I'm amazed that no one has mentioned TICKS yet! I have Chronic Lyme Disease, which can be a crushingly debilitating condition at times.
Lyme disease affects the joints, heart, brain and other bodily organs and mimics numerous other diseases and conditions, including ALS, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, which can make diagnosis and treatment more difficult. IT'S A TERRIBLE THING TO LIVE WITH - and SO Preventable.
Ticks are out in force this year - in fact I had one crawl literally across my laptop keyboard on Tuesday - and I had been inside the house all day! Scary statistic: One moose can carry 10,000 to 120,000 ticks!! [Have you seen the National Geographic segment
[link] which showed the ticks killing a moose? It's disgusting and sad. No, really, it's not for weak stomachs.]
New Hampshire has one of the highest infection rates in the country due to the high numbers of deer ticks we have. The number of reported cases of Lyme disease in New Hampshire increased 76.7 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to the
NH DHHS, and saw a comparable increase last year as well! We have the fastest increases in the entire country.
I'm actually meeting with Governor Lynch today as he proclaims May Lyme Disease Awareness Month! PLEASE, PLEASE be aware that this is a major health risk, and take steps to prevent being bit and infected.