Focus – Opinions and Features

By Carolyn Degnan A little-known charitable tax deduction allows individuals and couples over the age of 70½ to transfer funds from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) directly to a charitable organization (such as LymeDisease.org). It’s called a qualified charitable... Read More »

By Raeena Lari Lyme disease is the most common and the fastest-growing vector-borne disease in the country, and constitutes a significant public health threat, with  476,000 new cases each year from 2010 to 2018. This is a zoonotic bacterial infection transmitted to humans by the... Read More »

By Daniel A. Kinderlehrer MD When Brian finished college, he had dreams of becoming a professional hockey player. Unfortunately, he got a rough blow to the head and sustained a concussion. Although he didn’t lose consciousness, he developed a host of symptoms that led to leaving... Read More »

By Fred Diamond When someone close to me had a major Lyme flare late this spring. I realized it was time to ramp up my education on the disease quickly. I logged onto a large online bookstore and purchased a big stack of books on Lyme and chronic illness. I know that many people... Read More »

By Carolyn Degnan Lyme disease and its associated illnesses can wreak havoc on children both physically and mentally. Thirteen-year-old Talan Yorn could have been just another Lyme statistic, but he refused to give up.  Most likely born with congenital Lyme, Talan has always had... Read More »

by Daniel A. Kinderlehrer MD I have witnessed many changes in the over 40 years I’ve been a doctor, including epidemic rises in multiple medical conditions. I’m not talking about the present pandemic, nor am I referring to the opioid crisis, another devastating epidemic that has... Read More »

By Donna Z. Falcone If you have lived with chronic Lyme disease, you may be familiar with this phenomenon. Significant life events—the ones most people never forget—can suddenly disappear, like water down the drain, only to bubble up again around the bend. Take, for example, the... Read More »

Marta Edmisten gave the following as public comments at the August 26 meeting of the federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. Good morning, my name is Marta Edmisten. I am here today to talk about the impact tick-borne disease has had on me. I had my first known tick bite around... Read More »

The following public comments were provided by telephone to the federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group on August 26. My name is Meghan Bradshaw and I’m 28 years old. I’m here to share my story as a patient to demonstrate the magnitude of devastation that tick-borne diseases can... Read More »