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It's a disease you don't often hear about: Lyme disease. Those who have it say it's misunderstood by the mainstream medical community and often misdiagnosed. Now a new documentary called "Under Our Skin" is shedding light on those who live with it and how the health care system deals with it.
Lyme disease is difficult to test for accurately. Tens of thousands of people likely go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, MS, etc.
Other times patients are told the condition is all in their head. But many say the problem is becoming an epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control says more than 200,000 people may contract Lyme disease each year.
There is a discrepancy and controversy over treatment. The standard medical treatment is a couple weeks of antibiotics, but Lyme-literate physicians believe chronic Lyme disease needs to be treated with longer doses of antibiotics, often for months at a time.
The documentary "Under Our Skin" follows Lyme patients and deals with all of these other issues related to diagnosis and treatment.
It is being screened tonight in Salt Lake City, free to the public, at the Leonardo on 209 E. 500 South. The screening will be on the third floor from 7:00-9:00. The director will be in attendance.
E-mail: tpapanikolas@ksl.com
