Elisa test on lyme disease
Common Questions and Answers about Elisa test on lyme disease
elisa-test
(If this is a duplicate message from me, just ignore ... I thought I had responded.)
I'm not medically trained, but I had Lyme several years ago, and your symptoms are quite similar to what mine were ... but Lyme is tricky, so not everyone has the same list of indicators.
I was tested for lyme disease over a year ago by my family physician. Test results came back negative. I was reading an article in a magazine concerning symptoms of lyme disease and everything listed as symptoms I seem to have. I am trying to find a specialist in my area who is knowledgable in this area. Should I have another blood test done to see if things have changed?
My husband had a tick on him which we removed, but not sure how long it was there. He has had peripherial neuropathy which his doctor advised was something he needed to see a neurologist. I ask if a Lyme Disease test could be performed. The doctor glared at me and said "there has never been a case of lyme in Kentucky", but told me he would do the test. Today, my husband saw this doctor and was told out of the 7 items needed to prove lyme, all he had was muscle weakness.
the ELISA and the Western blot. Doctors commonly order an ELISA first to screen for the disease and then confirm the disease with a Western blot. However, current ELISA tests are not sensitive enough for screening and may miss over half the true cases. Because of this, the best antibody test to use for diagnosis is the Western blot. ...
"Western Blot Test
"The read-out from the Western blot looks like a bar code.
Thats a difficult question. Elisa lyme test a is common test doctors use to diagnose Lyme. It test for the antibodies in your blood. As well as the Western blot test which is usually used after Elisa to confirm. Western blot is more accurate, but the accuracy rate among these types of test is about 40-60% depending on when you contracted the disease. The best way to rule out Lyme's is to see a LLMD doctor who specializes in Lyme and can run a specialized panel.
Welcome to MedHelp Lyme --
Yes, I would have more testing done, but it's not just the test that is important -- it's the doctor who is reading the test that is key.
There is a split in the medical community about how to diagnose Lyme and how to treat it. So-called mainstream docs rely almost entirely on the usual tests, which you probably had (called W.
You want to know about Lyme disease then I suggest you go to a forum that discusses it.
I'm sorry your wife has had such terrible problems and will keep a good thought for her that the cancer is gone is will stay away; l'm sure you have a good oncologist who will keep her on his/her radar.
To the question about Lyme and testing. You asked:
" Her main doctor is trying to figure out where to refer her to at MAYO. What are some questions to ask when we get there. How can it be confirmed that she doesn't have lyme?
Hi Goldie23
You are asking good questions --
I'm guessing FMS means fibromyalgia? MPS and DDD I don't know. Lyme patients are sometimes told they have fibromyalgia, a disease syndrome with no known cause or cure. We do know however that Lyme is caused by a specific bacterium and is treatable.
In sum, if you get a positive Lyme test on a Western blot or ELISA test, it is likely accurate, but if you get a negative test on Western blot or ELISA test, it may be inaccurate: the test say you don't have it, but in reality, you very well could. PCR testing is not affected is this way, and is far more accurate as a result. PCR testing is offered *only* by IGeneX Labs and is considered highly accurate.
An MD's signature is required to have this testing done, just as with W.
you can have Lyme, but the test can show negative, since the ELISA/Wblot test can be fooled into not detecting the immune reaction.
By contrast, the newer and differently structured IGeneX test doesn't play hide-and-seek like ELISA/Wblot does: instead, IGeneX looks for Lyme genetic material (DNA) in your blood, which is a direct test and no fooling around playing hide-and-seek.
s not, because it is now known that the Lyme bacteria can and do *suppress* your immune system, and your immune system activity against a Lyme infection is exactly what the W.blot/ELISA tests look for. The test result of the W.blot/ELISA tests can then wrongly say that you have no antibodies against Lyme, and therefore do not have Lyme, when actually it may be that the Lyme bacteria are just not being located and reported on the test results.
More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure ...
A variety of tests are available. Many doctors who are unfamiliar with Lyme disease just use the Lyme test available in their local laboratory. This is usually the Lyme ELISA. This tests measure a patient’s antibody, IgM and/or IgG, in response to exposure to the Lyme bacteria. By today’s standards, these tests are not very sensitive. IGeneX, Inc. will only perform the ELISA test in conjuction with Western Blots.
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