New Book, "The Lyme Disease Survival Guide," Provides Sufferers With Physical, Emotional and Lifestyle Strategies for Healing

    /24-7PressRelease/ - CENTENNIAL, CO, May 17, 2008 - According to the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme Disease is the fastest-growing infectious disease in the US, with more than 20,000 new cases reported each year. The CDC estimates, however, that only one in ten cases is reported, which means that there are at least 200,000 new cases each year. Lyme Disease can be treated successfully with antibiotics when - and if - it is caught early. If it goes undiagnosed, then it becomes a multi-symptom, multi-system illness that wreaks havoc upon nearly all of a sufferer's tissues and organs.

Once this happens, Lyme Disease becomes chronic and difficult to diagnose. It may masquerade as a variety of other illnesses, and most physicians do not know how to effectively treat it. It devastates nearly every aspect of a sufferer's existence, and ILADS, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, estimates that most chronic Lyme disease sufferers experience a level of disability equal to that of a person who has suffered from a recent heart attack. Existing books on Lyme disease offer few solutions for coping with the difficult life circumstances faced by chronic Lyme disease sufferers.

For those who have been recently diagnosed, The Lyme Disease Survival Guide gives them a good "first resource" to understand what they are up against and start looking for answers. For those who have been struggling with the effects of the disease for some time, the book can provide new treatment solutions as well as insights into how to cope with the disease.

The author

The Lyme Disease Survival Guide was written by Connie Strasheim, a former flight attendant who suffers from chronic Lyme Disease and who had to quit her high-flying job when the disease started to affect her ability to work. Ms. Strasheim, determined to "get her life back" after she became severely ill, began writing a blog called "Lyme Bytes." (http://www.lymebytes.blogspot.com/), where she revealed the results of her extensive research into various coping and healing strategies.

Ms. Strasheim's writing style and the knowledge she conveyed in the blog attracted the attention of a publisher, Bryan Rosner, the founder of BioMed Publishing Group. Mr. Rosner asked her to organize her findings and articles into a book. Ms. Strasheim completed the book while living near the rain forest in Costa Rica (she speaks fluent Spanish), a place she had moved to, in part, to find healing. The book's forward is written by Dr. James Schaller, M.D., a Lyme-literate physician and author of over twenty-five books, including several on Lyme disease co-infections.

The Lyme Disease Survival Guide covers:

Physical strategies for healing Lyme Disease, including ten primary protocols for healing, detoxification, supplements, adjunct or supportive therapies, testing methods, and ways to discern whether a protocol is working.

Lifestyle strategies for healing Lyme Disease, including: how to optimize life circumstances while dealing with the effects of Lyme Disease, information on diet and exercise, how to live mindfully, manage relationships, finances, work and travel.

Emotional strategies for healing Lyme Disease, including how to eliminate the devastating mental symptoms of Lyme Disease. Some of the most common and troubling symptoms, for instance, are the loss of the sufferer's short-term memory, and "brain fog," both of which make everyday tasks a challenge - if not impossible. Cognitive and physiological strategies address both the conscious and subconscious mind, and harness the power of belief, thought and words for healing through visualization, prayer and other techniques for achieving wellness.

An appendix suggests the role of God in healing, and is based on Ms. Strasheim's personal struggles with - but ultimate belief in - a God who heals.

The complete title of the book, "The Lyme Disease Survival Guide: Physical, Lifestyle, and Emotional Strategies for Healing, with a Dash of Humor to Light the Way," reflects the scope and depth of coping and healing strategies covered in this new book, and the book's endearing and helpful writing style. Ms. Strasheim has managed to maintain her sense of humor as she has struggled with Lyme; her wit and spirit are evident throughout the book. The style is conversational, even as she describes the more complex scientific and medical findings and approaches.
For an interview with Connie Strasheim, for more information about the book, or to request a review copy, contact [email protected] at: 303-800-6782 or 303-949-3347.

The Lyme Disease Survival Guide is published by BioMed Publishing Group. It is available via a PayPal link on Ms. Strasheim's blog at: http://www.lymebytes.blogspot.com. As well, you can contact Ms. Strasheim at the above-mentioned e-mail address and/or phone numbers. The new book will retail for $25.95.. ISBN # 978-0-9763797-4-4-52595.

Connie Strasheim is a healthcare journalist who writes about Lyme disease and topics pertaining to alternative and complementary medicine.

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