Not being one to shy away from controversial subjects in medicine or take a different approach to solving a problem, let’s talk about a subject that is close to all of us and likely has affected most in one way or another: Lyme disease. This near ubiquitous infection, at least for those residing is Wisconsin, is both is both part of the background of outdoor life and quite frightening at the same time. I get asked a lot about this infection and have had to dispel many myths about it. While I will never claim to be an expert, I am not Lyme illiterate either.
Lyme disease (not Lyme’s disease) is named after the community. (It is not named after a person hence it is not a possessive pronoun which is why there is no “s” at the end of the name). This community seemed to have had a particularly bad run of infections initially thought to be Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. When parents pressed the local doctors about why all of a sudden many of the children had this rare condition, investigation eventually turned up the Lyme disease bacteria.
It is a bit of an unusual bacteria because of its shape. There are quite a few family members in this bacteria species that can cause disease, but they seem to be fairly regional. Wisconsin, as is the case across most of the known range of Lyme disease, has just the one. There is no need to ...
