Lyme Seminar & Health Fair 5/12 in CT

9^th Annual Lyme Connection Patient Seminar and Health Fair

at WestConn on Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Lyme Disease: Why Can’t We Get Better? From Symptoms to Solutions

Contact: Jennifer Reid
[email protected]
203-241-2400 (m)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 22, 2015–“Lyme Disease: Why Can’t We Get Better? From Symptoms to Solutions” is the theme of this year’s Tuesday, May 12 Ridgefield Lyme Connection conference and health fair. Free and open to the public, the event includes an afternoon integrative medicine workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. with Dr. William Lee Cowden and Eva Sapi, PhD; a Lyme-focused health fair beginning at 6 p.m. and an evening presentation spotlighting the work of Lyme-treating physician and bestselling author Dr. Richard Horowitz at 7 p.m. Lyme Disease Association president Pat Smith will receive the first “Courage in Advocacy Award.” The program concludes at 9:30 with questions and answers.

This is the 9th year Lyme Connection has held its May Lyme Awareness month event at Western CT State University (WestConn), located at 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury off University Blvd. All activities will be held in the beautiful Westside Student Center ballroom. The Lyme-focused health fair features exhibitors offering tick-control products and services, Lyme-literate providers, laboratories and other ancillary professionals who support the Lyme- patient community. No registration is required. Seats are available on a first come first served basis. Over 400 people from 10 states attended in 2014.

Lyme Connection, which began as the Ridgefield Lyme Disease Task Force, has served as a tick-borne disease resource in the Greater Danbury area for the past 12 years. The group’s annual WestConn event is one of the largest Lyme disease patient-focused conferences in the country. Sponsors include BugBeWear.com; IGeneX, Inc.; Master Supplements, My Health 1st Urgent Care, NutraMedix and Select TCS Tick Control System. For additional information, visit our website at www.LymeConnection.org, our Lyme Connection Facebook page or email [email protected]

SPEAKER BIOS

Richard I. Horowitz, MD

Dr Richard Horowitz is a board certified internist in private practice in Hyde Park, N.Y. He is medical director of the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center, an integrative medical center which combines both classical and complementary approaches in the treatment of Lyme Disease and other tick-borne disorders. He has treated over 12,000 Chronic Lyme disease patients in the last 26 years, with patients coming from all over the world. He is former Assist. Director of Medicine of Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and is one of the founding members and past president elect of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS). Dr Horowitz has presented at numerous local, national, and international scientific conferences on Lyme Disease, and has published on the role of co-infections and toxins in Lyme Borreliosis. He has dedicated his life to helping those stricken with this devastating illness. His bestselling book “Why Can’t I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease” was released through St Martin’s press, November 2013. Website: https://www.cangetbetter.com/

Patricia V. Smith, BA

Pat Smith is president of the national Lyme Disease Association (LDA). She is a member of Columbia University’s Lyme & Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center Advisory Committee, and a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) PESP Partnership to promote avoidance of tick exposure. A 30-year Lyme advocate, Smith has raised funds for research acknowledged in 35 scientific journals. Besides speaking, publishing, TV/radio appearances, and organizing 15 CME accredited Lyme scientific conferences for doctors, she’s testified for and helped secured passage of state and federal bills, including Connecticut’s H.B.6200, AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF LONG-TERM ANTIBIOTICS FOR THE TREATMENT OF LYME DISEASE. Working with author Amy Tan, she created LDA’s LymeAid 4 Kids, a fund for children with no health coverage for Lyme. In 2008, she had a flag flown over the US Capitol by NJ Congressman Christopher Smith in honor of her work on Lyme disease. Website: /

Eva Sapi, PhD

Eva Sapi, Ph.D. is an associate professor of biology and environmental science at the University of New Haven. She has conducted extensive research on Lyme disease and, is the principal author of a paper published in PLOS-ONE, an international, peer-reviewed online publication that has determined the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease is capable of forming a biofilm, which might allow it to hide and resist harsh environmental conditions such as antibiotic treatments. Dr. Sapi’s previous research showed that aggregates of Borrelia are very resistant to the antibiotics commonly used for Lyme disease treatment. The new research showed that those aggregates are indeed true biofilms, which are well-documented as resistant to unfavorable conditions and to antibiotics. Sapi was a cancer researcher at Yale University prior to joining the UNH faculty in 2001. She earned her Ph.D. in genetics at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest before coming to the United States for postdoctoral training in molecular biology at the Yale University’s School of Medicine.

William Lee Cowden, MD, MD(H)

Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and Professor of the Academy of Comprehensive Integrative Medicine of Panama since 2008, is a USA board-certified cardiologist and internist who is internationally known for his knowledge and skill in practicing and teaching integrative medicine. He has co-authored, or contributed to, many books and other publications. As the creator of the Cowden Support Program, Dr. Cowden will present detailed information about the history of the program, how it works, and present clinical and in vitro study results.

Lyme Connection

The Ridgefield Lyme Disease Task Force (RLDTF) became “Lyme Connection” in 2014 to better reflect its mission to connect community members to tick-borne disease prevention information and patients to a wide variety of helpful resources. The group is a community-based, all volunteer initiative created by First Selectman Rudy Marconi in 2003. Lyme Connection is a tax exempt organization under the “Friends of Ridgefield Community Programs” umbrella. Learn more about the free programs Lyme Connection offers as well as the group’s history and accomplishments at www.LymeConnection.org.