Lyme disease burst to the forefront of infectious medicine when a number of cases were identified in 1975 near the town of Lyme, Connecticut (hence its name). In 1981 a specific tick carrying the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria was incriminated as the causative agent, and since then it is recognized that Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the United States and Europe.
At first a disease of exclusion-where every other cause of arthritis and myalgia symptoms was ruled out-testing has now become sophisticated and specific in looking for Lyme disease much earlier in the process.
Lyme disease can affect multiple body systems and produce a host of signs and symptoms. It has been found that the disease is not exclusive to the Northeastern United States and, in fact, can be acquired just about anywhere in the United States. Animals such as mice and deer can carry the disease as a host until humans are infected by a tick bite.
Lyme disease is tough to pinpoint early in the process, as many of the clinical symptoms early on are non-specific. With this being said, by doing something like a lyme disease test could help identify this. The earlier the symptoms are identified, the easier this could be to manage.
The serologic testing with the disease is inaccurate until later in the illness, and many cases are missed when testing is ordered and turns up negative early in the disease process.
The Three Stages of Lyme Disease Symptoms
There are basically three stages of Lyme disease symptoms. In the first stage, flu-like symptoms and a skin rash develop along the site of the tick bite. The lesion spreads like a small bull’s-eye in most cases, but often recedes after a few weeks. During this stage, symptoms are muscle aches, headache and fatigue, something that CBD premium hemp flowers or similar products can help with if the symptoms become too uncomfortable or painful. Be sure to contact a medical professional first though.
The second stage is a spread to the nervous system, with a picture that simulates meningitis, with headache and neck stiffness. At times, involvement of the heart can cause arrhythmias and heart block.
Stage three is a late, persistent infection, with mainly musculoskeletal complaints, arthritis and general disability. This can become chronic and recurrent in 10 percent or more cases.
Testing for Lyme disease requires finding antibodies specific to Borrelia burgdorferi in serological tests called IFA (indirect fluorescent antibody) or ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). The testing isn’t well standardized, though, and laboratories may not be consistent in their testing and results.
Many times suspected individuals are diagnosed clinically, with a history of tick bite and symptoms, and treatment is initiated even without a clear-cut laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis.
Thankfully, early suspicion and prevention, as well as more prompt treatment, makes Lyme disease less of a long term health threat. The usual recommendation of avoiding tick infested areas, covering exposed skin, and using topical tick repellent is more stressed now in endemic areas.
Antibiotics are quite effective and shorten the duration of the rash and prevent long term complications. Doxycycline is the most effective, but amoxicillin and cefuroxime have also been shown to work effectively. As long as the disease is caught early, long term sequelae are generally avoided.
Most cases of treated Lyme disease without complication are insured as if the disease had been completely eradicated. Appropriate therapy generally resolves almost all of the symptoms within a month. Those in whom the disease becomes chronic and affects the heart or central nervous system can have significant disability and, in the case of the heart, even mortality.
Rather than wait for testing to confirm the disease, many tick bite cases are treated prophylactically with antibiotics, which helps limit the disease spread and complications of later illness. Treated and eradicated Lyme disease can qualify for best class underwriting.
