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![[illustration showing proper tick removal]](http://www.fda.gov/fdac/graphics/1996graphics/tweezer.gif)
Some of the early symptoms of the disease are tremors, vertigo, fatigue, dizziness, night sweats, sore neck, soaring headache, and vision problems. The list goes on to cover many other symptoms but the disease will affect every person differently and at different rates of progression.
If you are interested in helping with the surveillance, please place the ticks you find in a small container and drop them off at your nearest Department of Natural Resources for testing.
Lyme disease is already the most prevalent illness spread by ticks or insects in the United States. Some experts believe there may be tens of thousands of cases occurring each year, most of them undiagnosed and unreported.
In the spring, ticks lay eggs in leaves on the grounds of wooded areas. When the eggs hatch into larvae in the summer, they are free of the Lyme spirochete. The larvae seek out many animals, often the white-footed mouse. They will latch on to the animal, usually for three to four days, then fall off and eventually molt. They remain inactive until the following year. A single blood meal is sufficient to carry the larvae into the next spring, when they develop into the second, or nymphal, stage.
The nymph generally feeds in June and July, but if unsuccessful it will wait until later months. If infected during its first feeding as larvae, the nymphs will pass the Lyme spirochete during its second feeding, often on a human.
In the fall, the nymphs develop into mature adults that tend to feed on deer. The females survive into the following spring to lay eggs and to continue the cycle.
Scientists are finding evidence that the overwhelming majority of Lyme disease infections result from bites of the nymph ticks and not from the adults, as they once believed.
Ottawa
Lyme disease belongs in limelight
By SHAUN BURKE
On Sept. 14, a gathering on Parliament Hill in Ottawa was held to boost awareness of the very real problem of Lyme disease in Canada. People from all over Canada attended this awareness gathering. It was the first national gathering of people suffering from Lyme disease. Doctors from Canada as well as the United States were in attendance.
The largest issue, which was discussed, was the lack of adequate testing for the disease, as well the controversy over long-term treatment, which consists simply of antibiotics.
The United Nations has stated that the disease will progress apace with global warming. As it is, Canadian doctors are not adequately trained to identify and treat it.
Without proper testing and treatment, those infected with Lyme disease will slowly lose everything: finances, home, family, friends, career, spouses. But the No. 1 thing they will lose is their health. Health is wealth.
It is time we all take a closer look at this disease, as it is linked to so many other diagnoses, such as MS, IBS, Alzheimer’s, Gerd, fibromyalgia and the list goes on.
Why are the government and the medical community not putting funds toward research? In Canada, there is basically none happening. Lyme disease is now endemic to every province. The U.S. is on high alert for the illness, but not Canada.
In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, AIDS was ignored and downplayed. Shouldn’t we have learned as a society from the mistakes we made with AIDS? Do we just ignore Lyme disease until it becomes fashionable and politicians can see opportunity with it? The fact is people do die from the complications of Lyme disease. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta estimate the rate of infection for Lyme disease is outpacing AIDS tenfold.
Today there are many Canadians suffering from Lyme disease who are travelling at their own expense to the U.S., desperately seeking the proper medical treatment. It has been stated that the U.S. ranks 37th in the world in medical care. If Canadians travel there for treatment, where does this leave us in the world rankings?
The science is there for doctors to read. The testing is not working. People are suffering. A clinical diagnosis must be accepted as the standard until we have the proper testing. It must also be stated that testing, such as bloodwork, is only a tool in the diagnostic process of most diseases.
Illnesses such as MS are out of control, to an extent we now accept them as a normal part of life. With the statistics continually showing that Nova Scotia has the highest rate of almost every illness, why is it we, the people of Nova Scotia, are not asking questions collectively? It is time we all come together and ask some hard questions of our officials. There is power in numbers, but divided, we are easily disregarded.
Our recent gathering is certainly a start, but things must move faster and we desperately need the support of the general public to make some headway.
For more information, please check out www.lymeinns.bravehost.com
Shaun Burke is president of the Nova Scotia Lyme Disease Association.
Please, before you leave watch this video clip of an upcoming special on Lyme Disease..Under our Skin
bravenet.com