The facts and symptoms of Lyme disease Zdrowie
We’re constantly hearing about the threat of Lyme disease when it comes to our pets. However, sometimes it takes star power in order to bring a dangerous condition into the “Lyme-light” for humans. Lyme disease is a bacterial illness that is spread by the borrelia burgdorferi bacteria in tick insect bites. Once infected, the victim (human or animal) will suffer the consequences in multiple stages that stretch from the first bite to the spread of Lyme antibodies within the blood, and these telltale symptoms…
Symptoms of Lyme disease Swollen bite mark The first indication of Lyme disease is often a bite mark, which will often become red, swollen, and quite tender. As the bacteria takes hold in the body, it will often strike the site of the bite mark first— meaning the area where the bacteria entered through the skin will form a reddish rash with a red ring around the bite site the resembles a bull’s eye
Flu-like malaise Many victims of Lyme disease often complain of what seemed to them like typically “flu-like” symptoms early on. For example, the patient may develop a mild fever, swollen lymph nodes, achy muscles and joints, headache, and lethargy.
Rapid heart rate Of the more serious and scary symptoms of Lyme disease, accelerated heart rate is one of them. Often times, patient’s infected with Lyme disease bacterium will suffer from rapid heart rate—even at rest.
Palsies Once the bacterium spread throughout the body, Lyme disease can wreak havoc on the nervous system, causing palsies, which results in sudden, uncontrolled spasms or body movements (i.E., Shaking legs).
Meningitis Meningitis symptoms often occur as infection spreads via the blood and into the cerebrospinal fluid (or the fluid that circulates and cushions the brain and spinal cord) causing inflammation. Lyme meningitis is bacterial in nature, and even though it’s not fatal, it can cause associated fever, neck stiffness, migraine, eye sensitivities, confusion, and even seizure.
Nerve damage If Lyme disease is not treated, and the bacterium spreads to the nervous system in the later stages (a few months after infection), the patient can suffer severe mo-
tor and sensory nerve damage that affects the joints, heart, brain, and causes severe tremors or seizures.
Arthritis If Lyme disease is left untreated after a month or 2, it can also result in subsequently and serious stiffness, inflammation, pain, and disease of the joints. Eventually this will cause chronic arthritis.
Heart issues If Lyme disease is left untreated, it will gradually worsen throughout the entire body and even affect the heart, slowly weakening and damaging the heart muscle by causing swelling and abnormal heart rhythms. Eventually, heart failure may occur.
Facial paralysis Because Lyme disease wreaks havoc on the nervous system, the patient can suffer facial muscle paralysis (i.E., Bell’s palsy), as well as severe swelling, stiffness, and pain in the facial muscles where normal movement becomes compromised or lost completely.
Tick off! Lyme disease protection tips The number of people with Lyme disease has been growing steadily and government health officials are focused on creating awareness of the disease and how to protect yourself. Lyme disease is usually contracted through an infected deer tick and many people who are bitten don’t show any symptoms right away. It can take from weeks to years to show any signs of the disease and symptoms vary greatly. Lyme disease can cause mild flu -like symptoms, and also more serious reactions such as joint pain, muscle weakness, and confusion. Although cases have been popping up world-wide, there’s actually a lot you can do to lower your risk of becoming infected. Lyme disease is easily transmitted, so it’s vital to be aware of the following Lyme disease protection tips…
Check your body Ticks that carry Lyme disease are very small and often hard to see unless you’re looking. If you’ve ever had an outdoor pet, you’ve likely checked its fur to see if there are any ticks or other bugs on it. For protecting you and your family against Lyme disease, perform a thorough in-
spection of the whole body and look through and in hair after coming in from the outdoors. This is especially important if you’ve been in grassy, bushy, or wooded areas, and places your local city or region have identified as risky for ticks. Use a mirror or ask someone else to check your back and areas you can’t see easily. Don’t forget to look in creases at your joints and your armpits, as ticks may hide out and can be missed. If you do find a tick and you’ve removed it, make sure to look really closely at the rest of your body for any others. Keep in mind that finding one tick might mean there are others on your body or clothes, so be even more thorough as you do the rest of your check.
Know what to look for Ticks are small so knowing what to look for both in regards to the tick and tick bites is important. A tick can look like a piece of dirt or a small blood blister. They start out between 1-5mm in length, but even when they’re at full size they’re hard to recognize as an insect. You might see a few tiny legs on the sides of the body, but depending on what stage the tick is at it could just look like a dark spot. Blacklegged (deer) ticks carry Lyme disease and when fully engorged, their bodies might look white. The tick bite itself isn’t what will draw your attention, though you should take stock of any new bites, that appear. Lyme disease can cause a very distinguishable rash that looks like a target—a red spot in the middle with a red ring around it. Not everyone will experience a rash, but it’s one of the easiest ways for a doctor to figure out you were infected with Lyme disease. And like many other diseases, a diagnosis may help protect you from any serious or long-term effects of the infection.
Take showers Ticks start out really small and so they can be hard to spot. They grow as they feed, but they remain small to the naked eye and getting them off of you is important. They usually don’t attach themselves through biting you right away, so to lower your risk and help protect yourself from Lyme disease, take a shower immediately after being outside in wooded and grassy areas. A shower should rinse off any loose ticks that are on your body. It’s recommended that you take a shower within two hours of coming in from outside, but taking one right away is the safest option.
For Advertising Information Please Call 416-938-7141 or e-mail info@radiopolonia.ca, www.polskimonitor.com
27