When Your Child Has Lyme Disease


Book Description

Practical information about Lyme disease and the many ways it can manifest in children. Finding the right medical care, coping with treatment, developing effective boundaries with people who don't understand your family's situation, advocating for your child's educational needs and managing day-to-day life.




Coping with Lyme Disease, Third Edition


Book Description

Now completely revised and updated-the bible for the thousands who contract Lyme disease each year Lyme disease, transmitted through the bite of a tick, is one of our nation's fastest-growing epidemics. Since Coping with Lyme Disease was first published in 1993, the number of sufferers afflicted by this debilitating condition has grown alarmingly. Every chapter has been thoroughly revised and new information about the long-term neurological effects of Lyme disease and congential and chronic versions of the illness has been added. This comprehensive guide includes - basic prevention tips - a detailed catalog of the physical and psychological symptoms to look for - a complete look at the medical and home care options and insurance policies available to patients - a special discussion of Lyme's effects on women, children, and the elderly - an expanded resource guide, with listings of news publications, state-by-state support groups, and special family services This fully updated third edition informs readers of the latest medical findings in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease-providing crucial information about newly discovered Lyme-related illnesses, electromagnetic procedures, clinical and antibiotic therapies, and curative nutritional products now on the market. A longtime bestseller, this authoritative book is an essential tool for all Lyme disease sufferers.




Lyme


Book Description

"Superbly written and researched." --Booklist "Builds a strong case." --Kirkus Lyme disease is spreading rapidly around the globe as ticks move into places they could not survive before. Mary Beth Pfeiffer argues it is the first epidemic to emerge in the era of climate change, infecting millions around the globe. She tells the heart-rending stories of its victims, families whose lives have been destroyed by a single, often unseen, tick bite. Pfeiffer also warns of the emergence of other tick-borne illnesses that make Lyme more difficult to treat and pose their own grave risks. Lyme is an impeccably researched account of an enigmatic disease, making a powerful case for action to fight ticks, heal patients, and recognize humanity's role in a modern scourge.




Believe Me


Book Description

From the star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills comes an emotional and eye opening behind-the-scenes look at her descent into uncovering the mystery of chronic Lyme disease. In early 2011, Yolanda was struck by mysterious symptoms including brain fog, severe exhaustion, migraines and more. Over the months and years that followed, she went from being an outspoken, multi-tasking, hands-on mother of three, reality TV star, and social butterfly, to a woman who spent most of her time in bed. Yolanda was turned inside out by some of the country’s top hospitals and doctors, but due to the lack of definitive diagnostic testing, she landed in a dark maze of conflicting medical opinions, where many were quick to treat her symptoms but could never provide clear answers to their possible causes. In this moving, behind the scenes memoir, Yolanda Hadid opens up in a way she has never been able to in the media before. Suffering from late stage Lyme, a disease that is an undeniable epidemic and more debilitating than anyone realizes, Yolanda had to fight with everything she had to hold onto her life. While her struggle was lived publicly, it impacted her privately in every aspect of her existence, affecting her family, friends and professional prospects. Her perfect marriage became strained and led to divorce. It was the strong bond with her children, Gigi, Bella and Anwar, that provided her greatest motivation to fight through the darkest days of her life. Hers is an emotional narrative and all-important read for anyone unseated by an unexpected catastrophe. With candor, authenticity and an unwavering inner strength, Yolanda reveals intimate details of her journey crisscrossing the world to find answers for herself and two of her children who suffer from Lyme and shares her tireless research into eastern and western medicine. Believe Me is an inspiring lesson in the importance of having courage and hope, even in those moments when you think you can’t go on.




The Deep Places


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • In this vulnerable, insightful memoir, the New York Times columnist tells the story of his five-year struggle with a disease that officially doesn’t exist, exploring the limits of modern medicine, the stories that we unexpectedly fall into, and the secrets that only suffering reveals. “A powerful memoir about our fragile hopes in the face of chronic illness.”—Kate Bowler, bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason In the summer of 2015, Ross Douthat was moving his family, with two young daughters and a pregnant wife, from Washington, D.C., to a sprawling farmhouse in a picturesque Connecticut town when he acquired a mysterious and devastating sickness. It left him sleepless, crippled, wracked with pain--a shell of himself. After months of seeing doctors and descending deeper into a physical inferno, he discovered that he had a disease which according to CDC definitions does not actually exist: the chronic form of Lyme disease, a hotly contested condition that devastates the lives of tens of thousands of people but has no official recognition--and no medically approved cure. From a rural dream house that now felt like a prison, Douthat's search for help takes him off the map of official medicine, into territory where cranks and conspiracies abound and patients are forced to take control of their own treatment and experiment on themselves. Slowly, against his instincts and assumptions, he realizes that many of the cranks and weirdos are right, that many supposed "hypochondriacs" are victims of an indifferent medical establishment, and that all kinds of unexpected experiences and revelations lurk beneath the surface of normal existence, in the places underneath. The Deep Places is a story about what happens when you are terribly sick and realize that even the doctors who are willing to treat you can only do so much. Along the way, Douthat describes his struggle back toward health with wit and candor, portraying sickness as the most terrible of gifts. It teaches you to appreciate the grace of ordinary life by taking that life away from you. It reveals the deep strangeness of the world, the possibility that the reasonable people might be wrong, and the necessity of figuring out things for yourself. And it proves, day by dreadful day, that you are stronger than you ever imagined, and that even in the depths there is always hope.




Conquering Lyme Disease


Book Description

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States, with more than 300,000 cases diagnosed each year. However, doctors are deeply divided on how to diagnose and treat it, giving rise to the controversy known as the “Lyme Wars.” Firmly entrenched camps have emerged, causing physicians, patient communities, and insurance providers to be pitted against one another in a struggle to define Lyme disease and its clinical challenges. Health care providers may not be aware of its diverse manifestations or the limitations of diagnostic tests. Meanwhile, patients have felt dismissed by their doctors and confused by the conflicting opinions and dubious self-help information found online. In this authoritative book, the Columbia University Medical Center physicians Brian A. Fallon and Jennifer Sotsky explain that, despite the vexing “Lyme Wars,” there is cause for both doctors and patients to be optimistic. The past decade’s advances in precision medicine and biotechnology are reshaping our understanding of Lyme disease and accelerating the discovery of new tools to diagnose and treat it, such that the great divide previously separating medical communities is now being bridged. Drawing on both extensive clinical experience and cutting-edge research, Fallon, Sotsky, and their colleagues present these paradigm-shifting breakthroughs in language accessible to both sides. They clearly explain the immunologic, infectious, and neurologic basis of chronic symptoms, the cognitive and psychological impact of the disease, as well as current and emerging diagnostic tests, treatments, and prevention strategies. Written for the educated patient and health care provider seeking to learn more, Conquering Lyme Disease gives an up-to-the-minute overview of the science that is transforming the way we address this complex illness. It argues forcefully that the expanding plague of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases can be confronted successfully and may soon even be reversed.




Divided Bodies


Book Description

While many doctors claim that Lyme disease—a tick-borne bacterial infection—is easily diagnosed and treated, other doctors and the patients they care for argue that it can persist beyond standard antibiotic treatment in the form of chronic Lyme disease. In Divided Bodies, Abigail A. Dumes offers an ethnographic exploration of the Lyme disease controversy that sheds light on the relationship between contested illness and evidence-based medicine in the United States. Drawing on fieldwork among Lyme patients, doctors, and scientists, Dumes formulates the notion of divided bodies: she argues that contested illnesses are disorders characterized by the division of bodies of thought in which the patient's experience is often in conflict with how it is perceived. Dumes also shows how evidence-based medicine has paradoxically amplified differences in practice and opinion by providing a platform of legitimacy on which interested parties—patients, doctors, scientists, politicians—can make claims to medical truth.




Bull's-eye


Book Description

Provides information on the history of Lyme disease focusing on the scientific processes involved in its discovery.




Mylie's Lyme Story


Book Description

Meet Mylie, a young girl who is diagnosed with Lyme disease after a mysterious rash is found on her arm. With help from her mom and doctor, she learns the importance of taking her medicine and eating healthier. Life has changed for Mylie, but many things have stayed the same. She's still a normal kid who loves to dream BIG!




The Beginner's Guide to Lyme Disease


Book Description

CNN has reported that the number of Lyme disease cases in the United States has doubled since 1991. Caused by spiral-shaped bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme disease is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected tick. The disease is also typically accompanied by many related problems, including co-infections by other kinds of microorganisms, hormonal dysfunction, immune system dysregulation, and other related issues. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now recognize Lyme disease as the fastest spreading vector-borne disease in the country, yet most practitioners of mainstream medicine are decades behind in recognizing and addressing this emerging health crisis. This comprehensive book is the first book of its kind to approach Lyme disease from the perspective of "beginners"-those doctors, patients and caregivers who are new to the topic of diagnosing and treating Lyme disease. Dr. Nicola McFadzean, a well-respected and experienced Lyme doctor, has woven together a complete guide to the treatment and management of Lyme disease. This beginner's guide contains clearly written, easy-to-understand information, reflecting Dr. McFadzean's knowledge and experience in both traditional and alternative medical paradigms. If you or a loved one were just diagnosed with Lyme disease, or if you are a caregiver or family member to someone with Lyme disease, this book should be your first stop. It will give you the tools and resources to get started on the journey back to health.