OT - ticks and Lyme disease

From this week's "Scotland on Sunday" (Scottish national "quality"
Sunday paper)

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com...rne.3882918.jp

(not full text)

"THEY are the noble monarchs of the glen, running wild on the Scottish
hills and providing a major draw for tourists and hunters alike.
But red deer in Scotland are being dosed with a herbal remedy to stop
the spread of tick borne-disease which can be fatal to humans.

Trials of a compound containing a combination of 10 herbs and other
plants including garlic, thyme and walnut, have been carried out among
deer herds in three areas of the Highlands and Islands.

The concoction is aimed at killing ticks which carry a range of
infections such as tick-borne fever and Lyme disease."
--
Jette Goldie
jette@blueyonder.co.uk
http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
http://wolfette.livejournal.com/
("reply to" is spamblocked - use the email addy in sig)

x-no-archive: yes

Jette wrote:
> From this week's "Scotland on Sunday" (Scottish national "quality"
> Sunday paper)
>
> http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com...rne.3882918.jp
>
>
> (not full text)
>
> "THEY are the noble monarchs of the glen, running wild on the Scottish
> hills and providing a major draw for tourists and hunters alike.
> But red deer in Scotland are being dosed with a herbal remedy to stop
> the spread of tick borne-disease which can be fatal to humans.
>
> Trials of a compound containing a combination of 10 herbs and other
> plants including garlic, thyme and walnut, have been carried out among
> deer herds in three areas of the Highlands and Islands.
>
> The concoction is aimed at killing ticks which carry a range of
> infections such as tick-borne fever and Lyme disease."


We, OTOH, are using poison. Natural poison, but poison nonethless:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/ny...l2&oref=slogin

Each tick bite is capable of transmitting several infections at once,
and there are no reliable tests for any of them. Most folks never see
the tick that bit them or any kind of rash.

Cases are estimated to be underreported even in our most endemic areas
by 10-100 fold.

Susan

On Mar 16, 10:54*am, Susan <neverm...@nomail.com> wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
>
>
>
>
> Jette wrote:
> > *From this week's "Scotland on Sunday" (Scottish national "quality"
> > Sunday paper)
>
> >http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com...medy-for-natur...
>
> > (not full text)
>
> > "THEY are the noble monarchs of the glen, running wild on the Scottish
> > hills and providing a major draw for tourists and hunters alike.
> > But red deer in Scotland are being dosed with a herbal remedy to stop
> > the spread of tick borne-disease which can be fatal to humans.
>
> > Trials of a compound containing a combination of 10 herbs and other
> > plants including garlic, thyme and walnut, have been carried out among
> > deer herds in three areas of the Highlands and Islands.
>
> > The concoction is aimed at killing ticks which carry a range of
> > infections such as tick-borne fever and Lyme disease."
>
> We, OTOH, are using poison. *Natural poison, but poison nonethless:
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/ny...cial2/16deerli....
>
> Each tick bite is capable of transmitting several infections at once,
> and there are no reliable tests for any of them. *Most folks never see
> the tick that bit them or any kind of rash.
>
> Cases are estimated to be underreported even in our most endemic areas
> by 10-100 fold.
>
> Susan- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I'm a pin cushion for ticks every winter. It's scary as we're in a
big Lyme disease area. Maybe once a week I have to evict one from my
epidermis, and a couple times every winter manage to leave the head
in. I check my pant legs every so often and flick off the
hitchhikers. After a while you learn just how it feels when one sinks
its fangs into you. My dog's even worse despite the stuff I put on
her; she's the hostess with the mostest.

Les

x-no-archive: yes

sage hen wrote:

> I'm a pin cushion for ticks every winter. It's scary as we're in a
> big Lyme disease area. Maybe once a week I have to evict one from my
> epidermis, and a couple times every winter manage to leave the head
> in. I check my pant legs every so often and flick off the
> hitchhikers. After a while you learn just how it feels when one sinks
> its fangs into you. My dog's even worse despite the stuff I put on
> her; she's the hostess with the mostest.
>


I'd MOVE AWAY from there.

Seriously, after what ticks did to my health and my child's...

Either that, or I'd live on doxycycline.

Susan

On Mar 16, 8:09*pm, Susan <neverm...@nomail.com> wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> sage hen wrote:
> > I'm a pin cushion for ticks every winter. *It's scary as we're in a
> > big Lyme disease area. *Maybe once a week I have to evict one from my
> > epidermis, and a couple times every winter manage to leave the head
> > in. *I check my pant legs every so often and flick off the
> > hitchhikers. *After a while you learn just how it feels when one sinks
> > its fangs into you. *My dog's even worse despite the stuff I put on
> > her; she's the hostess with the mostest.
>
> I'd MOVE AWAY from there.
>
> Seriously, after what ticks did to my health and my child's...
>
> Either that, or I'd live on doxycycline.
>
> Susan

Susan,

So you have Lyme disease? Or some other tick delight like Rocky
Mountain Spotted Fever? Seems like every place I've lived in the West
has ticks, so there's no use moving.

The good news is, the literature says if you get the entire tick out
in less than 24 hours, there's a vanishingly slim chance you'll catch
anything from it. I have a regimen when the head comes off....triple
antibiotic ointment under a band-aid for 10 days. Maybe I'm kidding
myself, but I can't face taking doxycyline every time. Also, even if
the beasties get in you, your immune system will fight it off 80
percent of the time. So far so good.

I once calculated my odds of getting Lyme disease, and came up with a
100 percent chance over 20 years. Wish me luck!

Les

x-no-archive: yes

sage hen wrote:

> Susan,
>
> So you have Lyme disease? Or some other tick delight like Rocky
> Mountain Spotted Fever? Seems like every place I've lived in the West
> has ticks, so there's no use moving.

Lyme and two strains of ehrlichiosis, though I may not be actively
infected after years of high dose doxycycline. I'm off it now, but
relapsed after quitting it for many years.

>
> The good news is, the literature says if you get the entire tick out
> in less than 24 hours, there's a vanishingly slim chance you'll catch
> anything from it.

The bad news is that's not true, first of all, and most folks never see
the sucker, so removal stats are moot.

I have a regimen when the head comes off....triple
> antibiotic ointment under a band-aid for 10 days. Maybe I'm kidding
> myself, but I can't face taking doxycyline every time. Also, even if
> the beasties get in you, your immune system will fight it off 80
> percent of the time. So far so good.

If you or a family member were ever disabled by TBDs, you'd feel
differently about doxy for every bite. Researchers who pooh pooh it in
public give 6 weeks to any family member with a known or suspected
exposure. I've heard it from them in private, off the record.

I've never seen any such figure for the odds of getting disease from an
infected tick but from all I have learned, that number is completely
bogus. Fact is, like many organisms, it may lay dormant until you're
stressed or weakened then become fulminant, even many years later.

>
> I once calculated my odds of getting Lyme disease, and came up with a
> 100 percent chance over 20 years. Wish me luck!

I do!

Susan

While we have ticks in this area(outside of Tucson )we have none on our
almost 5 acres. I noticed the ticks in this area seem to like grassy
areas..the last two homes we have lived in had desert landscaping and no
grass and no ticks. We have dogs and did have cats.
When I was a small child we lived in a Washington State Mt. town and we had
woods surrounding the school...at least once a week it seemed some kid was
getting a tick taken off of him/her. I didn't go out into the wooded area..I
was afraid a bear would sneak up on us

"sage hen" <desertnymph@cwo.com> wrote in message
news:07eedd7e-59d4-4de2-bc72-97e5921a8d0b@s37g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
On Mar 16, 8:09 pm, Susan <neverm...@nomail.com> wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> sage hen wrote:
> > I'm a pin cushion for ticks every winter. It's scary as we're in a
> > big Lyme disease area. Maybe once a week I have to evict one from my
> > epidermis, and a couple times every winter manage to leave the head
> > in. I check my pant legs every so often and flick off the
> > hitchhikers. After a while you learn just how it feels when one sinks
> > its fangs into you. My dog's even worse despite the stuff I put on
> > her; she's the hostess with the mostest.
>
> I'd MOVE AWAY from there.
>
> Seriously, after what ticks did to my health and my child's...
>
> Either that, or I'd live on doxycycline.
>
> Susan

Susan,

So you have Lyme disease? Or some other tick delight like Rocky
Mountain Spotted Fever? Seems like every place I've lived in the West
has ticks, so there's no use moving.

The good news is, the literature says if you get the entire tick out
in less than 24 hours, there's a vanishingly slim chance you'll catch
anything from it. I have a regimen when the head comes off....triple
antibiotic ointment under a band-aid for 10 days. Maybe I'm kidding
myself, but I can't face taking doxycyline every time. Also, even if
the beasties get in you, your immune system will fight it off 80
percent of the time. So far so good.

I once calculated my odds of getting Lyme disease, and came up with a
100 percent chance over 20 years. Wish me luck!

Les