What is it?

This is the million dollar question for doctors and patients to decide. What do you have and how do we treat you? Here is the down and dirty condensed version about Lyme.

What: Lyme disease, or lyme borreliosis,is an emerging infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere. Borrelia is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected ticks.

Discovered: The disease is named after the village of Lyme, Connecticut, USA, where a number of cases were identified in 1975.

Symptoms: Lyme disease can affect multiple body systems and produce a range of symptoms. Not all patients with Lyme disease will have all symptoms, and many of the symptoms are not specific to Lyme disease but can occur with other diseases as well. Theincubation period from infection to the onset of symptoms is usually one to two weeks, but can be much shorter (days), or much longer (months to years). Traditional early symptoms may include fever, headache, fatigue, depression, and a characteristic circular skin rash called erythema migrans. Left untreated, later symptoms may involve the joints, heart, and central nervous system. In most cases, the infection and its symptoms are eliminated by antibiotics, especially if the illness is treated early. Late, delayed, or inadequate treatment can lead to the more serious symptoms, which can be disabling and difficult to treat. Occasionally, symptoms such as arthritis persist after the infection has been eliminated by antibiotics, prompting suggestions that Borrelia causes autoimmunity.

Cause: Lyme disease is caused byGram-negative spirochetal bacteria fro the genus Borrelia. At least 11 Borreliaspecies have been discovered, 3 of which are known to be Lyme-related.

Pathophsiology: Borrelia burgdorferi can spread throughout the body during the course of the disease and has been found in the skin, heart, joint, peripheral nervous system, and central nervous system. Many of the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease are a consequence of the immune response to the spirochete in those tissues.

Treatment: Most expert groups, including the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Academy of Neurology, have found that existing scientific evidence does not support a role for Borrelia nor ongoing antibiotic treatment in such cases. However, the subject is controversial, with some doctors, patient advocacy groups, and politicians continuing to argue that long-term treatment is beneficial. This dispute has led to legal action over treatment guidelines, as well as harassment and death threats made against physicians who will not acknowledge "chronic" Lyme disease as a legitimate diagnosis. (Medical referenece)

Amazing resource: http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/about_lyme.html