Talking About Health; Why Health Communication Matters

August 16, 2013

I was flipping through channels and saw Martha Stewart on David Letterman the other night. Dave was revealing that he had a ‘bull’s eye rash’–the stand-out characteristic of Lyme’s disease associated with exposure to ticks. Martha Stewart was completely dismissive, telling him she’d had it numerous times and it’s no big deal, just part of living in the woods. Basically, she told him she didn’t want to see his rash and to take some antibiotics and get over himself.

It is fortunate that Martha Stewart has not had any severe long-term and chronic conditions associated with having had Lyme’s disease. But many others are not as fortunate. For one, they do not display the ‘bull’s eye rash’ and the test for the condition is not very effective, so many people will not be correctly diagnosed. Many others may assume that it is no big deal after hearing Martha Stewart proclaim as much and fail to get care. She does say that antibiotics are needed, meaning that she does get care when she has the condition. So let’s not lose sight of that message. If you think you have been exposed, and if you have a bull’s eye rash most especially, see your doctor immediately and get on those antibiotics. Hopefully, you will have the same outcome as Martha and be fine after doing so.

In the meantime, become better informed than Martha appeared to be. Skim some of the highlights at this site: http://www.lymemd.org/?gclid=CN2wm6uMiLkCFcRlOgodFigAfQ

July 14, 2010

Someone recently told me, “I read your blog when I get a chance and it is interesting… but what am I supposed to do with the information there?” I paused for a moment. And after a bit of conversation, I decided to take the blog in a different direction for awhile. While I hope information will still be interesting, I thought we could try a bit of an experiment to see if we can make the information more directly useful. So, here goes.

What is one health risk you face because of something you like to do for fun? For example, if you like to go hiking in the woods, you face risks relating to poison ivy and/or ticks. I like to hike and often face these risks. I am very sensitive to poison ivy. So I know what poison ivy looks like… well, sort of. Leaves of three. That is a description that fits a lot of plants in the woods, so it is a bit challenging to avoid all plants with leaves of three. And in fact, I am not always successful in doing so.

As for the result of not successfully identifying and avoiding poison ivy, I am all too familiar with the blistering rash that comes with exposure to the plant. Recently, after a weekend in the woods, I developed chills and aches–severe ones that seemed like a summer flu. As I buried myself under quilts for a second evening, I noticed a rash with a familiar red appearance forming on me. I was pretty unhappy about what I expected to be coming. The morning after noticing the rash, I looked for the blisters I was expecting as part of what I assumed was going to be poision ivy rash. Instead, I found that the rash was now about 12 inches in diameter and rather circular with an area of red surrounded by a white circle and then more red in a rather prominent circle.

This is when online health information searching comes into play for me. I went online and searched for ’causes of red rash.’ It wasn’t long before I came upon a picture of my rash–and the label, a bull’s eye rash, and the link to Lyme’s disease. Alas, in a short time, I was in the doctor’s office getting antibiotics and grateful for the online health information that advised me to ‘call my doctor.’ The effects of Lyme’s disease added to my haste to follow the advice.

I realized through this experience that one of the most important things for us to do when communicating about health is to find out what signs or symptoms go along with a condition. So, my challenge to you is to identify a condition that you feel at risk for and then identify through an internet information search the symptom or sign that goes along with diagnosing the condition. Be specific. For example, chills and muscle aches go along with Lyme’s disease but they fit a lot of things. The bull’s eye rash…that is a very specific clue to the condition.

Share what you learn here…

Tag: Lyme’s disease

Lyme’s disease is not just part of living in the woods

Do you know what condition is linked to a bull’s eye rash?