The Low Down. May become a lifelong chronic disease requiring ongoing anti biotic treatment. Stay away from steroids.
Tick Incidence. Note the western prevalence of the disease. Other disease vector ticks are well known to inhabit the rockies. The disease can be spread by many ticks, including dog ticks.
The disease was well understood in Europe since the 1880's where is called Borrelia, or Borellosis. It's understanding or discovery is only very recent in the States, indicating it may be possible to get better treatment in Europe.
autoimmunityresearch.org
Disease Risk.
List of Lyme Disease Symptoms
As I mentioned before, every organ and organ system can be affected, here’s a list of some of the LD symptoms as they relate to specific areas of the body:
* Head – headache, neck pain, facial pain and paralysis, difficulty chewing, pain in teeth, dry mouth, loss of taste/smell, numb tongue/mouth. Peculiar metallic or salty taste is also common in LD. This is likely due to the BLPs present in the system.
* Bladder -- frequent or painful urination, repeated urinary tract infections, irritable bladder, interstitial cystitis.
* Lung -- respiratory infection, cough, asthma, pneumonia, pleurisy, chest pains
* Ear -- pain, hearing loss, ringing (tinnitius), sensitivity to noise, dizziness & equilibrium disorders.
* Eyes -- pain due to inflammation (scleritis, uveitis, optic neuritis), dry eyes, sensitivity to light, drooping of eyelid (ptosis), conjunctivitis, blurry or double vision, swelling around eyes / bags below the eyes.
* Throat -- sore throat, swollen glands, cough, hoarseness, difficulty swallowing
* Neurological -- headaches, facial paralysis, seizures, meningitis, stiff neck, burning, tingling, or prickling sensations (parathesia), loss of reflexes, loss of coordination, equilibrium problems/dizziness (these symptoms mimic an MS, ALS, or Parkinson’s like syndrome)
* Stomach -- pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, anorexia
* Heart -- weakness, dizziness, irregular heart-beat, myocarditis, pericarditis, palpitations, heart block, enlarged heart, fainting, shortness of breath, chest pain, mitral valve prolapse.
* Muscle & skeletal system -- arthralgias (joint pain), fibromyalgia (muscle inflammation and pain)
* Other Organs -- liver infection / hepatitis, elevated liver enzymes, enlarged spleen, swollen testicles, and irregular or ceased menses.
* Neuropsychiatric -- mood swings, irritability, anxiety, rage (Lyme rage), poor concentration, cognitive loss, memory loss, loss of appetite, mental deterioration, depression, disorientation, insomnia
* Pregnancy -- miscarriage, premature birth, birth defects, stillbirth
* Skin – EM, single or multiple rash, hives, ACA
* Another interesting symptom often noticed is an increased susceptibility to electrostatic shock. This is likely due to the BLPs causing a change in the electro-potential in our cells/nervous system. Some of these toxins are likely sodium channel agonists and can change the electrical potential of our body. Thus, the likelihood of electro-static shock.
One or more of these symptoms is not diagnostic for LD, except for a bulls-eye EM rash. A diagnosis for LD is a clinical one and must be made by a physician experienced in recognizing LD symptoms and history, experienced in interpreting lab results and recognizing a response to treatment. Always remember that negative serological tests are not reliable and cannot be used solely for a diagnosis. These tests frequently are incorrectly negative.
The Diagnosis of Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is diagnosed clinically based on history, clinical symptoms, and response to therapy. No test can conclusively "rule-out" Lyme disease. It is critical to understand that the diagnosis of Lyme disease is heavily weighed on clinical symptoms and history alone. LLMDs are familiar with the complex nature of Lyme disease and are very aware of the subtle symptoms it can produce. Their clinical judgment must be very keen for them to recognize early, subtle cases.
Clinically, "chronic fatigue syndrome" or "fibromyalgia", which is more recently called "chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome" (CFIDS) cannot be readily distinguished from chronic Lyme disease and in fact is probably one in the same disease. Yes, I believe along with many LLMDs that most cases of fibromyaliga and CFIDS are actually misdiagnosed cases of chronic Lyme disease. Strong support for this comes from the fact that antibiotic and other LD therapies improve many patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
Routine laboratory tests are usually normal in LD. Liver enzymes may be elevated from hepatitis. The erythrocyte sediment rate (ESR) is most often normal, distinguishing it from some of the purely inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. However, overlap between LD and autoimmune diseases frequently occur. I believe that the chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction caused by LD often leads to autoimmune diseases. Culture of the Borrelia is rarely possible but can occur in a few early LD cases of B. burgdorferi, usually from biopsies of the EM rash. However, most laboratories are not capable of the difficult culturing of these slow growing borrelia organisms and we have not been able to isolate many borrelia species in the laboratory.
Currently available serological (blood) tests for LD caused by B. burgdorferi include the immunologically-based ELISA and Western blot assays. The problem with the ELISA is the high amount of background compared to Western blot assays, likely due to the use of whole organisms. After correction for the high background, only a small percentage of positives can be detected. Because the Western blots separate the proteins of the borrelia, specific reactions can be seen, and more accurate interpretations of the results made. Clinically over 75% of patients with Lyme disease are negative by ELISA, but positive by Western blot. However, it is important to remember that there are many patients (approximately 30%) who have symptoms, but whose Western blots are negative. The different antigenic profile between Borrelia species along with their ability to avoid the immune system and remain intracellular could explain the absence of immune responses. Even more likely is that the pathology of borreliosis can lead to immune dysfunction. Cells of the immune system can be triggered into apoptosis (preprogrammed death or suicide). The death of cells of the immune system can also explain the dysfunctional immune system and the problems there are using serological laboratory tests to diagnose chronic borreliosis as shown below:
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