Lyme Disease Information

To understand the symptoms present in us while checking up for the lyme disease medical persons will usually have a check list like the following:

  • Rash.
  • Chills, sweats, fever.
  • Either weight loss or gain.
  • Fatigue.
  • Unexplained hair loss.
  • Sore throat and swollen glands.
  • Testicular or pelvic pain.
  • Unexplained menstrual irregularity.
  • Bladder dysfunction or irritable bladder.
  • Loss of libido or sexual dysfunction.
  • Change in bowel function or upset stomach.
  • Heart block, pulse skips or heart palpitations.
  • Joint swelling or pain.
  • Muscle cramps or pain.
  • Twitching of the muscles or face.
  • Back sensations of tingling, numbness, burning or stabbing.
  • Headache or stiff neck and joints.
  • Dizziness, poor balance or blurred vision.
  • Confusion, difficulty thinking, concentrating or sticking with a task.

Many of these manifestations are psychosomatic and this means that the symptoms of lyme disease are not just restricted to the plane of the skin and body.

The Causes for the Lyme Disease

Borrelia burgdorferi is introduced to the skin when an infected tick bites an individual and an organism spreads around the spot where the tick landed and into the system of the person.

The first signs won’t gain a persons attention for several days. It first manifests as erythematic chronic migrams which is rashes that vary from case to case rather than being typical in all cases.

These rashes don’t occur on all who become infected with the organism that causes lyme disease. It takes about four weeks after the tick bite to show presence of lyme disease. In many cases there are multiple rashes.

The organism that causes lyme disease will spread to various tissues and cells during this two to four weeks. In fifty percent of the cases there is an incident of multiple rashes.

Occurrence and Prevalence of the Lyme Disease

The occurrence of this in the past two decades has been lessened due to the frequent use of antibiotics according to recent studies and research. Lyme disease also has other manifestations and it doesn’t always present with multiple rashes on the skin.

Another manifestation is the flu. It may present with a sore throat, severe headaches, neck aches and severe fatigue. Other common symptoms include fevers, sweats and visual dysfunctions. At the same time the aches and sore throat syndromes are not accompanied by rhinitis, sinusitis and cough; which helps distinguish lyme disease from other flu like illnesses.

Recurrent flu is also to be studied as a symptom of the lyme disease. This can be accompanied by muscular pain and pain of the joints such as the knees, elbows, hips and shoulders. However, the pain is only in the large bone joints and never in the small bone systems. In such cases it will also frequently have stiff neck, pain jumping from joint to joint, pain in the teeth, rib and chest pains. A crawling sensation may be experienced by some patients and a feeling of electric shock like vibration. During these cases it becomes a neurosensory disease rather than a motor disease.

The Complications of the Lyme Disease

Some of the complications resulting from lyme disease include headaches, facial nerve palsy and encephalitis. These complications can then lead to addition symptoms such as cognitive dysfunction, short-term memory loss and psychiatric symptoms such as panic, anxiety or depressions.

Tests to Confirm the Lyme Disease

To confirm the lyme disease in persons showing one or the other of the symptoms accompanying this disease lab tests are routine. From the biopsy a culture of the organism responsible for the disease is prepared early, meaning a live tissue from the afflicted area of the patient’s body and the erythema migran rash that is studied in the laboratory environment. The test that are performed are usually elisa and western blot tests. Although this facility isn’t available at most labs.

Causes of the Lyme Disease

Chronic symptoms are the result of certain infections that together present the same problems as lyme disease does. Any of the cluster of symptoms can be a manifestation of lyme disease or lead to it, either as fever or rashes.

Treatment for Lyme Disease

The organism that leads to lyme disease is sensitive to several antibiotics. However, there are complications. Long incubation periods is required for the organism that have to be broken through. It has frequently been reported that positive and enduring effects are not gained from short term treatment of four weeks or near there. There can even be a relapse of the disease. Although good results have been found when the disease is treated for a three month period with tetracycline.

Manifestations of lyme disease has many sited symptoms. There may be many or just one. There is a lengthy list of ticks. To the very first observation some of these may be manifest while other might have prolonged suffering. There are some that need physical and laboratory examination at a close range.

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