hot showers afterwards left me waking up the next morning with a tick buried in my shoulder. Not fun.
So, I typically limit my wooded adventures to paved trails now. With long freaking socks. And coated in bug spray, just in case.
Ugh, even if you don't get sick, ticks are just so gross and creepy!
No kidding, I remember pulling big fat ones off my dog, it may have traumatized me a little...