Deborah Cohen

It is completely understandable why people who have been ill for years without an explanation are drawn to the Lyme community. Finding others with similar experiences can bring validation and support when medicine has offered few answers. But uncertainty also creates opportunities for people who claim to have those answers. Private clinics offer tests of questionable value and treatments that may be unnecessary; influencers can spread compelling stories of illness and recovery to huge audiences. In that sense, Lyme tells a much broader story about health in the social media age. Personal experience can travel further than scientific evidence, and uncertainty can quickly acquire a diagnosis, a community and a commercial market around it. For people who are genuinely suffering, false certainty may ultimately be no kinder than having no answer at all. By Margaret McCartney and Deborah Cohen (@mgtmccartney and @deb_cohen). Read more: buff.ly/tBs7iFz