LDA NEWS & UPDATES
July 2020
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Working Group to Discuss Lyme Patient Issues
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Wednesday, July 8th 9am - 5:15pm
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Pat Smith, LDA, replies to Working Group dismissal of chronic Lyme at March 3, 4 meeting in Philadelphia....
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LDA Campaign: Patient Access to Care
Our government denies persistent (chronic) Lyme and refuses to acknowledge and help those patients. LDA requested the public submit comments about the existence and importance of persistent (chronic) Lyme. How it affects their life, family, job, school, and doctors. We are pleased to report this campaign was successful and thanks to the many who took action and responded.
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From LDA President Pat Smith’s Blog:
It is with great sadness that we in the Lyme community say goodbye to someone whose life was dedicated to helping others through his work as an oncologist and a researcher, Dr. Neil Spector.
Dr. Spector devoted his life to saving the lives of others, first through his work on therapies for cancer patients then his subsequent work on Lyme disease, using the knowledge he gained from his cancer work and from his personal experience with Lyme disease.
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Insurance Claims Show 94% Lyme, 6% Other Tick-Borne Diseases
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Fair Health Analysis Claims
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Fair Health is "an independent non-profit that collects data for and manages the nation's largest database of privately billed health insurance claims," including Medicare Parts A & B. In December 2019. It published a white paper, "Trends and Patterns in Lyme Disease, An Analysis of Private Claims Data." The Paper analyzed 30 billion privately billed health insurance claims to compare trends and patterns in Lyme disease with other tick-borne diseases. For 2018, 94% of claim lines for tick-borne diseases were for Lyme disease, 6% were for other tick-borne diseases.
Click the graph below for at-a-glance details.
Fair Health also made an expert presentation to the 2020 Training, Education, Access to Care, and Reimbursement subcommittee.
(Click image below to view enlarged version on LDA website)
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Lyme Disease Increases Risk of Atrial Fibrillation
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Blog, by Daniel Cameron, MD, MPH
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Dr. Cameron is a nationally recognized leader for his expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.
Atrial fibrillation, the most common type of arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), can increase your risk of strokes, heart disease or other heart-related complications. In many cases, atrial fibrillation is associated with a history of cardiac inflammation, writes Szymanska et al. in their article “History of Lyme Disease as a Predictor of Atrial Fibrillation.”
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The picture in New Jersey of spotted fever group rickettsiosis (SFGR), which includes Rocky Mountain Spotted fever (RMSF), is complex. In this latest study from the
Am. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
(James Occi, Rutgers University, et al.), the researchers tested American dog ticks and lone star ticks in NJ to determine which
Rickettsia
are found in these two NJ ticks. They did not find the
Rickettsia
for RMSF in either of those ticks; however, they did find other
Rickettsia
in those ticks.
James Occi is a member of the Lyme Disease Association’s Scientific and Professional Advisory Board. Thanks to him for below picture of Dermacentor variabilis, American dog ticks: female, male, and engorged female laying eggs.
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888-366-6611 Toll Free Info Line
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