Ten Facts About Lyme Disease
- Lyme disease is a world-wide infectious disease and has been reported in all 50 states, 25% of the reported cases are children. Lyme disease has been found on every continent but Antarctica.
- Typically Lyme disease is transmitted through a bite from an infected tick. These ticks, often the size of a poppy seed, can leave an undetectable bite.
- Fewer than 50% of people infected get the bull’s eye rash. Some develop flu-like symptoms a week or so after becoming infected, however, many people are asymptomatic but can develop Lyme symptoms months, years or decades later.
- Common Symptoms include: fatigue, neck stiffness or pain, jaw discomfort, muscle pain, joint aches like arthritis- typically in the knees, swollen glands, memory loss, cognitive confusion, vision problems, digestive issues, headaches and fainting.
- The Lyme spirochete bacteria is hard to detect and hard to kill. Lyme disease is growing at epidemic proportions in the United States.
- It is called the great imitator; looking like many other health problems (Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Bells Palsy, ADD, MS and Lupus).
- The medical community is divided over the diagnosis and treatment guidelines. Health insurance often doesn’t cover the treatment for Chronic Lyme disease.
- The standard and most commonly prescribed for diagnosing Lyme test is the ELISA test. This test, often not sensitive enough to detect Lyme, can produce a false negative. The more sensitive test is called the IgG and IgM Western Blots test. The preferred testing lab is IGeneX Lab in Palo Alto. www.igenex.com.
- If you suspect you have Lyme, contact a LLMD, (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor). Informative websites on the disease: www.ilads.org, www.lymedisease.org, www.lymediseaseassociation.org, www.igenex.com.
- A recommended book to read: Cure Unknown by Pamela Weintraub and a recommended DVD is Under Our Skin.