Summer brings an open opportunity to spend more time with nature while busy in healthy outdoor activities, but the tiny ticks are also there that have some other plans for you. The tiny ticks carry a particular bacterium that causes Lyme Disease. Severe health problems originate from Lyme Disease, especially when you leave it untreated.
Studies show that Lyme disease is a bacterial infection. Black-legged ticks spread the infection by biting people. Its typical symptoms include fatigue, headache, skin rash and fever. The treatment of infection is necessary. If left untreated, it can spread to your vital organs and systems like nervous system, heart and joints. The disease is common in certain regions of the United States including Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Upper-Mid West regions.
In the summer season, people plan to enjoy outdoor activities but tiny deer ticks cause problems. This particular arachnid carries a bacterium that causes Lyme disease which, if left untreated, can lead to severe health problems.
History of dry seas started in 1975 in the town of Old Lyme. It was recognized as an infectious disease that was caused by a bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. The bacteria usually get into the human body through a bite from an infected black-legged tick, also known as a deer tick. The insects also become infected by feeding in the blood of infected humans and humans. The infected ticks transmit the disease to other people and animals.
This article will help you learn more about the symptoms, treatments and causes of Lyme Disease. Keep on reading!
Stages of Lyme Disease
There are three stages that can define Lyme disease completely. The stages may help you understand how the disease develops in the most severe infection.
First Stage: Early Localized: its symptoms appear usually 25 to 30 days after the tick bite.
Second Stage: Early Disseminated: Around 4 to 15 weeks after the tick bite, the disease enters the second stage.
Third Stage: Late Disseminated: this is the last stage of lymphocytes that usually takes months or even years to develop and show its symptoms.
Signs and Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Each stage of infection is reduced with its specific symptoms. This means the visibility, severity, progression and spreading of symptoms depend on the stage of disease and the health status of an individual.
According to research, many victims of Lyme disease never experience tart stage 1 symptoms but experience later symptoms. This is because the symptoms of first two stages often get overlapped.
What are the Signs of Early Stages of Infection?
The early stages of lyme disease often show their symptoms are 25 to 30 days after a tick bite. Erythema migrans that is also known as bull’s-eye rash is considered the first sign of the Lyme infection. Many affected people experience bull’s-eye ash as their first symptoms of lyme disease. The sign occurs at the site of bite and is easily due to presence of a central red spot with an area of redness at the edge.
The rash appears more solid and red on the skin with lighter time. But in people with darker skin tone, the rash resembles a bruise. That is usually painless and doesn’t itch but it may be warm to the touch.
More symptoms that are associated with the early stages if lyne disease include:
- Headaches.
- Fever.
- Fatigue.
- Chills.
- Muscle aches.
- Sore throat.
- Vision changes.
- Enlarged lymph nodes.
What are the Signs and Symptoms Linked with Later Stages?
It takes approximately 3 to 4 months to appear the symptoms if late disseminated Lyme disease stage after a tick bite. The disease continues soaring up to 2 myths later. This means the infection has reached all organs of the body.
More symptoms include:
Arthritis: The pain and weakening of one or more joints, especially knee or ankle joints.
Abnormal Heart Rhythm: Lyme carditis causes abnormality in heart rhythm that leads to further cardiovascular issues.
Encephalopathy: It is the sign of short-term memory loss, mental fogginess, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating and problems with conversations.
- Numbness, tingling and pain in hands and feet.
- Meningitis.
- Neck stiffness.
- Severe headaches.
However,some people experience later symptoms more severely even without experiencing earlier symptoms.
How Do Children Experience Lyme Disease Symptoms?
The symptoms of lyme disease are nearly the same for adults and children.
However, some studies show that children also experience some psychological symptoms, like:
- Depression.
- Mood changes.
- Nightmares.
- Aggression or anger.
If you observe any odd symptoms in your child that are not explained by your child, speak with a doctor. Some behavioral changes are referred to as signs of certain conditions like lyme disease.
Diagnosis of Lyme Disease
The similarity of lyme disease symptoms with other conditions makes it hard to detect or diagnose the infection accurately.
Your medical history and physical examination help your doctor to find out signs of erythema migrans or other symptoms that are characterized with lyme disease.
Sometimes, people do not experience visible symptoms of infection, they are recommended a two-step serology. T is done by performing two blood tests that help detect antibodies. The blood tests are:
- Western blot.
- Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
But the most important thing is blood tests are not always reliable. You can rely on the results of the blood tests only when they are overturned only a few weeks after the initial infection because at this time antibodies are present in your blood. After a few weeks antibodies start disappearing.
If you feel it is difficult to go to a clinic or hospital for diagnosis, you can try some at-home Lyme disease testing kits. If you have recently been bitten by a tuck or spent time in an area with a greater tick population, these kits are necessary further.
But consulting with a doctor is the safest way for proper diagnosis.
Tick Testing
Tick testing is not recommended by the Health department but some commercial laboratories are providing this facility.
According to health department research team, the tuck testing is not useful because:
- A negative result could lift it to false assumptions that you don’t have any infection. The test could not find any tick bite because you had been by a different tuck that is not recognized by testing.
- Commercial laboratories often offer stock testing that has low quality control standards.
- Lyme disease symptoms,start appearing before you get tuck test results, you cannot wait to start treatment.
- Positive results of tick testing doesn’t necessarily mean that you have Lyme disease.
How is Lyme Disease Treated?
Treatment of Lyme Disease depends on the way how the infection progress. TherfyOe, it s better to learn the treatment of lyme infection according to stage disease progression.
Early Stages
In early stages the treatment is easy and effective. A 10-15 days course of oral antibiotics is usually recommended to treat early localized disease. The antibiotics used during early days eliminate infection and infection causing agent-chemistry.
For this purpose, doctors usually use the following medications:
- Amoxycillin.
- Cefuroxime.
- Doxycycline.
Later Stages
When the lyme disease keeps on progressing beyond stage 1, it starts affecting your central nervous system and blood circulatory system. At the later stages, doctors recommend intravenous (IV) antibiotics. After the injections, patients are prescribed to follow up with an oral regime. The treatment takes 15 to 30 days.
In serious conditions, you may start experiencing a heart block or abnormal heart rhythm. In these situations, they recommend that you stay in the hospital so that you may be monitored full time until the abnormality resolves.
Late stage lyme disease is characterized by lyme arthritis that is treated with oral antibiotics.
How is the disease transmitted?
Ticks are commonly found in moist areas of your body, even hard to see including groin areas, armpits and scalp. But they can attach to any other part of the body. They stick your body fur for at least 40 hours. This is the tie they require to transmit the causative agent, the bacterium.
Students show that immature ticks that are also known as nymphs cause most of the infection. They feed during the spring and summer. Nymphs transmit lyme disease more quickly because they are very small in size. They cannot be seen with the naked eye because they are the size of a poppy seed. That’s why it is harder to remove them than adult ticks.
Is Lyme Disease Contagious?
According to Health Department Research, Lyme Disease isn’t contagious between people. Therefore, it cannot be transmitted through touching, having sex, sharing foods, kissing, water or air.
Risk Factors fir Lyme Infection
People who spend more time outside the working or other purposes are not likely to develop lyme disease. People stay outside for different purposes such as for:
- Farming.
- Construction.
- Wild life.
- Forestry.
- Landscaping.
In summer, tick bites become common because the season is favorable for trick growth and production. Ticks become more active in this season.
However, people also get tick bites every day in fall, and late winter if the weather is unreasonably warm.
Prevention of Ticks and Lyme Disease
Protecting yourself from ticks can help prevent lyme disease. Lyme infection is transmitted through tick bites. Therefore, protecting yourself from tick bites is the most effective way to treat fur lyme disease.
More ways to prevent tick bites include:
- Use natural insect repellents, such as oil of lemon eucalyptus.
- Wear long pants and full-sleeve shirts when going outdoors.
- Check yourself and your sites after being outside in areas with bushes, grass and wood.
- Protect your clothing with permethrin.
- Use insect repellents.
- If a truck bites you, it’s necessary to remove it as soon as possible.
The most effective watts to remove a tick bite are:
- Using a pair of tweezers to grab the tick.
- Disposing it off by putting it on alcohol.
- Avoiding crushing the tick.
Outlook
After diagnosis, people having Lyme disease take 5 to 7 days currently after setting treatment.
However, 5 to 10% of people experience post-Lyme syndrome,also known as chronic lyme disease. Its symptoms resemble to the early stage symptoms of lyme infection, including:
- Difficulty sleeping.
- Speech problems.
- Fatigue.
- Headaches.
- Difficulty concentrating.
- Short-term memory loss.
- Pain or swelling in larger joints like elbow, shoulders and knees.
- Aching muscles or joints.
Treatment options focus on easing these symptoms. Recovery periods extend to months or even years.
In most cases lyme disease goes away with simple treatments. But if it is diagnosed at later stages, the risk of developing long-term complications increases. These complications tend to damage your joints.
Can you Live a Normal Life with Lyme Disease?
After treatment, the chances of living a normal life without complications increase. But studies show that around 10% people still experience chronic symptoms of the infection that can affect your cognitive abilities and mobility.
However, if you leave the disease untreated even after diagnosis, it continues to progress and causes severe types of complications such as neurological and rheumatoid conditions. It may lead to arthritis, extreme fatigue, meningitis, and facial palsy. Therefore, treatment is very important.
People with Lyme disease can receive their own in many cases. They usually depend on antibiotics prescribed by their doctors.
Conclusion
Tick bites cause an infection known as lyme disease. Removing a tick found on your body is necessary to treat the infection. Ticks are usually found in moist areas of the body where you cannot see directly like ground, spots or scalp. Early diagnosis and treatment is necessary to get rid of symptoms that make you uncomfortable.
The disease progresses through different stages with distinct symptoms. Severity of symptoms varies person to person. Diagnosis involves a physical exam and certain blood tests. Early treatment comprises oral antibiotics while later stages require intravenous antibiotics.
You can also use tuck repellents, wear protective clothing and check for ticks after outdoor visits to protect yourself from tick bites. Prevention is always better than treatment.
