Book Description

Ticks carrying Lyme disease have rapidly spread to most of the populated areas of southern Canada. The disease is now an epidemic in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, southern New Brunswick and throughout Nova Scotia. Doctors have been slow to recognize it and slower to treat it properly. Despite its clear importance as a growing threat to public health, Lyme disease remains a controversial and poorly understood illness that often causes multiple long-lasting problems. Usually cured when promptly treated, it often goes undiagnosed. This book is an up-to-date resource, covering every topic. For people living in infested parts of the country, there's information on how to avoid ticks, how to find them (they're astonishingly small!) and how to remove them. There's also fascinating background on ticks themselves, how they got here, how they became carriers of Lyme Disease, how they spread and how they find human targets are the starting point. Science writer Brian Owens describes the Lyme-causing bacteria carried by ticks, and how it gets into human blood and attacks the body. He offers an account of the conflict within the Canadianmedical community about recognizing, diagnosing and treating the disease, explaining the differences and the ongoing controversies. He also reveals the politics behind failed efforts to develop and market a vaccine for Lyme disease — and why there is a successful vaccine for dogs. Anyone wanting to know how to minimize the risks of the disease will find this book a mine of good, reliable, independent information. Anyone struggling with Lyme will find in it a resource that provides invaluable background information and pointers about organizations that offer support and help.