disease.com – Disease

Lyme Disease

Living your life free of infectious diseases is nearly impossible.  Infectious diseases can be transmitted by many different means.  Coughing, sneezing, unprotected sex, and sharing of personal hygiene items may all cause the spread of infectious disease.  Fortunately, there are some steps that you can take to avoid contracting an infectious disease.  You can do so by washing your hands, covering when you sneeze or cough, and using protection during sex.  Some infectious diseases, however, are hard to detect and avoid.

Lyme disease is one type of infectious disease transmitted by the bite of ticks that are infected with the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.  It is easily treated with a short course of antibiotics, but is hard to detect.  Doctors may often misdiagnose Lyme disease for another infectious disease, as many of is symptoms are very similar to the flu or other infectious diseases.  The telling symptom of Lyme disease is not all of the little symptoms that it might display, but the presence of a circular rash surrounding the area of the bite.

There are three stages of symptoms that result from untreated Lyme disease.  These three stages are:

1.  Early localized infection

This stage usually shows up 1 to 4 weeks after infection.  During this stage, Lyme disease sometimes causes a rash around the tick bite.  Over time, it grows and symptoms increase.  Some of the symptoms of early localized infection of Lyme disease are very similar to the flu, and include a lack of energy, headache, fever, chills, muscle and joint pain, and swollen lymph nodes.  At times, an individual may not notice symptoms at all during this stage.  It is during this stage that Lyme disease is hard to diagnose, as it looks like an infectious disease.

2.  Early disseminated infection

Appearing 1 to 4 months after infection, this stage of Lyme disease affects the skin, joints, nervous system, and heart of the infected.  As it is with many infectious diseases, Lyme disease needs to be detected and treated early, especially if symptoms are present and obvious.   Some symptoms of this stage may include being fatigued, additional skin rashes, poor memory, fainting, paralysis of the facial news, and rapid heartbeats.

3.  Late persistent infections

If Lyme disease is not treated, it can cause damage to your joints, nerves, and brain, up to years after you have been infected.  Some symptoms of this stage include: swelling in the joints (especially knees), numbness in the extremities, severe fatigue, nerve paralysis, and problems with your neurological functions.  If there was no detection of Lyme disease in the first stage, the infected may have first shown symptoms of the heart, nervous system, and joints.

tips:

- Avoiding infectious diseases is often up to your own behavior.  If you are conscientious about taking care of your body and avoiding infection, infectious diseases that are not controllable are your main concern.

- If you feel that you have been bit by a tick, check all around your body for a rash.  Early detection of infectious diseases can help you avoid the stress of developing symptoms.