Blumenthal pushes for legislation to aid fight against Lyme Disease (video)
In a press conference Friday at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Blumenthal said he would push for passage of the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education and Research Act.
http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/get_swf/3/&auto_next=0&auto_start=0&page_count=5&pl_id=21395&show_title=0&va_id=3671040&windows=1&wpid=10006” />http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/get_swf/3/&auto_next=0&auto_start=0&page_count=5&pl_id=21395&show_title=0&va_id=3671040&windows=1&wpid=10006” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”425” height=”330” />
“I have a bill that I’ve offered with support from a number of my colleagues and it’s very much a bipartisan bill,” Blumenthal said. “What we have heard again and again and again is there is no accurate, really reliable way to detect and diagnose Lyme disease.”
A major part of the proposed act is to increase prevention measures, as well as increase early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease before it becomes a chronic condition.
The proposed legislation calls for the establishment of a Tick-Borne Disease Advisory Committee, which would improve communication between several federal agencies. There would be increased research and education concerning Lyme disease. The U.S. secretary of health and human services would be required to publish guidelines and best practices available to treat Lyme disease, according to the proposed legislation.
The act was introduced last year with U.S. Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.; Jack Reed, D-N.Y.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Gillibrand; and Al Franken, D-Minn.
“A lot of people are walking around with Lyme disease without knowing it,” said Peter Wild, executive director for Lyme Research Alliance Inc.
There is no known cure for long-term Lyme disease, Wild said. There are about 30,000 confirmed cases of the disease each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wild said. However, the CDC also estimates that the number is likely under-reported by 90 percent.
“Not all doctors report it even when they believe it (is Lyme disease),” Blumenthal said.
Connecticut is especially hard-hit by Lyme disease. The incidence rate based on the number of cases per 100,000 population is 5.5 times higher in Connecticut than the national rate, according to the CDC.
Another goal of the act would give patients a seat next to scientists and doctors to help improve Lyme disease policy.
“Patients have been unrepresented and un-reflected in this process, and they have a powerful story. They are the ones who have suffered,” Blumenthal said.
Mark Hopwood shared his personal battle against long-term Lyme disease. Hopwood said he was in excellent physical condition before he contracted the disease.
Eventually, tasks like climbing a flight of stairs would leave him exhausted, he said.
He was misdiagnosed multiple times, and was thought to have everything from a sinus infection to a brain tumor. He and his family became concerned that he would eventually die, he said. An earlier, correct diagnosis could have spared Hopwood the years-long battle.
“At that point in time, quite literally for a few dollars and a handful of antibiotic pills, I could have been completely cured,” he said.
Katie Reid said her Lyme disease symptoms started out slow, but eventually became a cause of concern.
“I thought I was being the typical teenager, sleeping in and being lazy,” she said, when the symptoms first showed up.
She estimates she had the disease two or three years before being diagnosed.Connecticut is especially hard-hit by Lyme disease. The incidence rate based on the number of cases per 100,000 population is 5.5 times higher in Connecticut than the national rate, according to the CDC.
Another goal of the act would give patients a seat next to scientists and doctors to help improve Lyme disease policy.
“Patients have been unrepresented and un-reflected in this process, and they have a powerful story. They are the ones who have suffered,” Blumenthal said.
Mark Hopwood shared his personal battle against long-term Lyme disease. Hopwood said he was in excellent physical condition before he contracted the disease.
Eventually, tasks like climbing a flight of stairs would leave him exhausted, he said.
He was misdiagnosed multiple times, and was thought to have everything from a sinus infection to a brain tumor. He and his family became concerned that he would eventually die, he said. An earlier, correct diagnosis could have spared Hopwood the years-long battle.
“At that point in time, quite literally for a few dollars and a handful of antibiotic pills, I could have been completely cured,” he said.
Katie Reid said her Lyme disease symptoms started out slow, but eventually became a cause of concern.
“I thought I was being the typical teenager, sleeping in and being lazy,” she said, when the symptoms first showed up.
Call Rich Scinto at 203-789-5748.
