"Lyme disease is moving its way into new parts of Canada but the government is not doing enough to track it or to teach doctors how to diagnose it, says a new report.""The painful and debilitating affliction known as Lyme disease is spreading in Canada and with the summer outdoor season about to get into full swing, doctors are being asked to report even suspected cases to help health officials track it."
For the compete article visit CTV.ca online. A video report, which aired Monday June 8, 2009 on CTV National News can be viewed here.
A related piece by the CBC is titled Lyme disease spreading in Canada, researchers find. Here are links to a CBC video report in Real Media and QuickTime formats.
A report this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal titled The emergence of Lyme disease in Canada outlines the increase in Lyme endemic areas across our country. While there is really nothing new here from the perspective of the Lyme community (there have been Lyme patients suffering in every province of the country for years), it is nice to see some acknowledgement of the problem from medical officials.
Please ask your elected officials what will be done to teach our doctors how to diagnose this debilitating disease.
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I was diagnosed in Toronto by a Canadian family physician, trained in Europe, to have Lymes disease over 20 years ago. I noticed a ring on my arm at a camp out near Sudbury last year before getting extreme fatigue, headache for 1 month, and 6th nerve palsy 1 month later. After visits to my family doctor and a hospital in Muskoka I was referred to a neurologist who did a test for Lymes disease at my request. To date nothing was discovered beyond this single test and at this time there is no report made to the Health Department. I was wondering how and if I should follow up to find out if Lyme is causing my on going dizziness after having 6th nerve palsy for 2 months with unknown reasons. The docs signed off on my case because I have improved and because they believe I am 'healing' on my own. Please contact me if there is anything I can do to rule out Lymes for my ongoing condition.
ReplyDeleteHello Jutta,
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely some things you can do to look into this further.
We recommend working through a screening check-list to determine the likelihood of Lyme in your particular case. If it does appear likely, and you do not have access to a Lyme-literate physician who can make a clinical diagnosis, you can get a good quality Lyme test done from the USA.
Canada's Lyme tests are notoriously unreliable. The vast majority of Lyme patients in Canada test negative with Canadian tests.
Please drop us an email (LymeActionGroup@gmail.com) and we can walk you through it.
Wishing you good health!