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Article: Chronic Lyme disease: psychogenic fantasy or somatic infection? (Correspondence).
- Article from:
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Article date:
- February 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Sigal and Hassett published an article about Lyme disease in the EHP Supplements (Sigal and Hassett 2002), suggesting that chronic Lyme disease is "psychogenic." I do not think that Sigal and Hassett, nonpsychiatrists, are qualified to speak about psychiatric matters. I, however, actually have had the disease, which they characterize as "medically unexplained," for over 25 years and have 15 years of experience as a patient advocate and educator. I beg to differ.
Many reports in the peer-reviewed medical literature substantiate the notion of persistent infection. Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative organism, has been cultured after "adequate" antibiotic therapy ...