Man Diagnosed With ALS Dies of Lyme Disease (Part 1 of 2)

Tara and David Geraghty On Dec. 22, three days before Christmas, 55-year-old David A. Geraghty died from complications of a supposedly rarely fatal infection: Lyme disease. As reported in The Valley Breeze, a Lincoln, R.I. newspaper, Geraghty and his family found out conclusively that he has had Lyme disease just one year ago, last December. As was the case for me and is not uncommon in other cases of Lyme disease diagnoses, it was Geraghty and his wife -- not his physicians -- who pushed for investigation into the cause of his illness and ultimately were responsible for discovering that Lyme disease was at the root. Geraghty was diagnosed in 2013 with ALS, a degenerative and usually fatal neuromuscular disease. (ALS was briefly raised as a potential cause of my most severe symptoms years ago, ruled out quickly by painful electromyograph tests.) His wife, Tara, questioned the diagnosis, asking whether her husband may possibly have Lyme disease, an infectious disease caused by a spirochete-type bacterium that infects around 300 thousand Americans each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors dismissed her questions, saying that the cause was ALS. The high school at which Geraghty had been a principal participated in the ALS "ice bucket challenge," doing what little they could to draw attention to their former leader's ailment. Given that ALS is progressive and often ends in incapacity and death, this act of support is the best anyone ca...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news