1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:04,880 Speaker 1: Hey guys, it's Josh Josh Clark. No, not that Josh 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Clark you went to high school with. Sorry to get 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: your hopes up like that. This is Josh Clark from 4 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: that podcast you listen to Stuff You Should Know, And 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: for this week's SYSK Select, I'd chosen our September twenty 6 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,600 Speaker 1: nineteen episode on lime disease. This one's pretty fascinating because 7 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: it turns out lime disease has a ton of intrigue 8 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,319 Speaker 1: associated with it. It started out with a cluster of 9 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: weird symptoms of people in Connecticut, and then they finally 10 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: figured out it was coming from tics. But the mystery 11 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: wasn't over because people started developing chronic lime and at 12 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: first the medical community didn't believe they had any disease whatsoever. 13 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: They thought it was all in their heads. Well they 14 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: were wrong. You can find out about all this and 15 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: more in this episode on lime disease. 16 00:00:48,520 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 2: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 17 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's 18 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and there's Jerry over there. This 19 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: is Stuff you Should Know the podcast. Yeah, Chuck, I 20 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: have a question for you. Yes, you know it kicks 21 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: me OFFLME disease. 22 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 3: I'm so mad at you. 23 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: Blame you me for that one. She's like, you should 24 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: say this, and I said, you know what, I'm I 25 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: should totally say that. 26 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 3: Yeah. This is sort of a follow up to our 27 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 3: July twenty seventh, twenty ten episode Why Ticks Suck In, 28 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 3: which which is sort of a legendary episode because we 29 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 3: falsely promised to send people T shirts if they made 30 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 3: it all the way through the episode. That's right, We're 31 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 3: just kidding. But we still get those requests of wears 32 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 3: my shirt. 33 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: Yes, that's hilarious. I forgot about that and also get 34 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: sued today. 35 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,559 Speaker 3: Yeah. Probably. So. Also want to point out and shout 36 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 3: out our former website HowStuffWorks dot com because a couple 37 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 3: of the articles that we use for much of this 38 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 3: episode is from the old HSW website. 39 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: Nice, they're holding it down over there. 40 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 3: They're holding it down and this is real good stuff. 41 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: Yeah. So we're talking today about lime disease. 42 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 3: In particular, not limes. 43 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: No, we should say it's capital l ym disease. And 44 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: the reason it's called that is because it's named after 45 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: a town which is one of three towns where the 46 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: initial outbreak of lime disease that led to this bacterial 47 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: infection persistent bacterial infection was first describe medically. 48 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 3: One of the facts of the show. I think, oh yeah, sure, 49 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 3: who knew it was named after a town, Lime, Connecticut? 50 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 3: I knew did you know that before this? 51 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: Sure? 52 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 3: Did we cover that? And why tik suck? 53 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: I don't think so. 54 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 3: All right, well, you're smarter than me that. 55 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: No, it's not that. I think what got me was 56 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: I I heard about people saying, like, no lime disease, 57 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 1: like people take it for granted, but it's actually some 58 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: this really mysterious illness. And I'm like, what are you 59 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: talking about? So I think I looked into this year's 60 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:10,639 Speaker 1: back and that's what I found out. 61 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 3: All right, that was all So we're equally smart. 62 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: Right exactly, I'm not smarter than you. 63 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 3: What is smart? It's just like someone happens to know 64 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 3: one thing, someone else knows another. Sure, I say, they 65 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 3: cancel out, we're all smart here you goo. 66 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:26,239 Speaker 1: I'm glad you pulled that out because I would have 67 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: been like, what is smart? I couldn't have come up 68 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: with the definition. 69 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 3: So lime disease, We'll go ahead and hit you with 70 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 3: a couple of stats here. Lime disease in the United 71 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 3: States is more than doubled since nineteen ninety seven. 72 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: That's astounding, it is. 73 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 3: And it has spread too. It used to be very 74 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 3: much localized in kind of the Northeast, sort of mid 75 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 3: Atlantic areas, some in the South, but now you can 76 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 3: get lime disease. And I believe the entire lower forty 77 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 3: eight is that correct. 78 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: There are cases in all forty eight states. Supposedly half 79 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: of the counties in the United States now are considered 80 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: a high risk for lime disease. And like all of 81 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: this happened just in the last like twenty or so years. Yeah, 82 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: which is I mean, there's a lot of debate over 83 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: the CDC calls lime disease endemic, which is a disease 84 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: that has become a like an ongoing part of an 85 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: area or region, and some other people are saying, guys, 86 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: what we're talking about here is an epidemic. This is 87 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: an epidemic, and you should start calling it that because 88 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: it will kind of raise the alarm to the next 89 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: level or two where it should be. Because this is 90 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: a very alarming spread of disease that we're seeing right now, 91 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: lime disease is the number one vector borne disease in 92 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: the United States. It's way more prevalent than things like 93 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 1: West Nile or chicken gooony or anything like that, but 94 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: it's still kind of treated as like up there in 95 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: the northeastern US thing, and that's just not the case. 96 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: It's spread in every direction except east because it hit 97 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: the Atlantic, but everywhere else where. It can spread into 98 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 1: the interior of the United States and up into Canada. 99 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: It's starting to. 100 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, and there's also a history continuing to this day 101 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 3: even where lime disease can be overlooked, misdiagnosed, not taken 102 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 3: as seriously by your doctor as it should be, including 103 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 3: what we'll get to later on something called post treatment 104 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,039 Speaker 3: lime disease syndrome. And it's all very frustrating if you 105 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:38,719 Speaker 3: have been an individual that has had lime disease. There's 106 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 3: a big community out there of people that are like, 107 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,160 Speaker 3: why won't anyone listen to us, Why won't our doctors 108 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 3: take as seriously? And what do we have to do here? 109 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 3: Like do we have to start dropping dead? 110 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a tremendous amount of frustration in that community 111 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: because there's a sentiment among the medical establishment that. 112 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 3: You know, he takes some antiotics. 113 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: Exactly, it's easy to cure lime disease. Here's some antibiotics. 114 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: You still have persistent symptoms. Those are probably in your head. 115 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: We're not going to say they're in your head, but 116 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: they're in your head. And the people who are experiencing 117 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: these symptoms are like, no, my life has been derailed 118 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: by these symptoms, and you guys aren't doing anything about it. 119 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 3: It's frustrating. I know there's a lot of people out 120 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 3: there that are pretty pretty stoked right now to be 121 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 3: hearing this. Yeah, you know for sure we're advocating for 122 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 3: you guys. Sure, not patting myself on the back, although 123 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 3: I am literally patty like. 124 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: I see you chuck here. That albow is sticking out 125 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: pretty far. So. 126 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:37,160 Speaker 3: Lime disease is a disease. It's an infection caused by 127 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 3: the bacterium boro lea burgdorfrairi wow borg da faery burg 128 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 3: dea fraiari. 129 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: We're gonna get you an apron and call you the 130 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: word butcher. 131 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 3: Burgdor fairy work more. And we'll get to why it's 132 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:54,719 Speaker 3: called that in a bit. But if you haven't caught 133 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 3: on by now, it is transmitted through tick bites. 134 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:01,840 Speaker 1: Right, So, a tick, and in particular a nymph stage 135 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,359 Speaker 1: of a tick, which is a young adult or juvenile tick, 136 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: will transmit this bacteria, the Borellia burgdor fairy, into a human. 137 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: And the reason we usually get it from nymphs chuck 138 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: is because an adult tick doesn't find humans particularly appetizing, 139 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: but a nymph tick will because they're stupid, they don't 140 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: know anything yet. So as they're feeding on us. After 141 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: somewhere maybe around twenty four to thirty six hours of 142 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: feeding this infected tick that has this bacteria in it, 143 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: the bacteria will make its way from the mid gut 144 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: to the tick saliva and the tick transmit it transmits 145 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: it into the human bloodstream, where it just absolutely wreaks 146 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: havoc on the human body. 147 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, and you said something really key there, twenty four 148 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 3: thirty six, forty eight hours later, really really important. They 149 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 3: have to be attached to you for that long, sometimes 150 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 3: even longer to transmit this bacterium. So if you find 151 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 3: a tick on you and you get it off, if 152 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 3: you don't need to sweat lime disease, no, if you 153 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 3: get it off in due time. 154 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: Right exactly, If like you see it's still crawling on you. 155 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: It's unattached, you don't worry about it at all. But 156 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 1: when it is attached and when it has transmitted the 157 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: bacteria what it's transmitted, This be burgdor Ferry is like 158 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 1: really amazing at its job, which is infecting you, giving 159 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 1: you a bacterial infection. It has figured out how to 160 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: zoom through the bloodstream but then also take itself out 161 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,680 Speaker 1: of the bloodstream by latching onto the walls of your 162 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: blood vessels. 163 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, this was crazy about this cellular stuff that once 164 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 3: it's attached to a cell. They said, it's like a slinky. 165 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 3: It doesn't let go. It just like basically reaches out 166 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 3: and grabs the next cell without letting go of the 167 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 3: previous cell and just sort of walks end over end right, 168 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 3: never unattaching. 169 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: Itself right exactly. So as it's moving along, it's never 170 00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: it's not going to get kind of you know, washed 171 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: away and the extracellular matrix it's stuck to the cell. 172 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: If it wants to be stuck in the cell, it 173 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: can do the same thing to the blood vessel walls 174 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: to pull itself out of the bloodstream and then go 175 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: attack you know, specific parts of the body, So it's 176 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: really good at hanging on. That's one thing that makes 177 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,319 Speaker 1: it kind of pernicious. And then another thing exactly, it's 178 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: basically yeah, it's like the bacteria version of a tick. 179 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: I didn't think about that. And then another thing it does, Chuck, 180 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,959 Speaker 1: I think this is really really recent research. It can 181 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: actually change its protein expression at a much faster rate 182 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: than the normal mutation rate for bacteria, something like fifteen 183 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: times faster. 184 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, And what that does is that just makes it 185 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 3: really hard for our human immune system to catch up to. 186 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,560 Speaker 1: It, right, because our immune system will produce antibodies based 187 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: on the initial infection, but by the time the antibodies 188 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: come around, the bacteria may have changed itself so that 189 00:09:57,360 --> 00:09:59,959 Speaker 1: the antibodies won't recognize it. They'll just go right past 190 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: it because it doesn't it doesn't fit the description that 191 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: the antibodies have. 192 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,079 Speaker 3: That's right, And you'll know that something bad is happening 193 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 3: first of all if you find that tick. But if 194 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 3: you get headaches, fever, fatigue is a huge, huge symptom. 195 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 3: But the real telltale is what's called em It's an 196 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 3: expanding skin rash called erythema migrants and it's like it's 197 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 3: that circular pattern. And then we did talk about this 198 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 3: on the Ticks episode. But it's a circular pattern with 199 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 3: what looks like a bull's eye in the center of it. 200 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 1: Yes, and you can take off your butcher's apron now 201 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 1: because you just that was beautiful, put on your chef's 202 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: chef's hat. 203 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 3: You're sweating over there. 204 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: So that that particular rash, that bullseye rash, that is 205 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: like a just an absolute telltale sign that you have 206 00:10:50,679 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: a line boreolis boreliosis infection that only comes around and 207 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 1: like maybe seventy to eighty percent of cases. I think 208 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: if every person got that rash, we would not have 209 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: this problem with lime disease because it would be caught 210 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: very quickly because you get that within usually about a 211 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: week or less of getting infected. But it doesn't come 212 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:20,319 Speaker 1: up in all cases. And with some of those other 213 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:26,359 Speaker 1: symptoms like you said, like weakness, headaches, flu like symptoms 214 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:28,959 Speaker 1: like those could be a lot of different other things, 215 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: joint pain, and so the lime disease infection goes undiagnosed 216 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: or misdiagnosed in a lot of cases, are did for 217 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: many many years. It's just now that they're starting to 218 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: kind of recognize it or suspect lime when otherwise they 219 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:45,559 Speaker 1: might not have. 220 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean literally hundreds of things can be can 221 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 3: have the same symptoms as lime disease. So lime's been 222 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 3: around for a long time. We'll talk about the history 223 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 3: here in a minute, as far as the nineteen seventies 224 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 3: go and official recognition, but it's been around. I believe 225 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,719 Speaker 3: the Yale School of Public Health find the bacterium in 226 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 3: ancient North America, like sixty thousand years old before the 227 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 3: arrival of humans. They have an autopsy of a fifty 228 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 3: three hundred year old mummy that had lime disease. 229 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know Utzi the Iceman, remember him? 230 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 3: I remember Uzzy? 231 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: Yeah. I was disappointed that they referred to him as 232 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 1: a fifty three hundred year old mummy. It's like, no, 233 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: it's Utzi the ice everybody knows him, give him his name. 234 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 1: But he had lime disease. 235 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 3: He did. And there was a German physician named Alfred 236 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 3: Buckwald who described this that em skin rash that we 237 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 3: now call lime disease about one hundred and thirty years ago. 238 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: Right, So lime disease has been around a while, but 239 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:54,320 Speaker 1: we are just now seeing a huge again an epidemic 240 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: of it, and in a massive spread of it, not 241 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: just in North America, but there's also two other kinds 242 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,600 Speaker 1: of ticks that transmit two other kinds of lime causing 243 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: bacteria in Europe and Asia, and in all three places, 244 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 1: North America, Europe, and parts of Asia, the incidence of 245 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: lime diseases picking up at an alarming pace. 246 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 3: I think we should slow down our pace. Take break. Okay, 247 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 3: all right, we'll come back and we'll talk about Lime 248 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 3: Connecticut right after this. All right, So Lime, Connecticut. Something 249 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 3: is very old hat to you. 250 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: Right it for years Lime Old Lime? 251 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 3: And what was the third town? I don't remember, No, 252 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,439 Speaker 3: let's just call it New Lime. It was. 253 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: Notice, they're going to be so mad. Their high school 254 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 1: football team is going to go brazik on Old Lime 255 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: this year. 256 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 3: In the nineteen seventies, though, there were a group of 257 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 3: children and adults in these towns in Connecticut that were 258 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 3: having all these weird symptoms swollen knees, skin rashes, headaches, 259 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 3: all this severe fatigue. And it's bad enough these days, 260 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 3: But in the early nineteen seventies, doctors were definitely did 261 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 3: not have this on the radar and were very dismissive 262 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 3: of what was going on in these towns and if 263 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 3: it were not for the work of Judith Minch and 264 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 3: Polly Murray too, just regular moms. Although Polly Murray did 265 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 3: work for the World Health Organization for a while. They 266 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 3: were advocates. They were patient advocates because their families were 267 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 3: getting sick and no one would listen. And they were like, 268 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 3: someone's got to do something. Something's going on here, and 269 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 3: these doctors are not being any help, right, And it 270 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 3: was a big deal. Polly Murray ended up writing a book. 271 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 3: She made it sort of her life's work in nineteen 272 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 3: ninety six, a book called The Widening Circle. And because 273 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 3: of sort of the persistent sexism and science, they were 274 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 3: largely discounted, even though they had a list of thirty 275 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 3: seven individuals they researched on their own, contacted scientists. We 276 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 3: just really need to shout them out. Polly Murray died 277 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 3: just about a month ago at the age of eighty five. 278 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: Oh is that right? Yeah, Yeah, she was a persistent 279 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: cuss as they call them up in the Yankee States. 280 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 3: That's right. 281 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: So on the one hand, yes, from the everything I've 282 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: read and all the impressions I have. They were very 283 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: much dismissed, and it was very much sexist and also 284 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: I think because they weren't doctors. But on the other hand, 285 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: the doctors who were being presented with these cases were like, 286 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: I have no idea what this is, so let's just 287 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: pretend it's not real. But luckily those two women in 288 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: the groups that they established, they went on and they 289 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: contacted Yale Medical School, they contacted the state, and they 290 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: really kind of put this on the map. They said, 291 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: there is a mysterious epidemic that's going on where you 292 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: have a lot of kids who suddenly have juvenile arthritis 293 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: out of nowhere. What are you guys going to do 294 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: about it? And because of their agitation, this mystery made 295 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: its way to the desk or I guess, the microscope 296 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: of a guy named Willie Bergdorffer, and he was at 297 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: the time the world's foremost authority on what's called Rocky 298 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: Mountain spotted fever, which is another tickborn bacterial infection. 299 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 3: I remember that when I was a kid, that was 300 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 3: a big news item. It was a scary one. 301 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: He was working out in Colorado, and Colorado was ground 302 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: zero for Rocky Mountain spotted fever. For a while, which is, yeah, 303 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: you do not want to have that. It's a really 304 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: bad bacterial infection. But by this time they had done 305 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: thanks to the legwork done by the moms and the 306 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: patient advocate groups in the Lime, Connecticut, it had been 307 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: pretty well established that the common thread between all these people, 308 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,960 Speaker 1: besides where they lived and by the way, it was 309 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:13,400 Speaker 1: chuck lyme Old Lime and East HadAM sorry East HadAM 310 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: aside from the fact that they all lived in the 311 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 1: same region, was that all of them were almost all 312 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: of them were called being bitten by a tick, and 313 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: a lot of them had a mysterious rash right before 314 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,720 Speaker 1: the symptoms presented. So it came to this guy, Willie 315 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: Bergdorffer's microscope because they had said, there's something in the 316 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: ticks here that is creating this disease that we haven't 317 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: encountered before. 318 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 3: That's right, and he had already discovered this bacterium called 319 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 3: it How do you how do you pronounce that spirit. 320 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: Chat spira keet, spire key, But spira keet is a 321 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: type of bacteria, and that's what that's what they all, right, 322 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: spirra chet and you just made me think of the 323 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,399 Speaker 1: older brother Chet and weird. 324 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 3: Now go make yourself one. But what. 325 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: Man? That guy had some good quotes. 326 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, rip what what Bill Paxton when he died 327 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 3: a couple of years ago? Very sad? 328 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,200 Speaker 1: Are you sure I'm thinking of Bill Pullman? 329 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 3: No, Bill Paxton died. It was so sad because I 330 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 3: had just listened to his uh Mark Maron interview and 331 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,679 Speaker 3: he was like, after that episode, I wanted nothing more 332 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,439 Speaker 3: than to be Bill Paxton's friend and neighbor. He just 333 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 3: sounded like the best guy and best family man. And 334 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:33,359 Speaker 3: he passed away way too early. 335 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, really, I did not know about that. 336 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:36,400 Speaker 3: Yeah. 337 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: I saw Frailty not too many weeks ago. It's still 338 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 1: pretty good. 339 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 3: Was it the first viewinger? 340 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: No? No, no, I've seen it before. 341 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 3: But yeah, man, great movie. 342 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,159 Speaker 1: Yeah. But he wrote and I believe directed and starred 343 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: in it. 344 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 3: Yeah. It was so good. And I love a good 345 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:51,880 Speaker 3: Powers Booth cast and call. 346 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,680 Speaker 1: For sure it was. It was unusual and surprising. 347 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,719 Speaker 3: But it was perfect, very good, underrated film. Where are we? Oh? 348 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, we were talking about Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Willie 349 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,919 Speaker 1: Bergdorfer identifying the spiro keet that was causing. 350 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 3: Lime hirakeet right, spira chet What a dumb, dumb. 351 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 1: Yeah. No, remember we established we're all smart. 352 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 3: He Yeah, So he discovered this, this parakeet, and he 353 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 3: was honored by this discovery and naming that thing after himself. 354 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 3: That's why it has that interesting name. 355 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: I get the impression. And he didn't name it after himself. 356 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: They named it after him to go on. 357 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, but. 358 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: There's a big difference between him saying this thing's called 359 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: the Burgdorferey bacteria and somebody saying we're going to name 360 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: this after you. 361 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 3: No, I totally agree. 362 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 1: Okay, So Burgdorfrey or Burgdorfer. He figures out what is 363 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,120 Speaker 1: the basis of lime disease, which is great. That's an 364 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,920 Speaker 1: enormous breakthrough. It establishes that yes, it is its own thing, 365 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,359 Speaker 1: it's its own disease. And because it was a bacteria, 366 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: it's a spier key, which again it's a kind of 367 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:09,640 Speaker 1: a snakelike shaped bacteria specific kind that walks like a slinky. 368 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: Because it was a bacterial infection, the medical establishment said, oh, 369 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:19,159 Speaker 1: we got this here. Take some antibiotics, and over the 370 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: course of several years, starting in I think the nineties, 371 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: is when they really started to say, okay, we can 372 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: cure lyme disease, especially if we catch it early on 373 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: by a two to four week round of antibiotics. Right, 374 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: here you go, and they said, case closed, we're the 375 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,639 Speaker 1: medical establishment. Let's go have a party for ourselves. 376 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, And here's the thing, Like many times that can 377 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,199 Speaker 3: take care of the problem. So it's not like they 378 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 3: were just lazy and not doing their work. But I 379 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:51,439 Speaker 3: think they closed the book a little too soon, and 380 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 3: a lot of people do because that oral that round 381 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,400 Speaker 3: of oral antibiotics, if you catch it early, it can 382 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 3: really work. But and I think they say, what like 383 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 3: nine times out of ten, if you catch it early, 384 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 3: then that will that will work right there. 385 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,480 Speaker 1: So they're so persistent with that assertion that if you 386 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: find a tick on yourself and you live in an 387 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: area where lime disease is known to thrive, if you 388 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: can't say how long that tick's been on you, they're 389 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:25,120 Speaker 1: probably just going to give you a round of antibiotics portolactically. Yeah. 390 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: And again, like you said, in a lot of cases, 391 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: and I believe, from what I've read, the vast majority 392 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: of cases in early stage lime disease, that round of 393 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: antibiotics should work. 394 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, And they say that if you and This is 395 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:44,120 Speaker 3: from the American Lime Diesus Foundation quote. If you live 396 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:49,760 Speaker 3: in an endemic area, have symptoms consistent with early lime disease, 397 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 3: and suspect recent exposure to a tick, present your suspicion 398 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,879 Speaker 3: to your doctor so that he or she may make 399 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:56,400 Speaker 3: a more informed diagnosis. 400 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,679 Speaker 1: So show up to your doctor and say, yeah, madam, 401 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: I would love to present my suspicions to you. Please 402 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 1: sit down. 403 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 3: Well, they're saying sort of, still, you still sort of 404 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 3: need to be your own advocate because it is so 405 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 3: hard to diagnose. Still, because if you're going on symptoms alone, 406 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 3: like we said, there are hundreds of things that share 407 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 3: those symptoms and lime disease may not be the first 408 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:17,879 Speaker 3: thing they think of. 409 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: That's a huge problem with lime disease. Another huge problem 410 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: is that the test we use to test for lime 411 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 1: disease doesn't actually test for the b burgdorfree bacteria. It 412 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: tests for the antibodies that should be present in your 413 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: bloodstream if you have a bacterial infection, not even specific 414 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,159 Speaker 1: to that one, but a bacterial infection. The problem is 415 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,240 Speaker 1: it takes days, if not maybe a week or two 416 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: before your body mounts an effective immune response against this infection. 417 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 1: So if you find a tick and they give you 418 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: a test, say within the first couple of days, it's 419 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: going to come back negative. Even though you very much 420 00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: have a Burgdor free infection, it's going to come negative 421 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,400 Speaker 1: because it's the antibodies haven't been created yet. The other 422 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 1: part of the problem is even if you take a 423 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:12,159 Speaker 1: blood test that tests directly for the Burgdor free bacterium, 424 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,439 Speaker 1: it moves out of the blood stream really easily and 425 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,160 Speaker 1: within its several days. So there's a very brief window 426 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: of time where you can directly test for the Burgdor 427 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,479 Speaker 1: free bacteria and find it in a simple blood test. 428 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, you can also get false positives, and they're advocating 429 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 3: now for two tiered testing for confirmation of the diagnosis. 430 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 3: So if you get that first positive test sometimes now 431 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 3: you'll get a different test, a Western block test, right, 432 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 3: that's gonna really get more specific to that antibody, not 433 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 3: just the general antibodies. 434 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 1: Right. So part of the other problem is the reason 435 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: a lot of patient activists and patient advocate groups say no, doctors, 436 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,679 Speaker 1: you're wrong, like this is not good enough, is that 437 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: there's a sneaking suspicion among people who have what's called 438 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:07,160 Speaker 1: chronic lime or post treatment lime disease syndrome is that 439 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: the round of antibiotics, the two to four week round 440 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: of antibiotics that seemingly cured the lime disease symptoms, that 441 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 1: you had actually failed to fully knock out the bacteria 442 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: that created this infection, that created this lime disease in 443 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: the first place, that it just burrowed further into your body. 444 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,679 Speaker 1: And because the medical establishment said we got it, it's fine, 445 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: these antibiotics cured it and didn't go deeper, that bacterial 446 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: infection is allowed to fester and then present in worse 447 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: ways later. 448 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's a really big deal because you know 449 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 3: what will happen is they'll say, you're cured. We gave 450 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,560 Speaker 3: these antibiotics. They worked. But weeks and months and even 451 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,639 Speaker 3: years later, when people have persistent fatigue and muscle aches 452 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,480 Speaker 3: and headaches and you know, like your knee joints hurt, 453 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 3: they said, like a brain full can happen. And these 454 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 3: are all things that are I don't want to say generic, 455 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,359 Speaker 3: but if you walk into your doctor and say I 456 00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:09,160 Speaker 3: feel like I'm fuzzy and I have a brain fog 457 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 3: and get headaches and I'm tired, it's sort of a 458 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,639 Speaker 3: wide it's hard to pinpoint what's going on. Sure, and 459 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 3: they think you're cured of the lime disease. So that's 460 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 3: where some of the more dismissive, at least from the 461 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 3: lime disease community. They're saying, like, I have this chronic issue, 462 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,359 Speaker 3: and they're saying, but no, there's no such thing as 463 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 3: a chronic issue. Right. 464 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: Well, they're also saying like, look, we gave you a 465 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,199 Speaker 1: test for lime disease and you came back negative. Right 466 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: you know, we know you had it before we tested you. 467 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: We came back positive, We treat you with antibiotics. Now 468 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 1: we've tested you again and it's coming back negative. You 469 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 1: don't have lime disease anymore. So there's a huge debate 470 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,919 Speaker 1: whether they're the antibiotic course is not enough and that 471 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 1: the lime disease is persisting elsewhere in the body, and 472 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: that maybe it's changed its form so that it won't 473 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: show up on the tests like it should, or there's 474 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 1: remnants of it. I saw one article that suggested that 475 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: the cell wall from the spiro keat the brigdor free 476 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 1: spiro keet can remain even after the thing's dead and 477 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: persistent joint tissue and cause an immune response there, which 478 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: would explain this long term arthritis is like a post 479 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: treatment line disease syndrome symptom. Or is it that it 480 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: converts into an entirely different disease, like an autoimmune disorder. 481 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, some people think that it could trigger an autoimmune 482 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,959 Speaker 3: response and the infection's gone, and this is what's happening 483 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,639 Speaker 3: later on. Is you have this autoimmune response, it can 484 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 3: lead to other things like rheumatic heart disease. I think 485 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:52,880 Speaker 3: we do we cover Keon Bear syndrome or just talk 486 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 3: about it in different episodes. 487 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: We've talked about it, and I think if I remember 488 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:58,200 Speaker 1: correctly as Gia Barre. 489 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 3: GiB, I'm pretty sure. 490 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, we could both be wearing the apron for this 491 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:04,440 Speaker 1: one though. 492 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,680 Speaker 3: Well, we'll split it up. I get the doer half. 493 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,639 Speaker 1: All right, I get the top half. I'm porky pigging 494 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:10,120 Speaker 1: it all right. 495 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 3: I'm going to just cover my bits down there. But 496 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,360 Speaker 3: regardless of what's happening, what people know is is that 497 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 3: they don't feel right, and it's extremely frustrating to feel 498 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 3: these symptoms months and years later and not be taken 499 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 3: seriously in a doctor's office. 500 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 1: Yeah, so a lot of people are saying that these 501 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: this course of antimbiotics shouldn't be two to four weeks, 502 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: it should be many months, because you really need to 503 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: get all of the spiral keet out of there or 504 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:40,679 Speaker 1: else it's going to persist and you're going to have 505 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,600 Speaker 1: big problems. And then the medical establishment is saying, like 506 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: what you're talking about doesn't even exist. So there's a 507 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: lot of frustration that you're saying a big disconnect, and 508 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 1: this is something that is probably going to keep playing out, 509 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: although it seems like it may be on its way 510 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: out because of the epidemic proportions line is taking now 511 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: in the United States. 512 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,639 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, the statistics are mounting up such that 513 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 3: it can't be ignored any longer. Not that it was ignored, 514 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 3: but you know that's probably a harsh statement, but it's 515 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 3: being taken away more seriously now. 516 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw something like there's an expectation that there's 517 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: going to be something like three hundred to four hundred 518 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:21,240 Speaker 1: thousand new cases of lime disease in the United States alone, 519 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:27,399 Speaker 1: and that ten to twenty percent of those patients will 520 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: end up with chronic lime disease. 521 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, I spend a fair amount of time 522 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 3: hiking around the woods with my dogs and have pulled 523 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 3: plenty of ticks off of them and plenty of ticks 524 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,600 Speaker 3: off of myself. And I have fatigue a lot because 525 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 3: I have a four year old and every now and 526 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 3: then I'm like, do I have lime disease? 527 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: Well? Probably not, And here's why. 528 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 3: Well, I've never had the bulls eye. First of all, okay, 529 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 3: that's a big one. 530 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: But also the ticks you pull off of your dog, 531 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: those are dog ticks. They do not transmit lime. It's 532 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: specifically the long late or black legged tick, which is 533 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: a type of deer tick. 534 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 3: Well, but here's the thing. There are plenty of deer 535 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 3: ticks in the woods. Are you saying that they if 536 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 3: they would not latch onto a dog, and they'd be. 537 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: Like, ooh, no, I don't know. I don't know, because 538 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 1: there's deer ticks all over the woods. Sure, there definitely are. 539 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: I don't know if deer ticks will latch onto a dog. 540 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: It's entirely possible they won't, since there's such a differentiation 541 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,200 Speaker 1: between dog ticks and deer ticks. But I do know 542 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 1: that dog ticks don't transmit lime. 543 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 3: Well, I think we should talk about my favorite thing 544 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 3: from the ticks episode, And this is one I will 545 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,400 Speaker 3: lay on people from time to time is remember how 546 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 3: ticks attach themselves. Sure, they just hang out on blades 547 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 3: of grass and things and just snap their little claws constantly, 548 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 3: just waiting for something to pass by. 549 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 1: Yet they think can latch onto, right, they sense the 550 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 1: co two of the mammal that's walking past. 551 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 3: So interesting and chuck. 552 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,600 Speaker 1: One thing I read is that somehow the lime lime 553 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: infected ticks because they're infect of themselves. Lime resides as 554 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: in like small mammals and rodents as a reservoir. Yeah, 555 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: they are infected, but they don't have symptoms. Ticks get 556 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: infected with this stuff and they're just passing it along. 557 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: It's not like they're the ultimate source of lime disease. 558 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 3: No, ticks are misunderstood. 559 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 1: They're really great, right, But from what I saw, the 560 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 1: ticks that are infected with the lime bacteria are actually 561 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 1: better at finding hosts than non infected ticks. Like it 562 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 1: somehow enables them to be better parasites. It's interesting. 563 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, that sounds familiar. Did we cover that or do 564 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 3: I just know that? 565 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 1: Because I don't, I don't remember, but I do I 566 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,000 Speaker 1: remember you talking about in the Tics episode about how 567 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: they wave their arms in the air when somebody passed by, 568 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: and I remember one of our listeners made some art 569 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: of that. We got to find it. 570 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 3: That's right. And from snapping their little fingers on a 571 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 3: blade of grass to my dog's but to my scrotum, 572 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 3: it's quite a to ride. 573 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 1: It's a wild ride. 574 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 3: And then to Emily eventually plucking that thing out for me, 575 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 3: that's nice, gotta that's what marriage is all about, folks. 576 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, you just have your forearm thrust across your eyes. 577 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: You're like, get it out, get it out. 578 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 3: Uh. So let's take another break. Okay, we'll talk a 579 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 3: little bit about prevention and then a little bit about 580 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 3: some very recent interesting wacky things going on in Congress 581 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,760 Speaker 3: about lime disease as a bio weapon. 582 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 1: Okay, okay, Chuck, you talked about prevention. How do you 583 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,080 Speaker 1: keep from having to have a tick pulled from your crotch? 584 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 3: Don't ever go into mother Nature. Just stay in your 585 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:10,200 Speaker 3: mid century modern home with tiled floors, and don't go 586 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 3: into the woods. Sounds delicious, No, I love the woods. 587 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 3: You love the woods? Right? Yeah? 588 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, I love watching the Woods on television. 589 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, from your midcentury house. 590 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,400 Speaker 1: No, I do. I love the woods myself. 591 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm just kidding, get in the woods, but they 592 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 3: recommend things like deet. I don't use that stuff on 593 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,240 Speaker 3: my own body, but some people will say put that 594 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 3: all over your body and put it on your clothes, 595 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 3: and put it on your socks and shoes and. 596 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: Just walk around spring a cloud of it around you 597 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:42,600 Speaker 1: constantly while you're in the woods. 598 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 3: What I do is I just check for ticks. 599 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, a good thing to do, Seriously, it looks super dorky, 600 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: but what do you care is to tuck your pant 601 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:54,960 Speaker 1: legs into your socks. Yeah, sure, when and then when 602 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,360 Speaker 1: you come out, like wear light colors too, because you 603 00:32:57,400 --> 00:32:59,560 Speaker 1: can see the ticks a lot more easily. And then 604 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: when you when you come out of the woods, take 605 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:05,600 Speaker 1: your clothes off and take a shower as soon as 606 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,800 Speaker 1: you can, and just inspect yourself. Inspect you're growing your armpits, 607 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:13,120 Speaker 1: your scalp. Part of the problem with lime disease, though, 608 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 1: is remember you get it from TIMPs? Do you get 609 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:20,320 Speaker 1: it from ticks in the nymph stage which are really 610 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,880 Speaker 1: really small. So you've got to check really really well 611 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:25,720 Speaker 1: to see if you have that tick on you. 612 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:28,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, and just while you're at it, take off the 613 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 3: adult tics as well. Yeah, don't don't just leave those 614 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:34,360 Speaker 3: and check your dogs. You know, you check your dogs 615 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:38,000 Speaker 3: under their haunches, like on the armpit of their legs 616 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:41,840 Speaker 3: whatever that's called their leg pits. Check behind their ears, 617 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 3: check under their collars, because ticks are trying to you know, 618 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 3: they're not going to hang out just like on the 619 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 3: top of their back. They may start there, but they're 620 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:51,880 Speaker 3: going to try and find a place that's dark and 621 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,720 Speaker 3: warm and out of view. 622 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:57,400 Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't mean to say you can't get lime 623 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,560 Speaker 1: disease from an adult chuck. It's just that the nymphs 624 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: are far more likely to eat on a human than 625 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: an adult is. But a lime infected adult tick will 626 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 1: transmit sure lyn to you too. 627 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 3: For sure, A very important distinction. So now we move 628 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:17,399 Speaker 3: on to the US Congress. Very recently, about a month ago, 629 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:20,840 Speaker 3: end of July. I think, yeah, there was a US 630 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 3: House rep named Chris Smith, a Republican out of New Jersey, 631 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:28,279 Speaker 3: who introduced legislation that said, hey, Department of Defense, you 632 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:32,480 Speaker 3: should review these claims that I'm seeing that our own 633 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 3: Pentagon researched using tics to spread lime disease as a 634 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,759 Speaker 3: bioweapon in the mid twentieth century. I'm reading a lot 635 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,800 Speaker 3: about this in books and articles that we did research 636 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 3: on Plumb Island and and other insects too, not just ticks, 637 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,040 Speaker 3: of turning them into bioweapons, and this thing passed. And 638 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:55,279 Speaker 3: a lot of this comes from a book written by 639 00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:59,680 Speaker 3: Chris Newby called Bitten Colon The Secret History of Lime 640 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:01,960 Speaker 3: Disease and Biological Weapons. 641 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:06,560 Speaker 1: And this book, like I think Chris Smith, the representative 642 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:09,560 Speaker 1: from New Jersey said, like, this book really inspired me 643 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: to take up this legislation. But in the book, Newby 644 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:18,000 Speaker 1: basically says, the government at Fort Dietrich, Maryland, and on 645 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,399 Speaker 1: Plum Island, New York, before it was turned into an 646 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:23,279 Speaker 1: animal disease research center, we're doing. 647 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:26,040 Speaker 3: It was an insect disease research center before that, I guess. 648 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:31,280 Speaker 1: They were looking into well, they definitely were doing biowarfare 649 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:32,440 Speaker 1: research there. 650 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:35,880 Speaker 3: Early early nineteen fifties, Yeah. 651 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:39,040 Speaker 1: And then Fort Dietrich for however long if they're not 652 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:43,720 Speaker 1: still doing it now, But they were apparently looking into 653 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:48,000 Speaker 1: ticks as delivery systems for biological weapons. 654 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:48,719 Speaker 3: Yeah. 655 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,960 Speaker 1: I couldn't find that that is actually verified, but I 656 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 1: find that highly believable. But what Newby is saying is 657 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,960 Speaker 1: they were doing that research and then the way we 658 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:03,719 Speaker 1: got line diseases, whatever research they were coming up with, escaped, 659 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,440 Speaker 1: say a tick attached to a bird that flew off 660 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:10,160 Speaker 1: of Plumb Island and landed in the area around Lyme, Connecticut, 661 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,320 Speaker 1: and these ticks got off and they started to breed 662 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:17,479 Speaker 1: and they became endemic in this area. And that's where 663 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,840 Speaker 1: lime disease came from. There was actually a biological weapon 664 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:25,960 Speaker 1: that was produced and then inadvertently, probably not purposefully released 665 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: into the larger population in the northeast. 666 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,760 Speaker 3: Yeah. So here's my question. I haven't read the book, 667 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:38,360 Speaker 3: but are they saying that that we created lime disease 668 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:41,920 Speaker 3: or that we just weaponized it, because those are two 669 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:42,960 Speaker 3: very different things. 670 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:45,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't know what she's saying either, and I 671 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:50,839 Speaker 1: think she stopped short of saying that, but that it's 672 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:53,480 Speaker 1: implied that if you put two and two together, the 673 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,960 Speaker 1: government was looking into biological warfare and they were talking about, 674 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:02,080 Speaker 1: you know, using ticks at some point, and you know, 675 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 1: it's really close to this ground zero of where the 676 00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:08,879 Speaker 1: tick epidemic began. You put two and two together, that's 677 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:10,719 Speaker 1: the impression I have is that she didn't actually come 678 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:13,400 Speaker 1: out and say it, but that she lets the readers 679 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,080 Speaker 1: surmise for themselves, which is the problem. 680 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:20,760 Speaker 3: Well, I mean, that's very easy to disprove if she's 681 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:24,920 Speaker 3: actually claiming that they created lime disease, because we just 682 00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:29,440 Speaker 3: got through saying it was in who was the Mummy Utsi? 683 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:35,520 Speaker 3: It was in Utsi years ago over in the Alps. Well, true, 684 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 3: but it also in the United States. I mean, it 685 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 3: came around in the We first discovered it that in 686 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:44,120 Speaker 3: nineteen seventies, and like several different places. It wasn't just 687 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:47,440 Speaker 3: lime Connecticut. They found it in California, right, And you 688 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,840 Speaker 3: can't just that just it doesn't add up that it 689 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:51,960 Speaker 3: would be popping up in all these random places if 690 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:55,040 Speaker 3: it escaped from Long Island Sound in nineteen fifty three. 691 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 1: Right, which I think somebody who subscribed to this conspiracy 692 00:37:58,040 --> 00:37:59,560 Speaker 1: theory and is very much what it is, is a 693 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:04,360 Speaker 1: conspiracy theory that well, then the release wasn't purpose or accidental. 694 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,680 Speaker 1: It was purposeful that they spread it around the northeast 695 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:12,960 Speaker 1: California and then Spooner, Wisconsin, which supposedly is the actual 696 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: place where the first case of lime disease was described 697 00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:19,000 Speaker 1: in the United States in nineteen sixty nine. Yeah, about 698 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:24,240 Speaker 1: six years before this cluster of juvenile arthritis cases popped 699 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:27,120 Speaker 1: up in old Lime Lime in East HadAM. 700 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 3: Well, it's a very bad idea if that's what went on, 701 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,040 Speaker 3: because you have to depend on a lot of things, 702 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:39,480 Speaker 3: which is A these tics definitely finding their way to 703 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:43,440 Speaker 3: the enemy. B they attached to the enemy successfully and 704 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:47,160 Speaker 3: transmit the disease. And then what does it transmit? A 705 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:51,520 Speaker 3: very slow acting disease that will give people headaches and 706 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,080 Speaker 3: fatigue over the course of a long time. 707 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:58,400 Speaker 1: Right, that also produces a one of a kind, telltale rash, 708 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:01,920 Speaker 1: Right that tells you, supposedly in plenty of time that 709 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,360 Speaker 1: you have this this disease that needs to be treated 710 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:07,800 Speaker 1: with a simple course of oral antibiotics. 711 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it has to be probably in the country. 712 00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:12,719 Speaker 3: They don't thrive well in the city, right, So it's 713 00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:14,880 Speaker 3: just it doesn't make a good biological weapon. 714 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:18,919 Speaker 1: No. And then again people who subscribed as conspiracy theory say, well, 715 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:21,480 Speaker 1: they can't all be winners. But maybe it was just 716 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:23,919 Speaker 1: something they were experimenting with and it wasn't very good. 717 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,600 Speaker 3: Trust me. I mean, we've done enough research on stuff 718 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:29,399 Speaker 3: our American government used to do and continue to do that. 719 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:31,760 Speaker 3: It's not the most outlandish thing in the world. 720 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:34,400 Speaker 1: No, it's not. And that's also why Chris Smith, the 721 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:37,480 Speaker 1: representative from New Jersey, shouldn't just be dismissed out of 722 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:41,520 Speaker 1: hand because it's entirely plausible. It's yeah, it's not just 723 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:43,560 Speaker 1: a complete wacko idea. 724 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:43,839 Speaker 3: Right. 725 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,600 Speaker 1: The other reason Christmis shouldn't just be dismissed out of 726 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:50,360 Speaker 1: hand is because he is a true lime warrior. He 727 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,839 Speaker 1: introduced other legislation called the Tick Act, and of course 728 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:58,399 Speaker 1: he had to make tick an achronism, that an acronym, 729 00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:03,839 Speaker 1: not a an acronism, stand for the Ticks Colon, Identify 730 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: Control and Knockout Act. He was really grasping like a 731 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:10,200 Speaker 1: tick on a blade of grass with that one. 732 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:13,400 Speaker 3: But the point is, but knockout's not one word unless 733 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:14,880 Speaker 3: you use it as knockout. 734 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:17,839 Speaker 1: Well, that's what he's saying, I guess, because the work 735 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:23,520 Speaker 1: goes act. But it would create an additional one hundred 736 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:27,480 Speaker 1: and eighty million dollars in federal funding for lime disease research, 737 00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:28,640 Speaker 1: sorely needed. 738 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:30,319 Speaker 3: Right now, that's awesome. I didn't know you was such 739 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:31,239 Speaker 3: an advocate. That's good. 740 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:35,319 Speaker 1: He really is. He hates lime disease like like a lot. 741 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:39,719 Speaker 3: I was about to say something, but I wish I. 742 00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:42,480 Speaker 1: Could take a pill that would bulk up my analogy 743 00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:43,560 Speaker 1: region in my brain. 744 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:45,400 Speaker 3: Oh, your analogies are great. 745 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:47,080 Speaker 1: What were you going to say? I want to know 746 00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:48,239 Speaker 1: we can beep it off. 747 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:50,120 Speaker 3: And I was going to get political. I was going 748 00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:55,239 Speaker 3: to say, he hates ticks like he hates Okay, can 749 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:57,040 Speaker 3: we leave that and bleep it. I don't know, we'll 750 00:40:57,080 --> 00:40:57,879 Speaker 3: find out, all right. 751 00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:02,520 Speaker 1: So the whole idea that it's a bioweapon almost certainly 752 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:05,200 Speaker 1: not the case, right, but it makes for good press. 753 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,960 Speaker 1: I mean, like if you look up like lyme disease 754 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,000 Speaker 1: and bioweapon. There is a lot of recent articles written 755 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:14,359 Speaker 1: on it. Just because a member of Congress introduced this legislation. 756 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:19,520 Speaker 1: What a lot of people are saying is, look, it 757 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:22,400 Speaker 1: makes sense, like this conspiracy theory that people would go 758 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:27,440 Speaker 1: to that. But on at the same time, there's another 759 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:31,759 Speaker 1: really great explanation for it, and it's climate change that 760 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 1: this whole thing came about in the seventies, because we're 761 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:40,680 Speaker 1: starting to see what was called the first epidemic from 762 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:44,280 Speaker 1: climate change, and there's this really great article on Aon, 763 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:48,480 Speaker 1: which is a great website by Mary Beth Pfeiffer spells 764 00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:51,560 Speaker 1: it like Michelle Pfiffer with the p called ticks Rising, 765 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:56,799 Speaker 1: and she's an investigative reporter of science journalists who really 766 00:41:56,840 --> 00:42:00,200 Speaker 1: went to a lot of trouble to explain how climate 767 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:03,840 Speaker 1: change has created a new world for ticks and we 768 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:05,040 Speaker 1: are now living in it. 769 00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:10,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, in twenty fourteen, the EPA actually started 770 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:14,319 Speaker 3: to use four new indicators about what's going on with 771 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:16,719 Speaker 3: climate change and the impact, and one of them was 772 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:20,000 Speaker 3: the spread of lime disease. So like the EPA officially 773 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:24,200 Speaker 3: uses that as a factor in an indicator in determining 774 00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:26,280 Speaker 3: the impact of climate change now right. 775 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:28,799 Speaker 1: And so the whole basis of this idea is that 776 00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:32,880 Speaker 1: because of warmer weather, ticks are being killed off in 777 00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:36,640 Speaker 1: far fewer numbers from over the winter, so they're surviving 778 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:41,479 Speaker 1: longer as it gets warmer and warmer, higher and higher 779 00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:45,359 Speaker 1: up their range is spreading rather rapidly. Oh yeah, and 780 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:48,360 Speaker 1: wherever these tics go, lime disease is game to go 781 00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:52,360 Speaker 1: with them. So the spread of lime disease is increasing 782 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:55,480 Speaker 1: as the spread of ticks is increasing too, And ticks 783 00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:58,640 Speaker 1: have gotten totally out of hand in some areas. In 784 00:42:58,719 --> 00:43:02,400 Speaker 1: that same Aon article, well, Mary Beth Pfeiffer was talking 785 00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:06,880 Speaker 1: about how moose are dying in their thousands in like 786 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:11,920 Speaker 1: Wisconsin and the Dakotas because they're being bled to death 787 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:14,600 Speaker 1: by one hundred thousand ticks at once. 788 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:16,120 Speaker 3: It's amazing that. 789 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:18,759 Speaker 1: Never happened before. And now all of a sudden, it's 790 00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:22,120 Speaker 1: kind of becoming routine because the ticks aren't dying off 791 00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:24,759 Speaker 1: in the winter like they're supposed to. And again it's 792 00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:27,799 Speaker 1: because of climate change. And then in the Northeast, Chuck, 793 00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:30,880 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why there's been this explosion of 794 00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:33,759 Speaker 1: ticks is because there's been an explosion of deer to 795 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:35,320 Speaker 1: support the tick population. 796 00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:39,880 Speaker 3: Sure, back in the day, there were things like mountain lions, 797 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:44,600 Speaker 3: and there were predators that would help control the deer population. Yeah, wolves, wolves. 798 00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:47,480 Speaker 3: They are even suggesting reintroducing wolves to help control the 799 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:48,280 Speaker 3: deer population. 800 00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:50,440 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you can bet that's going to happen. 801 00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:54,520 Speaker 3: No really, no, I mean do you think so? Yeah? 802 00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:57,359 Speaker 1: Totally. Like if three hundred thousand people a year are 803 00:43:57,360 --> 00:43:59,799 Speaker 1: coming down with lime in the United States, they're going 804 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:03,040 Speaker 1: to are reintroducing wolves to combat if it has even 805 00:44:03,239 --> 00:44:04,320 Speaker 1: a half of a chance. 806 00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:06,920 Speaker 3: I'd be interested to see if that happens for sure, 807 00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:09,560 Speaker 3: because humans are going to want to hunt those wolves. 808 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:12,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it just brings it out in us 809 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:14,040 Speaker 1: for some reason. Huh. 810 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:18,760 Speaker 3: Well, I mean they hunted the mountain lions, right. 811 00:44:18,719 --> 00:44:23,160 Speaker 1: But I think that's the idea of oh wait a minute, 812 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:28,120 Speaker 1: really weird and circuit as bad things happen when we 813 00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:32,480 Speaker 1: overhunt mountain lions and wolves, maybe when we reintroduce them, 814 00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:35,240 Speaker 1: we won't have to, you know, or we won't follow 815 00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:37,800 Speaker 1: that impulse. We'll just let nature take its course. 816 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:38,399 Speaker 3: Right. 817 00:44:39,160 --> 00:44:41,240 Speaker 1: Who knows you got anything else? Man? 818 00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:43,480 Speaker 3: I got nothing else. 819 00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:47,320 Speaker 1: So there's a solution around antibiotics and some wolves, and 820 00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:49,000 Speaker 1: that'll cure what ails us. 821 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:53,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, advocate for yourself still, people, sure, and the. 822 00:44:53,120 --> 00:45:00,560 Speaker 1: Wolves be persistent. That's good advice for everything. Chuck agreed. Everything. 823 00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:03,640 Speaker 1: There's certainly cases where persistence is not a good idea, 824 00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:04,000 Speaker 1: But you. 825 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:06,080 Speaker 3: Know what I'm saying, right, I do know. 826 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:11,400 Speaker 1: Okay. If you want to know more about lyme disease, 827 00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:15,040 Speaker 1: go check out all of the articles they are to read. 828 00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:17,479 Speaker 1: And again, go check out the aon article by Mary 829 00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:20,600 Speaker 1: Beth fight for It's really interesting and since I said 830 00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:22,960 Speaker 1: it's interesting, that means it's time for listener mayil. 831 00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:27,080 Speaker 3: I'm going to call this neat story about how great 832 00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:29,160 Speaker 3: stuff you should know listeners are. Oh, I like that 833 00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:32,319 Speaker 3: from Portland, Maine. Hey, guys, my wife, daughter and I 834 00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:35,160 Speaker 3: all stuff you should know listeners for years. Decided last 835 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:37,760 Speaker 3: minute to buy tickets to the show while on vacation 836 00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:41,240 Speaker 3: at Old Orchard Beach, Maine, just a short drive south 837 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,640 Speaker 3: of Portland. We had nosebleed seats, naturally because we waited 838 00:45:44,680 --> 00:45:47,839 Speaker 3: until just an hour before showtime, and that was more 839 00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:50,600 Speaker 3: than cool by us, and we were totally stoked just 840 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:53,040 Speaker 3: to be there, whatever the seats. When we got to 841 00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:55,640 Speaker 3: our balcony seats, a friendly fellow named Matt approached us, 842 00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:58,680 Speaker 3: said he had three tickets for orchestra seats and asked 843 00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:01,640 Speaker 3: if we'd like them. Tickets were intended for friends of 844 00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:04,560 Speaker 3: his who were stuck in labor day weekend traffic couldn't 845 00:46:04,560 --> 00:46:06,600 Speaker 3: make it to the show. Turns out he had been 846 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:09,799 Speaker 3: scouting the crowd for forty minutes looking for a group 847 00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:11,239 Speaker 3: of three, even in listening to the help of the 848 00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:13,680 Speaker 3: ushers to find three people together, and we were the 849 00:46:13,680 --> 00:46:16,600 Speaker 3: first group that he saw. Brief walked downstairs and there 850 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:20,080 Speaker 3: we were three rows from the stage for the supremely 851 00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:26,239 Speaker 3: excellent show about podcast topic red acted. Thanks to Matt 852 00:46:26,239 --> 00:46:29,200 Speaker 3: and his friends being stuck in traffic, we went from 853 00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:31,560 Speaker 3: not having tickets an hour before showtime to having third 854 00:46:31,680 --> 00:46:35,280 Speaker 3: row ten minutes before you guys took stage. We considered 855 00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:37,839 Speaker 3: it a little piece of true magic. So while I'm 856 00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:40,239 Speaker 3: confident this lengthy setup and telling you the story is 857 00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:43,920 Speaker 3: way too long for the air, no, not true, Richard Clark, 858 00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:46,279 Speaker 3: the whole family would be forever grateful if you could 859 00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:49,440 Speaker 3: give Matt and the Connecticut groundskeeper a huge thank you 860 00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:52,640 Speaker 3: from Rich, Susan and Emily in upstate New York for 861 00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:53,680 Speaker 3: sharing those seats with us. 862 00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:56,680 Speaker 1: That is fantastic. I love our shows, man. 863 00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:58,520 Speaker 3: It's great. People are so kind. And that is from 864 00:46:58,640 --> 00:47:01,640 Speaker 3: Richard Clark, not Dick Clark, but rich Clark. 865 00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:05,000 Speaker 1: Oh that's even better. Yeah, Dick Clark's taken. 866 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:06,239 Speaker 3: That's right. 867 00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:08,680 Speaker 1: Thank you for rich Clark for recognizing that too. 868 00:47:09,280 --> 00:47:09,760 Speaker 3: Yeah. 869 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:12,040 Speaker 1: Thanks for coming to the show, Rich and bringing the family. 870 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:14,000 Speaker 1: And thank you Matt for being such a cool dude. 871 00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:18,240 Speaker 1: That was very nice of you. I'm utterly unsurprised because 872 00:47:18,239 --> 00:47:22,080 Speaker 1: our fans are pretty great people. Yes, okay, Well, if 873 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:23,520 Speaker 1: you want to get in touch with us, you can 874 00:47:23,520 --> 00:47:25,120 Speaker 1: go on to stuff you Should Know dot com and 875 00:47:25,200 --> 00:47:29,560 Speaker 1: you can send us tweet or a Insta post or 876 00:47:29,600 --> 00:47:31,759 Speaker 1: a comment or what have you, that kind of thing 877 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:34,840 Speaker 1: because all of our social links are there. Or you 878 00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:37,279 Speaker 1: can just do it the old fashioned way and send 879 00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:40,000 Speaker 1: an email, wrap it up, spank it on the bottom, 880 00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:46,280 Speaker 1: and send it off to stuff Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. 881 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:49,319 Speaker 2: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 882 00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:53,600 Speaker 2: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 883 00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:55,560 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.