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The pain of “chronic Lyme disease”: moving the discourse in a different direction
Author(s) -
Baker Phillip J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fj.11-192898
Subject(s) - lyme disease , chronic pain , medicine , lyme , disease , context (archaeology) , chronic disease , multidisciplinary approach , intensive care medicine , population , antibiotic therapy , physical therapy , antibiotics , borrelia burgdorferi , immunology , antibody , paleontology , social science , environmental health , sociology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
About 30% of the population of the United States suffers from acute or chronic pain, often of unknown cause. Among this group might be included patients with symptoms claimed to be caused by a poorly defined condition called “chronic Lyme disease” in which chronic pain is a major contributor. Since there is no evidence to indicate that chronic Lyme disease is due to a persistent infection and that extended antibiotic therapy is beneficial and safe, this condition should not be viewed solely as an infectious disease problem. Rather, it should be considered within the context of a broad‐based, multidisciplinary approach to determining the cause of chronic pain per se and developing more effective strategies for its treatment as outlined in a recent report on pain issued by the Institute of Medicine.—Baker, P.J. The pain of “chronic Lyme disease”: moving the discourse in a different direction. FASEB J. 26, 11–12 (2012). www.fasebj.org