Symptoms Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is a bacterial illness caused by a bacterium, called "spirochete", "Borrelia Burgdorferi and Borrelia afzelii. Ticks are the primary carrier of this bacteria which is found in the ticks' stomachs. Lyme disease is spread by these ticks when they bite the skin and permits the bacteria to infect the body.
Lyme disease is not contagious from human to human but can be contagious in a household if the tick keeps biting everyone in the home. This disease can cause abnormalities in the skin, joints, heart, and nervous system.
Lyme disease that is left untreated will progress from mild symptoms to a serious form. There are three stages of Lyme disease
Stage 1 - localized disease with skin inflammation
Stage 2 - disseminated disease with heart and nervous system involvement,
Stage 3 - late disease with sensory nerve damage and brain inflammation, leading to arthritis
Stage 1 - symptoms include, a red rash, like an insect bite (this may not happen always), fever, headache, stiff neck, chills muscle aches, fatigue, lack of energy and swollen lymph nodes. Most patients notice a unique enlarging rash referred as erythema migrans a few days after the bite. The skin around the bite develops an expanding ring of redness. In some instances, the person does not notice any symptoms during this stage. Stage 1 symptoms are similar to those of a viral flu.
Stage 2 - If the Lyme disease is not detected and treated during the early stages, the disease may affect the skin, joints, nervous system, and heart within weeks and up to a month of the initial infection.
Symptoms include, excessive tiredness, the spread of skin rashes all over the body as the infection spreads, slow and poor memory, unable to concentrate, Conjunctivitis and damage to the tissue in the eyes, rapid heartbeats, pain, weakness, or numbness in the arms or legs, heart disease, inability to control the muscles of the face, recurring headaches and severe headaches and fainting.
Stage 3 - Even at the second stage if Lyme disease is not properly treated effectively, damage to the joints, nerves, and brain can develop months or years after the initial encounter. Symptoms include swelling and pain in the joints more often seen in the knee area, numbness, tingling in the hands and feet, severe fatigue, partial facial nerve paralysis, memory problems, mood swings or lack of sleep, and problems with speech. These symptoms may last up to 6 months at a time.
Chronic Lyme arthritis, which causes recurring episodes of swelling, redness, and fluid buildup in one or more, joints that last up to 6 months at a time.
Lyme disease is also treated with antibiotics.
Showing posts with label Lyme Disease Cure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lyme Disease Cure. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Lyme Disease Treatment
Lyme Disease Treatment
Before a person can learn how to treat Lyme disease, they first need to understand what Lyme disease is. Lyme disease is a multisystem disorder that is caused by the tick Borrelia burgdorferi. This disease usually occurs in the summer months. A papule on the victim's skin becomes red and warm but isn't actually painful. This papule is the classic sign of Lyme disease and is called the erythema chronicum migrans (ECM). If this disease is left untreated then after a few weeks, there will be in cardiac and neurologic abnormalities.
How is this caused? First, Lyme disease happens when the tick injects a spirochete-laded saliva into the bloodstream or deposits its fecal matter on the skin. After the incubating of the toxic substance for 3-32 days, the spirochetes will come out of the skin, and cause the ECM. The spirochetes will travel to other sites on the skin and organs and will trigger the inflammatory response in the person affected with disease.
What are the common signs of Lyme disease? Generally, Lyme disease has three stages. The First stage is the ECM. The second stage is the beginning of the neurologic abnormalities like the fluctuating meningoencephalitis within the peripheral and cranial neuropathy. The third stage is the manifestation of the arthritis characteristics.
How is Lyme disease treated? Lyme disease is typically treated on a 28-day course of the antibiotic, doxycycline. This is the prescribed treatment of choice for adults. However, for children who are affected by Lyme disease, they will go on a prescribed treatment of oral penicillin. When the drugs are given in the early stages of the disease, then it can minimize or prevent complications later in life. If a person is in the late stages of the diseases, then they can get high doses of the I.V. ceftriaxone and be successfully treated.
However, before this treatment is done, there needs to be some special considerations. A doctor will need to check for any drug allergies and administer the antibiotics carefully. Furthermore, it is important to assess the person's neurologic function and level of consciousness frequently while on the treatment.
Therefore, having Lyme disease isn't the end of the world. The majority of people that have gotten Lyme disease are able to be completely recovered from the illness. Lyme disease is curable and thus if a person is active in their treatment, they will have no problems with the disease later in the future.
Before a person can learn how to treat Lyme disease, they first need to understand what Lyme disease is. Lyme disease is a multisystem disorder that is caused by the tick Borrelia burgdorferi. This disease usually occurs in the summer months. A papule on the victim's skin becomes red and warm but isn't actually painful. This papule is the classic sign of Lyme disease and is called the erythema chronicum migrans (ECM). If this disease is left untreated then after a few weeks, there will be in cardiac and neurologic abnormalities.
How is this caused? First, Lyme disease happens when the tick injects a spirochete-laded saliva into the bloodstream or deposits its fecal matter on the skin. After the incubating of the toxic substance for 3-32 days, the spirochetes will come out of the skin, and cause the ECM. The spirochetes will travel to other sites on the skin and organs and will trigger the inflammatory response in the person affected with disease.
What are the common signs of Lyme disease? Generally, Lyme disease has three stages. The First stage is the ECM. The second stage is the beginning of the neurologic abnormalities like the fluctuating meningoencephalitis within the peripheral and cranial neuropathy. The third stage is the manifestation of the arthritis characteristics.
How is Lyme disease treated? Lyme disease is typically treated on a 28-day course of the antibiotic, doxycycline. This is the prescribed treatment of choice for adults. However, for children who are affected by Lyme disease, they will go on a prescribed treatment of oral penicillin. When the drugs are given in the early stages of the disease, then it can minimize or prevent complications later in life. If a person is in the late stages of the diseases, then they can get high doses of the I.V. ceftriaxone and be successfully treated.
However, before this treatment is done, there needs to be some special considerations. A doctor will need to check for any drug allergies and administer the antibiotics carefully. Furthermore, it is important to assess the person's neurologic function and level of consciousness frequently while on the treatment.
Therefore, having Lyme disease isn't the end of the world. The majority of people that have gotten Lyme disease are able to be completely recovered from the illness. Lyme disease is curable and thus if a person is active in their treatment, they will have no problems with the disease later in the future.
Lyme Disease Cure
Lyme Disease Cure
Generally, taking antibiotics for several weeks is one sure cure for Lyme disease. But treatment with intravenous (IV) may be required for certain forms of Lyme disease. Cure of the Lyme disease by use of antibiotics always lasts for about 14-28 days.
In most cases however, Lyme disease cure usually involves a few weeks of taking oral antibiotics. There are some common antibiotics that are normally used for the Lyme disease cure and they may include:
The antibiotics play a major role as they mostly speed up the healing of a rush and as well can ensure that arthritis symptoms go away following antibiotic therapy, within a few weeks or months. Persistent fatigue, muscular aches and sometimes trouble with memory and concentrations are some of the symptoms experienced by patients even after therapy. The good thing however is that research is on going on and it is hoped that soon the best ways of treating these symptoms will be discovered.
Sometimes people taking antibiotics might experience symptoms such as mild joint pain and a headache. This therefore brings to mention the question about pain relievers being able to help in any way. Usually pain relievers play a role in just reliving some symptoms but they don’t help in combating the Lyme disease. In relieving the symptoms, acetaminophen like Tylenol and sometimes aspirin and ibuprofen are usually used. They can be very effective
Important to note also, is that it is in very rare cases that Lyme disease treatment might have to do with more than only medication and sometimes a temporary pacemaker may be required for heart problems.
In cases that intravenous (IV) treatment is required to cure Lyme disease in some patients, then the medications for such type of treatment may include ceftriaxone and penicillin
Patients usually treated by antibiotics in the early stages for Lyme disease experience rapid recovery and in most cases, completely. However, a few patients particularly those diagnosed for the first time with later stages of the Lyme disease may experience persistent or recurrent symptoms. Usually those patients benefit from a second 4-week course of antibiotic therapy. There is an observation made on serious complications arising from including even death that always are from courses of the antibiotics. This mostly happens when the antibiotics are not beneficial and yet the patient continues with their use.
Generally, taking antibiotics for several weeks is one sure cure for Lyme disease. But treatment with intravenous (IV) may be required for certain forms of Lyme disease. Cure of the Lyme disease by use of antibiotics always lasts for about 14-28 days.
In most cases however, Lyme disease cure usually involves a few weeks of taking oral antibiotics. There are some common antibiotics that are normally used for the Lyme disease cure and they may include:
- Doxycyline
- Amoxicillin
- Cefuroxime axetail
- Penicillin
- Erythromycin which is usually taken by patients allergic to penicillin
The antibiotics play a major role as they mostly speed up the healing of a rush and as well can ensure that arthritis symptoms go away following antibiotic therapy, within a few weeks or months. Persistent fatigue, muscular aches and sometimes trouble with memory and concentrations are some of the symptoms experienced by patients even after therapy. The good thing however is that research is on going on and it is hoped that soon the best ways of treating these symptoms will be discovered.
Sometimes people taking antibiotics might experience symptoms such as mild joint pain and a headache. This therefore brings to mention the question about pain relievers being able to help in any way. Usually pain relievers play a role in just reliving some symptoms but they don’t help in combating the Lyme disease. In relieving the symptoms, acetaminophen like Tylenol and sometimes aspirin and ibuprofen are usually used. They can be very effective
Important to note also, is that it is in very rare cases that Lyme disease treatment might have to do with more than only medication and sometimes a temporary pacemaker may be required for heart problems.
In cases that intravenous (IV) treatment is required to cure Lyme disease in some patients, then the medications for such type of treatment may include ceftriaxone and penicillin
Patients usually treated by antibiotics in the early stages for Lyme disease experience rapid recovery and in most cases, completely. However, a few patients particularly those diagnosed for the first time with later stages of the Lyme disease may experience persistent or recurrent symptoms. Usually those patients benefit from a second 4-week course of antibiotic therapy. There is an observation made on serious complications arising from including even death that always are from courses of the antibiotics. This mostly happens when the antibiotics are not beneficial and yet the patient continues with their use.
Lyme Disease Arthritis
Lyme Disease Arthritis
Lyme disease is basically an infectious disease and is spread by tick bites. The ticks may either be a deer tick or western black legged ticks. The ticks bite animals and humans.
Lyme disease is spread when a tick carrying the bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, bites humans and attaches itself to the skin for more than 36 hours.
This disease was first identified in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1975 when mothers of several children living in the same area started reporting with rheumatoid symptoms in their children. Though first it was misdiagnosed as unrelated cases of Rheumatoid arthritis, later on doctors investigated the cause and found out that this was a new disease and was caused and spread by bite of the deer ticks. It was named as Lyme disease in 1982.
Symptoms:
The first symptom is that of a rash at the site of the tick bite. The rash has a typical bull's eye appearance with the outer rings being more red and dark as compared to the inner rings.
Next come the flu like symptoms and patients have generalized body pains, headaches, muscular aches and low grade fever. But these symptoms can take 3 days to over a month to develop after the tick bite.
If these seemingly harmless symptoms are left untreated they can eventually progress to more severity with involvement of the nervous system and the loco motor system.
More serious symptoms are more of a toxic variety with wide spread involvement of the neurological and loco motor systems. The patients may present with pain and swelling of the joints, disorientation, lack of muscular co-ordination, palsies, lymphocytic meningitis, motor or sensory radiculitis, myelitis or encephalitis.
Diagnosis:
The diagnosis is by the clinical symptoms and also by a serological blood test., which detect the anti bodies to the spirochete- Borrelia burgdorferi.
Skin biopsy may be needed in differential diagnosis of any similar disorder.
Treatment:
Antibiotics like Doxycycline, Amoxicillin, and erythromycin and in neurological complications, cephalosporin group like intravenous cefotaxime may be given.
The most important fact about the treatment is that the earlier a patient receives antibiotics, the lesser will be the complications and slower will be the progress of the disease.
Doxycycline is very effective in the initial stages and can control and limit the progress of the disease if given within 72 hours of onset of fever and rash after a tick bite. This fact may be quite significant for people who are living in highly endemic areas.
Lyme disease is basically an infectious disease and is spread by tick bites. The ticks may either be a deer tick or western black legged ticks. The ticks bite animals and humans.
Lyme disease is spread when a tick carrying the bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, bites humans and attaches itself to the skin for more than 36 hours.
This disease was first identified in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1975 when mothers of several children living in the same area started reporting with rheumatoid symptoms in their children. Though first it was misdiagnosed as unrelated cases of Rheumatoid arthritis, later on doctors investigated the cause and found out that this was a new disease and was caused and spread by bite of the deer ticks. It was named as Lyme disease in 1982.
Symptoms:
The first symptom is that of a rash at the site of the tick bite. The rash has a typical bull's eye appearance with the outer rings being more red and dark as compared to the inner rings.
Next come the flu like symptoms and patients have generalized body pains, headaches, muscular aches and low grade fever. But these symptoms can take 3 days to over a month to develop after the tick bite.
If these seemingly harmless symptoms are left untreated they can eventually progress to more severity with involvement of the nervous system and the loco motor system.
More serious symptoms are more of a toxic variety with wide spread involvement of the neurological and loco motor systems. The patients may present with pain and swelling of the joints, disorientation, lack of muscular co-ordination, palsies, lymphocytic meningitis, motor or sensory radiculitis, myelitis or encephalitis.
Diagnosis:
The diagnosis is by the clinical symptoms and also by a serological blood test., which detect the anti bodies to the spirochete- Borrelia burgdorferi.
Skin biopsy may be needed in differential diagnosis of any similar disorder.
Treatment:
Antibiotics like Doxycycline, Amoxicillin, and erythromycin and in neurological complications, cephalosporin group like intravenous cefotaxime may be given.
The most important fact about the treatment is that the earlier a patient receives antibiotics, the lesser will be the complications and slower will be the progress of the disease.
Doxycycline is very effective in the initial stages and can control and limit the progress of the disease if given within 72 hours of onset of fever and rash after a tick bite. This fact may be quite significant for people who are living in highly endemic areas.
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