“Lyme disease is a tremendous public health problem in the United States, and clearly highlights the urgent need for prevention.” Paul Mead, M.D., CDC 

There are approximately 300,000 cases of Lyme diagnosed every year, however it is reported that there are at least 10 times that amount that is not diagnosed. The US is currently spending $3b USD annually to treat Lyme disease and the majority of this is for late stage treatment when this neurodegenerative disease is at its worst. 

An August 2015 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that Lyme cases in the Northeast alone have spiked by over 320 percent since 1991 (Fox news.com)

Lyme disease is currently diagnosed using laboratory based tests from blood withdrawal, which is expensive, time consuming and reported as having a preponderance of false positives. Also current tests are at the discretion of a doctor as it would be there decision to test for Lyme and as diagnosing Lyme can prove challenging because common symptoms are fever, headache and fatigue, all signs that some doctors may chalk up to other, less hazardous viruses. Some patients are paying privately to be tested in Europe and foot the associated costs themselves.

Twitter is alive with many cases being reported in the UK, USA, Holland, Ireland, Australia, Canada for example - only this morning an article was shared on twitter about Alison Larnder, who was tested for Lyme in the UK, but this test was negative, so flew to Norway where the diagnosis was confirmed.  The number of cases being identified in the UK has quadrupled in the last 12 years. (Daily Telegraph,  Laura Donnelly and Nicola Harley, October 10th 2015) There are many famous people such as Avril Lavigne who have shared their diagnosis, as has Yolanda Foster, her children Bella and Anwar, Ben Stiller, Rebecca Wells, Richard Gere, Ashley Olsen and Alec Baldwin as they too it would seem want to bring Lyme disease out into the open.

Lyme Disease is deadly, it's debilitating and occurs in stages, often starting with flu like symptoms which can then lead to meningitis, heart problems, joint pain, nerve pain and memory loss and that's just for starters - and it doesn't distinguish between adults and children. There are cases reported of children being bedridden for years - what kind of life is that for a child? or anyone for that matter?

John Caudwell - the self made billionaire via P4U has declared that all of his family have very sadly been diagnosed with Lyme disease and he is committed to making Lyme diagnosis and treatment at the forefront of clinicians minds and feels that Lyme Disease is in fact one of the "Greatest Threat to Public Health".  An absolute gentleman trying to ensure that Lyme Disease is on the agenda.

Why am I writing about this, well Flourish Partners are working on a product that we're confident will change how Lyme is diagnosed. (A bold statement I may suggest!) We feel that early diagnosis is key. If a person exposed to the bacteria is treated within 48 hours, Lyme can be prevented, but antibiotics are the first line of treatment for affected patients.  Many individuals that actually have an ongoing infection are not tested and/or treated until severe symptoms associated with chronic Lyme disease are apparent. 

There is a clear need for a sensitive and specific diagnostic tool to help identify early infection whereby antibiotic treatment is most efficacious and nips the Borrelia burgdorferi in the bud.

As a team, we're confident, committed and compelled to finalize funding for this much needed global product.

So keep your fingers crossed so that we can make a difference, drastically cutting healthcare costs and more importantly save and improve patient's quality of life.