Lyme Disease

LYME DISEASE IS CAUSED BY TICK BITES!!

Every summer I post this warning as I have known several people who had an "undiagonsed illenss" only to find out it was Lyme Disease. So use caution this summer when camping or hiking, or if you have an outdoor animal, because if bitten by a tick you can develop this bacterial infection. Often misdiagnosed, its debilitating symptoms can lead to more serious health problems, so it is important to protect yourself.

Some facts about Lyme Disease:

Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Deer ticks, which feed on the blood of animals and humans, can harbor the disease and spread it when feeding.

You're more likely to get Lyme disease if you live or spend time in the grassy and heavily wooded areas where ticks carrying the disease breed. If treated with  antibiotics in the early stages of the disease, most people recover completely. However, some people do have recurring or lingering symptoms long after the infection has cleared. 

• Symptoms include extreme tiredness, flu-like symptoms, joint pain, numbness or weakness in the limbs, depression, and Bell’s palsy (temporary paralysis of one side of the face). Memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and changes in mood or sleep habits also can be symptoms of late-stage Lyme disease.
• Some people may experience heart problems, such as an irregular heartbeat, several weeks after infection, but this rarely lasts more than a few days or weeks. Eye inflammation, hepatitis and severe fatigue are possible as well.
• It is possible for symptoms to occur weeks, months or even years after an untreated infection.
• The classic sign of a Lyme infection is a bull’s-eye rash, but this appears on less than 50% of patients.
• The ELISA and Western Blot are tests given to detect the disease.
• The average person sees more than 12 doctors before receiving the correct diagnosis.
• Antibiotics are highly effective in treating Lyme disease in its early stages (make sure you take a probiotic whenever taking antibiotics!).
• Immune-boosting supplements like CoQ10 and Glutathione can be very helpful.

Some natural tips to protect yourself from ticks:

Consume Garlic – According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, people who took 1200 mg of garlic capsules for eight weeks were less likely to be bitten by ticks than those who didn’t. Researchers believe the odor released through body sweat is repulsive to bugs.

Natural Repellent – you don’t have to use toxic DEET to repel ticks and other bugs, your health food store probably has several natural products to choose from…the Centers for Disease Control recommends picaridin (Bayrepel) as an alternative without DEET’s side effects.

For more information about Lyme Disease visit: www.lymehelp.org., www.healthtouch.com, www.betterhealthguy.com, www.mayoclinic.com.