Morris Park police officer entitled to compensation over Lyme disease

Morris Park police officer entitled to compensation over Lyme disease
By Ben Horowitz, The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey

November 12, 2013
http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2013/11/court_morris_park_police_officer_entitled_to_compensation_over_lyme_disease.html
or http://tinyurl.com/nt8kjs5

MORRIS COUNTY - A state appeals court today upheld a finding that a Morris County Park Police officer suffers from work-related Lyme disease and is entitled to temporary disability and medical benefits along with an oxygen treatment.

Margie Raimondi said she contracted the disease during horseback patrols of wooded areas frequented by deer, according to the appeals decision.

The county park commission had appealed the payments ordered by a worker's compensation court, arguing there was no conclusive evidence Raimondi has Lyme disease. 

Full story and comments: http://tinyurl.com/nt8kjs5

Partial List of Lyme Misdiagnoses - A to Z

Partial List of Lyme Misdiagnoses- A to Z

Posted by Shaun Burke on Facebook

 

A- ADHD, Alzheimer's, Adies Pupil, ALS, Autonomic Dysfunction, Ataxia, Anemia, Arthritis, Autism, Asthma, Atrophy, Argyll Robertson Pupil, Angina, Aggression, Allergies

 

B- Behcet's Disease, Bacterial Meningitis, Brucellosis, Bell's Palsy, Bursitis, Blurred Vision, Back Pain, Brainfog, Bipolar Disorder

 

C- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chondritis, Cranial Nerve Disorders, Cancer, Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease, Crohn's Disease, Conjunctivitis, Chronic Pain, Cough, Constipation, Chills

 

D- Dementia, Droopy Eye Lid, Depression, Dermatitis, Dizziness, Disassociation, Diarrhea, Dyspnea

 

E- Epstein Barr Virus, Encephalopathy, Ear Pain, Erectile Dysfunction, Endometriosis, Esophageal Reflux

 

F- Fibromyalgia, Fifth's Disease, Flu, FUO (Fever Unknown Origin), Frozen Shoulder, Floaters

 

G- Guillain Barre Syndrome, Gynecological problems, Grave's Disease, Growing Pains, Genital Pain

 

H- Hepatitis, Headache, Hanson's Disease, Huntington's Disease, Hearing Loss, Hydrocephalus, Hypersomnia, Hair Loss, Heart Failure, Hyperactivity, Heartburn, Hypersensitivity, Hallucinations, Heart Rhythm Disturbances, Herniated Discs

 

I- Iritis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Immune System Disorder, Insomnia, Infectious Arthritis, Irritable Bladder, Increased Thirst, Incontinence

 

J- Jaundice, Joint Disorders, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Jawbone Infection, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

 

K- Knee Bursitis, Knee pain, Keratitis, Kidney Disease

 

L- Lupus, Leukemia, Learning Disorder, Lock Jaw, Lou Gehrigs, Lung Disease, Loss of Libido, Low-grade Fever, Low Body Temperature, Lymph Node Swelling, Liver Impairment

 

M- Multiple Sclerosis, Musculoskeletal Disorders, Migraines, Motor Neuron Disease, Mental Health Disorders, Myoclonus, Myopia, Muscle Cramps, Mood Disorders, Motion Sickness

 

N- Neuropathy, Noise Sensitivity, Nyctalopia (Night Blindness), Numbness, Nightmares, Night Sweats

 

O- Obesity, Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder, Osteoarthritis, Optic Neuritis, Orthostatic Intolerance

 

P- Prostrate Cancer, Peripheral Neuropathy, PMS, Photophobia, PTSD, Parkinson's Disease, Pick's Disease, Panic Attacks, Psychosis, Paranoia, Personality Changes

 

Q- Query Fever, Quintana Fever

 

R- Ringworm, Relapsing Fever, Restless Leg Syndrome, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Raynaud's Syndrome, Rib Soreness, Reactive Hypoglycemia, Radiculitis, Rage, Repression

 

S- Syphilis, Sleep Disorders, Sjogrens Syndrome, Spatial Disorientation, Suicidal, Schizophrenia, Sleep Apnea, Scleroderma, Sensory neuropathy, Splenomegaly, SIDS, Syncope, Stroke

 

T- Tourette Syndrome, Transverse Myelitis, TMJ, Tendinitis, Thyroid Disorders, Tremors, Tingling, Trigger Finger, Tinnitus

 

U- Uveitis, Undulant Fever, Urinary Tract Infections, Ulcers

 

V- Vertigo, Varicella Zoster Virus (Shingles), Vision Impairment, Vitamin D Deficiency, Vasculitis

 

W- West Nile Virus, Wilson's Disease, Whipple's Disease, Wandering Eye, Weight Gain/Loss, Weakened Immune System

 

X- Xerophthalmia (Dry Eyes), XMRV Infection

 

Y- Yeast Infections

 

Z- Zoster (Shingles), Zinc Deficiency

 

Novelist Martin Cruz Smith Reveals his Parkinson's disease

Author of Gorky Park and numerous other Russian spy novels has been hiding his Parkinson's disease from the public for 18 years. His wife has become his typist and assistant since he could no longer type, due to tremors in his hands.

Finally, Cruz opted for a Deep Brain Stimulator (DBS) implant in his brain, installed at UCSF Medical Center, and has gone public. Yesterday there were several stories about him and PD on NPR, NY Times and other news outlets. Here is one of the NY Times articles, plus a video.

I am particularly interested in DBS stories because I may opt for this treatment. Drug therapy for Parkinson's disease is annoying and has unwanted side effects for me. It works well for only about half of my waking hours. The other half of my day is experienced as either waxing or waning tremors, anxiety, and depression as the meds take effect or wear off.

If you see any reports, studies, or firsthand accounts of DBS, please send them to me or add a comment here on my blog. If you have a DBS and want to share your own experience with it including where it was implanted, how it was programmed, and whether you are happy with it, please comment!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/novelist-reveals-a-twist-in-the-tale/?_r=1&

Rutgers researchers: Mold can cause symptoms that mimic Parkinson's

By Kathleen O'Brien/The Star-Ledger
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on November 11, 2013 at 3:08 PM, updated November 11, 2013 at 6:08 PM

Rutgers fungus expert Joan Bennett had always been a skeptic of "sick building syndrome" – the notion the air in a building can be so toxic it makes people sick.

Then the home she owned in New Orleans was flooded by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. While others would mourn their losses, Bennett got busy taking swabs of mold, intent on studying them back in New Jersey, where she and her husband had temporarily relocated.

In collecting them, however, she said she immediately felt ill, despite wearing gloves, a mask and protective gear. The dizziness, headaches and nausea she experienced made her open to the possibility that small amounts of mold can harm people.

"The odor just made me feel horrible, and I thought, ‘Aha!’ Maybe there’s something in these gasses," said Bennett, now a professor of plant biology and pathology at Rutgers. "I became a convert."

From that research came today’s announcement she and her colleagues had located a chemical emitted by mold that gives fruit flies the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Their finding was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences....

See the rest of the story:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/rutgers_researchers_mold_can_cause_symptoms_that_mimic_parkinsons.html

Video on Lyme made for schools and Govt agencies

Here is a video on Lyme disease for Wisconsin school districts and governmental agencies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHiIiKpK3hc&sns=em

Feel free to share this link of the video that was made with Discover Media.

Clinical evidence for rapid transmission of Lyme disease following a tickbite

An important study to know about. Apparently, one can be infected more quickly than some doctors would have you believe.

Authors:

Eleanor D. Hynote, Phyllis C. Mervine, Raphael B. Stricker

Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease, online 

before print, November 20, 2011.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2011.10.003

Abstract

Lyme disease transmission to humans by Ixodes ticks is 

thought to require at least 36–48 h of tick attachment. We 

describe 3 cases in which transmission of Borrelia 

burgdorferi, the spirochetal agent of Lyme disease, appears 

to have occurred in less than 24 h based on the degree of 

tick engorgement, clinical signs of acute infection, and 

immunologic evidence of acute Lyme disease.

Health care providers and individuals exposed to ticks 

should be aware that transmission of Lyme disease may occur 

more rapidly than animal models suggest. A diagnosis of Lyme 

disease should not be ruled out based on a short tick 

attachment time in a subject with clinical evidence of B. 

burgdorferi infection.

Click here for the details:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2011.10.003

Super close-up of a tick's mouth

The blood-sucking mouth parts of the tick species Ixodes ricinus.

With cinematography, SEM and confocal microscopy, we recorded and interpreted the insertion events of the tick's mouthparts.  Initially the paired telescoping chelicerae pierce the skin and, moving alternately, generate a toehold.  Subsequently, a breaststroke-like motion, effected by simultaneous flexure and retraction of both chelicerae, pull in the barbed hypostome.  The ratchet-like motility of their flexible chelicerae allows Ixodes ticks to dynamically penetrate the soft substrate of the host's skin and use their rigid hypostome for robust static attachment.

(Dania Richter, Technical University of Braunschweig/Proceedings of the Royal Society B; Biological Sciences)

New Species of Lyme Bacterium in California

SPOTTED FEVER RICKETTSIOSIS USA: (CALIFORNIA) NEW SPECIES

A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Wed 30 Oct 2013
Source: San Ramon Patch [edited]
<http://sanramon.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/new-disease-increases-risk-of-tickbourne-illness-in-california>

Fall and winter bring on young active ticks, and with that the risk of
disease, according to a newsletter released by the Contra Costa
Mosquito and Vector Control District. "In addition to spreading Lyme
disease, researchers now say ticks are also responsible for
transmitting a previously unknown disease that is related to Rocky
Mounted spotted fever," the release stated. The new bacterium was
recorded in 4 human cases statewide, with 2 of those cases in Contra
Costa County.

The newsletter reads:

"The _Rickettsia philipii_ bacterium is transmitted by the Pacific
Coast tick (_Dermacentor occidentalis_), which is one of the 3 primary
ticks that can be found across California. So far scientists have
found ticks infected with this new bacterium in at least 8 California
counties.

"While a small percentage of adult Pacific Coast ticks have tested positive for the disease thus far, researchers find that young nymphs
are testing positive as well. This makes prevention very important
because these young ticks are very small and very difficult to see.
Symptoms can include fever, headache, fatigue, and what appears to be
a blackened scab at the site of a tick bite.

Here is a comprehensive article on the whole saga of Borrelia and tick research outside of the US Northeast. Courtesy Discover Magazine. See links below to the source.

http://discovermagazine.com/2013/dec/14-southern-gothic#.UnUeViR7XRQ

FROM THE DECEMBER 2013 ISSUE

The Confounding Debate Over Lyme Disease in the South

The debilitating tick-borne disease is well-documented north of the Mason-Dixon line, but does it exist beyond that?

By Wendy Orent|Friday, November 01, 2013

"...The new spirochetes, Oliver and Rudenko have shown, reinforce the sense of ecological complexity characterizing Southern Borrelia cycles involving lizards, songbirds, small mammals (cotton mice; cotton, wood and rice rats; chipmunks; squirrels; rabbits; and raccoons) and a welter of ticks — lone stars and blacklegged ticks and three Ixodes species that seldom bite people: dentatus, affinis and minor. These convoluted cycles mean that the neat Northern picture has, in the South, been blown apart into hundreds of fractured images...."  (CONTINUED)

http://discovermagazine.com/2013/dec/14-southern-gothic#.UnUeViR7XRQ

Dr. Alex Duarte Interviews Randy Travis about the treatment of Lyme Disease

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/ErV19f5uSNc