BORRELIOOSIA EI TUNNETA - VIRHEELLISIÄ DIAGNOOSEJA

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Andy A. Wilson teki borrelioosista elokuvan "Under Our Skin" koska halusi paremmin ymmärtää ja tuoda julkisuuteen taudin oireita ja sen ympärillä käytävää taistelua hoidoista. Hän ei tiennyt taudista juuri mitään ennen kuin hänen siskonsa sairastui siihen.

"Sitten ystäväni sairastui tautiin todella vakavasti. Hänen kerrottiin sairastavan MS-tautia ja myöhemmin ALS-tautia. Oireiden aiheuttajaksi paljastui kuitenkin borreliabakteeri."

Filmissä seurataan useiden henkilöiden elämää. Julkisuudessa ei yleensä kerrota taudin aiheuttamista oireista kuten MS-tyyppisistä oireista. Moninaisiin oireisiin ei aina uskota vaan ne joko diagnosoidaaan virheellisesti tai niiden väitetään olevan psyykkisiä.

Näyttelijä Joanne Kerns kertoi lakia opiskelevan tyttärensä kärsineen vuosia diagnosoimattomasta borrelioosista. Immuunijärjestelmän ongelmien vuoksi borrelioositestit olivat olleet toistuvasti negatiiviset. Vasta nähtyään borrelioosielokuvan Kernsin tytär päätti mennä vielä kerran borrelioositestiin. Hänellä todettiin myöhäisvaiheen borrelioosi. Hän on nyt aloittanut pitkän korkea-annoksisen antibioottihoidon ja toivoo pääsevänsä jossakin vaiheessa takaisin töihin lakitoimistoon josta oli sairastumisen vuoksi joutunut jäämään eläkkeelle.

http://www.thewrap.com/article/lyme-dis ... gues-10068

Andy Abrahams Wilson admitted that prior to embarking on "Under Our Skin," his four-years-in-the-making documentary about the Lyme Disease epidemic, he was far from an expert about the tick-borne ailment.

"I didn't know much about the disease other than my sister in upstate New York got Lyme," Wilson told the audience at TheWrap's screening of his documentary (view a slideshow of the event here) on Wednesday night. "Then I had a friend in San Francisco who got really sick. She was diagnosed with M.S. and then ALS/ Lou Gehrig's Disease, and it turned out to be Lyme. I didn't know that Lyme could do that, so it destroyed all my assumptions."

Seeking to better comprehend the symptoms of the illness and the politics surrounding the development of new treatments prodded Wilson into making his inflammatory film.

The movie follows the families, victims, and doctors on the frontlines of the fight to find a cure for a disease that the director contends is fundamentally misunderstood. It takes an unflinching look at a handful of Lyme sufferers, who contrary to popular belief are afflicted a debilitating range of symptoms that closely mirror those of other chronic diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Syphilis.

These include cognitive difficulties, seizures, vertigo, exhaustion, and in some cases grow so severe they can even lead to death. Instead of receiving effective therapy for their ailments, they are frequently misdiagnosed or told their symptons are psychosomatic.
"These are people who suffered in silence and they were willing to be filmed and to do anything they could to help people avoid what they'd gone through," Wilson said.

During a question and answer session immediately following a screening of the film at the ArcLight Sherman Oaks, that was co-sponsored by Google and the advocacy group Time for Lyme, Wilson was quizzed by TheWrap editor and C.E.O. Sharon Waxman about the stigma surrounding the disease and the controversy that arose from recent scientific discoveries about its origins and symptoms.

He was joined onstage by actress Joanna Kerns ("Growing Pains"), whose daughter suffers from the disease, and actress Tracey Silver, whose career stalled while she battled the illness for 12 years. They added their own voices to the ones heard on the film, describing the havoc the disease had wrought in their family lives and their struggles to get a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. They both said they hoped that the film would raise awareness about Lyme and the controversies embroiling the medical community over the proper way to diagnose and cure the illness.

"It's because of this film that my daughter agreed to get tested once again for Lyme," said Kerns. "Her immune system was wrong for years and we were always in search of an answer."

After taking the test, Kerns, whose daughter had just finished law school and was working as an entertainment lawyer, discovered she had late-stage Lyme. Kerns told the audience that her daughter had been forced to stop working and go on disability, but that after beginning a series of agressive treatments, was hopeful that she was beginning the long road to recovery.