Dr. John Lambert:

There is. If a neurologist diagnoses people with multiple sclerosis before somebody comes along and says it is Lyme disease, there would be a major reluctance to change the approach. I have a few patients with misdiagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, as it was actually Lyme disease and they got better with antibiotics. It is hard for people to change. Many rheumatologists have studied fibromyalgia or atypical rheumatoid arthritis for ten years and change is difficult for clinicians. I love all my colleagues in Ireland and they are very good consultants but there is a huge barrier and resistance to this. I am puzzled but people are fixed in their thinking. When people mention Lyme disease, the reaction is that it is a rare disease and patients are crazy. There is a such a prejudice against it.

I am puzzled. I treat patients with HIV and I am a lead person treating hepatitis in Ireland and I do not face this with other diseases. It is funny as I ask the same questions about Lyme disease every day. We must address some of those issues as well to face the barriers. My colleagues are willing to look with an open mind at other areas, thinking outside the box and looking for new ideas and answers to apparently unsolvable dilemmas in Ireland, but it is a bit different with Lyme disease.