Lyme Disease Is No Walk In The Park - You May Have It And Not Know It
Lyme disease is a bacterial spirochete (organism) transmitted by ticks. The name of the particular bacteria is Borrelia Burgdorferi. Many people do not know how widespread the Lyme and other tick-borne disease epidemic is and the high odds that someone they know may be affected. Please take a few moments to read the following facts that demonstrate the seriousness of the disease and how it can be prevented.
Misdiagnosis
Estimates state that only one out of every ten cases of Lyme disease is reported and that many people are misdiagnosed. State health departments reported 28,921 confirmed cases and 6,277 probable cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2008. The number of cases reported annually has increased nearly 25-fold since national surveillance began in 1982.
Lyme disease may be difficult to diagnose because many of its symptoms mimic those of other disorders. In addition, the only distinctive hallmark unique to Lyme disease, the "bulls eye" rash, is absent in almost half of the people who become infected. The inadequacies of today's laboratory tests make proper diagnosis difficult, and it can be extremely troublesome to treat the infection in its later phases.
Lyme and tick-borne diseases can attack virtually any system in the body. Some of the first symptoms may include a flu-like condition, with fever, chills, headache, stiff neck, achiness, and fatigue. Other symptoms can include pain in various joints and muscles, neurological problems, heart involvement, problems with vision or hearing, migraines, low-grade fever or other symptoms. Lyme disease is often mistaken for other illnesses since the symptoms often mirror other medical problems, such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, lupus or Alzheimer's disease. In some cases, Lyme disease patients can become paralyzed and/or comatose. Lyme disease symptoms may come and go and be replaced by new symptoms. Symptoms may be subtle or pronounced.
Selection of Proper Physicians
When a patient with possible Lyme-disease symptoms does not develop the distinctive rash, a physician must rely on a detailed medical history and a careful physical examination for essential clues to diagnosis, with laboratory tests playing a supportive role.
The inadequacies of the current diagnostic tests and many physicians' lack of experience with the disease and in interpreting results often prevent a correct Lyme-disease diagnosis. In the first few weeks following infection, antibody tests are not reliable because a patient's immune system may not produce enough antibodies to be detected. Antibiotics given to a patient early during infection may prevent antibodies from reaching detectable levels, even though the Lyme-disease bacterium is the cause of the patient's symptoms.
Physicians that have had proper training in regards to the diagnosis of Lyme or tick-borne diseases are called "Lyme literate." If you are interested in finding a Lyme literate doctor in your area, please feel free to e-mail us at medicalinfo@turnthecorner.org.
Please click here to read a true story of the frustration of being misdiagnosed and not finding a Lyme-literate doctor.