News headlines are intentionally designed to get attention, and the fact that the Centers for Disease Control just quietly, yet openly, acknowledged the existence of chronic Lyme and other chronic conditions should get your attention. My first reaction upon seeing the Facebook headline was to doubt the article’s truth- at least until I saw the evidence for myself. Even then I had to read the short commentary published in a journal three times to be sure my eyes were not deceiving me. Ultimately, it does appear that some officials with the CDC have acknowledged the existence of a prolonged disease state after Lyme and a few other infections by creating a new category called ‘Infection-Associated Chronic Conditions and Illnesses’ (IACCI for short).
Looking past the humor of pronouncing this new category like an Italian pasta (Ee-A-Chee) and the annoyance of an awkward acronym, I applaud their honest attempt to explore and to help those who they can’t deny are suffering. They admit that they don’t fully understand this condition. They admit that current tests and approaches do not adequately identify or quantify these conditions. They admit that more research is needed in order to work out a better understanding.
I can express just as much frustration as the next person at our conventional medicine system, whether we are aiming insults at the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical complex, the academic institutions, or the general willful ignorance of average doctors on the street who even deny acute Lyme in Tennessee. Many of us, whether functional medicine practitioners or patients with such ignored conditions, have been gas-lit, mocked, and run off by this system. However, we should encourage admissions like this one, even if it does not go far enough (the article definitely should have noted Bartonella in the list). We have to remember that we were once in the dark like they are and usually had to walk out into the light slowly.
We can be gracious by applauding their initial efforts at acknowledging what we knew all along, without being smug and prideful. Yet, we can also now point to this official statement when others in the Big Medicine system tell us we are crazy. Maybe we print out copies and post them on the windows of their medical offices. (On second thought, no, that is probably not going to get us anywhere in convincing others that our patient’s healthier, more abundant lives may require therapy for things like Lyme.) Instead, we can build up our list of “evidence” and ask them if they are following evidence-based medicine that research supports. Then, when they ask, we fork over the list and pray they take the time to read for themselves. Not everyone will see the light, but even if we can get one or two scales to fall off, we have made progress worth making.
Get started with Sanctuary today!
Click below to schedule your first conversation with our Patient Support Team.
Original Article:
Fiore, A. E. (2025). Progress Toward Understanding Infection-Associated Chronic Conditions and Illnesses. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 31(14). https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3114.251187.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
Dr. Eric Potter graduated from Vanderbilt Medical School and then went on to specialize in internal medicine (adult) and pediatric care, spending significant time and effort in growing his medical understanding while caring for patients from all walks of life.
