Summertime is supposed to be a fun season when people can enjoy the sun, go swimming and exercise outside, but with outdoor enjoyment comes an increased danger of acquiring tick-born Lyme disease.
Is this a problem around here? Yes, it definitely is and it appears to be a growing problem, said Kathleen LoGiudice, a biology professor at Union College who conducted a study with Union Economics Professor Stephen Schmidt on tick populations in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve. `You see here for Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga counties, the number of Lyme disease cases have really gone straight up in the past 10 years, and it’s not expected to abate.`
The study showed that in 2008 there were 638 reported cases of Lyme disease in those three counties. It focused on the Pine Bush’s controlled fires and found the burns led to 98 percent fewer nymph and adult ticks in the preserve’s 3,010 acres.
The controlled fires have removed trees covered in black locusts to create a more arid and dry land where it is harder for ticks to survive, said LoGuidice. Reducing the tick density reduces the number of cases of Lyme disease.
Three sites that were infested with black locust were looked at along with three areas that had been restored in the Pine Bush. LoGuidice said during during the spring season at the black locust sites there was an average of 326 ticks, but just 13 at the restored sites. The numbers were developed over the course of three years, starting in 2007.
Lyme disease comes from the bite from a deer tick, also known as the black-legged tick, which is transmitted from the white-footed mouse. White-tailed deer are also a carrier of deer ticks, hence the name, but they do not carry Lyme disease.
According to Eva Haughie, president of the Empire State Lyme Disease Association, ticks can be transferred from other people or even household pets such as dogs.
`My first was a tick was from a friend brushing it off in a car while we were together and I was bitten,` said Haughie. `Some areas, some houses and some properties will have lots of ticks and some won’t.`
Haughie said it is also possible for mosquitoes and spiders to carry Lyme disease, so she advised people to be concerned about what disease can be transmitted.
Barbara Moss, a board member of the Empire State Lyme Disease Association, said some doctors can be hesitant to treat the disease because many will just be looking for a rash. She said it is even harder to find a doctor who will treat people with chronic Lyme disease.
`We’re looking for doctors who will treat them,` she said. `Doctors believe it is more post-lyme syndrome.`
Dr. Daniel Cameron, a doctor in Mount Kisko, located in Westchester County, and former president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, said doctors are divided on treating it because many of them are waiting to either see a rash or a positive test come through.
`Some say the tests aren’t good and there are other types of symptoms besides a rash,` he said. `There are enough of us [doctors] around with the comfort and experience with other Lyme disease presentations.`
Some of the most common effects of Lyme disease are extreme fatigue, poor memory, irritability, reduced concentration, numbness in the hands and feet and joint pain. According to a 2010 study published by Cameron, other symptoms can be Bell’s palsy, erythema migrans rash, meningitis, arthritis or heat block. It also said that just because those symptoms go away, it doesn’t mean there isn’t an ongoing infection.
`At least 10 to 15 percent of people with a rash still get sick,` he said. `A group of patients sometimes don’t recognize the rash or don’t see it because it never appears. Patients are often told they have fibromyalgia, or chronic fatigue People who are sick always look for what started all their ailments. Our suggestion is to look at Lyme disease a second time.`
At empirestatelymediseaseassociation.org, there is a list of ways to prevent the disease. Using bug spray with DEET in it is one way to protect from bites, but it suggests checking out the level of concentration in the spray. If it only has 7 percent, it will protect you for one to two hours. Others might use 25 to 30 percent, but there may be some children who have sensitivities to it.
The web site also suggests using premethrin, which is a human-made synthetic pyrethroid and works more as a contact insecticide. The mixture of this with DEET can be very effective. There is also the suggestion of using a vitamin B patch or lavender, which can be used as a repellent.
With medical treatments for Lyme disease costing people an average of $8,568, according to LoGuidice and Schmidt’s study, Cameron suggests trying to get treated as soon as possible. He also hopes more doctors become open to the idea that their patient may have Lyme disease.
`Chronic people are frustrated because they don’t want anyone else to be missed,` he said. `Instead of having doctor’s divides, we should have a lot more dialogue and work out a better solution.`
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