Journal list
Int J Gen Med.
23 April 2013
Keith Berndtson
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3636972/
Based on well-designed post-treatement animal studies and ongoing delineation of Bb's mechanisms for host
immune evasion and persistence, we can reasonably conclude that some, possibly many, chronic LD
patients suffer from symptoms related to perssistent infection with Bb.
As inevitably happens in the
evolution of scientific ideas, new research proves that the reality is more complex than we thought,
and the time has now come to move beyond the divisiveness of the past into a more reality-based paradigm for
research, education, and patient care.
The question is no longer whether LD can survive an antibiotic challenge in order to become a persistent infection.
High quality studies schow not only that it happens, but they also show how it happens, and why we should not feel surprised that it happens.
Our task in the new era is to determine which patients suffer from persistent LD, and to keep pressing for evidence-based
wisdom to quide the physicians called upon treat them.