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Special Report on Lyme Disease: Dr. Richard Horowitz and Documentary Filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson

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Lyme disease and related chronic conditions are discussed with Dr. Richard I. Horowitz and documentary filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson.  This show was suggested by listener Natalie Riehl, who was diagnosed with Lyme and several co-infections last year.Click here for free audiobook download from Audible, and earn $15 for the PBC Podcast!

Richard I. Howorwitz, MD is the author of Why Can’t I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme & Chronic Disease based on his nearly 30 years of practice at the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center in Hyde Park, NY.  He has treated more than 12,000 patients and his book looks at Lyme and 16 related co-infections.  He says about half of the patients diagnosed with Lyme also have co-infections, and his book covers the spectrum of these diseases.

Andy Abrahams Wilson produced Under Our Skin, an important documentary about Lyme disease and the controversies raised by the treatment of patients who don’t recover after antibiotic treatment.  The film shows state medical boards and insurance companies rejecting diagnosis and treatment of chronic Lyme conditions, and also included comments from Dr. Horowitz.  Wilson talked about the film in a podcast in 2009.

Natalie Riehl is a longtime listener and subscriber to the podcast.  She emailed a request for a followup interview with Wilson, and also tipped me to the best-selling book by Dr. Horowitz.  In this podcast, Natalie joins us to tell her own story, which includes her diagnosis last year of Lyme disease with several of the co-infections identified by Dr. Horowitz.

We open with Dr. Horowitz describing his experience with this set of diseases, and his approach as a “medical detective”.  He talks about his detailed diagnostic checklist and introduces MSIDS, or Multi-Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome, explaining that Lyme frequently presents with a range of co-infections.  He also explains that not all tick-borne diseases are transmitted by ticks, which Natalie confirms.  He also explains that it was only last year that the Centers for Disease Control released statistics that Dr. Horowitz thinks might approach reality: that there are at least 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year in the US, compared to the previous estimate of 30,000.

Wilson adds important dimensions to the discussion, especially regarding the mainstream media blackout on Lyme/MSIDS and the denial of the medical establishment.  As for the TV news shows, he says the subject is “too complex and too controversial”.  He informs us that there is a new “director’s cut” of Under Our Skin now available, and this summer he’ll release a sequel.  His website is here.

The website for the clinic of Dr. Horowitz is here; he refers to ILADS, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society.