Dark Banquet - Bill Schutt [118]
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*135Around 15 percent of patients who contract Lyme disease also report long-term neurological problems ranging from memory loss and diminished cognitive function to Bell’s palsy (which is characterized by temporary facial paralysis), and even meningitis—a sometimes life-threatening infection of the protective tissues (the meninges) covering the outer surface of the spinal cord and brain. Meningitis can produce stiff necks, sensitivity to light, excruciating headaches, and far worse. The question of whether these long-term effects are actually caused by Lyme disease is a matter of current and heated debate.
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*136Synovial fluid is found within the articular capsules that enclose joints like the knee, hip, and elbow. Bathing the cartilaginous surfaces where the bones meet, this slippery substance has the consistency of egg whites. It functions as a lubricant and also provides nutrients to the surrounding tissues of the joint. Apparently, some researchers (like Dr. Yeh) believe that synovial fluid also provides a safe haven for the corkscrew-shaped Borrelia burgdorferi, allowing it to elude the body’s immune system (as well as administered antibiotics) and produce the chronic symptoms sometimes associated with Lyme disease.
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†137 Most notable was a multicenter study led by Dr. Mark Klempner of Boston University School of Medicine.
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*138Lymerix, the “breakthrough” vaccine for Lyme disease, was produced by the drug company GlaxoSmithKline and available between 1998 and 2002, when it was suddenly withdrawn from the market.
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†139 On a related note, a recent lawsuit claims that the makers of Lymerix neglected to alert physicians and the public that around 30 percent of the population has a predisposition to an incurable form of autoimmune arthritis that can be triggered by the high concentrations of a specific bacterial surface protein contained in the vaccine.
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*140My students were convinced that Kilometer 41 had been named for how far it was to the nearest flush toilet.
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*141The Victoria Amazonica crewmember who lost a chunk of his thumb to a black piranha on our first trip to Brazil may have a slightly different opinion on the matter.
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*142During a recent interview, candiru expert Dr. Stephen Spotte voiced extreme skepticism that this garb had anything to do with preventing candiru attacks and plenty to do with avoiding pests like ticks and sharp objects such as thorns.
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†143 Dr. Spotte is a marine scientist and a prolific author He has published on topics ranging from modern zoos to mermaids. “I’m just an ologist,” he told me.
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*144This would be comparable to aliens capturing a jockey and a basketball player, then calling them different species because of the observed size differences. Presumably, if they had a greater sample size (a whole town, perhaps), they’d realize that they were looking at a single species.
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*145In some ways this gas exchange mechanism is similar to the one that exists between the respiratory airways of terrestrial vertebrates and the tiny alveoli located in their lungs. Oxygen (which is at a higher concentration in the water surrounding the gills than it is inside the feathery gill filaments) diffuses from the water into these ultra-thin-walled structures. The oxygen then passes into blood being carried by tiny vessels within the filaments (in much the same way as oxygen passes from alveoli into the capillaries that surround them). These blood vessels then carry the oxygenated blood away from the gills to be distributed to the tissues of the fish’s body. One major difference between the circulatory systems of fish and other vertebrates like amphibians, reptiles, birds, and