Lyme101

Lyme Disease: A Brief History

Lyme disease is quite modern, relatively speaking. It was first noted in medical literature in Europe in 1883. In North America, it was only first reported in 1969, in Wisconsin. Lyme disease obtained official recognition in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1975 when a number of residents there were faced with peculiar arthritic symptoms. What finally raised the alarm was when a number of local children started to be diagnosed with juvenile arthritis.

The transmission of Lyme disease was eventually linked back to black-legged ticks in 1977 and in 1982 Willy Burgdorfer, Ph.D discovered the bacterium that is characteristic of Lyme disease.

Lyme disease is defined as a spirochete based infection caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. If a tick is infected, it can transmit the spirochetes to animals or humans when it bites. There is a growing body of evidence which may eventually disclose new transmittal methods, namely that the spirochetes may be transmitted through other means; possibly from other insects or through bodily fluids either sexually or from mother to child.

Lyme disease is a complex inflammatory infection affecting multiple areas of the body. If left untreated it will travel through the bloodstream to various joints, organs, and other body tissues, and can cause a number of both physical and neurological symptoms.

To this day, it is exceedingly difficult to obtain proper testing for Lyme disease in Canada, leading sufferers to cross the border to the US (and out of pocket) to access adequate testing. In fact, the Public Health Agency of Canada still does not accept the existence of chronic Lyme infections, relying on out-of-date and less accurate tests for the bacterium than do our neighbours to the south, but prefers to believe in what they call Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome; a term used to describe what patients go through after having received oral antibiotic treatment for the disease (click here to see exactly what they say). This is a very controversial view of Lyme disease that I will examine in further detail in a subsequent post. For the time being, let’s examine what Lyme disease means to its sufferers.

The Symptoms of Lyme Disease

There are three phases to Lyme Disease; the initial infection, the resident infection. and the chronic infection.

Phase 1: Initial Infection (lasts approx. 4 weeks)

Some people experience a bull’s eye rash at the site of the bite, although many do not. In fact, it is widely believed that less than half of the people infected will ever develop a rash. It is very common to have no symptoms at all at the outset of the infection.

Other possible symptoms include, but are not limited to flu-like symptoms such as:

• Fever
• Headache
• Stiff neck
• Muscle and joint pain
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Fatigue

Phase 2: Resident Infection (can last a few months)

If the Lyme infection is left untreated, it may spread and cause additional physical distress to the skin (if rash present), joints, organs, nervous system, and heart as well as increased psychological problems. Some common symptoms that may (or may not) present themselves include:

• Extreme fatigue
• Skin Rashes
• Migrating pain (pain that often changes locations & comes & goes)
• Weakness &/or numbness in the arms or legs
• Muscle twitching
• Severe & recurrent headaches
• Fainting or light headedness
• Poor memory & concentration problems
• Irritability
• Vision problems
• Heart palpitations
• Panic Attacks
• Mood disorders

Phase 3: Chronic Infection (will remain &/or get worse until treated)

This final phase of the Lyme disease infection will progressively worsen if left untreated. Chronic Lyme is different for each and every sufferer. Most patients will, however, suffer from worsening and multiplying symptoms which may include:

• Swelling & pain in the joints
• Numbness/tingling in the extremities
• Excessive severe fatigue
• Insomnia &/or other sleep disturbances
• Bells Palsy (partial paralysis of the face)
• Getting lost in familiar places (of other dementia-type symptoms)
• Problems speaking/Word retrieval problems
• Migrating pain and symptoms
• Heart damage
• Pericardia
• Meningitis
• Depression
• Panic Attacks
• Bladder problems
• Tinnitus, ear ringing or feeling of fullness
• Poor balance
• Shortness of breath
• Rib and sternum soreness
• Fevers/sweats
• Vertigo
• Upset stomach & GI problems
• Burning &/or stabbing pains

The above lists are just abbreviated lists of the possible symptoms. Lyme disease is a multifaceted disease which can travel anywhere throughout your body, including the central nervous system. One of the most common complaints of Lyme disease sufferers is that the symptoms tend to come and go irregularly and often change locations within the body. Health care practitioners are perplexed by this disease largely due to the fact that each patient exhibits different symptoms and symptom combinations. These differences, it is commonly believed, are due to the complexities of co-infections and the patients’ own immune system functionality.

For a more complete list of symptoms, broken up by bodily system, please check out Jenna Smith’s website: Lyme Disease Resource.