Going on a hike or just outside pulling
weeds in the garden, Amy Scher would recommend you use an insect
repellent for most outdoor activities.
It’s not just an irritating scratch she
wants to help people avoid, but more harmful effects like the disease
that nearly killed her.
(Photo: Wikimedia)
In the early 2000s, Scher went hiking
in California and didn’t wear a repellent. Unknown to her at the time, a
tick had latched on and gave her Lyme disease. For years, Scher began
experiencing strange symptoms, which were misdiagnosed, as they often
are with the tick-borne illness. But then things started getting worse.
In 2005, Scher was sitting in a Jacuzzi and lost all feeling in her legs.
“Everything went downhill from there,” she said.
Scher became bed ridden. Scans found
lesions on her brain. The bacterial disease had spread to every organ in
her body and into her bone marrow.
Scher was taking dozens of medication
and antibiotics each day to fight the infection, and she eventually went
to India for an experimental treatment, which she said helped boost her
immune system so she could eventually fend off the disease. Even the
lesions on her brain healed.
This is why Scher, now 33, advocates people wear an insect repellent.
“Anytime you would wear sunscreen, I would say put on insect repellent as well,” she said.
There are a variety of repellents on
the market targeting everything from ticks to mosquitoes. Some are
natural and some are chemical. Some are applied topically, while others
take the form of a patch or create a perimeter around a designated
space.
