The Problem With Lyme Disease

Is Lyme disease really that difficult to diagnose? And why is that? With more than 3 million tests performed annually in the US alone, every physician should at least roughly understand what these tests mean and, more importantly, what they don't. There are many misconceptions and tons of misinformation regarding Lyme disease. I hope this video helps dispel at least some of them.

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A Clinical Approach to Serious Infections in Adults: What Every Physician Should Know:

DISCLAIMER: Please always keep in mind that my videos are intended for educational purposes only. The content of my videos is NOT medical advice. I do not practice medicine over the Internet. If you are a patient and have any questions about your health, please talk to your doctor.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Why do we test for Lyme disease so much?
01:29 Why high specificity isn't enough
03:13 Do positive antibodies for B.burgdorferi definitely confirm Lyme disease?
04:00 Why a misinterpreted positive test is dangerous
05:27 How can we get better at diagnosing Lyme disease?

REFERENCES & RECOMMENDED READING:
1. Kalmár Z, Briciu V, Coroian M, Flonta M, Rădulescu AL, Topan A, et al. Seroprevalence of antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in healthy blood donors in Romania: an update. Parasit Vectors. 2021 Dec 4;14(1):596.
2. Burn L, Pilz A, Vyse A, Gutiérrez Rabá AV, Angulo FJ, Tran TMP, et al. Seroprevalence of Lyme Borreliosis in Europe: Results from a Systematic Literature Review (2005–2020). Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2023 Apr 1;23(4):195–220.
3. Lantos PM, Branda JA, Boggan JC, Chudgar SM, Wilson EA, Ruffin F, et al. Poor Positive Predictive Value of Lyme Disease Serologic Testing in an Area of Low Disease Incidence. Clin Infect Dis. 2015 Nov 1;61(9):1374–80.
4. Eldin C, Raffetin A, Bouiller K, Hansmann Y, Roblot F, Raoult D, et al. Review of European and American guidelines for the diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis. Med Mal Infect. 2019 Mar;49(2):121–32.
5. Halperin JJ, Baker P, Wormser GP. Common misconceptions about Lyme disease. Am J Med. 2013 Mar;126(3):264.e1-7.

[BobbyBobBob]

Great video as usual !! I would love to see a video where you go more in depth about lyme disease

[GrammaSheila]

I have a positive Armin test .. a negative Canadian Health test. I have all the symptoms and my Natural Killer cells have tanked to almost non existant. I have extensive tests done for other illnesses. I was diagnosed by my family doc with Fibromyalgia and told to take an antidepressant and do yoga ...not helpful at all.

[acwright]

So you're differentiating positive active infection versus previous, past exposure that is evidenced by antibodies? I heard the bactera can hide. Could that explain a continual antibody level?

[Backtothescience]

Thank you. This is really well explained.

[carl]

I didn’t have Lyme disease but I have Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Erichliocis. So I’m glad I had the test done, after 21 days of doxycycline I felt better for a couple weeks but now all the symptoms are back worse than ever so I’m hoping another round of stronger antibiotics will help me get better. Also the antibiotics are prescribed for Lyme disease too.

[towsifhossain]

You gotta read more about this bacteria you are talking about let alone others which can form cyst, stay in latency, change envelope proteins, persist in macrophages and so on.

[lukajerkovic]

Please make another video about symptoms and treatment of Lyme disease.

[lindanorris]

YES! Once again in New Hampshire, patients are bring told "There are NO Lyme Disease carrying TICKS, found in New Hampshire!!".

[jeffgoldsmith]

You can get lyme and coinfectiions from horse flies as well. You need to do more research, you are missing a lot of vital information. There are tics that carry lyme all over the U.S., wolrd and not just the areas you mentioned.

[JP-xslo]

You’re actually looking at this completely backwards it’s not that complicated you get sick and go to doctor case by case every person every disease in every body is very different you cannot put anybody in some machine predictive checklist diagnostics. First know one is tested for Lyme disease have you been tested no they don’t test for it. You would you would have to be a lucky individual that was bitten by a tick and subsequently got sick and then you’d have to twist the arm and leg of your nearest doctor to even get a Lyme disease test. And that is the test that was designed from a bacteria B 32 strain of Lyme found in a tick not in human in the 80s that designed the western blot immune test there are many strains of Lyme disease that do not test positive on that western blot period Mayo Clinic found one in there blood supply fro infected patience there is othered and more very very little research but what very little has been done they found a lot of strains prof kerry Clark and relapsing fever Lyme and stari Lyme southern tick associated rash infection. Then there are is rocky mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, babesia, bartonella, tularemia, tick viruses really bad. We don’t have test for any of these and these bacteria and viruses are found in tics together. also, Lyme vaccine was designed in the 90s LYMErix and they took two of the bands from the western blot away the most important bands because of the vaccine so the test has been altered and has been made less accurate. There isn’t really the scenario where someone gets tested and isn’t sick and takes anabiotic‘s. It’s when someone is sick and takes anabiotic‘s and knows right away that they have an infection. It’s much more intuitive then you may think.

[roxannem]

I know many people in Dubai with real Lyme disease.