Lyme Disease Primer

Expert Explains What It Is, How To Avoid It, And What To Do If You Get It

(CBS)  It's the time of year when people spend much more time outdoors, so it's also the time when you need to keep lyme disease in mind.

You can get it from a tick bite, it can take you months to find out you have it and, if you don't catch it early, it can cause serious health problems.

On The Early Show Friday, Dr. Brian Fallon, director of the new Lyme Disease Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center, hit the high points of things you need to know about it.

For a wide variety of lyme disease resources pointed to by Fallon's program, click here.

For more on lyme disease from the National Institutes of Health, click here.

To see Fallon's appearance on The Early Show, click here.

[webdudey]

Lyme Disease stinks. Athletes, children, seniors and animals can all have it. Most people aren't as lucky as this girl who beat it: http://www.beatlymedisease.com because most people don't even know they have Lyme disease...it's not usually diagnosed well.

[knevarc]

I understand that this was just a short piece, but I too would like a more indepth coverate on Lyme disease with Dr. Fallon. I was disappointed that the horrible severity of this disease was not at least mentioned.

My 32 year old daughter has had this neurologically disabling disease for 14 years. For the first 6 years she went undiagnosed even though she went numerous times to numerous doctors.

The horrific pain and suffering chronic lyme patients face should be made public. This disease not only affects the infected, but can also have devastating emotional and financial effects on those who provide their care.

[lymesufferer]

I am one of many thousands of people that already have lyme disease. I need info on who to go to for treatment more than what to do to prevent it. Dr's are very hard to find in my area.(the southeast). The DR I was seeing had his liscense removed temporarily.
So please put on a segment on where to go for help.
Thanks so much.

[ellenluba]

I also urge you to do more in depth coverage about Lyme disease with Dr. Fallon or other physicians currently working with CHRONIC Lyme disease. As I understand it, Dr. Fallon's research center at Columbia was endowed to specialize in the CHRONIC form of this very serious illness.

Although prevention of the illness is extremely important, media coverage has tended to stop with the usual "wear white clothing and tuck your pants into your shirt" information.

The upbeat presentation of "being all set for the summer" belies the reality that ticks are extremely difficult to find on the body, Lyme disease is extremely difficult to diagnose and that it can be impossible to cure if not found early enough.

For me, as for hundreds of thousands of Americans, the oft repeated prevention advice is coming too late. We have already become disabled by this painful, disabling illness.

Please give more coverage to Dr. Fallon and the healthcare crisis of incurable, chronic Lyme disease.
Thank you,
Ellen Lubarsky

[ellenluba]

I also urge you to do more in depth coverage about Lyme disease with Dr. Fallon or other physicians currently working with CHRONIC Lyme disease. As I understand it, Dr. Fallon's research center at Columbia was endowed to specialize in the CHRONIC form of this very serious illness.

Although prevention of the illness is extremely important, media coverage has tended to stop with the usual "wear white clothing and tuck your pants into your shirt" information.

The upbeat presentation of "being all set for the summer" belies the reality that ticks are extremely difficult to find on the body, Lyme disease is extremely difficult to diagnose and that it can be impossible to cure if not found early enough.

For me, as for hundreds of thousands of Americans, the oft repeated prevention advice is coming too late. We have already become disabled by this painful, disabling illness.

Please give more coverage to Dr. Fallon and the healthcare crisis of incurable, chronic Lyme disease.
Thank you,
Ellen Lubarsky

[ellenluba]

I also urge you to do more in depth coverage about Lyme disease with Dr. Fallon or other physicians currently working with CHRONIC Lyme disease. As I understand it, Dr. Fallon's research center at Columbia was endowed to specialize in the CHRONIC form of this very serious illness.

Although prevention of the illness is extremely important, media coverage has tended to stop with the usual "wear white clothing and tuck your pants into your shirt" information.

The upbeat presentation of "being all set for the summer" belies the reality that ticks are extremely difficult to find on the body, Lyme disease is extremely difficult to diagnose and that it can be impossible to cure if not found early enough.

For me, as for hundreds of thousands of Americans, the oft repeated prevention advice is coming too late. We have already become disabled by this painful, disabling illness.

Please give more coverage to Dr. Fallon and the healthcare crisis of incurable, chronic Lyme disease.
Thank you,
Ellen Lubarsky

[tom_gwynn]

Thank you for this information, and please accept by profoundest sympathies for the loss of your child. I can only imagine how devastating this must be.

I live in a high-tick area and I have never heard of this emerging disease, but googling it turns up lots of information.

[lovekids5-2009]

We would like to alert America to another tick disease that is out there. We had never heard of this disease until it took our 7 year old daughters life. It is called Ehrlichiosis or it is also known as Ehryichiae. Our daughter got sick around Mother's Day of this year and passed away May 23. thank you Harriet Cary

[lymemom]

Please do more indepth coverage on Lyme w Dr. Fallon. We live in Calif. the docs here admit they know nothing about diag. My daughter was misdiagnosed 5 years until the physical pain also added psychiatric disorders suicidal attempts and complete change of personality. Every specialist was stumped. Perstent symptom research lead me to get her blood checked for Lyme and coinfections. She is 19 now and getting "controversial" therapy and doing much better but is still in tremendous pain with ADD/bipolar like symptoms decreasing. I also am now infected from my backyard in Riverside, CA. Look at www.openeyepictures.com, click Under our Skin. Thanks much, Kim Marott