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.