Remaining A Mystery To Many; Is There A Cure For Lyme Disease?

By Daphne Bowen


Lyme borreliosis, the other term for Lyme disease is a disease caused by bacterial infection. This bacteria is spread by ticks of the borrelia type or species. It gets to human beings through a tick bite from an infected tick. The tick gets the infection from host animals that are infected. Such animals include deer and mice. The bacterium however, is not carried by all ticks. Treatment of many diseases has been developed due to their prevalence. Due to this, vast developments have also been taken in developing the cure of Lyme disease. Elaboration of the question;is there a cure for lyme disease, has been done below.

Passing the infection to a human being from a tick after being attached will take around 36 to 48 hours. Due to their minute size, noticing and removal of the ticks may be difficult. The ticks also settle in hidden parts of the body making it difficult for you to see. Groin, armpits and scalp regions are some of their favorite areas. After getting infected, the first and foremost symptom is the development of an erythema migran. This appears as a reddish area and expands as it swells. It originally starts as a rash. It is however not itchy and painless.

High temperatures, frequent headaches and fatigue are the other signs that follow. With continued infection, joints, the face, neck, heart and muscles are also affected. The resulting signs and symptoms are because of these systemic infections. Neck rigidity and muscle cramps are other signs and symptoms resulting from the infection. Inflammation of the meninges may occur if the infection spreads to the brain. Basing on these symptoms a diagnosis is possibly made. However, true diagnosis is made though blood tests.

Treatment of Lyme disorder is possible. This is however effective if detected early. If diagnosis or treatment is delayed, there are risks of developing long lasting complications. It is therefore important to seek treatment once you start developing such signs and symptoms.

Lyme disease is usually treated with antibiotic therapy. Doxycycline, which is considered as the first line therapy, is commonly used for treatment. Apart from the advantage of curing the disease, Doxycycline also has the advantage of curing all other infections of tick origin. Due to its adverse effects, it is not advisable for use in children particularly less than eight years and expectant women.

In addition to Doxycycline, amoxicillin and azithromycin are the other antibiotic medications used as second line for treatment of Lyme disorder. Oral and intravenous routes of administration can be used to administer them. Treatment regimen usually varies and range from one to four weeks of therapy. This regimen depends on the severity of the disease. Initiating treatment within two weeks of infection increases its effectiveness. This however, is not possible as it takes five weeks for the bacteria to appear in blood used for confirmatory diagnosis.

Preventing any disorder is more economical than curing it. Preventing Lyme disorder would be wise therefore than treating it. Several means to prevent the disease have been put up. Vaccination proved more effective than the other protective means. The production of particular vaccines stopped because of limited market available.

To add on that, use of preventive cloths for protection, wearing light colored clothes that makes the tick is easily visible, keeping off long grass, application of repellents and limited contact with deer and mice are other preventive means.




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