5. Federal government on Lyme disease and fibromyalgia
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                                                        as of 4 May 1999

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) USA web site:
 
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Volume 1, Number 1, January-March 1995

Dispatches

   Australia
   Lyme Disease in Australia-Still To Be Proven! 

"Patients with positive serologic test results frequently have
long-standing symptoms for which no other diagnosis has been
established. The most common symptoms are musculoskeletal,
including myalgias and arthralgias without objective evidence of
joint swelling, and syndromes involving fatigue and loss of
energy resembling chronic fatigue syndrome. Some patients fulfill
diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia."

   http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol1no1/russell.htm

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From the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research web iate:

CHRONIC DISABLING DISEASES AND DISORDERS: THE CHALLENGES OF FIBROMYALGIA

CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH FMS 

"A number of conditions are regularly reported to be associated with FMS 
or to mimic its symptoms. These include, among others, rheumatoid 
arthritis, hypothyroidism, cervical and low-back degenerative disease, 
Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep disorders, depression and 
even HIV infection."

   See complete article at:
   Chronic Disabling Diseases and Disorders: 
   The Challenges of Fibromyalgia
   http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/slavkin/slav1197.htm
   or
   http://www.nidr.nih.gov/slavkin/slav1197.htm

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Research on Chronic Lyme Disease

"Since 1994, NIAID has convened meetings to address the issues 
surrounding chronic Lyme disease. Attending were scientists involved in 
Lyme disease at NIH and elsewhere, physicians and patient advocates. The 
participants acknowledged that determining whether chronic Lyme disease 
is caused by persistent infection or is a post-infectious disorder is a 
major research goal. Finding the answer to this question for any 
individual patient will have an important bearing on his or her 
treatment. While the participants acknowledged the difficulties in 
carrying out clinical trials to evaluate chronic Lyme disease, they 
agreed that clinical trials are necessary to resolve questions about 
optimal treatment."

"Participants agreed that the first trial should focus on a well-defined 
patient population with probable B. burgdorferi infection that might 
respond to antibiotics. Patients could then be selected on the basis of 
relapse or non-response following appropriate treatment for early-stage 
Lyme disease. This would provide common criteria for studying and 
treating this multi-symptom disease. Such patients might include (1) 
those with persistent arthritis or persistent fatigue or fibromyalgia; 
(2) those with cognitive abnormalities, neuroradiculitis, headache or 
encephalomyelitis; and (3) those with objective evidence of continuing 
B. burgdorferi infection."
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Prepared by: 

Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892

Public Health Service
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
May 1997 

   See complete article:
   Research on Chronic Lyme Disease, NIAID Fact Sheet
   http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/lyme.htm

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See:
Lyme disease Misdiagnosed as Fibromyalgia - Index
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Oasis/6455/fms-index.html
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Prepared by
Art Doherty
Lompoc, California
doherty@utech.net