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mardi 22 septembre 2015

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

By Daphne Bowen


Also known as Lyme borreliosis, Lyme disease is a minor infection caused by bacterial attack. Ticks, especially those of borrelia species, spread the bacteria. The bacteria then pass on from the tick to humans through a tick bite. The original source of the disease before getting to ticks is deer or mice. These animals pass the infection to ticks, but not all ticks will carry the infection. With extensive research and development of cures of most diseases, there are also major developments in the cure of Lyme disease. This article addresses the question of; is there a cure for lyme disease?

It takes about 36 to 48 hours for an infected tick to transmit the disease into you once it attaches itself. Such ticks are small and difficult to notice. They also hide in areas that are difficult to see such as the armpits, groin or scalp. Once the disorder gets into you, erythema migran, which is an expanding area of redness is the common indicator. This occurs around a week after the bite. This rash is neither itchy nor painful.

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.

For curative treatment, antibiotics have been proven effective. The first line drug in the treatment of this disorder is Doxycycline. In addition to being able to cure the disease, Doxycycline has an added advantage of being able to treat other diseases caused by ticks. Every drug has side effects. For Doxycycline, the side effects appear to be fatal for children less than eight of age and women who are pregnant.

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.

As we all know, prevention is better than cure. It is therefore more prudent to prevent this disease than cure it. There are many ways that have been suggested to prevent the disease. Vaccines were initially the most effective way of preventing the disease. However, production of the vaccines was stopped due to the small market that was available.

Others include putting on protective clothes and light colored clothes. Such ensures protection from being bitten and ensures easy visibility of the tick respectively. Keeping off long grass, use of repellents and avoiding deer and mice contacts are the other protective ways.




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