Lyme Disease Testing

Lyme Disease Testing
Lyme disease is not the first thing you will think about once you start getting chills in your body or a slight cough; and for that reason, it is hard to diagnose Lyme disease. You will most likely go for some aspirin and other antibiotics to treat the symptoms of the disease. Another factor that has contributed to Lyme disease spread in the last few years is the fact that it is not genetically inherited and so nobody is on the lookout for their chances of getting Lyme disease. Few people know that it is caused by tick bites.

It is hard to detect Lyme disease as its symptoms are the same with many other diseases. It is hard for a physician to diagnose Lyme disease, especially if he is not a specialist or of he is not experienced in the field. In many of the cases that have been reported, the symptoms did not manifest themselves outwardly until the lyme disease had developed into an uncontrollable mess and for those that were diagnosed will lyme disease, a good percentage were false diagnoses With no basis.

There are ways through which to conclusively test Lyme disease and the most commonly used test is the Enzyme Linked Immune Assay otherwise known as the ELISA test. It is the cheapest test in the medical field and the most preferred, although it is the most inconclusive as its chances of success are only 90%. The ELISA test detects the antibodies of the Lyme disease which are not present immediately after the insect bite thereby lessening the chances of it being an effective tool for diagnosis of Lyme disease.

The western blot test is also reliable although it also tests for antibodies of the disease. It has a higher success rate compared to the ELISA test. Advanced Lyme disease is manifested through heart and brain problems and in the event of advanced Lyme disease, the ELISA test or the western blot test act only to confirm the suspicions of the disease.

After the diagnosis of Lyme disease, the infested person is put through doses of antibiotics that will kill the bacteria and reduce the chances of affecting the major organs of the body. It is important to prevent lyme diseases by cutting all vegetation in your home area and cleaning all the pets at home. Insect repellants will repel the tick from your skin in your excursions.