7 Healthcast: Lyme Disease

While vacationing in Martha's Vineyard, Kris Newby and her husband were each bitten by ticks and contracted Lyme Disease.

Kris Newby, Lyme Disease patient
"Our symptoms were a lot like if you had Alzheimer's; arthritis and chronic fatigue all at the same time."

Now Kris is featured in a new documentary "Under our Skin." The film looks at the struggles of patients to ensure they get an accurate diagnosis and treatment.

 Kris Newby, Lyme Disease patient
"20 years later, we have a really bad Lyme Disease test that misses well over half of the positive cases, and we really need to re-look at this disease and redefine it with the new scientific information we have now."

 The movie highlights the plight of a park ranger who struggled trying to get an accurate diagnosis; he ended up taking dozens of medications and spending thousands of dollars when two common antibiotics would have controlled his Lyme Disease.

Andy Abrahams Wilson, producer:
"Right now even if you get a diagnosis, which is difficult because the testing is so poor, it's hard to get treated because so many physicians are afraid to treat Lyme and then if you're lucky enough to get the diagnosis and get somebody who can treat you, your insurance usually doesn't cover it."

Infected ticks transmit Lyme, a neurological disease. The hope is this movie will help people nationwide get the medical attention they need to fight this often debilitating disease.

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