As a Public Service the documentary. "Under Our Skin” Will be shown on the following dates & locations:
October 5 at 12:30 pm at the Amador County Elks Lodge, 12500 Kennedy Flat Rd
Jackson, CA 95642. For information contact Janet Zipse lsunflowers@volcano.net or (209) 296-1244
November 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm at REI in Stockton, 5757 Pacific Avenue, Suite A105, Stockton, CA 95207. Reservations Required; Contact Customer Service @ (209) 957-9479
November 15, 2008 10:00 am at the Calaveras County Central Library, 1299 Gold Hunter Road, San Andreas, CA 95249.For information call (209)-754-6510
An oral presentation by Steve Diers on Lyme Disease in California will follow the movie with an opportunity for questions & answers.
The west slope of the Sierras, which includes the Mother Lode, is endemic for the western black-legged tick which transmits Lyme disease. This movie tells what some physicians, pharmaceuticals, and certain insurance companies don't want you to know. If you have been told you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Alzheimer Disease, Als, Parkinson Disease, and other diseases or conditions may actually be Lyme disease.
UNDER OUR SKIN is a powerful and often terrifying look not only at the science and politics of the disease, but also the personal stories of those whose lives have been affected and nearly destroyed. From a few brave doctors who risk their medical licenses, to patients who once led active lives but now can barely walk, the film uncovers a hidden world that will astound viewers. While exposing a broken health care and medical research system, the film also gives voice to those who believe that instead of a crisis, Lyme is simply a “disease du jour," over diagnosed and contributing to another crisis: the looming resistance of microbes and ineffectuality of antibiotics. As suspenseful and hair-raising as any Hollywood thriller, UNDER OUR SKIN is sure to get under yours.
The Centers for Disease Control admits that more than 200,000 people may acquire Lyme disease each year, a number greater than AIDS, West Nile Virus, and Avian Flu combined. The annual incidence of Lyme disease, which accounts for 95% of vector-borne illnesses in the United States, has increased almost 50-fold since the national surveillance began in 1982.
Steve & Stephanie Diers both have Lyme disease. Steve has provided trainings for a number of agencies on Lyme disease & the western blacklegged tick. Every year he receives between 6-24 requests for information and names of Lyme Literate doctors. In 2008 three cases of Lyme disease were reported in Calaveras County. Steve "claims that for every 30 people he knows that have Lyme disease on average 2 have received treatment in time and the rest have Chronic Lyme disease for the rest of their lives. There are 3 individuals within ¾ mile of his home that are being treated for Lyme. Notice that Calaveras County is rated at a moderate risk on this map: http://www.aldf.com/RiskMap/california/california.shtml.
Activities involving a considerable degree of contact with wood resulted in greater acquisition of nymphs than those involving exposure solely to leaf litter. Time-adjusted tick-acquisition rates demonstrated that sitting on logs was the riskiest behavior, followed, in descending rank, by gathering wood, sitting against trees, walking, stirring and just sitting on leaf litter.
Education has proved to be the best prevention against the debilitating diseases this species of tick carries.
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