Adult deer tick, Ixodes scapularis.
Dr. Rebecca Risk is a Calgary Lyme specialist, who is also a Lyme disease survivor. She has dedicated her life to helping patients with this illness. Although there are many people who deny the existence of Lyme disease in Canada – we see this illness very often in our clinic.
Lyme disease is a bacterial illness caused by a bacterium called a “spirochete”. In the United States, the actual name of the bacterium is Borrelia burgdorferi. In Europe, another bacterium, Borrelia afzelii, also causes Lyme disease. Certain ticks found on deer harbor the bacterium in their stomachs. Lyme disease is spread by these ticks when they bite the skin, which permits the bacterium to infect the body. Lyme disease is not contagious from an affected person to someone else. It can cause abnormalities in the skin, joints, heart, and nervous system. Dr. Risk is a Calgary Lyme specialist that treats Lyme disease with Chinese medicine and other natural therapies. She provides an alternative to the protocol of long term antibiotics most western doctors currently offer as a treatment for Lyme.
Lyme disease can have as many as 75 different symptoms and can easily be misdiagnosed as something else. Many Lyme patients were firstly diagnosed with other illnesses such as Juvenile Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Reactive Arthritis, Infectious Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia, Raynaud’s Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Interstitial Cystis, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, Fifth Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, scleroderma, lupus, early ALS, early Alzheimers Disease, crohn’s disease, ménières syndrome, reynaud’s syndrome, sjogren’s syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, prostatitis, psychiatric disorders (bipolar, depression, etc.), encephalitis, sleep disorders, thyroid disease and various other illnesses. Your best bet if you are looking for a diagnosis is to go to find a Calgary Lyme specialist that can help you differentiate one symptom from another.
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