Monday, February 25, 2013
FINAL PHASE!!!!
Throughout this project I have been stretched beyond what I ever imagined I do. Whenever I would start a project, I would research in about 10 minutes and then start throwing things into my paper left and right. I never set up a basis for the research process. However, this project did teach me that I need to spend more time to research and become more familiar with my topic, but it also showed me a way of long distance researching that was not for me. Being completely honest with myself, I struggled with this type of research. I had a hard time finding sources and then two weeks later, remembering what the source was. I think my way of doing research will be spending more time researching but then starting the writing process right away. I did not enjoy this type of researching. The most valuable thing that I have learned throughout this process is the fact that researching takes time and effort but in the end it will be worth it. I believe that now after reading a lot of sources and studying Lyme Disease, I can honestly say that I feel like I could discuss it with others and fight for my position. Although I did not fully enjoy the researching, I think it proved very beneficial in showing me what it looked like to be a through researcher.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Blog Phase 7
For my final entry I chose to do a chapter out of the book called The Lyme Disease Solution by Kenneth B. Singleton. He is an M.D. and a M.P.H. This book was published by BookSurge Publishing in 2008, so it is fairly recent. I think this is a very credible book due to the fact that it is written by a doctor who is familiar with Lyme and has spent many hours studying it. Singleton graduated at the top of his class from Howard University College of Medicine. He is an active member of the Infectious Disease Society of America and has advocated strongly for Lyme Disease treatment on TV and radio programs. He is very knowledgeable about this topic.
Essentially this section of the book talks and informs the reader on the current medical controversies of Lyme. It talks about the different reasons as to why doctors refuse to test patients unless they have a rash. I did not know this reason. The Infectious Disease Society of America recently issued guidelines to health care professionals in an attempt to help patients with Lyme. However, these guidelines include only testing a person if they have a bulls-eye rash, but statistics say that more then one half of the people who have Lyme never get the rash. So I don't understand how this guideline would help! Another one of the guidelines put in place is the rule that if there is a rash present one must undergo one test. This test is a test that is usually wrong and also only tests for Lyme but leaves out all of the other bacterias that could be in their body. This article is very helpful in helping me understand the full controversy going on.
I think this source raises a lot of interesting thoughts in my head that I never knew before. For example, I never knew what the guidelines were in order for one to be tested. I never knew that they came from the Infectious Disease society either. It just confuses me why they put this guideline in place when over half of the people never get rashes. This whole topic just fires me up and makes me want to make a difference and change something.
In this section there are countless stories of people who had all the symptoms that the IDSA required for treatment but yet still went undiagnosed. The one lady went undiagnosed for so long that it began to infest into her brain and began to look like the early stages of Alzheimer's. So why wasn't this lady tested and treated? Because Doctors refused to admit that it could be Lyme. I want to know why doctors cant just put that on their list to check with people instead of refusing to acknowledge that it is on the rise.
Singleton, Kenneth B. "Chapter 1: The Medical Controversy Surrounding Lyme Disease." The Lyme Disease Solution. Charleston, SC: urge, 2008. 15-24. Print.
Essentially this section of the book talks and informs the reader on the current medical controversies of Lyme. It talks about the different reasons as to why doctors refuse to test patients unless they have a rash. I did not know this reason. The Infectious Disease Society of America recently issued guidelines to health care professionals in an attempt to help patients with Lyme. However, these guidelines include only testing a person if they have a bulls-eye rash, but statistics say that more then one half of the people who have Lyme never get the rash. So I don't understand how this guideline would help! Another one of the guidelines put in place is the rule that if there is a rash present one must undergo one test. This test is a test that is usually wrong and also only tests for Lyme but leaves out all of the other bacterias that could be in their body. This article is very helpful in helping me understand the full controversy going on.
I think this source raises a lot of interesting thoughts in my head that I never knew before. For example, I never knew what the guidelines were in order for one to be tested. I never knew that they came from the Infectious Disease society either. It just confuses me why they put this guideline in place when over half of the people never get rashes. This whole topic just fires me up and makes me want to make a difference and change something.
In this section there are countless stories of people who had all the symptoms that the IDSA required for treatment but yet still went undiagnosed. The one lady went undiagnosed for so long that it began to infest into her brain and began to look like the early stages of Alzheimer's. So why wasn't this lady tested and treated? Because Doctors refused to admit that it could be Lyme. I want to know why doctors cant just put that on their list to check with people instead of refusing to acknowledge that it is on the rise.
Singleton, Kenneth B. "Chapter 1: The Medical Controversy Surrounding Lyme Disease." The Lyme Disease Solution. Charleston, SC: urge, 2008. 15-24. Print.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Blog Phase 6
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/lyme.html
This article has proven to be extremely helpful. It was written by Edward McSweegan. He is a microbiologist who lives in Maryland but spent a vast amount of his time in a town of Connecticut called Old Lyme. This was where Lyme Disease was originally founded. He is also ran a federal research center for Lyme Disease. This man is very literate in the area of Lyme. The article is an editorial that he wrote to argue the many different things. He argues the different types of ways to diagnose and he argues the accuracy of each test. He also informs the various types of treatment and the pros and cons to each. He is very knowledgeable on the different ways that a doctor might treat a patient wrong. This article was revised on January 30, 2013 so it is very current and has all up to date information.
Summary-I think that this editorial will be extremely helpful to my paper. The author's opinion is the exact same as my opinion. The only thing that I struggle with is the fact that he does not mention anything about a patient who does not have a rash or who had never seen a tick but yet still might have Lyme. I was one of those patients and doctors refused to test me. I think this article hits home when it talks about the various tests and says that most people should be tested by more then the initial test because they can tell different things and Lyme disease is commonly misread on tests. I think this is a great article.
Response- I really appreciate the section entitled "Limitations of Laboratory Tests." I think so many times doctors refuse to test and refuse to acknowledge Lyme. There are so many limitations to people and so many hurdles one needs to jump over before they can be tested, and tested right. It baffles me how when a doctor knows what the long term effects are and how hard Lyme is to treat if not caught early enough, that they aren't open to treating it right away. Lyme Disease can be a debilitating disease and can over take your body if it is not treated or caught early. I think that more people need to take a stand like Dr. McSweegan did and show the importance of testing for Lyme and other tick borne illnesses before they get worse.
This article has proven to be extremely helpful. It was written by Edward McSweegan. He is a microbiologist who lives in Maryland but spent a vast amount of his time in a town of Connecticut called Old Lyme. This was where Lyme Disease was originally founded. He is also ran a federal research center for Lyme Disease. This man is very literate in the area of Lyme. The article is an editorial that he wrote to argue the many different things. He argues the different types of ways to diagnose and he argues the accuracy of each test. He also informs the various types of treatment and the pros and cons to each. He is very knowledgeable on the different ways that a doctor might treat a patient wrong. This article was revised on January 30, 2013 so it is very current and has all up to date information.
Summary-I think that this editorial will be extremely helpful to my paper. The author's opinion is the exact same as my opinion. The only thing that I struggle with is the fact that he does not mention anything about a patient who does not have a rash or who had never seen a tick but yet still might have Lyme. I was one of those patients and doctors refused to test me. I think this article hits home when it talks about the various tests and says that most people should be tested by more then the initial test because they can tell different things and Lyme disease is commonly misread on tests. I think this is a great article.
Response- I really appreciate the section entitled "Limitations of Laboratory Tests." I think so many times doctors refuse to test and refuse to acknowledge Lyme. There are so many limitations to people and so many hurdles one needs to jump over before they can be tested, and tested right. It baffles me how when a doctor knows what the long term effects are and how hard Lyme is to treat if not caught early enough, that they aren't open to treating it right away. Lyme Disease can be a debilitating disease and can over take your body if it is not treated or caught early. I think that more people need to take a stand like Dr. McSweegan did and show the importance of testing for Lyme and other tick borne illnesses before they get worse.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Blog Phase 5
My article that I found happens to be a Question and Answer session from Vanity fair about a movie called Under Our Skin. This movie is a documentary about what Lyme Disease and other tick-borne illness's do to your body. This movie is very credible and is full of resources. I think that this article that I picked out really helps show the controversies behind Lyme, and the movie backs it up. The article is written by Vanity Fair which I find to be extremely credible. The website is http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/06/qa-the-lyme-disease-controversy
I think this information sheds a lot of light onto the current controversies of Lyme Disease. I think that compared to my personal experiences with doctors and Lyme, it lines up. My mom has lyme disease and I have three tick born illnesses that were caused my a tick bite. When I was struggling with many symptoms that seemed to align with Lyme or anther tick borne illness, doctors would not test me. They refused because I did not have a rash and had not seen a tick. I think that this article and movie show the real effects of going undiagnosed. I went undiagnosed for almost a year and a half and I experienced a lot of extreme symptoms. I think this is very accurate and it does stand up to my observations and experiences.
I think this information sheds a lot of light onto the current controversies of Lyme Disease. I think that compared to my personal experiences with doctors and Lyme, it lines up. My mom has lyme disease and I have three tick born illnesses that were caused my a tick bite. When I was struggling with many symptoms that seemed to align with Lyme or anther tick borne illness, doctors would not test me. They refused because I did not have a rash and had not seen a tick. I think that this article and movie show the real effects of going undiagnosed. I went undiagnosed for almost a year and a half and I experienced a lot of extreme symptoms. I think this is very accurate and it does stand up to my observations and experiences.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Phase 4
My new source is a source that I found on the Library's EBSCO search. The article is entitled "In the clinic, Lyme Disease." This article is a great source because it is very detailed and has a lot of in depth information. The article has many different parts, each of these going over an issue that I will be including in my paper. It is written by a Linden T. Hu. Hu is a Physician at Tufts Medical Center for Infectious Diseases. Due to the fact that he works with patients who are diagnosed with Infectious Diseases, I believe the article that he wrote is extremely credible. When I was tested for multiple diseases, the doctors recommended me to go to an infectious disease center. They are very knowledgeable in the topics of Lyme Disease and other tick borne illnesses. So knowing that he wrote this, I would trust the information to be credible. I am very impressed with this article and the amount of information involved in it.
Essentially this article covers the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and other topics. Each of these topics include a good amount of information to help the reader understand it.
http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b89a2116-9917-4934-b55a-d35290010c7a%40sessionmgr115&vid=4&hid=117
Essentially this article covers the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and other topics. Each of these topics include a good amount of information to help the reader understand it.
http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b89a2116-9917-4934-b55a-d35290010c7a%40sessionmgr115&vid=4&hid=117
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Post #3
1. http://www.lymemd.org/problem-need-solution.html#direct1
- I like this website because it addresses the issue of the problems of the testing and diagnosis's of Lymes. I think that it is extremely credible because it is the official website for Lyme Disease. I think it will be great to be able to get information that is credible off the actual website for Lymes.
2. http://www.lahey.org/Departments_and_Locations/Departments/Infectious_Diseases/Diseases_and_Conditions/Bacterial_Diseases/Lyme_Disease_and_Other_Tick-Borne_Illnesses_in_the_Northeast.aspx
- This website will be extremely helpful in my research. This page gives a large explanation on what Lymes is and the symptoms that come with it. I think it would be a good source to use when writing to the public and to doctors about the symptoms and the importance of testing everyone, whether they had a rash or not.
Friday, January 25, 2013
My Topic :)
I have chosen to do my paper on Lyme Disease and Tick-born Illnesses. I chose this topic for many different reasons. The first reason is because for the past four years my mom has had Lyme Disease. I also have recently been diagnosed with three tick born illnesses. However, I also chose this topic because Lyme Disease is on an uprise, but the doctors and health professionals do not recognize it as an actual disease. The only way that they will test someone for Lyme is if they have a rash or have seen a tick. I never saw a tick and I never had a rash, but I have three tick born illnesses. That is why I chose this topic. I know already what a lot of the symptoms are and how it is tested. However, there is a lot more that I would like to find out. I would love to find out the different ways one could be treated for it as well as why doctors won't recognize it. My ideal audience would be for those who are struggling with symptoms related to Lyme or to the doctors who refuse to test people.
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