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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Under our Skin | An Infectious New Film

I just happened to see this Documenter on PBS and was amazed at how Close the Symptoms and Stories of the People in the film "Under our Skin" are to my own, since 1983! That's when I first started having health problems. I have had a long struggle, trying to get help and a definite diagnosis ever since. For the last couple of years. I was thinking that I might have Parkinson's Disease. I knew about Lyme Disease and was even tested back in the early 80's. But my Lyme Test came up negative. So, I forgot all about Lyme Disease. I was Diagnosed with Seizures (this diagnosis comes and goes with each new Neurologist I see, because it doesn't always show up in an MRI). I was also diagnosed with Diabetes and Hypertension (which I do have for sure). But after over 27 Years! I still have found no help for my worst symptoms. I wont go int them now in detail... But, they are very similar to what these people have in the film. Except, I don't have allot of pain, thank the Lord! Check out "Under our Skin"...

Don

Watch the Movie

	Now on PBS stations everywhere! Watch on TV
	Watch when you want. DVD comes with an hour of bonus footage plus an information booklet! Buy the DVD

Screenings

Public screenings are happening everywhere. Find a screening near you or host a screening yourself!

Go there...
http://www.underourskin.com/

Under Our Skin - Theatrical Trailer (NEW)

Video Link...
http://youtu.be/z5u73ME4sVU

This is the current list of broadcasts on PBS stations. Please check back as this list is updated regularly. The schedule may change without notice, so contact your local PBS affiliate for updates or to urge them to program the film.

Please enter a state to search for TV air dates in your State.

Go there and find your local listings...
http://www.underourskin.com/tv

IDSA aims to censor UNDER OUR SKIN TV broadcasts

Open Eye Pictures has recently learned that the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has been trying to stop the television broadcast of its award-winning documentary on Lyme disease, UNDER OUR SKIN. Working behind the scenes, IDSA officers and members have been contacting the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), and local PBS stations, calling our film “dangerous for viewers” and full of “conspiracies.”
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was created in 1967 to “provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard,” and serve as “a forum for controversy and debate” by broadcasting programs that “help us see America whole, in all its diversity.”
We are heartened that no PBS affiliate station has folded under the pressure. UNDER OUR SKIN is the first televised documentary dedicated to educating the public about the plight of Lyme disease patients, who have been abandoned by the medical establishment, in part, because of the IDSA’s flawed Lyme guidelines development process.

Read More...
http://www.underourskin.com/news/idsa-aims-censor-under-our-skin-tv-broadcasts

Connecticut Attorney General's Office

Press Release

Attorney General's Investigation Reveals Flawed Lyme Disease Guideline Process, IDSA Agrees To Reassess Guidelines, Install Independent Arbiter

May 1, 2008

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today announced that his antitrust investigation has uncovered serious flaws in the Infectious Diseases Society of America's (IDSA) process for writing its 2006 Lyme disease guidelines and the IDSA has agreed to reassess them with the assistance of an outside arbiter.
The IDSA guidelines have sweeping and significant impacts on Lyme disease medical care. They are commonly applied by insurance companies in restricting coverage for long-term antibiotic treatment or other medical care and also strongly influence physician treatment decisions.
Insurance companies have denied coverage for long-term antibiotic treatment relying on these guidelines as justification. The guidelines are also widely cited for conclusions that chronic Lyme disease is nonexistent.
"This agreement vindicates my investigation -- finding undisclosed financial interests and forcing a reassessment of IDSA guidelines," Blumenthal said. "My office uncovered undisclosed financial interests held by several of the most powerful IDSA panelists. The IDSA's guideline panel improperly ignored or minimized consideration of alternative medical opinion and evidence regarding chronic Lyme disease, potentially raising serious questions about whether the recommendations reflected all relevant science.
"The IDSA's Lyme guideline process lacked important procedural safeguards requiring complete reevaluation of the 2006 Lyme disease guidelines -- in effect a comprehensive reassessment through a new panel. The new panel will accept and analyze all evidence, including divergent opinion. An independent neutral ombudsman -- expert in medical ethics and conflicts of interest, selected by both the IDSA and my office -- will assess the new panel for conflicts of interests and ensure its integrity."
Blumenthal's findings include the following:

The IDSA failed to conduct a conflicts of interest review for any of the panelists prior to their appointment to the 2006 Lyme disease guideline panel;
Subsequent disclosures demonstrate that several of the 2006 Lyme disease panelists had conflicts of interest;
The IDSA failed to follow its own procedures for appointing the 2006 panel chairman and members, enabling the chairman, who held a bias regarding the existence of chronic Lyme, to handpick a like minded panel without scrutiny by or formal approval of the IDSA's oversight committee;
The IDSA's 2000 and 2006 Lyme disease panels refused to accept or meaningfully consider information regarding the existence of chronic Lyme disease, once removing a panelist from the 2000 panel who dissented from the group's position on chronic Lyme disease to achieve "consensus";
The IDSA blocked appointment of scientists and physicians with divergent views on chronic Lyme who sought to serve on the 2006 guidelines panel by informing them that the panel was fully staffed, even though it was later expanded;
The IDSA portrayed another medical association's Lyme disease guidelines as corroborating its own when it knew that the two panels shared several authors, including the chairmen of both groups, and were working on guidelines at the same time. In allowing its panelists to serve on both groups at the same time, IDSA violated its own conflicts of interest policy.

Learn About Lyme

Lyme Disease Is No Walk In The Park - You May Have It And Not Know It

Lyme disease is a bacterial spirochete (organism) transmitted by ticks. The name of the particular bacteria is Borrelia Burgdorferi. Many people do not know how widespread the Lyme and other tick-borne disease epidemic is and the high odds that someone they know may be affected. Please take a few moments to read the following facts that demonstrate the seriousness of the disease and how it can be prevented.
Misdiagnosis
Estimates state that only one out of every ten cases of Lyme disease is reported and that many people are misdiagnosed. State health departments reported 28,921 confirmed cases and 6,277 probable cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2008. The number of cases reported annually has increased nearly 25-fold since national surveillance began in 1982.
Lyme disease may be difficult to diagnose because many of its symptoms mimic those of other disorders. In addition, the only distinctive hallmark unique to Lyme disease, the "bulls eye" rash, is absent in almost half of the people who become infected. The inadequacies of today's laboratory tests make proper diagnosis difficult, and it can be extremely troublesome to treat the infection in its later phases.
Lyme and tick-borne diseases can attack virtually any system in the body. Some of the first symptoms may include a flu-like condition, with fever, chills, headache, stiff neck, achiness, and fatigue. Other symptoms can include pain in various joints and muscles, neurological problems, heart involvement, problems with vision or hearing, migraines, low-grade fever or other symptoms. Lyme disease is often mistaken for other illnesses since the symptoms often mirror other medical problems, such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, lupus or Alzheimer's disease. In some cases, Lyme disease patients can become paralyzed and/or comatose. Lyme disease symptoms may come and go and be replaced by new symptoms. Symptoms may be subtle or pronounced.
Selection of Proper Physicians

Read More...
http://turnthecorner.org/content/learn-about-lyme

Nov

2009

Lyme Signs & Symptoms

Knowing the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease is the first crucial step to getting help. The LDA has the following 2 helpful printables for patients to use and share with others.

Dr. Burrascano's 2005 Symptom List Chart
LDA Lyme Signs & Symtoms

En Espanol Enfermedad De Lyme

Read More...
http://lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=276&Itemid=405

Blog


IDSA aims to censor UNDER OUR SKIN TV broadcasts *Apr 28, 2011*
CDC FOIA delays get under the skin of film producers *Mar 8, 2011*
Lyme disease cases double in five years *Jan 4, 2011*
RIP David Simser: The Tick Guy who loved his job *Nov 29, 2010*
"UNDER OUR SKIN Saved My Life" *Oct 19, 2010*
Medical panel keeps Lyme guidelines “as is” *Apr 30, 2010*
“Shame on you IDSA” says UNDER OUR SKIN's Jordan Fisher Smith *Apr 25, 2010*
Dr. Jones Update: Crime and Punishment in CT *Mar 2, 2010*
While Oscar Fades, Fargo awards UNDER OUR SKIN top prize *Feb 2, 2010*
Lyme film featured in People Magazine *Jan 30, 2010*