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Environmental Health - Protecting our community
Signs and symptoms of Lyme Disease Signs and symptoms of Lyme Disease Unfortunately there is no absolutely predictable clinical sequence for Lyme Disease!
 The usual advice given is to suspect Lyme Disease (LD) if a round or oval, expanding, red rash develops within 3-32 days after a tickbite and is accompanied by a flu-like illness. In reality many sufferers of LD do not show the typical rashes and only 50% actually recall having had a tick bite prior to the onset of the symptoms.
In ‘classic’ cases the rash (known as a bull’s-eye rash or, to give it its proper name, Erythema migrans) will be the clearest evidence of infection but rashes can also appe
 ar on the face (often described as a ‘butterfly rash’ – the shape of the rash giving the appearance of ’wings’ on the cheeks of the face each side of the nose), on the neck and on the hands or feet.Diagnosis is still proving to be difficult for clinicians due to Lyme disease’s ability to mimic other conditions and because the currently available serological (blood) tests are unreliable.
 Indeed current thinking suggests that people who are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue syndrome and other degenerative diseases could have Lyme Disease causing or contributing to their condition.Diagnosis is not straightforward because:
Spirochaetes can travel through blood vessel walls and through
 connective tissue. Animal studies have shown that in less than a week after being infected, the Lyme spirochete can be deeply embedded inside tendons, muscle, the heart and the brain. It invades tissue, replicates and destroys its host cell as it emerges. Sometimes the cell wall collapses around the bacterium, forming a cloaking device, allowing it to evade detection by many tests and by the body’s immune system.
Sufferers report a variety of symptoms: chest pain, breathing difficult, chills (especially intolerance of draughts), eye dysfunction and peripheral neuropathy, headaches, “brain fog”, loss of or impairment of memory and ability to concentrate, joint aches and pains, sleeplessness, nausea, stomach and abdominal pains, occasional balance problems, facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy) hearing and ear disorders and palpitations. But by far the most common experience is “an enormous fatigue that, no matter how much you sleep (if you can!) does not get better”.
Perhaps the best testimony should come from someone who has suffered from Lyme and made a painful recovery. This is an extract from an article written by Gill Reese who started the EuroLyme Support Group. Gill’s story.
 This page was last updated on 26/05/09 at 09:32:34 Office Use Only: 2299/01-05-10/Colin Combes |
