Private clinics misdiagnose “vulnerable and desperate” patients with Lyme disease so they can offer expensive treatments, a doctor has warned.
Dr Matthew Dryden, a consultant microbiologist for the NHS in Hampshire, said for-profit clinics tell chronic fatigue syndrome patients that they have the tick-borne disease.
He believes UK doctors have taken the lead from the US, where a “profitable medical industry” has been created. developed around the treatment of Lyme disease.
As a result, patients receive expensive and dangerously long courses of antibiotics and other medications, while “serious and treatable diagnoses are sometimes missed,” according to Dr. Dryden.
Lyme disease has been thrust into the spotlight in recent years by supermodel Bella Hadid, who regularly updates her social media followers on her ongoing battle against the bacterial infection.
A private, for-profit clinic is misdiagnosing “vulnerable and desperate” patients with Lyme disease, a disease spread by tick bites, a doctor has warned.
Lyme disease has been brought into the spotlight in recent years by supermodel Bella Hadid, who regularly updates her social media followers on her ongoing battle against the bacterial infection.
In issuing his warning in a letter to the Times, he wrote: “These clinics and labs are taking advantage of vulnerable and desperate people with chronic symptoms.”
Dr. Dryden said that some private clinics that offer tests for Lyme disease even use foreign laboratories that provide “the result they want,” rather than what the patient’s results actually suggest.
He warned that once this diagnosis is received, some unscrupulous clinics put profits before prescribing expensive treatments to patients.
Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that is transmitted to humans through infected ticks, can be difficult to diagnose.
The first sign is a telltale target-shaped rash that develops where the person was bitten, but this only appears in a few people.
This rash can appear up to three months after the bite.
Then, sufferers develop general flu-like symptoms, including fatigue, headache, joint swelling, and fever, which can last for a few weeks.
The delay between being bitten, the rash that may not appear, and the general symptoms that could belong to a variety of other conditions means that patients can have a difficult time getting a diagnosis.
There are two blood tests available that can diagnose Lyme disease, but the NHS warns that they may not be reliable in the early stages of the disease.
One course of antibiotics is usually enough to treat most Lyme disease patients, although the process can take several weeks.
However, for reasons scientists are still exploring, some people with the disease may have ongoing symptoms for years.
The NHS advises that as this form of the disease is not yet understood, there is no agreed treatment.
Dr. Dryden said chronic fatigue syndrome patients are among those who are misdiagnosed with Lyme disease.
Chronic fatigue syndrome, also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (MS), is a little-known condition.
Although it presents a wide range of symptoms, the most common symptom is extreme tiredness.
The cause is unknown, but experts theorize that it could be the result of a viral or bacterial infection or a problem with the immune system or hormones.
There are no specific diagnostic tests available, which means it is usually diagnosed based on symptoms and other conditions ruled out.
There is no cure, according to the NHS.
Previous research has suggested that the vast majority of people diagnosed with Lyme disease do not have the condition.
Experts from John Hopkins University in the United States found that out of a sample of more than 1,200 patients diagnosed with Lyme disease over 13 years, three-quarters were unaffected.
Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose, a telltale bull’s-eye rash may not appear in everyone, and general flu-like symptoms can also be caused by a variety of other conditions.
Publish your findings in the journal. Open Forum Infectious Diseasesthey said this had led to patients commonly receiving “unnecessary antibiotic treatment”.
According to government figures, around 850 people in England had laboratory-confirmed Lyme disease last year.
However, between 1,000 and 2,000 more people were diagnosed with the disease without laboratory tests.
Only one in 20 tick bites is thought to cause Lyme disease in England, although the risk varies depending on the specific area and time of year.
