lyme tests

[Guest guest]

>

> 1. Very best for Lyme - The Lyme Antigen Test from Florida Central Labs.

> Unlike other Lyme tests, it measures the actual Lyme bacteria itself in the

> body not the antibody made by the body to the Lyme bacteria. Folks may not

> be producing adequate antibodies, so such tests can test " negative " when the

> person is actually positive. With the LAT, there is no equivocation as it

> measures the actual bug.

you cannot 'measure' a bug. You can detect the presence of antigens or other

things that are characteristic of this bug, which has its own potential problems

with pleomorphic bacteria.

If you try to detect living bacteria you have to work with antigens on its coat,

which are prone to change and introduce many of the same problems that occur

with normal serologic tests. If you try to detect parts from dead bacteria you

have a far bigger choice regarding antigens, however you will only detect them

if the bacteria die (and of course, the IDSA ducks will claim you are only

detecting dead borrelias so there is no problem at all ...).

I agree that one serious potential problem of normal serology (the presence or

absence of antibodies) is bypassed with this LAT test, however the same applies

for many other 'direct' tests including PCR. Unfortunately most of these

alternative tests have been shelved due to IDSA claiming that the Lyme is

all you need, and because of discussions about false positives (if you detect

bacterial parts it is difficult to prove that live bacteria are still present).

Further, it can tell the level of infection as

> well as:

> * Stage 1: Early localized infection 1 to 4 weeks

> * Stage 2: Early Disseminated infection - 1 to 4 months

> * Stage 3: Late Persistent Infection months and years after infection

Measuring the level of infection is also a dubious claim; I assume they are

detecting in body fluids and not through biopsies, which means that infection in

the tissues is not detected.

IMHO the whole concept of stages in lyme is bogus. Some people go right to stage

3 in a matter of days or weeks at most. Others never go further than stage 1 or

2 even if untreated.

[Guest guest]

>

> Here's something I recently got that I think is pertinent to the discussion

> about testing. Note the conclusion!

that's the same research I included at the bottom of my message

What is peculiar about this, is that two of the researchers work for the Dutch

CDC. But the results seem contradictory to our CDC's public statements that

there is nothing wrong with reliability or sensitivity of Lymetests.

The research is at least a year old already, and the CDC and the committee that

is working on lyme treatment guidelines do as if it does not exist. Also the

recent new European Lyme guidelines seem to ignore the disturbing findings of

this article. In discussions with patient group representatives a few months

ago, these same researchers did as if they had never heard about problems with

Lyme tests. And even more recently they applied for a new government grant for

comparison of different lab test results for Borrelia.

to be continued, I guess ...