LymeNet Flash: Newsweek, letters to the editor, re: Lyme article

LymeNet on Facebook

LymeNet on Twitter

Follow @LymeDiseaseNet

The Lyme Disease Network receives a commission from Amazon.com for each purchase originating from this site.

When purchasing from Amazon.com, please
click here first.

Thank you.

Dedicated to the Bachmann Family

LymeNet needs your help:
LymeNet 2020 fund drive

The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations.

»	LymeNet Flash » Questions and Discussion » General Support » Newsweek, letters to the editor, re: Lyme article

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

Author

Topic: Newsweek, letters to the editor, re: Lyme article

Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338

posted

I got my new issue of Newsweek this afternoon, and found two letters to the editor about the Lyme article from two weeks ago.

Letters to the Magazine
July 3-10, 2006 issue
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13533210/site/newsweek/

====
Lyme Disease Warning
Just a special note of thanks for your item on Lyme disease ("Bitten by the Bug," TIP SHEET, June 19).

Awareness and education are the best defense against a tick bite. On behalf of the public, as well as the tireless efforts of the Tick Borne Disease Advocates, we truly appreciate this wonderful article.

Lisa Messner
DHS Lyme Disease Advisory Committee Member
Sacramento, Calif.

====

While it was great of you to mention Lyme disease, the small amount of space allocated to the topic left a lot to be desired.

Lyme disease is truly a debilitating and complex illness when left undiagnosed and untreated.

Perhaps it was not the writer's intention, but the article could leave readers with the impression that if they don't have a rash at least the size of a half dollar, they don't have Lyme disease.

Figures vary, depending on the source, but many experts believe that up to 40 percent of those infected with Lyme never had a rash.

My daughter never did, nor did my niece--both of whom became ill with atypical (and very different) symptoms, more than one year (and 80 miles) apart.

My niece was not diagnosed for more than a year, and my daughter for two and a half years, despite their combined visits to a dozen different doctors for myriad symptoms.

Because of the delay in treatment, it is taking a lot longer than two weeks for a complete recovery for both girls.

In the meantime, my daughter has missed out on a huge portion of the last three and a half years of her 14-year-old life.

That's time she can never recoup--and all because too many people were clueless about Lyme disease.

Susan Fairbank-Pitzer
Danvers, Mass.

Posts: 6950 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004 | IP: Logged |

Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338

posted

For the sake of continuity, here is the first thread about the Newsweek article.

Topic: Highly inadequate article on Lyme in Newsweek online. Write!
posted June 16, 2006
http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=044925

Posts: 6950 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004 | IP: Logged |

Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829

posted

Thanks for sharing!

[Big Grin]

--------------------
www.TreatTheBite.com
www.DrJonesKids.org
www.MarylandLyme.org
www.LymeDoc.org

Posts: 20353 | From The Moon | Registered: Jun 2004 | IP: Logged |

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:

The Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey
907 Pebble Creek Court, Pennington, NJ 08534 USA
http://www.lymenet.org/