Michael Specter Quotes

Not enough people know what Lyme disease is and the dangers of being bitten by an insect.

If left untreated, Lyme disease can be crippling, yet it is a difficult illness to contract: a tick needs to attach itself to your body for at least twenty-four hours. Even then, two weeks worth of commonly prescribed antibiotics will kill the bacterium.

Chronic Lyme causes arthritis, heart problems, stroke - even death.

Dementia is, after all, a symptom of organic brain damage. It is a condition, a disorder of the central nervous system, brought about in my case by a viral assault on brain tissue. When the assault wiped out certain intellectual processes, it also affected emotional processes.

Lyme disease has become a fast epidemic worldwide. I am determined to help find a cure and figure out a way to share knowledge with the millions of people struggling with this debilitating disease.

Lyme disease is very debilitating. Being from the East Coast I know Lyme disease is quite common and may lay dormant and may produce flu-like symptoms, as well as neurological issues.

The more we know about Lyme, the more we can do to treat patients and educate families to stop the spread of this debilitating disease.

He who knows syphilis knows medicine

I love the fact that I can make a podcast in my house and tens of thousands of people will hear it. I also like that it's gotten rid of a lot of gatekeepers.

CTE can be caused by smaller hits to the head over time.

One thing that's important to understand is that it's believed that the pathology of CTE doesn't have to do with concussion so much as it has to do with the accumulation of sub-concussive hits. So every hit matters. If you're subject to 800 or 1,200 of these every year, it accumulates. It's like erosion.

As a physician, I'm somewhat an advocate of patients. How come, before Mike Webster, no NFL player was told or knew that there was an intrinsic risk of brain damage from playing football?

Is a concussion going to lead to CTE? No, probably not in most cases. But if you have enough concussions over a certain amount of time, yes, then I think you can lead to CTE.

My mom was diagnosed at the age of 46 with ovarian cancer.

Yes, the concept that blunt-force trauma of the head causes brain damage is a generally accepted principle of medicine. That is why I was so appalled by the NFL doctors who were denying my work.

When I say I'm the biggest musical act on the face of the planet, I really mean that. I'm in front of tens of thousands of people, millions around the world, performing every week. Is there anybody else that's doing that? I don't think so.

The overwhelming evidence is that trauma is a major factor in CTE.

My mom was actually diagnosed with breast cancer when I was five.

The Lyme disease had so severely affected my brain functioning that it was extremely hard for me to think, form sentences, and stay focused.

In boxing, you've got CTE from head trauma constantly.

If I have another concussion and I don't feel like I can play anymore, then I won't.

All the NFL players I have examined pathologically, I have not seen one that did not have changes in their brain system with brain damage.

Lyme has brought me to my knees; this disease is a silent killer and does not have a face.

If you see a tick on your body, be sure to remove it immediately. Use tweezers to pull the tick's body away from your skin, being careful not to crush the tick's body.

I've been victimized by general filthiness on multiple occasions... I received a nasty staph infection... I was told to wait it out... a few days later I literally thought I was going to die... I ended up being on antibiotics for five weeks and, as a result, I had to back out of the fight against Machida.