Lyme disease was discovered in the early 1970s to be triggered by spiral-shaped bacteria lurking in the deer tick. It was found to be similar to the microorganisms that cause syphilis. The writer, director and producer of this documentary is Andy Abrahams Wilson. His twin sister in upstate New York was diagnosed with Lyme disease many years ago. He contends that as many as 200,000 people in the U.S. may contract it annually — more than will get AIDS, West Nile Virus, and Avian Flu combined. The problem is that this disease is hard to diagnose and many with it are misdiagnosed as having fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, autism, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, MS, ALS, or Parkinson's. Still others are told that it is all in their minds or what physicians call a psychosomatic disorder.
Wilson follows the cases of six chronic Lyme disease patients whose experience of this debilitating illness illustrates how it can attack the brain or the heart, be passed on to children, or cause death. Traditional physicians have accepted the medical establishment's premise that Lyme disease can be successfully treated in two to four weeks with antibiotics. This view promulgated by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is wholeheartedly backed by the insurance industry that does not want to pay all the claims that would result if it were recognized as a chronic disease.
The individuals profiled in this documentary, however, have suffered multi-system symptomatology: they include Mandy Hughes whose health has deteriorated over a seven-year battle with Lyme; Jordan Fisher Smith whose cognitive issues and fatigue forced him to quit his job as a park ranger; Marlena Connors, a young ballet dance who lost her ability to walk and is confined to a wheelchair; and Dana Walsh, a young woman working with the U2 on tour, who is hobbled by pain all the time. Luckily, each was able to find a Lyme-literate doctor willing to risk their medical licenses to treat them. Two of the saddest scenes in the documentary deal with doctors who have lost their licenses for working with pioneering treatment protocols.
Under Our Skin definitively shows that chronic Lyme disease is a growing problem which is not being given a fair shake by the medical and insurance establishments.
