Still no effective treatment for post-lyme disease symptoms

DENVER, CO – While Lyme disease is usually cured with antibiotic treatment, some patients experience persistent fatigue and cognitive dysfunction. In a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, researchers share their experience in a study evaluating ceftriaxone, a broad spectrum antibiotic they hoped would be effective in treating post-Lyme disease symptoms.

In a double blind, single center, randomized clinical trial, 55 Lyme disease patients with persistent severe fatigue were randomly assigned to receive the ceftriaxone or a placebo. “Although patients assigned to ceftriaxone showed significant improvement in fatigue compared to the placebo group, seven percent were hospitalized with adverse treatment effects,” according to study author Lauren Krupp, MD, of State University of New York -- Stony Brook.

“We had hoped to find a treatment option for these patients that would improve their symptoms and reduce the level of infection,” comments Krupp. “But given these adverse effects, and because neither cognitive functioning nor laboratory measure of infection were improved, our study does not support the use of repeated courses of ceftriaxone.”

Krupp added, “The observation that fatigue did improve is very encouraging and hopefully other treatment approaches that are better tolerated or safer for patients can be identified to ameliorate post-Lyme disease symptoms.”

The study was sponsored by a NIH grant from its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. Roche Pharmaceuticals provided the study drug and placebo at no charge.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 18,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit its web site at www.aan.com.

EDITORS NOTE: Dr. Krupp will present the research at the American Academy of Neurology's 54th Annual Meeting in Denver, Colo., during a platform presentation on Thursday, April 18, 2002, at 2:00 p.m. in Room C 108/10/12 of the Colorado Convention Center. She will be available for media questions at a briefing on Thursday, April 18th from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. in the AAN Media Room, Lobby C, Room C208 of the Colorado Convention

For more information contact:
Kathy Stone, 651-695-2763, kstone@aan.com
April 13-20, 303-228-8450
Cheryl Alementi, 651-695-2737, calementi@aan.com

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