January 2011: A LONG,
LONG TIME AGO
Well,
okay, maybe not that long ago, although in the depths of a
Canadian winter, last August truly does seem like ancient
history. Anyway, the point here is that on August 17,
2010, Dr. Murakami did a radio interview about Lyme
disease for the Changes radio show on CHLY in Nanaimo, BC.
We've recently been provided with the mp3 link for the
interview, so if you're interested in hearing what transpired,
check out http://lnkd.in/AeXjTe
We've
been advised that if for any reason the link
doesn't work, you can go to to www.chly.ca, then
click on the Podcasts image box on the right hand side. From
there, you can scroll to the "Changes" radio show, which will
give you three options.... the first one is: Play now, the
second one is RSS feed. Select RSS feed and then from the
index scroll down to Aug. 17 and click on the media file (not
the title).
Many thanks to Roz Powell for sending this
on.
November 2010: DR.
MURAKAMI'S FEEDBACK ON HIS RECENT LECTURES
WINNIPEG,
MB
Dr.
Murakami met with Manitoba's new Deputy Minister of Health,
Milton Sussman, as well as additional Ministry representatives
on November 1, 2010. Mr. Sussman was very interested to
hear Dr. Murakami's thoughts on the biggest problems in
diagnosing and treating Lyme. Dr. Murakami explained that the
major issue is that those in the medical profession can't get
on the same page, and that this divide is such that many
US states have felt the need to pass legislation to
protect doctors who treat Lyme beyond the restrictive
IDSA guidelines. Manitoba Health's efforts to understand
Lyme and its impact on the health of its citizens have lead
to what is likely the strongest Canadian Lyme
incidence data gathering initiative, with physicians required
to report clinical cases of Lyme to Manitoba
Public Health (Manitoba Public Health Notice).
TORONTO,
ON
Dr. Murakami's lecture to the Canadian
College of Natural Medicine on November 2, 2010
was videotaped for future educational
purposes.
PORT HAWKESBURY,
NS
There was a great turnout at the three lectures Dr.
Murakami gave on November 4 and 5, 2010, with approximately
220 people in total attending. As always, there were many
great discussions as everyone tried to absorb as much as
possible about Lyme, its diagnosis and treatment, and the
long-term repercussions when diagnosis or treatment is
delayed. Dr. Murakami and Dr. Ben Boucher shared the
"lymelight" for the Thursday night presentation. Many
thanks to Dr. Boucher!
HALIFAX,
NS
Roughly 40
people attended Dr. Murakami's November 5, 2010 presentation
to the executive members of the Lioness service club
and members of the Victorian Order of Nurses. Aside from
being graciously welcomed as the purveyor of Lyme information,
Dr. Murakami was also enthusiastically received as a long-time
member of the Lions organization. This presentation
has potentially opened the door to a broader audience
as Dr. Murakami may be invited to speak at
a Lions annual meeting.
Shaun Burke of the Nova Scotia Lyme Disease Association
(NSLDA) has written an informative article for NSLDA
members about Dr. Murakami's visit to Nova Scotia, and has
generously agreed to share his message here. In addition, while in
Nova Scotia Dr. Murakami was interviewed for an article in The
Chronicle Herald, which be viewed here.
ONTARIO
CLIMBS ON BOARD (SORT OF)
Dr. Murakami has
recently become aware that within the last month or
so the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health sent
a message to physicians regarding Lyme disease (Ontario
Lyme Disease.pdf). While not as comprehensive as the
notice sent to physicians in Manitoba, the Ontario
version also mentions the erythema migrans rash
appearing in 70 to 80 percent of infected individuals
(see Dr. Murakami's thoughts on this in "Interesting News
Out of Manitoba"). Sadly, the Ontario message cautions
physicians against using private "for-profit"
laboratories in the US to test patients because "they may not
follow the same testing protocols as most provincial, state
and federal laboratories in Canada and the
USA." This caution continues to be a source of
frustration, as least insofar as IGeneX is concerned, as this
lab's testing procedures have been thoroughly evaluated
and approved by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS), which regulates all laboratory testing on
humans in the US through the Clinical Laboratory Improvement
Amendments (CLIA). IGeneX is also licensed in the five states
with special requirements beyond CMS licensing.
On a positive note, the message to Ontario physicians
points out that:
-
Lyme disease can be acquired virtually anywhere in the
province (patients don't have to be from, or have visited,
an endemic area);
-
it is up to physicians to make the diagnosis and
determine treatment; and
-
testing should be used in conjunction with clinical
signs and symptoms.
Although progress is slower than we'd all like, it appears
that establishing that "you can get Lyme in Canada" is
becoming a reality.
July 2010:
INTERESTING NEWS OUT OF
MANITOBA
On July 29, 2010
Manitoba's Public Health department circulated a notice to
that province's physicians advising that clinical cases of
Lyme Disease are now reportable in
Manitoba. This is a new and welcome development, as
the national surveillance definition is
more stringent than the clinical criteria used to initiate
treatment and currently, clinical suspicion of
Lyme is not sufficient for such cases to be
counted at the national level.
According to the
July 29 correspondence, in 2009 Manitoba's tick surveillance
program revealed that 14 percent of ticks submitted were
infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that
causes Lyme, and about 5 percent of ticks were
positive for the bacteria that causes
ehrlichiosis. Two percent of infected ticks had both.
Dr. Murakami has
made four presentations to Manitoba authorities over the last
few years, with the most recent on October 19, 2009, so he is
certainly heartened by their new reporting policy
for clinical cases of Lyme. However, he noted that the
treatment guidelines forwarded to physicians by Manitoba
Public Health are based on the IDSA protocol of a
three-week course of antibiotics, which can be
adequate for recently infected individuals. Patients with
late stage Lyme may often require a long-term (three
months or more) combination of antibiotics,
or antibiotics delivered either intramuscularly
or intravenously. He is also concerned that the notice to
physicians suggests that the erythema migrans rash
appears in 70 to 80 percent of infected individuals. In Dr.
Murakami's experience, the rash may only show up in 15 to 20
percent of patients. He posits that this may be due
to the size of the tick - a bite from a tiny
nymphal tick can equal a tiny, inconspicuous or
non-existent rash.
If you are interested in reading the entire Manitoba Public
Health notice, please click on "Seminars & Lectures" on
the left-hand menu, then "Dr. Murakami's Presentations".