Experts say doctors lack knowledge of Lyme disease

georgia · medicine forum Guru Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 505

http://www.cbc.ca/nb/story/nb-lymedisease20060614.html

Experts say doctors lack knowledge of Lyme disease

Last updated Jun 14 2006 10:02 AM ADT

CBC News

The president of Canada's Lyme disease foundation and a British
Columbia doctor say the medical community often fails to recognize Lyme
disease and New Brunswick isn't the only province where patients are
struggling.

A Riverview woman is circulating a petition asking the New Brunswick
Health Department to change its guidelines for diagnosing and treating
Lyme
disease.

Cathy Smith was misdiagnosed after being bitten by a tick at Fundy
National Park six years ago. Her family doctor sent her to a
psychiatrist,
but she was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease by an expert in B.C.

Jim Wilson of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation says Smith's story
is
common, and he blames the medical community for failing to recognize
the
disease.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans
via
tick bites. Symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and skin rashes.
If
it's not treated, the infection can spread to the heart and nervous
system.

Wilson launched the foundation in 2001, after his two children were
diagnosed with the bacterial infection in British Columbia. Wilson was
also
infected in the early 1990s while he was visiting Nova Scotia.

He is convinced Lyme disease is a big problem across Canada, and that
people
are being misdiagnosed or not treated for a disease that can be dealt
with
through antibiotics. "It's not just in New Brunswick. There's a
resistance
Canada-wide on behalf of the medical authorities to properly recognize
the
illness. And why exactly that is, it's hard to say."

Canadian lab tests are unreliable, and the guidelines for treating Lyme
disease aren't effective, Wilson says. He is meeting with Health Canada
officials later this month to discuss new guidelines and is pushing for
the
establishment of a Lyme disease research centre in Canada.

Professor and medical doctor Ernie Murakami agrees much more has to be
done
to educate the medical community about Lyme disease, which is his
specialty.

"It is a fairly new disease and doctors are not trained on it," he
said. "It
is probably the most infectious disease in North America and our
medical
schools are not really keeping up to date. I have medical students in
residence and their education on Lyme disease is very minimal."

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