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Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic [Paperback]

Pamela Weintraub
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)

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Book Description

October 13, 2009

When Pamela Weintraub, a science journalist, learned that her oldest son tested positive for Lyme disease, she thought she had found an answer to the symptoms that had been plaguing her family for years—but her nightmare had just begun.  Almost everything about Lyme disease turned out to be deeply controversial, from the microbe causing the infection, to the length and type of treatment and the kind of practitioner needed.

On one side of the fight, the scientists who first studied Lyme describe a disease transmitted by a deer tick that is hard to catch but easy to cure no matter how advanced the case. On the other side, rebel doctors insist that Lyme and a soup of “co-infections” cause a complicated spectrum of illness often dramatically different – and far more difficult to treat – than the original researchers claim. Instead of just swollen knees and a rash, patients can experience exhaustion, disabling pain, and a “Lyme fog” that leaves them dazed and confused. As patients struggle for answers, once-treatable infections become chronic.

In this nuanced picture of the intense controversy and crippling uncertainty surrounding Lyme disease, Pamela Weintraub sheds light on one of the angriest medical disputes raging today. The most comprehensive book ever written about the past, present and future of Lyme disease, Cure Unknown exposes the ticking clock of a raging epidemic and the vulnerability we all share.


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Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic + The Lyme Disease Solution + Healing Lyme: Natural Healing And Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis And Its Coinfections
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* When journalist Weintraub and her family moved from their cramped, treeless home in New York City to a spacious, tree-shaded manse in suburban Chappaqua, they believed it was all good. Or at least the big yard with deer cavorting in nearby woods would be better, healthier, than their city digs. Within a short time, first one son, then the other, became sick with a series of increasingly debilitating disorders. Soon Weintraub and her husband presented a laundry list of similar complaints, many serious enough to threaten to sidetrack their careers. The family turned to local physicians for answers. Lyme disease, an infection communicated by the bite of a tick carried by those cavorting deer, was mentioned but discounted for a variety of reasons. Weintraub turned to the most prestigious medical centers New York had to offer and got similar responses. Hearing one implausible diagnosis after another and, worse, seeing no improvement in their individual conditions, the credentialed science writer began independent research and turned up what amounts to a controversy as contentious as creationism versus evolution. Weintraub turns a tragic (her children are still unwell) yet eye-opening experience into a shocking exposure of what can happen when egos, greed, and peer pressure supercede objective evidence, allowing patients to suffer chronic, disabling illness. --Donna Chavez --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Pamela Weintraub's book is compelling, clear and troubling.”
–Patti Adcroft, editorial director of Discover magazine

 

“In Cure, Unknown, Pamela Weintraub has produced both the definitive book about Lyme disease and associated disorders and a survivor’s account of a grueling medical odyssey. Weintraub is a masterful science writer and storyteller, and she tackles the quarrels and quagmires surrounding this baffling illness with intelligence and pathos. This is an important and unforgettable book, destined to make a lasting contribution to the field of investigative health journalism.”
–Kaja Perina, editor in chief of Psychology Today

 

"A thoroughly researched and well-written account of the disease's controversial history."
--Jane Brody, New York Times
 
 
 
"Pam Weintraub, veteran science writer, weaves personal narrative with hard-hitting investigative journalism to bring the underground epidemic of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases up from under the
radar."
-Rebecca Wells, author of Ya-Yas in Bloom and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
 
 
 
"I sometimes wonder if the only investigative writers who will possess the necessary temerity to remove the white gloves and tackle these putative experts to the ground will be those, like Weintraub and the
late Randy Shilts, whose personal experience demands that they follow the rocky trail that leads to the truth."
-Hillary Johnson, author of Osler's Web: Inside the Labyrinth of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Epidemic
 
 
 
"Millions suffering from symptoms of a mysterious disease need suffer confusion and loss no longer. If you want to know the real story behind Lyme disease and how to find your way back to health, read this book."
-Mark Hyman, MD, author of the New York Times bestseller, UltraMetabolism.
 
 
 
"Science journalism at its best."
--Amiram Katz, MD, Clinical Faculty, Neurology Department, Yale School of Medicine
 
 
 
"Weintraub turns a tragic yet eye-opening experience into a shocking exposure of what can happen when egos, greed, and peer pressure supercede objective evidence, allowing patients to suffer chronic,
disabling illness."
–Donna Chavez, Booklist
 
 
"Exhaustively researched and highly recommended."
–Tina Neville, Library Journal
 
 
 
"A tale of biological complexities, scientific turf battles, political intrigue, human egos and money – lots of it."
–Dorothy Kupcha Leland, Sacramento Bee
 
 
 
"Living with Lyme gave Weintraub both the insight and the dogged ambition to find out some truths ...  rather than remaining stuck at the pro-Lyme, anti-Lyme debate, Weintraub spent many hours
interviewing researchers who are experts in the ticks that spread Lyme, and the bacterial spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, that causes it. What she found is that these researchers -- at places like the
State University of New York at Stony Brook on Long Island, and the University of California at Davis -- are slowly figuring out how complex the bacteria and the disease are. And Weintraub said, these
researchers, by and large, confirm what many Lyme patients have learned through bitter experience -- the bacteria can cause a persistent infection that may not be treated easily by a couple of
weeks of antibiotics."
--Robert Miller, Danbury News-Times
 
 
 
"The view from inside the tick tornado: Sober but scary ...A science and health journalist, Weintraub writes clearly and passionately about a mysterious illness that has confounded physicians, patients and
scientists for more than three decades, while she tries to balance personal narrative and objective journalism... a comprehensive and compassionate guide to a dreaded illness named after a bucolic,
tick-infested town on Long Island Sound."
--Bill Williams, Hartford Courant
 
 
 
"In the war of information on Lyme disease, patient activist groups have started from a marked disadvantage to the medical establishment in terms of visibility and credibility. That may be changing, and science journalist Pamela Weintraub's new book, "Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic" (St. Martin's Press), could be one reason. Weintraub, a senior editor at Discover magazine, uses her family's protracted Lyme odyssey as the jumping off point for an exploration into the history, politics and, predominantly, the patient experience of the tick-borne disease."
--- Susan Morse, Washington Post

Product Details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Rev Upd edition (October 13, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312378130
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312378134
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

I just finished Pamela Weintraub's Cure Unknown, required reading for anyone with Lyme disease. Kimberly Kooyers  |  40 reviewers made a similar statement
This book is excellent & very informative. Pup  |  32 reviewers made a similar statement
Brilliantly written - this book is a must read for anyone suspecting Lyme disease. T. Carlson  |  23 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
178 of 185 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Doctor recommended, a compelling read! June 11, 2008
Format:Hardcover
As a California physician, I have found myself diagnosing Lyme disease in an increasing number of patients who come to me with vague, multi-system complaints, but certain consistent patterns: living, working or playing in outdoor brush or field areas (gardening, golf, hiking, camping)is the first, but many have only a little outdoor exposure. Second, complaints of the slow onset of stiff, aching joints that get better and worse, sore muscles, that spasm, tingle and turn numb off and on, headaches and fatigue, problems with sleep, an up and down course that slowly gets worse. Pamela Weintraub, a professional writer and editor, tells her story of her family's move to a rural New York community as healthy active people, only to have all four family members contract Lyme disease in the early 90's, and face not only the disability of this infection but also the confusing double talk of a medical community in denial. She tells not only her story but those of others, and in the telling reveals the difficulties in getting an accurate diagnosis, in finding a doctor to believe and treat the patient, and in being able emotionally and financially to continue the treatment until the disease is resolved. If you are a patient with Lyme disease, perhaps you will learn some things you didn't know before. If you are someone who has believed that perhaps Lyme disease is a myth, or that the people who have it are exaggerating, this is the book for you. If you are a physician, and have quoted the Infectious Disease Society of America's treatment guidelines to a suffering patient to explain why you will not treat them, or will only treat them for three weeks- this is the book for you. Those of us who have Lyme disease, or treat Lyme disease, know it to be as devastating and disabling as a HIV infection, and in many cases, as difficult to cure. Give this book to doctors, to journalists, to scout leaders who take kids into the woods, to your friends who go camping, gardening, horseback riding; to your friends with furry pets, or those who enjoy the deer in their yards. We have a serious growing epidemic in this country, affecting young and old. Let's wake ourselves up to proper treatment and prevention. Dr. Tedde M. Rinker, Redwood City, California
Was this review helpful to you?
56 of 60 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for All Parents June 18, 2008
Format:Hardcover
I'm not a doctor, nor a medical researcher. But I am a parent who's been fighting for the life of my teenage daughter who has now been diagnosed with Lyme Disease + 2 co-infections. I have a biology degree and have been through a lot of illnesses myself, but I've never seen anything like the story of Lyme. This book is a must-read for all parents. It is a fact-based narrative that tells it like it is, from the political in-fighting in the medical community to the important research that's not getting the attention it should. And the stories it tells about those infected with Lyme are mesmerizing. We fight for a diagnosis, then we fight for treatment. If my family wasn't living this story ourselves, I'd think this was a Stephen King novel.
Was this review helpful to you?
42 of 45 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The New Tuskegee June 12, 2008
By Skydog
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Superb book that reads like a scientific who-done-it. Rarely has Lyme Disease been as accurately presented in the variety of symptoms, treatments and policies. But most of all it describes a heartless medical bureaucracy that sacrificed thousands of families into bankruptcy, permanent illness and even death to satisfy insurance company lobbyists. Lyme is the Tuskegee experiment of this century.
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A complete education
A real education on the history of Lyme, I learned so much. Recommended it to all my family and friends! My daughter has Lyme but we didn't know it, this was so helpful!
Published 2 days ago by mdionquincy
5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ FOR YOUR OWN SAKE
It is a fabulous book. It reads like a mystery, but leads you through the history of the neglect and misdiagnosis of Lyme Disease patients, not diagnosed and treated promptly and... Read more
Published 16 days ago by Rachelle R. Holden
5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and well written
A must-read for Lyme-sufferers and their caregivers. The author provides a well documented history of misdiagnosis and mistreatment of Lyme.
Published 20 days ago by brian
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Informative
For anyone who wishes to understand the controversies surrounding Lyme Disease...this is the book for you. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Cindy Casey
5.0 out of 5 stars Scarey book!
A friend recommended this - there is a lot of info about Lyme and other illnesses that are often undiagnosed. Read more
Published 2 months ago by W. Swears
5.0 out of 5 stars Cure Unknown
Excellent information. So much information hard for me to comprehend it all, but certainly made one more knowledgeable about what is going on with the Lyme disease research and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dorothy J. Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars Sould be required reading!
Pamela Weintraub was an excellent author of scientific articles even before her entire family came down with Lyme. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Patricia T. Demont. PhD
5.0 out of 5 stars Cure unknown lyme epidemic
This book has been very helpful. The information provided has helped me understand what I am up against as a victim of lyme. It is a must read for everyone who steps out of doors. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jeannie
5.0 out of 5 stars inside the lyme epidemic
for anyone with lyme or has aloved one with it,it is the most helpfull and informative book i know of ,excelent!
Published 5 months ago by Ann Patterson
4.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a novel
Quick and interesting reading, the first book to start with if you have Lyme disease or know someone that has it. This is the book my doctor recommended first. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Moanakai
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