Dr. D in Florida

[Guest guest]

Shared from another egroup.....

On January 17th (Wednesday), Dr. Sam Donta, Professor of Medicine, Boston

University Medical Center, will be speaking from 7-9pm at the University

Community Hospital Auditorium (Bruce B. Downs Blvd & Fletcher, Tampa) on the

subject of CFS, FM, and Lyme Disease. This event is free and open to the

public.

Dr. Sam T. Donta is one of the nation's leading authorities on Lyme Disease

and will share his expertise on the latest research and treatment of the

disease. Dr. Donta has treated hundreds of Lyme Disease patients and has

authored numerous articles on Lyme Disease a well as serving as the

consulting

editor of the Journal of Tick-Borne Diseases.

Dr. Donta was a presenter at the 1998 LDF 11th International Scientific

Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal & Tick-Borne Disorders in

NYC. One of the papers he presented is below:

>>Chronic Lyme Disease

Patients who develop persisting symptoms after an initial episode of Lyme

disease are often referred to as having chronic Lyme disease or post-Lyme

syndrome. There are numerous other patients who never recalled having a tick

bite or a rash who also develop what appears to be the same clinical

disease.

Often, depending on the results of serologic testing, these patients are

given

the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia. The etiology and

pathophysiology of these multisymptom disorders remain to be delineated. The

major symptoms in all of these Lyme-like" diseases consist of fatigue,

musculoskeletal pains, and neurocognitive dysfunction, and it is not readily

possible to distinguish these diseases on clinical grounds alone. In the

case

of chronic Lyme disease, the organism or its DNA can be detected, albeit

rarely, suggesting that there is a persistent, intracellular infection. The

response to certain antibiotics also supports the idea that this is a

persisting infection. Additional clinical and experimental evidence suggests

that the reservoir is the nervous system, perhaps in the sensory ganglia, as

well as in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain The possibility that

there are borrelial toxins that interfere with normal neurochemical function

is an idea that is being further investigated.<<