After seeing 26 different physicians and being misdiagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Kocurek discovered a diagnosis that he says fit: Lyme disease, a bacterial illness that is transmitted through bites from infected deer ticks.
And that makes him part of a long-running and nasty national argument that both sides say is becoming increasingly hostile.
Kocurek, 60, a lifelong Texas resident who lives in Colleyville, serves as officer and treasurer of the Texas Lyme Disease Association. He and many physicians believe that the risk of contracting Lyme disease in Texas is vastly underestimated. But other experts – representing mainstream thinking and backed by well-known medical journals – confidently say that it presents little or no threat to Texas residents.
The Texas question is a little-reported part of arguments about treatment of the disease that have raged for years on the East Coast, where Lyme is more clearly established. But the stakes are high.
The doctors who say Lyme is a minimal threat say their opponents over-diagnose the disease to gain patients and might miss actual health problems. Their foes say people are suffering because poor research has resulted in a dearth of accurate information.
And there you have it. Unfortunately, the characterization of long-running, nasty and hostile is accurate. While we are reasonably polite and respectful here (but far from unanimous), that's not so everywhere on the internets. Let's continue to set a good example.