Looking at Lyme

Today we explore one of the many ways the CanLyme Educators’ Resource can be put into action. In this podcast, Sarah reaches Mike Horembala in the Foothills of Alberta. Mike, known to his students as “Mr. H’, is a Vice Principal and teacher with a passion for the outdoors. He developed a program within the Foothills School District called “Go Wild,” where students can learn about the outdoors whil...

We turn our gaze northward to Thunder Bay, Ontario to chat with entomologist Dr. Ken Deacon. While working on a contract with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, he saw the first wood tick in the Thunder Bay area in 2003. He then saw the first black-legged tick in 2005 and has continued to follow the progression of their habitat expansion. He points out that ticks can now be found in northern ar...

In the words of Optometrist Dr. Cameron McCrodan, “you don’t see with your eyes, you see with your brain.” What is the relationship between the eyes, the brain and some symptoms of Lyme disease? Dr. McCrodan explains that our brains are not only tasked with receiving visual stimuli, they also influence how the information is interpreted and how our eyes function. Although these topics were touched...

Sarah explores the latest research on astrocytes, gut bacteria and neuroinflammation with scientist and medical researcher Dr. Francisco Quintana. Dr. Quintana is a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He describes some of the causes of neuroinflammation including infection, tumours and auto-immune dis...

Join us for a candid conversation with Ironman athlete, Angela Naeth. Angela contracted Lyme disease in 2018, the same year she completed the Ironman race in Kona, Hawaii. Born in Prince George BC, and now living in Massachusetts, Angela has had to continually adapt and evolve in order to optimize both her own health and her performance as an athlete. She describes the learning curve that many Lym...

Sarah is excited to announce a new Educator Resource for Lyme disease, and speak with the lead resource developer, Lauren Hudson. Lauren is an educator and parent with a passion for science, life and for going into nature with her students and her family. She took a deep dive into the world of Lyme disease to help develop an educator resource to help other teachers both learn and teach about ticks...

What can employers do to protect staff who work in the outdoors? In today’s podcast, Sarah explores some answers to that question with Tim Tchida, Owner and CEO of Summit Reforestation in Smithers BC. When Tim first heard about Lyme disease, he never imagined getting the disease himself. Tim recalls first learning he had Lyme disease after receiving a positive Canadian Lyme test (western blot) fol...

This week, we are very excited to speak with one of Canada’s foremost tick and Lyme disease researchers, Dr. Vett Lloyd, who heads up a dynamic research team at Mount Allison University in Sackvillle, New Brunswick. Her curiosity, passion for community and collaboration and sense of humour have endeared her to her colleagues and her community. Dr. Lloyd recalls her initiation into the world of Lym...

As Dr. Maloney says, “Research is our way out of this.” This is our kind of expert leading the way in the field. In today’s podcast, Sarah explores a comprehensive (and free!) online education program designed for healthcare professionals, which was founded by Lyme disease expert, Dr. Betty Maloney.  Dr. Maloney became interested in Lyme disease when she realized that what she was seeing in her me...

Welcome back to Season 2 of the Looking at Lyme podcast. Buckle your seatbelts, because we are going on a science adventure with Dr. Theoharis Theoharides, Professor of Immunology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. Dr. Theoharides has been on the leading edge of mast cell research and recounts the fascinating history and physiology of mast cells. Mast cells have existed for over a h...

Well that was fun! And did we ever learn a lot from season one. We feel very fortunate to have interviewed so many incredible doctors, scientists, journalists, and educators. It was a really interesting year to deepen our understanding about tick-borne illnesses. We're at the end of season one, and we'll be back with season two in 2021.  We've just released the first draft of a teacher resource ....

In today’s podcast, Sarah talks about ticks, Lyme disease and climate change with investigative reporter Mary Beth Pfeiffer. She lives in New York State, an area of the US which is highly endemic for Lyme disease, and has been investigating this disease for the past 8 years. Her search for answers revealed that there was not only a denial from the US CDC and Infectious Diseases Society of America...

In today’s podcast, Sarah examines the importance of adequate training in wilderness first aid skills. She speaks with expert Michael Crawford, an instructor at Slipstream Wilderness First Aid in Victoria, BC. Michael points out some of the differences between regular first aid and wilderness first aid. Anyone performing first aid on a patient in a wilderness setting will likely need to care for t...

In this podcast, Sarah speaks with Steve Smith, an expert in outdoor risk management. Steve has worked for many years teaching, leading, planning, and consulting about ways to manage risk in the outdoors. Steve recently presented at the 2020 NOLS Wilderness Risk Management Conference. Steve begins by explaining the difference between safety and risk management, and why this distinction is necessar...

In this episode Sarah talks with Canadian researcher Dr. Leona Gilbert, originally from Thunder Bay, and currently living in Finland. Dr. Gilbert tells us about an interaction with a patient that led her to focus on testing for Lyme disease. She points to research showing that patients who suffer from long term effects of Lyme disease often test positive for multiple microbes.  Tickplex is a diagn...

In this episode Sarah talks research, Canadian research that is, with Dr. Melanie Wills. She is the Director of the G. Magnotta Lab at the University of Guelph, conducting research and studying the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of Lyme disease. She became interested in researching Lyme disease while working on her PhD, when her own health history intersected with her research interests. When...

In this episode, Sarah hears from Alexis Chesney, a naturopathic physician in Vermont who specializes in Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. She is also author of the book “Preventing Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases”. Alexis became interested in Lyme disease when a previously healthy friend and colleague developed many mysterious symptoms which turned out to be caused by Lyme disease....

In this week’s podcast, Sarah speaks with Dr. Thomas Moorcroft, a physician from Connecticut who specializes in Lyme disease and Lyme-related infections. He explains what co-infections are and differentiates between infections that are contracted from a tick bite, and concurrent infections that people with Lyme disease may experience. During the 2020 International Lyme and Associated Diseases Soci...

In this episode Sarah talks about the effects of Lyme disease on the brain with Dr. Shea, a senior staff psychologist, professor and President of Neuropsychological Evaluation and Treatment Services in New York City and Boston. Dr. Shea starts off by explaining many of the effects that Lyme disease has on the brain including the ability to process information, changes in memory, multitasking and h...

In this episode, Sarah speaks with another champion for Canadians living with Lyme, Green MP Elizabeth May. She describes how she first learned about the severity of Lyme disease when speaking to a woman from Pictou, Nova Scotia who required a wheelchair for mobility. After moving to British Columbia, Elizabeth met others who were experiencing life-altering illness due to the tick-borne diseases....

In today’s episode, Sarah speaks with veterinarian Dr. Joe Bloom to find out more about Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, and how they could affect our pets. Dr. Bloom works in an endemic area of the United States and sees many dogs with Lyme disease in his practice, explaining signs and symptoms that dogs might experience. He also describes the different kinds of tests he uses to diagn...

In this episode of Looking at Lyme, Sarah speaks with Internal Medicine Specialist and Canadian Lyme expert, Dr. Ralph Hawkins. Dr. Hawkins has been treating Lyme patients in Canada for many years, gaining a wealth of knowledge about the disease. He recounts his introduction to the shortcomings of Lyme disease testing in Canada while treating a patient with a history of multiple previous tick bite...

In this episode, Sarah interviews an Infectious Disease Physician who has treated Lyme patients in the US state where Lyme disease was first identified - Connecticut. Dr. Sam Donta has gained a wealth of knowledge and expertise treating Lyme patients for almost 40 years. As a result of his expertise, he was appointed as one of 14 members of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group, established by the...

In today’s podcast, we start to explore Lyme disease in children. Sarah welcomes her father, Dr. Ted Cormode, to the podcast. He understands Lyme disease both as a pediatrician and as a parent supporting and advocating for his child. Dr. Cormode talks about his experience as a parent when Sarah first became ill. In medical school, he did not learn about Lyme disease so he spent the next years digg...

In this episode, Sarah speaks with Dr. Bruce Hoffman, a Functional Medicine physician from Calgary. Dr. Hoffman describes Functional Medicine and explains how numerous factors influence a patient’s health. He highlights the importance of taking an in-depth patient history to understand and document symptoms. This helps determine whether a patient might have other underlying health concerns that ma...