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Science Vs

Lyme Disease: How Scary Is It?

Science Vs

Spotify Studios

Education, Science, Health & Fitness

4.412.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2018

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, we’re entering the Lyme Wars. We’re asking: what is Lyme disease? How do you get it? How do you know you have it? And if you get infected, are you stuck with it forever? To find out we talk to neurologist Dr John Halperin, neuropsychology researcher Dr Kathleen Bechtold, and a Lyme patient we’re calling Emily. Check out the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2DZhQxo Selected readings: About the culprits behind Lyme Disease The best summary on how well the Lyme tests workKathleen's study about patients suffering from Post-Treatment Lyme Disease SyndromeA most helpful primer on Chronic LymeTwo controlled trials showing that long-term antibiotics use doesn’t help zap out lingering Lyme symptoms  Credits:  This episode has been produced by Shruti Ravindran, with help from Wendy Zukerman, along with Rose Rimler and Meryl Horn. Our senior producer is Kaitlyn Sawrey. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Additional editing help from Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Emma Munger. Music written by Bobby Lord and Emma Munger. Recording assistance from Daniel Woldorff, Susan Valot, Davis Land and Julian Weller. For this episode, we also spoke to Dr John Aucott, Dr Brian Fallon, Dr Allen Steere, Dr Paul Lantos, Dr Adriana Marques and Dr Alan Barbour. Thank you so much. Thanks to the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. And our favorite songstress Rachel Ward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman and you're listening to Science Versus from Gimlett Media.

0:06.7

This is the show that pits facts against freaky diseases.

0:15.0

On today's episode, Lyme disease.

0:17.9

People say it's scary, mysterious.

0:20.8

And according to the Centers for Disease Control, there have been more and more people getting

0:25.0

infected with roughly 300,000 cases in the US each year.

0:30.7

And even around the Gimlett office, so many people seem to have these Lyme horror stories.

0:37.1

I woke up and I could not move half of my face.

0:41.0

I can't move this corner of my mouth.

0:42.7

I can't flare my nostril over there.

0:44.3

I can't quite blink.

0:46.9

It feels like Lyme has all these vague, weird symptoms, drowsiness, tiredness, achiness.

0:53.6

It's almost like a modern day polio where you had it as a kid but then your entire life

0:57.9

is affected by it.

0:59.5

She started seemingly going kind of in-thin.

1:02.3

It's endless.

1:03.3

It's never really gone, but also never really there.

1:07.8

Wait what?

1:08.8

Lyme disease makes you go insane.

1:11.4

You're going to have this forever.

1:16.3

So there are all these rumors around about this terrible disease.

1:21.3

And part of the reason for this is that when you go online and try to get reliable information

...

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