Just something that has been on my mind for awhile.
Everyone I've personally met with Lyme (or seen in documentaries, or read about in books) is white/Caucasian. My guess is that this is just because, generally speaking, more white people happen to live in Lymey areas. But my hometown (where I contracted Lyme) is extremely diverse, and yet all the other people with diagnosed Lyme in my neighborhood are white.
Anyways, I'd love to hear what ethnicity you are (sort of an informal survey). I'm guessing Lyme doesn't discriminate by race!
Posted by kidsgotlyme (Member # 23691) on :
very interesting.
You guessed it- we are caucasian.
Posted by Florence1 (Member # 22960) on :
me too.....my husband asked me the very same questio a few days ago.....I'll be interested in the responses....
Posted by Misfit (Member # 26270) on :
Caucasian here.
Posted by Misfit (Member # 26270) on :
Oh..my DH works with two people who are positive for Lyme. Both are caucasian as well.
Posted by lymemomtooo (Member # 5396) on :
Just as many do not truly understand Lyme and it's co's...The word about it in our local area seems to reach the black citizens slower than others. Our community is slightly diverse but most of the blacks tend to not participate in the Lions Clubs, or some of the church groups that have had presentations.
One man had a bulls eye and went to the senior citiens meeting room. The leader called me and I went down and it became clear that there was another reason this was not acknowledged as much in the black community...Due to his pigmentation, it was very difficult to see the bulls eye.
So combine, less information and rashes that are difficult to see and many blacks will not have hopes of help.
I was able to get him medical info and he found a DR that would treat him. He was also able to come to a Lyme Support meeting to learn more but he came alone.
Our area is endemic and the ticks do not differentiate, so that leaves me to assume that there are many blacks suffering and not knowing the cause. lmt
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
Many women of color who have Lyme are misdiagnosed with Lupus.
Many men of color that are misdiagnosed are given an "arthritis" diagnosis rather than Lyme.
The label of ADD is most often given to children (any race) with Lyme who were missed in the early stages.
In some studies it is thought that the area of residence affected the rate of incidence of Lyme in various races.
In some states many people of color live in cities rather than in rural settings ... hence less of an exposure risk.
Some suggest people of color have less access to health care in some areas, explaining the difference.
At least one study in Maryland showed that mostly rural counties had Lyme patients of color exceeding others for having the later manifestations of Lyme (arthritis), as opposed to the EM rash manifestation.
In other words, more whites had EM rashes documented and more people of color had later manifestations than EM's.
Did that make any sense? I hope so because...
Clint Bowyer is 2 seconds ahead of the rest of the truck racers, with 10 laps to go!
BYE!
Posted by burnsjw (Member # 11819) on :
My nephew is mixed and had a bad case of lyme, he is better now . I know others who have lyme. Nephew got sick with rash after duck day at school. Duck day is when they take the kids to a lake to canoe and look at frogs, etc.
Posted by onbam (Member # 23758) on :
Caucasian. I seriously doubt that this is a race-specific disease--most Borrelia outbreaks occurred in Africa before the epidemic started.
Posted by lpkayak (Member # 5230) on :
i know two blacks who got it
dr j txed the child successfully
the adult had a pos pcr, big bulls eye and some tx that helped serious cognitive probs...but i wonder if they are undertreated because of sx i still see
*** edited to remove doctor's name ***
[ 11-16-2010, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: sixgoofykids ]
Posted by MADDOG (Member # 18) on :
Hi Gang My original support group in 1984 had a black lady in it,and 6 white people.
Not to far off on percentages due to the facts that the poorer you are the less chance you have of a diagnosis.
*****edited*****
Lots of blacks live in inner cities were there is not much lyme just concrete.
So lyme is pretty well spread out if you look at the facts.
MADDOG
[ 11-16-2010, 10:21 AM: Message edited by: Lymetoo ]
Posted by linky123 (Member # 19974) on :
As someone posted above, I would think a person with a darker complexion would have a more difficult time seeing the bullseye rash.
Many black people live in the country as well, so I don't think we can differentiate without some sort of study to confirm.
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
you got it, white...
Posted by Rumigirl (Member # 15091) on :
I know several black people with Lyme and lots of Asian people. Ticks don't discriminate!
But all the reasons TinCup listed are reasons why blacks may not get diagnosed as often. Look how many don't know anything about lyme to begin with---almost everyone, medical community and the public alike!
And, Bash, I read what your LLMD said to you about Native Americans---OMG! People are unbelievable.
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Ticks do not discriminate - everyone is being exposed - the issue is, do they know it? Please, everyone, do what you can to help others learn what's happening - thx -
Posted by MADDOG (Member # 18) on :
I felt that my part Native american roots - (if lyme was natural and not man made)gave me a better lyme resistance.The reason I am not dead!!!
MADDOG
Posted by jac123 (Member # 28247) on :
white....however only female on property,I wear
long pants long sleeves and the guys wear shorts
and never get any ticks.I really think they are
attracted to female hormones,Every year I have
about 15 ticks on me and 2 to 3 in me in
spring.Would love to know male female ratio on
here.
Posted by MADDOG (Member # 18) on :
I know more guys with lyme than gals.
The guys try to act tuff and won't talk about it.
MADDOG
Posted by Andie333 (Member # 7370) on :
One of the first people I had ever heard about with Lyme is the African-American, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker. She writes about her struggle with the disease in her non-fiction memoir The Same River Twice.
If I recall from reading the book, she was still dealing with vestiges of the disease when her novel, The Color Purple, was being brought to the screen.
Another writer, Amy Tan, has a fierce bout with primarily neuro Lyme and she details this unflinchingly in a book of essays, The Opposite of Fate. Tan struggled to find a practitioner and was basically home-bound at her worst.
Both Walker and Tan seem to have found lives beyond Lyme... which always gives me hope!
andie
Posted by Remember to Smile (Member # 25481) on :
Thanks for the info on Alice Walker, Andie333. I'd heard about Amy Tan contracting CLD, but not Ms Walker. Bless us all!
Borrelia, Babesia, Bartonella and the other synergistic pathogens can infect humans of any race (as well as dozens of animal species). We're all at risk.
Borreliosis, babesiosis, and bartonellosis have ALL been found in human babies (actual cases published in peer-reviewed scientific journals). It doesn't take a tick to get CLD.
So, it doesn't matter where you live, your occupation, or anything else if you're BORN infected but no one notices.
If you live, work or vacation anywhere that birds fly, you could come into contact with ticks. And fleas and biting flies transmit life-changing infections, too...
An attentive mother in 1975, Polly Murray of Lyme, CT, alerted health officials to unusual, disabling illnesses in her neighborhood. Turns out, they had neuroborreliosis. And now there's proof of Lyme disease in all 50 states.
In many regions of the US, "minorities" are becoming the majority. But they're not well-represented on LymeNet.
If an economically disenfranchised daughter of migrant workers sees disturbing patterns of dis-ease in her children and/or neighbors, does she have the same resources (fiscal, educational, political, etc) that Polly Murray had? Or did her local library just cut back on hours? Would anyone listen to her concerns? Can she realistically treat CLD on her income?
If a contractor with dark skin caught Lyme disease and/or bartonellosis on the job, would co-workers recognize the symptoms and hook him up with an outstanding ILADS-active LLMD immediately? Would they urge him to have his son (diagnosed with ADD) and his wife (with a Lupus dx) evaluated by an LLMD too?
How many contractors realize that 10% of their fellow contractors have CLD?
It's vital that we each do what we're able to educate people about the chronic Lyme disease (CLD) epidemic. Just talking with a person at a grocery store could lead to reclaiming the life of a person disabled by unrecognized & untreated chronic infections.
its not female hormones but it is a phenomenon that has been noticed and written about
often a group is in an infested area and some come back with lots of ticks and som with none or few
i remember hearing about it at a conference so i think there is actual research on this
my experience is over a 3 year period i took care of two little girls-sisters. whether they were with me or their mom at a different location...the girls would be in the same places all day and at the end of the day one would have tick attachments and one didn't.
years later the one with the many tick attachments was not doing well cognitively or physically. the mom had many explanations given to her from ducks about what was going on but they were all in denial about lyme...
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)