Dr. Christopher J Bump Integrated Health Care Rt 94 Viking Village Suite E PO Box 1010 McAfee, NJ 07428 973-827-3500 Office 973-409-0839 Fax By Ashley Halsey III The black-legged tick nymphs that have caused Lyme disease reports in the Washington region to soar will emerge with the spring flowers this month, and one thing is certain: They are hungry. The most recent statistics show that Lyme disease reports more than doubled in Virginia and Maryland from 2006 to 2007, the last year for which data are available. They have nearly doubled in the District, tripled in Howard County and quadrupled in Montgomery County. Loudoun County recorded half of all cases in Virginia. "The black-legged tick is really coming down and taking hold in the Potomac region," said David Goodfriend, the Loudoun County health director. "There are a great many more ticks in the area than there were a number of years ago." Goodfriend has had to become an expert on the disease, which takes its name from the town in Connecticut where a cluster of cases was first recognized in 1975. Since then, the disease has grown more prevalent along the East Coast, spreading south and west from Connecticut, with a number of mid-Atlantic states reporting an exponential growth in cases as the ticks rapidly multiply. The ticks that carry the disease, which can result in heart and joint problems as well as Bell's palsy if not caught early, have been commonly called deer ticks because deer are the vehicles that are the Johnny Appleseeds in spreading the disease. But the unseen culprit in delivering the disease to humans is the white-footed mouse or another of his rodent friends. The ticks need just three meals in their normal two-year life cycle. As larvae, they get their first feeding on the backs of rodents, which are disease carriers. The larvae grow into infected nymphs that drop off the rodent in the woods or someone's back yard. "There they will crawl up on a piece of grass and wait until an animal brushes up against them, and the cycle continues," said Paul Mead, an epidemiologist with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That cycle continues with meal number two on that animal. And the nymph, which is the size of a pencil point, is much less likely to be noticed if it is feeding on, and infecting, a human. If that nymph gets its meal and grows into an adult tick, it would like to hop onto a deer next. "The adult ticks prefer to feed on deer, which are immune to the disease," Mead said. "Deer are the adult mating bars for black-legged ticks. That's where they like to meet their mates, and then they drop off to lay their eggs." The spread of infected ticks in the Washington region has been dramatic as more farmland has been developed and deer have become ever more common roaming through back yards and parks. "What used to be an occasional case now has come to be commonplace," said Karen Kingry, a pediatrician who treats children at Nighttime Care facilities in Montgomery, Howard and Anne Arundel counties. "For example, when we see a single swollen, not very painful, knee, it's almost always going to be Lyme disease." She points out that the number of cases in children might be even higher were it not for a single fact: Most young children, in the course of an average year, have some other illness that requires the same antibiotic treatment used for Lyme disease. So, the drugs administered for an earache might also combat an unnoticed case of Lyme disease. Although early treatment in many cases can resolve the illness quickly, even that is not guaranteed. Washington lawyer Andrew E. Falk said he noticed the bull's-eye rash on his chest in the bathroom mirror late last August. "Then I started getting really spooky pains" in his hip, knee and wrist, he said. "It was almost like invasion of the body snatchers." The blood test for Lyme disease came back negative, but his doctor suspected that that was the problem and prescribed the normal three-week course of antibiotics. "But after three weeks, I didn't feel particularly better," said Falk, who spends a lot of time outdoors at his Davidsonville home. "I couldn't go out. I couldn't exercise even a little bit. It was like somebody had taken my battery out." He went to a Lyme disease specialist, who said he should consider an extended course of antibiotics. But Falk's brother, an emergency room doctor, persuaded him that spending months on antibiotics wasn't the answer. Seven months later, without additional antibiotics, Falk feels fully recovered, but he worries about encountering another black-legged nymph this season.
There were quite a few of you that responded to this article below on Lyme disease, either yourselves contracting Lyme disease, children, or friends...all Vernon area residents. I emailed this article to my doctor and asked him if I bring the tick to him if I find one on my kids, his answer is below, if you are interested. Also read what he says about the labs.
XOXO
EMAIL FROM LYME KNOWLEDGEABLE PHYSICIAN - DR. BUMP:
Kathy,
Lyme is nasty and very serious, and what you witnessed in the documentary, "Under Our Skin" is real, very real.
As you learned, Lyme is in epidemic portions, and is NOT on the medical radar screens. (There are many conditions that the medical community does not acknowledge that are real…like elevated gliadin antibodies for example, yeast over growth etc.)
Lyme is best treated with antibiotics, and it is the only treatment that "gets it," that is the bug. However, there is a question about immune defense and keeping our immune system strong, supported and healthy. But even very healthy individuals can pick the bug up, and it is not only tick bites according to some authorities.
It is important, however Kathie, that you don't live in fear, as fear is the work of the destructive and it is best never to have fear become one's modus operandi. If a tick is caught early in its quest for blood, and has not been in the skin with its bite for less than a day, some say two, than it is unlikely one will become infected.
Also, the bulls-eye patch is pathonemonic but does not show in a high percentage of individuals. I recommend antibiotics for even the suspicion of Lyme…I know that sounds drastic, but it is the only therapy that works quickly, though other immune system supportive remedies can be used adjunctively.
If suspicious…1st antibiotics, 2nd test tick, 3rd test patient. Yes, tick comes to me.
There are two labs I use as specialty labs that are Lyme specific: IGeneX and Coastal, they test differently but are the best to use. I will use standard references labs like LabCorp as well.
Also, just to note, I am not a medical doctor with prescription rights. However, I instruct patients as to how best communicate with their local medics and if needed will contact the medics myself. I do this so as to improve awareness and educate the unknowing! Also, the specialty labs often are not acknowledged by the local medics…they again, simply don't understand and unfortunately don't take the time to understand.
That is enough for now!
In health,
Dr. B
From: Kathie Austin <austinkathie@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 2:38 PM
Subject: Lymes Disease Cases Soar in East Coast (Wash Post) A MUST READ
To:
This article below prompted this long email, I apologize in advance! :)
I brought the kids to a community Lyme Disease presentation last week where they showed the documentary "Under Your Skin." I left there with knots in my stomach, it was such an eye opener. This is really becoming an east coast epidemic. Some key things I remember from the presentation:
WHICH TICK? -- There are 5 different types of ticks, 2 of which transmit Lyme Disease. On the east coast the only tick we have that transmits Lyme diseases is the "deer tick" which has BLACK LEGS. The other ticks have dark brown/orange/reddish legs. The nymphs (young) ticks are most active for "biting" and can be very small, too small to spot leg color. Nymphs can transmit the disease, as well as adult ticks. A nymph will be the size of a sharp pencil's head. The large adults ticks are obviously easy to spot.
PREVENTION -- DEET obviously, but I can't bring myself to put that on my kids unless absolutely necessary, certainly wouldn't use it daily. More natural prevention would be to wear long sleeves, long pants, light colored clothes, tuck your socks into your pants (and look like you're in the 80s again). The most important natural prevention - tick checks DAILY if you are outside. You know the spots: behind the ears, in the hair, arm pits, crotch. Frontline for your pets.
TICK REMOVAL -- The longer a tick attachment, the greater risk of disease transmission. The disease can be transmitted within HOURS after an infected tick is attached to your skin. You know this already but, remove it with it's head intact, tweezers close to your skin and yank out. If you find a tick, put it in a plastic bag with a moist cotton ball and bring it to a Lyme knowledgeable doctor - even if you don't get a bull's eye. A bull's eye is almost a guarantee of contracting Lyme Disease, but people commonly contract Lyme Disease even without a bulls eye.
DOC VISIT - Depending on the species of tick (to be determined by doc or lab) will determine course of action. Antibiotics may be recommended. The earlier the disease is caught, the easier it is to treat. A Lyme knowledgeable physician is a key aspect to treatment and detection. Many physicians don't order proper tests or send the tick/patient to proper labs for diagnosis. Apparently, there are specific tests and labs required for diagnosis. See labs list below.
SICKNESS -- The symptoms are all over the spectrum. Failure to detect the disease early can lead to a host of chronic, difficult to treat issues. It turned my stomach watching the documentary, what happened to the case studies in the film, infected children and adults. So every tick bite should be raised with your doctor and tested.
Quite simply...wear long sleeves/pants whenever possible and do tick checks every night before bed.
Read the chart and article below, if you can.
Photos of the deer tick that carries Lyme Disease: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/LYME/ld_transmission.htm
XOXO
Lyme Disease Knowledgeable LABS:
IGX 800-832-3200
Med Diagnosis Lab 877-269-0090
NJ Labs 732-249-0148
Washington Post
Cases of Lyme Disease Soar in Region
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 8, 2009; B01
Sunday, April 19, 2009
My Doctor's Response to the Lyme Disease Article
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