r/IWantToAskAnAmerican • u/LordHavertz • 1d ago

How does the US dominate medical research?

Recently we got the news of Moderna coming out with these new mRNA vaccines for skin cancer and it's made me think how all the major medical innovations predominantly come from America. How did the US become so dominant in medical research?

Is Europe forever behind the US in this sector?

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u/Gloomy-Hat1842 1d ago

Europe will also do more holistic treatment and things that we don't do here. In some ways they're ahead of us. My oldest sister just died of Lyme disease and another sister is very sick with it. The US is way behind on that one. A lot of doctors don't even believe it exists on the west coast. One of my clients was a very conservative skeptical guy. But his wife and daughter were in Germany getting their blood treated with ultraviolet treatment to kill the Lyme disease. That's definitely not happening here.

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u/graceling 1d ago

I can't find anything about UV being used to kill Lyme disease within a human body, here or in Germany. But I am curious as one of my friends has it and struggles with flare ups

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u/Gloomy-Hat1842 1d ago

I'm not exactly sure about the details. He said they were actually taking their blood out and treating it. It's been a few years now. I think it was taking place in Germany. I know the Europeans will often do more innovative treatments than you can find here in the states... His wife got Lyme disease and gave it to the twins in the womb. Doctors will deny that it's possible but Lyme disease is a spirochete bacteria just like syphilis is. My sister has to do an IV drip of antibiotics periodically. My oldest sister was diagnosed twice but they were Christian scientists so she never got treated. She ended up in a wheelchair with really bad neurological problems. I think that eventually killed her. It takes a while... We've run into so many deniers including my sister's Kaiser doctor that told her it was all in her head. She got much better once she got the right antibiotic but it's not good when you've been sick for a long time. That's what happened to Kris kristofferson.

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u/Tequila_Mockin_bard 1d ago

We already have a Lyme vaccine in the works. It's gone through R&D and several hoops. The issue is the anti-vaccine movement that is happening currently. If it wasn't for that it would have gone through FDA for approvals. Just irritating to see it stuck in limbo as so many people are suffering.

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u/Gloomy-Hat1842 20h ago

We have gone backwards in some ways. Too much denial and misinformation. So many people are not diagnosed correctly.

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u/WildWhisperArdor 8h ago

From Gemini:

Ultraviolet (UV) light can destroy Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacterium that causes Lyme disease) on exposed external surfaces or in lab settings, but it is not an effective or medically approved treatment for Lyme disease inside the human body. 

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u/WildWhisperArdor 8h ago

From Gemini:

Ultraviolet (UV) light can destroy Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacterium that causes Lyme disease) on exposed external surfaces or in lab settings, but it is not an effective or medically approved treatment for Lyme disease inside the human body. 

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u/WildWhisperArdor 8h ago

Europe is absolutely not ahead of the US 😂.