Take Action!

ACT!

What is success?

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; That is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

ACT!!! Do Something! Get Involved. You CAN make a difference!

But what can I do?

Lyme and tick-borne disease patients often tell us they feel frustrated, hopeless and helpless. But have faith...things can change. And they are changing, more today than ever.

Because of people like you - people who take it upon themselves to reach out and do one thing to help, no matter how small, each day, each week or each month - the wheels across this nation are finally beginning to turn. Lyme and tick-borne diseases are beginning to be recognized for the serious, complex illnesses they truly are. Here are some ways we can make the wheels turn faster still...

-photo, NIH

Donate directly to fund regional Lyme and tick-borne disease research.

We believe funding for regional research is our current greatest need here in the Southeast.

Considering the estimated true number of Lyme disease cases (the CDC says six to twelve times what is reported), and how little we really know about this complex illness, Lyme disease research is one of the most critically underfunded programs in our country today. Independent researchers outside "Lyme endemic areas" are particularly hard hit and have little, if any, monies to thoroughly investigate and assess tick-borne illnesses that occur in humans in their regions. Because of this, there are precious few scientists performing these studies in the Southeast and other areas of the country. And it is directly due to this lack of scientific data, that patients continue to suffer.

Scientists here in the Southeast greatly lack the funds to study the hundreds of strains of Borrelia burgdorferi that have been identified here, along with the other emerging tick-borne illnesses. Some of their research projects include studying various tick vectors, evaluating our specific southeastern Bb strains, and working to develop better tests.

With more financial support, scientific research will progress much more quickly. Scientists can hire additionial workers to help them perform studies and can order the expensive supplies they need for testing.

You can support their efforts directly by making a private, tax deductible donation to the individual university where researchers are doing their work. Be certain you indicate on your check, what your contribution is meant for, for instance, "Tick-borne disease research.”

For further information about donating to support southeastern scientific research studies, please contact us.

Please help our ongoing efforts by making a tax-deductible donation. The Georiga Lyme Disease Association is a non-profit, 501(3)c corporation. Click the yellow button to donate online (no Paypal account needed)

or mail your donation to:

Georgia Lyme Disease

Association

P.O. Box 2073

Peachtree City, GA 30269

Thank you!!!

Ask your healthcare providers to participate in southeastern tick-borne disease research. They may contact us here at Georgia Lyme to learn more.

Start a support group.

Form a Georgia support group in your area. Most meet once a month. If you don't know how, contact us and we'll help. We will also list your meeting dates and information on our website; simply contact us with details. Often times libraries or churches are happy to offer their facilities for such meetings.

Become a member of the Georgia online support group and talk to others in our area with Lyme and tick-borne diseases. (Click on link.)

Georgia's Online Lyme Support Group

Note: state online support groups were created and are maintained by the California Lyme Disease Association.

"I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do a little to bring some portion of misery to an end."

-Albert Schweitzer

Work to educate your family members, friends and medical providers about Lyme and tickborne diseases.

COMMUNITY: Educate your family, friends and your community members about tick-borne disease prevention and signs and symptoms of disease. If you belong to an organization such as a scouting, hiking, 4-H or gardening club, teach members how to best protect themselves from tick-borne illnesses.

MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS: Due to modern day demands, our healthcare providers are some of the busiest people in history. As such, often times they may not have a chance to extensively investigate the entire body of emerging tick-borne disease scientific evidence. They sometimes may rely on books or publications which, unfortunately, may not contain all the latest worldwide, peer-reviewed research data about Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses. You can help by providing them with the latest credible information.

You may want to make certain that your healthcare professional is aware of the scientific evidence that was recently presented to the Infectious Diseases Society of America's Lyme Disease Treatment Guidelines Review Panel. Scientists and physicians from both sides of the Lyme controversy testified in an effort to determine whether or not the 2006 IDSA Lyme Disease Treatment Guidelines reflect all of the worldwide, peer-reviewed, emerging scientific data about Lyme disease. A large body of compelling research evidence about persistent Lyme borelliosis, seronegative Lyme and treatment was presented. The hearing was broadcast live on an IDSA webcast on July 30, 2009 and the individual, 15-20 presentations may be watched through July, 2010 by clicking on the TV screen on the website link below:

http://www.idsociety.org/Content.aspx?id=15026

Of particular interest to medical professionals may be the presentation of the highly-regarded Lyme disease researcher, Dr. David Volkman. Dr. Volkman is Ph.D. and M.D., Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at SUNY, Stony Brook and is Board certified in Immunology, Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, and Internal Medicine, and Board Eligible in Infectious Diseases. Previously, he served as Senior Investigator at the NIAID and Chairman of both the Internal and External Review Boards of the NIAID. He has been doing both clinical and bench research on Lyme disease since 1985.

Dr. Volkman's testimony about persistent Bb infection and seronegative Lyme is a must see for treating clinicians. Dr. Elizabeth Maloney produced an excellent comprehensive presentation, as well. Both Dr. Volkman's and Dr. Maloney's presentations may be watched and downloaded from the site below:

http://www.lymedisease.org/news/idsa_lyme_hearing/174.html

Another great source of information which may be useful to your physician can be found at:

http://www.lymeinfo.net/lymefiles.html

Here your healthcare provider can find compiled reports of scientific, peer-reviewed research abstracts including the persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi (70 abstracts) and seronegativity (103 abstracts) in Lyme cases (research scrutinizing current Lyme testing methods). The majority of these publications may also be found on PubMed Central, however, not in this compiled form.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central is another great source for Lyme and tick-borne disease research. Here you may find articles about persistent infection and seronegative Lyme, and other tick-borne disease research data. This is a good site to access many of the scientific studies which have found the Lyme disease bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, in some cases of other chronic illnesses. To find such articles, it is best to perform three separate searches for each illness. For instance, if you want to look up Lyme and Multiple Sclerosis do three searches:

1.) Lyme and Mulitple Sclerosis, 2.) Borrelia and Multiple Sclerosis, 3.) Spirochetes and Multiple Sclerosis.

Searches may be performed for Lyme and other diseases such as MS, ALS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Parkinson's disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, etc. It is also quite helpful to search for Lyme articles using words like lesions, occular, cardiac, nervous sytem, neuropathy, etc. along with Lyme disease or Borrelia in your search.

In reading what scientists do know about Lyme disease, it becomes very clear how much more there is to learn ...so many questions remain unanswered. But by keeping our families, friends and medical providers abreast of the most current scientific information, we can maintain open minds about the new discoveries that are being made every day.

Contact your local, state and

federal representatives...

it's the American way.

Our elected officials are there for you. If you don't make them aware of what is happening, they will never be able to help you and other tickborne disease patients.

Call them, tell them about your case of Lyme or tick-borne illness. Tell them about any other cases you are aware of in our state, too. Explain how it has affected your life and the lives of those around you. Let them know of any hardships you have faced in obtaining proper diagnosis and treatment, and the amount of money you have spent. Take research publications, Lyme books and movies to them so that they will understand the dire need for implementing a more aggressive TBD preventatitve and educational campaign to protect citizens.

Cost-wise, investing money for a preventative campaign is a drop in the bucket compared to what is spent in treating Lyme and tick-borne disease cases.

Spending money on preventative measures makes sense...

(or cents, as the case may be)!

Call upon our representatives to allocate more money for funding our independent research scientists to work on the specific needs in addressing tick-borne diseases in our region.

Ask your federal representitives to sign on in support of the federal legislation: The 2009 Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Prevention, Education and Research Act of 2009 (see below).

Don't know your representatives?

Click on the link below:

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml