excellent medical references for chronic lyme

I know this is a long post (10 pages). It was written by Dr. Volkman, a highly respected member of the medical community. This is the best, systematic scientific explanation for why "lyme is hard to catch, easy to treat" is so, so wrong. He list numerous studies to support his evidence. So, if you are interested in the science, or need something to send to insurance, or if you think a MD is open to reading and learning, this is excellent.

Getting low cost or free medicine

Go to Bridges to Access for free Mepron, Augmentin, Ceftin. Go through the list of their medicines. You must not have insurance, and you have to meet eligibility requirements, you can read about that on the website.

http://www.bridgestoaccess.com/about/program_description.html

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance offers a single point of access to more than 475 public and private patient assistance programs, including more than 180 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies
https://www.pparx.org/Intro.php

There is also
http://www.myfreemedicine.com/

and

www.needymeds.org

http://www.prescriptionhope.com/

Viewpoint: Tick season is here –- be vigilant

Note: Here is the Viewpoint article written by Marla. I want it to be on file in our blog.

by Marla Lipshin
Most people are aware that Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of a tick, but many people are unaware of the possible seriousness of this disease and the importance of prevention.

Check out today's Tribune, page B-5, to see Marla's Viewpoint article on lyme disease: Tick season is here – be vigilant. Great work Marla! The Trib even added a graphic of a tick, and gave the article good placement on the page.

Green tea extract (EGCG) effective agasint Babesea

I thought I'd post this here, for the record.

Parasitology. 2010 Apr;137(5):785-91. Epub 2009 Dec 22.
Inhibitory effects of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate from green tea on the growth of Babesia parasites.
Aboulaila M, Yokoyama N, Igarashi I.
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-Cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
Abstract
(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major tea catechin and accounts for 50-80% of the total catechin in green tea. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-cancer, and anti-trypanocidal activities. This report describes the inhibitory effect of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate on the in vitro growth of bovine Babesia parasites and the in vivo growth of the mouse-adapted rodent babesia B. microti. The in vitro growth of the Babesia species was significantly (P<0.05) inhibited in the presence of micromolar concentrations of EGCG (IC50 values=18 and 25 microM for B. bovis, and B. bigemina, respectively). The parasites showed no re-growth at 25 microM for B. bovis and B. bigemina in the subsequent viability test. The drug significantly (P<0.05) inhibited the growth of B. microti at doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg body weight, and the parasites completely cleared on day 14 and 16 post-inoculation in the 5 and 10 mg/kg treated groups, respectively. These findings highlight the potentiality of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate as a chemotherapeutic drug for the treatment of babesiosis.
PMID: 20025823 [PubMed - in process]

Hi, I'm "on"

Hi Slo lymies, I managed to log on. Thanks Ginny for setting this up

Welcome new "authors"

Today, we've sent out invitations to lyme group members to join our blog. Here's an early Welcome to our new authors. I'm looking forward to communicating with you!