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EMPIRE STATE LYME DISEASE ASSOCIATION
Capital Region Chapter
presents
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Attorneys
Alex C. Dell and Jennifer Storm
"Workers’ Compensation, Social Security Disability, NYS Disability Retirement, and Lyme Disease"
Alex C. Dell is the founder of the firm that bears his name, and has nearly two decades of experience in the areas of Workers’ Compensation Law and Disability Benefits Law. Alex represents injured and disabled workers who are in need of wage replacement and medical benefits. Alex earned his B.A. summa cum laude at the State University of New York at Binghamton , and his J.D. at Queens College School of Law of the City University of New York.
Jennifer Storm joined the law firm of Alex C. Dell in December of 2010 as a Social Security attorney. Jennifer oversees the development of Social Security cases, drafts, and legal memoranda, attends hearings and prosecutes appeals regarding the denial of benefits and improper benefit calculations.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 7 PM (doors open at 6:30)
Guilderland Public Library
2228 Western Ave, Guilderland NY 12084
The presentation is free and open to the public
For more information contact: bjmeslda@yahoo.com
SUPPORT GROUP MEETING DATES
Adirondack Lyme Disease Foundation
Support Group Meetings
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All are welcome.
Saratoga Springs Public Library - Susman Room - lower level
49 Henry Street, Saratoga Springs, NY
Empire State Lyme Disease Association
Capital Region Chapter
Support Group Meeting
1:00 - 3:00
Guilderland Public Library, 2228 Western Ave., Guilderland, NY 12084
Contact: Barbara - bjmeslda@yahoo.com
"SMALL BUGS, BIG PROBLEM"
DR. KENNETH LIEGNER SPEAKS IN SARATOGA
Nationally renowned Lyme disease expert, Dr. Kenneth Liegner was the the featured guest speaker at a special fall presentation sponsored by the Empire State Lyme Disease Association's Capital District Chapter and Adirondack Lyme Disease Foundation on October 9. Also featured on the afternoon program were the comments of Sonia Kiciuk, FNP( family nurse practitioner) who works with Dr. Liegner in his practice in Pawling, NY.
The tiny bacterial spirochetes that cause Lyme disease are demanding and drawing more and more attention not only from medical practitioners but also from the general public as awareness about this potentially debilitating disease expands. The event was atteended by about 120 members of the community at the Courtyard by Marriott in Saratoga Springs.
Dr. Liegner is a Board Certified Internist with additional training in Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, practicing in Pawling, New York. He has been actively involved in diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and related disorders since 1988. He has published articles on Lyme disease in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has presented poster abstracts and talks at national and international conferences on Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. He has cared for many persons seriously ill with advanced and neurologic Lyme disease. His work has focused on the serious morbidity and (occasional) mortality that can eventuate from this aspect of the illness. He has emphasized the urgent need for widespread clinical availability of improved methods of diagnostic testing and for development of improved methods of treatment for Lyme disease in all its stages. He holds the first United States patent issued proposing application of acaricide to deer for area-wide control of deer-tick populations as a means of reducing the incidence of Lyme disease.
Dr. Liegner's presentation underscored the ever-increasing body of evidence to support the argument for updating, redefining, and improving the diagnostic and treatment structures associated with Lyme disease, and the painful human toll the current stagnant structures are exacting.
Ms. Kiciuk spoke to the huge problem existing in the medical care communities, especially in the college health systems, where a lack of accurate information about Lyme disease is leading college health professionals to misdiagnose and mistreat hundreds, if not thousands, of college students across the country. In her previous post in a college health center, Ms. Kicuik explained that she thought she knew what she needed to know about Lyme, but since her affiliation with Dr. Liegner, she discovered that she did not have the information she should have had, and she is greatly concerned about the lack of accurate information that still plagues college health systems.
Lyme disease is a complex bacterial infection that is also known as “The Great Imitator". Lyme disease can present with symptoms that may appear to belong to one of many other diseases, including fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's, and others. People suffering from undiagnosed Lyme are often thought to be suffering mental illness, because their symptoms are varied and often don’t conform to the traditional, older models of what Lyme disease should look like. Lyme is a disease that is tricky to diagnose and tricky to treat. There is new information and research being developed in the field of Lyme disease. Much of the commonly held knowledge about Lyme disease is being challenged by new research and improved clinical reporting. Dr. Liegner has been in the forefront of the effort to inform and educate not only patients but the national and international medical establishments, as well, in and ongoing quest to improve diagnostic methods and treatment methodologies and standards.
Members of the Empire State Lyme Disease Association and the Adirondack Lyme DIsease Foundation sold support materials - bracelets, car magnets, pins, etc. as well as Pamela Weintraubl'sacclaimed book CURE UNKNOWN and the extraordinary movie, Under Our Skin to help support their efforts.
The Empire State Lyme Disease Association is represented in the Capital District by two sister organizations: The Capital District Branch, which usually schedules support meetings in the Guilderland area, and the Adirondack Lyme Disease Foundation, which schedules its regular meetings in Saratoga Springs. The two organizations frequently join forces to offer special presentations, speakers, or events.
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SUNY Adirondack’s College Lecture Series
Microbiology Professor Holly Ahern with an Update on Lyme Disease
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Scoville Learning Center Auditorium
3:30 p.m
Holly Ahern, professor of microbiology at SUNY Adirondack, will give a talk on the scientific and medical facts, controversies, and challenges surrounding the disease entity known as Lyme disease on Tuesday, November 2 at 3:30 in the Scoville Learning Center Auditorium as part of SUNY Adirondack’s College Lecture Series.
Admission is free and the public is invited. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.
In her presentation - “Lyme Disease 2010: A Growing Epidemic” – Ahern will discuss the microbiology and pathophysiology of Lyme Disease and explain why it is a much more sinister entity than what was first described as flu-like symptoms accompanied by a “bull’s-eye” rash over 30 years ago. Ahern will present the results of her recently completed study on the actual prevalence of Lyme Disease in Washington, Warren, and Saratoga counties.
“From the data we’ve looked at so far, the number of people who have signs and symptoms of the disease is much higher than currently reported state and federal statistics,” Ahern said. Ahern says controversial diagnosis and treatment guidelines have hindered physicians in their ability to diagnose and treat patients with Lyme Disease. The controversy stems from the current CDC case definition. Despite a growing body of scientific evidence to the contrary, the guidelines neglect to consider that chronic neurological and musculoskeletal symptoms experienced by many patients may be the result of a stealthy, persistent infection by the Lyme spirochetes. “The bacteria have been shown to persist for very long times in tissues from animal and human hosts, and have been re-cultured from animals that were treated with antibiotics and thought to be cured,” said Ahern. Insurance companies use the existing guidelines to determine what diagnostic tests and treatment options they will pay for. This greatly influences the way in which doctors diagnose and treat their patients. “When treated according to the existing guidelines, half of Lyme patients have been shown to have relapses of the disabling symptoms,” she said.
For more information on this program, please call Joyce Miller, professor of library science, at 743-2200, extension 2485.
