Symptoms and Affects of Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is an infection caused by a tick bite that results in creating

various health issues. This disease affects different organs of a body such as

the heart, brain, nervous system, joints and muscles. It is advised to visit an

expert doctor because if neglected, Lyme disease causes long term health

problems.

Lyme disease infection is transmitted by tick and is caused by three or more

types of Borrelia bacteria like Borrelia burgdorferi, B. Garinii, B. Afzelii etc.

A patient suffering from Lyme disease ha symptoms such as joints aches,

headaches, fever, rashes and tiredness. It is not easy to diagnose this

disease and sometimes an expensive Western Blot test is conducted to

determine the presence of the disease. A number of people suffer from

Lyme disease in Australia, though its patients are found around the

globe.

The Lyme bacteria are similar to the one that is responsible for syphilis.

These move inside the body through bloodstream and body tissue. Dodges

the immune system of a body and develops a protective shell (a fibrin) after

changing its shape from spiral to ball. Medically this disease has three

phases which are:

Early disease with skin inflammation,

Early disease involving nervous system and heart,

Later disease results in brain inflammation, arthritis and nerve

damage.

Within days of the tick bite or in early phases, the skin develops a rash in

shape of a ‘bull’s-eye’ around the affected area. The outer ring and centre

spot are bright red in colour. Following are the details about Lyme disease

symptoms and affects:

Arthritis: Within a few weeks after getting infected, swollen and

painful joints are reported by patients who are not given any

antibiotics. They have severe recurrent attacks which can last from

days to months. More than one joint is affected and knee is the most

common joint that is highly affected. Arthritis usually switches from

joint to joint causing much pain for the patient. A medical research

reported that about 20% of people, who are not treated for Lyme

disease, ultimately develop arthritis. If left untreated, after a period of

time arthritis can damage joints severely, also affects body parts like

skin or eyes.

Erythema migrans: It is a rash that develops on the bitten area

within a month. From a small red spot, it expands in size forming

various types of shapes especially circular. Rashes appear after three

days of a tick bite and as the infection spreads, these increase in

number appearing on various body parts. These rashes are neither

itchy nor painful, but are warm to the touch. People suffering from

Erythema migrans have also reported symptoms like fatigue, stiff

neck, headache, body aches and fever. Even if left untreated, the

rashes disappear after 3 to 4 weeks.

Neurological symptoms: Nervous system is highly affected by

Lyme disease, resulting in severe headache, stiff neck, Bell's palsy

(temporary paralysis of facial muscles), weakness or pain in limbs,

numbness etc. Change in sleeping habits and mood, lack of

concentration, temporary memory loss are other symptoms are also

linked to Lyme disease. Problems related to nervous system mostly

develop after few weeks or month. These problems can be cured with

help of proper dosage of antibiotics.

Heart problems: This is another area affected by Lyme disease,

though the numbers of patients are quite less. It slows down the

heartbeat that causes shortness of breath or dizziness. You can search

for doctors who can cure Lyme disease in Australia. Severity of

this disease is usually different from person to person.