Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of a tick infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. Get the facts on Lyme disease symptoms, treatment, signs, vaccine, diagnosis, stages, and prevention from someone whose best friend lives with lyme for more then 16 years now.
1. Lyme disease is contagious.
Lyme disease is not transmitted from an affected person to someone else. Therefore, Lyme disease is not contagious.
2. What is Lyme disease?
Lyme disease is a bacterial illness caused by a bacterium called a "spirochete."
3. You've found a tick on your leg. Now what?
The longer a tick remains attached to someone, the greater the chance it will be able to spread a disease-causing germ. Therefore, any attached tick should be removed as soon as possible using a fine-point tweezers. The tick should not be squeezed or twisted but grasped close to the skin and pulled straight out with steady pressure.
4. Ticks are carriers of the Lyme bacterium...
Ticks are carriers of the Lyme bacterium in their stomachs.
5. Where was Lyme disease first identified?
Lyme disease only became apparent in 1975 when mothers of a group of children who lived near each other in Lyme, Connecticut, made researchers aware that their children had all been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. This unusual grouping of illness that appeared "rheumatoid" eventually led researchers to the identification of the bacterial cause of the children's condition, what was then called "Lyme disease" in 1982.
6. Lyme disease is reported most often in the southeastern U.S.
Lyme disease has been reported most often in the northeastern United States, but it has been reported in all 50 states, as well as China, Europe, Japan, Australia, and parts of the former Soviet Union. In certain areas of New York, where Lyme disease is common, over half of the ticks are infected.
7. What are early symptoms and signs of Lyme disease?
As the bacteria spread in the skin away from the initial tick bite, the infection causes an expanding reddish rash that is often associated with "flu-like" symptoms.
8. The characteristic Lyme disease rash looks like...
In the early phase of the illness, within days to weeks of the tick bite, the skin around the bite develops an expanding ring of unraised redness. There may be an outer ring of brighter redness and a central area of clearing, leading to a "bull's-eye" appearance.
9. Lyme disease rash is called...
This classic initial rash of Lyme disease is called "erythema migrans" (formerly called erythema chronicum migrans).
10. What is one of the effects of late-stage Lyme disease?
The later phases of Lyme disease can affect the heart, causing inflammation of the heart muscle. This can result in abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure. The nervous system can develop facial muscle paralysis (Bell's palsy), abnormal sensation due to disease of peripheral nerves (peripheral neuropathy), meningitis, and confusion. Inflammation in the joints (arthritis) begins with swelling, stiffness, and pain, and particularly affects one knee.
11. How do doctors diagnose Lyme disease?
In early Lyme disease, doctors can sometimes make a diagnosis simply by finding the classic red rash. Currently, the confirmatory test that is most reliable is the Western Blot assay antibody test.
12. Which drug is used to treat early stage Lyme disease?
Early illness is usually treated with medicines taken by mouth, for example, doxycycline (Vibramycin), amoxicillin (Amoxil), or cefuroxime axetil (Ceftin).
13. How can Lyme disease be prevented?
Because Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks attaching to the body, it is important to use tick-bite avoidance techniques when visiting known tick areas. Spraying insect repellant containing DEET onto exposed skin can help. Wearing long pants tucked into boots and long sleeves can protect the skin. Clothing, children, and pets should be examined for ticks. Ticks can be removed gently with tweezers and saved in a jar for later identification. Bathing the skin and scalp and washing clothing upon returning home might prevent the bite and transmission of the disease.
1. You can't feel ticks crawl 2. They numb you before biting 3. They follow your breath (C02) and track you down 4. Deer ticks love all animals 5. Lyme is a dangerous, virulent spirochete 6. Insurance doesn't cover proper treatment for most people 7. Most new lyme victims are children
LYME LIES ABOUND TO KEEP YOU FROM COSTING YOUR HMO MONEY!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!
Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto is the main cause of Lyme disease in the United States, whereas Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii cause most European cases. The disease is named after the town of Lyme, Connecticut, USA, where a number of cases were identified in 1975.
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere. Borrelia is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected ticks belonging to a few species of the genus Ixodes ("hard ticks"). Early symptoms may include fever, headache, fatigue, depression, and a characteristic circular skin rash called erythema migrans (EM). Left untreated, later symptoms may involve the joints, heart, and central nervous system. In most cases, the infection and its symptoms are eliminated by antibiotics, especially if the illness is treated early. Delayed or inadequate treatment can lead to the more serious symptoms, which can be disabling and difficult to treat.
Lyme disease can affect multiple body systems and produce a range of symptoms. Not all patients with Lyme disease will have all symptoms, and many of the symptoms are not specific to Lyme disease, but can occur with other diseases as well. The incubation period from infection to the onset of symptoms is usually one to two weeks, but can be much shorter (days), or much longer (months to years).
The classic sign of early local infection with Lyme disease is a circular, outwardly expanding rash called erythema chronicum migrans (also erythema migrans or EM), which occurs at the site of the tick bite three to thirty days after the tick bite. The rash is red, and may be warm, but is generally painless. Classically, the innermost portion remains dark red and is thicker and firmer; the outer edge remains red; and the portion in between clears, giving the appearance of a bullseye(the centre of a target). However, partial clearing is uncommon, and the bullseye pattern more often involves central redness.
Not all lyme patients show a rash, that is why some don't even know they contracted lyme. Lyme disease can progress to later stages even in patients who do not develop a rash.
Within days to weeks after the onset of local infection, the Borrelia bacteria may begin to spread through the bloodstream. EM may develop at sites across the body that bear no relation to the original tick bite. Another skin condition that is apparently absent in North American patients, but occurs in Europe, is borrelial lymphocytoma, a purplish lump that develops on the ear lobe, nipple, or scrotum. Other discrete symptoms include migrating pain in muscles, joints, and tendons, and heart palpitations and dizziness caused by changes in heartbeat.
Various acute neurological problems, termed neuroborreliosis, appear in 10–15% of untreated patients. These include facial palsy, which is the loss of muscle tone on one or both sides of the face, as well as meningitis, which involves severe headaches, neck stiffness, and sensitivity to light. Radiculoneuritis causes shooting pains that may interfere with sleep, as well as abnormal skin sensations. Mild encephalitis may lead to memory loss, sleep disturbances, or mood changes. In addition, some case reports have described altered mental status as the only symptom seen in a few cases of early neuroborreliosis.
After several months, untreated or inadequately treated patients may go on to develop severe and chronic symptoms that affect many parts of the body, including the brain, nerves, eyes, joints and heart. Many disabling symptoms can occur, including permanent paraplegia in the most extreme cases.
Chronic neurologic symptoms occur in up to 5% of untreated patients. A polyneuropathy that involves shooting pains, numbness, and tingling in the hands or feet may develop. A neurologic syndrome called Lyme encephalopathy is associated with subtle cognitive problems, such as difficulties with concentration and short-term memory. These patients may also experience profound fatigue. However, other problems, such as depression and fibromyalgia, are no more common in people who have been infected with Lyme than in the general population. Chronic encephalomyelitis, which may be progressive, can involve cognitive impairment, weakness in the legs, awkward gait, facial palsy, bladder problems, vertigo, and back pain. In rare cases untreated Lyme disease may cause frank psychosis, which has been mis-diagnosed as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Panic attacks and anxiety can occur; there may also be delusional behavior, including somatoform delusions, sometimes accompanied by a depersonalization or derealization syndrome, where the patients begin to feel detached from themselves or from reality.
Lyme arthritis usually affects the knees. In a minority of patients, arthritis can occur in other joints, including the ankles, elbows, wrist, hips, and shoulders. Pain is often mild or moderate, usually with swelling at the involved joint.
Lyme disease is diagnosed clinically based on symptoms, objective physical findings (such as erythema migrans, facial palsy or arthritis) or a history of possible exposure to infected ticks, as well as serological blood tests.
Several forms of laboratory testing for Lyme disease are available, some of which have not been adequately validated. The most widely used tests are serologies, which measure levels of specific antibodies in a patient's blood. These tests may be negative in early infection, as the body may not have produced a significant quantity of antibodies, but they are considered a reliable aid in the diagnosis of later stages of Lyme disease.
Diagnosis of late-stage Lyme disease is often complicated by a multifaceted appearance and nonspecific symptoms, prompting one reviewer to call Lyme the new "great imitator". Lyme disease may be misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, lupus, Crohn's disease or other autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.
