Taking A Stand 4 Lyme: Scientists Tackle the Lyme Disease Epidemic

CUPERTINO, Calif., Dec. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Stand4Lyme® Foundation has created a critically needed, credible and comprehensive video on the serious consequences of Lyme and tick-borne diseases. More than a dozen esteemed scientists discuss the facts and urgent need to address this global epidemic. In “Taking A Stand 4 Lyme” a group of collaborative researchers and clinicians speak candidly to help educate and bring awareness to these complex and, in some cases, fatal diseases.

Stand4Lyme Foundation makes a clear business case for pharmaceutical support and federal research funding to develop reliable diagnostic tools and accessible effective medical treatment. This is critically needed for the vast population exposed to Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, an increasing source of morbidity and mortality worldwide.

“Tick-borne diseases are hazardous to your health. Even one tick, one bite can give you multiple bacterial infections,” says Mark Davis, Ph.D, Director of the Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection, Co-Director of the Stanford Lyme Disease Working Group.

Federal funding for Lyme disease research has stagnated for decades. Now this stealth pathogen has spread to all 50 states and more than 80 countries. Lyme disease costs the US health care system billions of dollars every year, yet research is significantly underfunded. Lyme disease is six times more prevalent than HIV, yet the Lyme budget of the NIH is less than 1% that of HIV.

Stand4Lyme Foundation’s compelling video explains the real risks, scope and costs to society and the life-changing health and financial challenges Lyme patients and their families face. The solution will require collaboration across a diverse group of stakeholders including patients and patient advocates, physicians, scientists, and government and public health officials. The Health and Human Services Tick-Borne Disease Working Group submitted a formal report to Congress this fall about the human health and economic impacts of these illnesses as well as their recommendations for how to best address them. The goal of this video is to support these recommendations and help educate all stakeholders from a scientific perspective and garner increased government support and funding.

Promising interdisciplinary collaborative studies are in progress by leading researchers and breakthroughs are on the horizon. Stand4Lyme Foundation facilitated funding for several new scientific findings soon to be published. “We are hopeful these discoveries will develop into solutions to help the millions that remain debilitated regain their quality of life. We are particularly excited about new research on Lyme disease and the immune responses to the bacterium under way in Dr. Irving Weissman’s state-of-the-art lab at the Stanford School of Medicine, spearheaded by Michal Caspi Tal, a postdoctoral fellow,” says Sherry Cagan, president and founder of the Stand4Lyme Foundation. “With the interdisciplinary team of experts and their collaborators in place working together and today’s advanced technology, I know that the only thing standing in the way of stopping this pathogen is funding.”

Watch the video at: Stand4Lyme.org

About Lyme disease
The Lyme disease bacterium, Borelli burgdorferi is a spirochete similar to syphilis and is transmitted by a bite of an infected tick. Lyme disease, is the fastest growing infectious disease in the US and prevalent in all 50 states and in over 80 countries. There are over 300,000 new cases each year, yet Lyme research remains significantly underfunded. Currently, there is no known cure and diagnostic tests are unreliable potentially subjecting patients to debilitating symptoms, even death. Lyme patients are often misdiagnosed as having other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, ALS and Alzheimer’s.

About Stand4Lyme Foundation
Stand4Lyme® Foundation joins forces with scientists to pave a medical path to wellness for Lyme disease patients — with the goal of ending the prolonged suffering of millions. With a strategic mission, the Stand4Lyme Fund, established at the Stanford School of Medicine helps supports the Stanford Lyme Disease Working Group and their collaborators’ research. Stand4Lyme is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Lyme disease by actively facilitating promising studies of key collaborators with resources to transform the currently underfunded Lyme paradigm. Stand4Lyme is a Silicon Valley-based 501(c)(3) charitable organization and is volunteer led. Tax ID 47-5095146 Stand4Lyme.org

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SOURCE Stand4Lyme Foundation