Lyme: The Infectious Disease Equivalent of Cancer, Says Top Duke Oncologist

Last week, I mentioned the case of Dr. Neil Spector, whose long-undiagnosed Lyme Disease resulted in irreversible heart failure and ultimately, a heart transplant. Dr. Spector, author of Gone in a Heartbeat: A Physician's Search for True Healing, is the Sandra Coates Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University School of Medicine. As the Director of Developmental Therapeutics at the Duke Cancer Institute, he's a leader in applying translational research to the clinical development of molecularly targeted personalized cancer therapies. Here, Dr. Spector shares his story, explains what Lyme and cancer have in common (hint: a LOT), and encourages us with his vision for the future. Like so many of us, your Lyme was missed by multiple physicians. What were your symptoms? I don't recall a tick bite, but I first started having symptoms in 1993, mostly cardiac arrhythmias. I had unprovoked palpitations that lasted fifteen to twenty seconds. There was something ominous about the way they felt and came on, but they were never captured because by the time I got to the ER, they'd resolve. And because I had just moved to a new state and was extremely busy with my career, the easy diagnosis was that I was just stressed. Doctors were saying I looked and seemed fine, but I wasn't. I also had an early episode of brain fog that came on out of the blue. I gave a lecture at University of Miami School of Medicine for an hour,...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news