Lyme Disease tests
Bring testing into the 21st century
02/06/09 13:44
How many times have you wondered why the flawed technology of the Western blot and the ELISA are still the standard test for Lyme? Hasn't anyone figured out a better, more sensitive test by now? New research is being done with twenty-first century technology, such as genomics and proteomics. More sensitive tests mean that greater numbers of people infected with borrelia would have a chance to begin treatment before Lyme enters the later stages. A person who tested negative for Lyme with the Western blot may actually test positive when tested for certain protein markers.
Pamela Weintraub, author of Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic, and senior editor at Discover Magazine, pulls no punches in a recent post about the IDSA's choice of panelists. The panel that has been assembled seems likely to merely reaffirm the old guard, and not consider new University-based scientific research.
"As someone who has traveled the country for six years interviewing these scientists to write my book, Cure Unknown, I can tell you unequivocally that many of the top researchers at the top institutions in the world do not think the original IDSA panel got it right," writes Pamela.
"Are recommended treatment protocols truly curing most of those with early, invasive borreliosis, as IDSA contends?"
"The answers won’t be found in the twentieth-century technology of the Western blot, by today’s standards crude yet still trotted out by IDSA as evidence absolute that they are right. (The Western blot for Lyme is so flawed that even its major manufacturer says he has found numerous "band" patterns more accurate than the one in use today.) Instead of relying on flawed 20th century technology, we must look to the science of the twenty-first century, including state-of-the-art genomics and proteomics that allows for the sequencing of every gene and protein involved in every stage of Lyme. With evidence of this calibre we won't have to fight over the truth: We will know what's going on."
Stay tuned for more LDRD interviews with top researchers, such as Dr. Eva Sapi of the University of New Haven. Dr. Sapi directs the graduate studies program for research into Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.
Pamela Weintraub, author of Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic, and senior editor at Discover Magazine, pulls no punches in a recent post about the IDSA's choice of panelists. The panel that has been assembled seems likely to merely reaffirm the old guard, and not consider new University-based scientific research.
"As someone who has traveled the country for six years interviewing these scientists to write my book, Cure Unknown, I can tell you unequivocally that many of the top researchers at the top institutions in the world do not think the original IDSA panel got it right," writes Pamela.
"Are recommended treatment protocols truly curing most of those with early, invasive borreliosis, as IDSA contends?"
"The answers won’t be found in the twentieth-century technology of the Western blot, by today’s standards crude yet still trotted out by IDSA as evidence absolute that they are right. (The Western blot for Lyme is so flawed that even its major manufacturer says he has found numerous "band" patterns more accurate than the one in use today.) Instead of relying on flawed 20th century technology, we must look to the science of the twenty-first century, including state-of-the-art genomics and proteomics that allows for the sequencing of every gene and protein involved in every stage of Lyme. With evidence of this calibre we won't have to fight over the truth: We will know what's going on."
Stay tuned for more LDRD interviews with top researchers, such as Dr. Eva Sapi of the University of New Haven. Dr. Sapi directs the graduate studies program for research into Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.
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Lyme tests are inaccurate
05/06/08 15:58
Raphael Stricker, MD, talked with me last week about the pros and cons of the existing Lyme tests. As it turns out, there are mostly cons.
Dr. Stricker was the president of ILADS from 2005 to 2007, during which time the organization grew to nearly 400 members and accomplished a great deal of work on the behalf of Lyme patients, including the establishment of the guidelines for the treatment of Lyme.
The Western Blot and the ELISA tests are inaccurate. "They have 'coin toss sensitivity,'" Stricker says. "Which means if you flip a coin you get the same results as doing a commercial test.
"The current AIDS test has a 99.5% sensitivity, which means it misses one in two hundred AIDS cases. So, compare one out of every two Lyme cases that are missed? One in two hundred AIDS cases. I mean, that's a pretty big difference," he says. "What we need in Lyme disease is a test like the AIDS test, that is that sensitive, and that accurate."
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Dr. Stricker was the president of ILADS from 2005 to 2007, during which time the organization grew to nearly 400 members and accomplished a great deal of work on the behalf of Lyme patients, including the establishment of the guidelines for the treatment of Lyme.
The Western Blot and the ELISA tests are inaccurate. "They have 'coin toss sensitivity,'" Stricker says. "Which means if you flip a coin you get the same results as doing a commercial test.
"The current AIDS test has a 99.5% sensitivity, which means it misses one in two hundred AIDS cases. So, compare one out of every two Lyme cases that are missed? One in two hundred AIDS cases. I mean, that's a pretty big difference," he says. "What we need in Lyme disease is a test like the AIDS test, that is that sensitive, and that accurate."
You can listen to the interview as a member, please join