Ticks thrive in warm weather, making spring and summer “tick season.” As Lyme disease numbers are growing, it is essential to understand the symptoms, prevention methods, and treatment options. In the United States alone, Lyme disease affects an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people each year, ten times higher than previously reported. Early detection is critical, as most treatment plans involve heavy antibiotic use. Unfortunately, delayed diagnosis and treatment may lead to chronic, draining symptoms lasting for years.
The Culprit behind Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is due to Borrelia Burgdorferi, a specific type of bacteria carried by infected deer ticks. The initial stages of this disease reveal an easily identifiable “bull’s-eye” rash at the tick bite site. As the disease progresses, individuals may experience a variety of debilitating symptoms, including severe headaches, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, joint pain, heart palpitations, dizziness, and facial muscle paralysis.
The rash may sometimes be hidden or not appear at all, leading to delayed or missed diagnosis until the infection becomes chronic. Misdiagnosis is also a common issue due to nonspecific symptoms and insensitive diagnostic testing. Performing full body tick checks after spending time in natural tick habitats is crucial, as early detection is the key to successful treatment. Experts argue that the tick must be embedded for 24 hours to transmit the virus, so tick checks and other preventative methods, like tucking pants into socks and using natural tick repellants, can prevent potential infections.
Treatment Options for Lyme Disease
Antibiotics can be useful in treating Lyme disease if caught in the early stages. The Lyme disease bacterium is particularly sneaky, hiding within body cells and tissue, making treatment difficult. It can change its outer-cell-wall proteins, hiding itself from the immune system. Diagnostic tests are more accurate three weeks or more after infection, but false negatives are also common during late-stage infections, causing confusion and delays in detection.
Delayed treatment often leads to chronic Lyme disease, which can cause inflammatory and degenerative processes in the body, particularly within the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. The bacteria may also develop antibiotic resistance and hide in the brain, the blood-brain barrier blocking out antibiotics. As time goes on, Lyme disease can significantly weaken the immune system, leaving the body vulnerable to various co-infections like HSV (herpes simplex virus), strep throat, and Candidiasis, along with other opportunistic pathogens that may become permanent residents within the body.
Since Lyme disease presents differently in each person, most health practitioners cannot agree on a specific treatment protocol. Treating the disease requires consideration of several factors, including impaired immunity, inflammation, neurological damage, heavy metal body burden, and co-infections. The most efficient treatment plan involves an integrative holistic approach to encompass all these circumstances.
The Bigger Picture: A Growing Public Health Concern
The CDC has shown that Lyme disease affects more people annually than breast cancer. Lyme disease remains a rising public health issue in the United States, despite not receiving the same level of attention as other epidemics like bird flu, SARS, and H1N1. It’s crucial that people become informed about this disease, as it is a growing threat in the public health community, since a tiny tick can easily change someone’s life and become their worst nightmare.
For more information about Lyme disease, check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Lyme Disease Foundation.
