In March I attended a talk at Exeter University entitled ‘The Emotional Body in Health and Illness’, by Professor Gillian Bendelow, Professor of Sociology at Sussex University. Prof Bendelow worked as a ward sister in London’s East End, before becoming a psychiatric nurse and then pursuing an academic career in sociology. The subject of her […]
more...One of those moments when you wonder “what if I had done that…?”. What if, as I turned round from picking up my coffee at the conference reception and saw Sally Davies 10 yards away (the Dame Professor Sally Davies who is currently Chief Medical Officer) I had gone across to her and said “before […]
more...Today, the BBC reported on a new study suggesting that a large deer cull would bring a number of environmental benefits (read article). However, the overall role of deer in Lyme disease is unclear, says charity Lyme Disease Action. Lyme disease is an infectious disease transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected tick […]
more...Before 8 o’clock and far too early for me to be standing at a station waiting for the London train, though a bacon bap did help. 3 hours to Waterloo and I stepped into a different world a far cry from Devon. An invigorating world, a noisy world; a world where people seemed to be […]
more...On 17th January 2013 news from America announced the discovery of ‘a new tick-borne infection that shares many similarities with Lyme disease’. The bacteria, which is not new, is called Borrelia miyamotoi , a relative of those which cause Lyme disease. Genetically, it is more closely related to the relapsing fever group of spirochaetes. Borrelia […]
more...Human Borrelia miyamotoi infection in the United States. Krause PJ, Narasimhan S, Wormser GP, Rollend L, Fikrig E, Lepore T, Barbour A, Fish D. N Eng J Med 2013 Jan 17; 368(3):291-3. Introduction On 17th January 2013 news from America announced the discovery of ‘a new tick-borne infection that shares many similarities with Lyme disease’(1). […]
more...‘Management of suspected Lyme borreliosis: experience from an outpatient antibiotic therapy service.’ White B, Seaton RA, Evans TJ. QJM 2013; 106:133–38. Lyme disease in a Glasgow ID Clinic This study looks at the ‘real world experience’ of an infectious diseases clinic in Glasgow using Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Treatment (OPAT), in the form of intravenous ceftriaxone, […]
more...Lyme Disease Action has funded a process to discover some of the uncertainties in Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment. Through a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership patients and clinicians contributed to a nationwide survey which resulted in 81 potential uncertainties. Following a search of systematic reviews an independent information specialist confirmed that: 7 questions […]
more...With most of the Christmas cooking and feasting under my belt, I was amused to read an article on the BBC web-site by the author Will Self, with the intriguing title, ‘The British Vomitorium’, exploring the our national obsession with food. Half-way through, I was stopped in my tracks by the phrase ‘You are what […]
more...UK-registered charity Lyme Disease Action has launched a second survey, the next step in finding out what we do and don’t know about the treatment and diagnosis of often-misdiagnosed Lyme disease. Funded by the National Institute for Health Research, the James Lind Alliance has been working with the charity Lyme Disease Action to document the […]
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