Blood-sucking ticks coming to a field and forest near you.
That may sound like the latest horror film, but unfortunately it is a reality due to a surge in ticks that spread Lyme disease this spring.
Fortunately, the media interest in Lyme disease appears to be growing with the threat. At the start of the month I was interviewed on Martha Stewart Living Radio about Lyme disease.
The Perfect Storm for Lyme Disease
A perfect storm happens when two conditions converge to amplify each other's effects. Two conditions are creating what may become the perfect storm for transmission of Lyme disease this spring:
These two conditions mean tons of deer ticks that are hungry and lacking their typical food supply. You could be their next meal.
Ticks Transmit Lyme and Other Diseases
The bacteria that cause Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, are transmitted to humans by the bite of a deer tick (Ixodes dammini).
Deer ticks live for two years and in their lifetimes take only three blood meals: the first as newborn larvae, the second a year later as immature nymphs and the third a season later as adults.
Mice and Other Rodents Carry Ticks Too
If you don't see any deer and think the coast is clear, think again.
Deer ticks live in vegetation and hitch rides on animals on which they feed, not only deer, but mice and other rodents.
White-footed mice may be the most efficient carriers of deer ticks for human infection. White-footed mice thrive in vacant lots and small wooded parcels near homes because their natural predators cannot survive in those environments.
More: Lyme disease -- Risk of Lyme Disease Expands
The mice feed on acorns and store them for winter. The fall of 2010 brought a bumper crop of acorns, which led to a surge in the mouse population and created abundant homes for tick larvae last spring.
In the fall of 2011 the acorn crop was the smallest it's been in two decades, decimating the mouse population over the winter and leaving a huge number of displaced nymphs that are looking for warm-blooded hosts, like humans. Ixodes nymphs are especially good at transmitting Borrelia to humans.
Read Spring Surge in Lyme DiseaseThe Challenge of Preventing Lyme Disease
One of the key challenges with Lyme is getting people to change their behavior. Prevention starts with awareness. THINK LYME. You're as likely, maybe even more likely, to get bit by a deer tick in your backyard as hiking in a forest.
Steps to Prevent Lyme Disease
More: Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic
The Challenge of Diagnosing Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is a great masquerader, which makes getting a proper diagnosis of Lyme a real challenge. Lyme can cause symptoms in multiple organs, including skin, heart, nervous system, joints and muscles and gastrointestinal tract. Involvement of the lungs, eyes or urinary tract has also been reported.
For some people, fatigue or brain fog is the only symptom of Lyme disease. Sometimes the most prominent symptom is a change in mood or personality.
Symptoms may begin days or months after a tick bite. Many victims of Lyme disease are unaware of having had a tick bite. The majority of Lyme patients I've seen never had the classic "bull's eye rash" that can be an early sign of the disease.
Doctors usually use blood tests to make a diagnosis of Lyme disease, but several factors limit their value:
At the present time, the diagnosis of Lyme disease is a clinical diagnosis, not a laboratory diagnosis. It requires a clinician with Lyme experience.
The Challenge of Treating Lyme Disease
There is a great deal of controversy about optimal treatment for Lyme disease. The Infectious Disease Society of America recommends two to three weeks of antibiotics as the treatment for Lyme disease, but more than two dozen studies have documented persistence of illness among patients with Lyme disease after a 2-3 week course of antibiotics.
More on the controversy: Under Our Skin -- Lyme Disease Film
Persisting symptoms are often associated with evidence of persisting infection with Lyme disease. The presence of other tick-borne infections usually impairs the treatment response to Lyme disease.
When it comes to Lyme disease, many people feel that their concerns have not been adequately addressed by the conventional medicine approach. Learn more about what makes Lyme so elusive in Lyme Disease -- Why Lyme is the Mystery Disease.
Now I'd like to hear from you:
Do you have unexplained symptoms?
Have your been tested for Lyme or other tick-borne diseases?
How do you think you may have gotten Lyme disease?
Please let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.
Best Health,
Leo Galland, M.D.
Important: Share the health with your friends and family by forwarding this article to them, and sharing on Facebook.
Leo Galland, MD is a board-certified internist, author and internationally recognized leader in integrated medicine. Dr. Galland is the founder of Pill Advised, a web application for learning about medications, supplements and food. Sign up for FREE to discover how your medications and vitamins interact. Watch his videos on YouTube and join the Pill Advised Facebook page.
References and Further Reading
Ostfeld, R. S. 2011. Lyme disease: The ecology of a complex system. Oxford University Press
Keesing, F., J. Brunner, S. Duerr, M. Killilea, K. LoGiudice, K. Schmidt, H. Vuong and R. S. Ostfeld. 2009. Hosts as ecological traps for the vector of Lyme disease. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences 276:3911-3916.
Schauber, E. M., R. S. Ostfeld, and A. S. Evans, Jr. 2005. "What is the best predictor of annual Lyme disease incidence: Weather, mice, or acorns?" Ecol. Appl. 15:575-586
Eisen, Rebecca J.; Piesman, Joseph; Zielinski-Gutierrez, Emily; Eisen, Lars. "What Do We Need to Know About Disease Ecology to Prevent Lyme Disease in the Northeastern United States?"Journal of Medical Entomology, Volume 49, Number 1, January 2012 , pp. 11-22(12)
Stricker RB, Johnson L, "Lyme Disease: the next decade", Infect Drug Resis 2011: 4: 1-9.
Weber K, Bratzke HJ, Neubert U, Wilske B, Duray PH. "Borrelia burgdorferi in a newborn despite oral penicillin for Lyme borreliosis during pregnancy." Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1988;7:286-289
Schmidli J, Hunziker T, Moesli P, Schaad UB. "Cultivation of Borrelia burgdorferi from joint fluid three months after treatment of facial palsy due to Lyme borreliosis." J Infect Dis. 1988;158:905-906.
Cimmino MA, Azzolini A, Tobia F, Pesce CM. "Spirochetes in the spleen of a patient with chronic Lyme disease." Am J Clin Pathol. 1989;91:95-97.
Preac-Mursic V, Weber K, Pfister HW, et al. "Survival of Borrelia burgdorferi in antibiotically treated patients with Lyme borreliosis. Infection." 1989;17:355-359.
Haupl T, Hahn G, Rittig M, et al. "Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in ligamentous tissue from a patient with chronic Lyme borreliosis." Arthritis Rheum. 1993;36:1621-1626.
Priem S, Burmester GR, Kamradt T, Wolbart K, Rittig MG, Krause A. "Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi by polymerase chain reaction in synovial membrane, but not in synovial fluid from patients with persisting Lyme arthritis after antibiotic therapy." Ann Rheum Dis. 1998;57:118-121.
Liegner KB, Shapiro JR, Ramsay D, Halperin AJ, Hogrefe W, Kong L. "Recurrent erythema migrans despite extended antibiotic treatment with minocycline in a patient with persisting Borrelia burgdorferi infection." J Am Acad Dermatol. 1993;28(2 pt 2):312-314.
Chancellor MB, McGinnis DE, Shenot PJ, Kiilholma P, Hirsch IH. "Urinary dysfunction in Lyme disease." J Urol. 1993;149:26-30.
Preac-Mursic V, Pfister HW, Spiegel H, et al. "First isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi from an iris biopsy." J Clin Neuroophthalmol. 1993;13:155-161.
Oksi J, Kalimo H, Marttila RJ, et al. " Inflammatory brain changes in Lyme borreliosis. A report on three patients and review of literature." Brain. 1996;119:2143-2154.
Kirsch M, Ruben FL, Steere AC, Duray PH, Norden CW, Winkelstein A. "Fatal adult respiratory distress syndrome in a patient with Lyme disease." JAMA. 1988;259:2737-2739.
Masters E. "Spirochetemia after continuous high-dose oral amoxicillin therapy." Infect Dis Clin Prac. 1994;3:207-208.
Lawrence C, Lipton RB, Lowy FD, Coyle PK. "Seronegative chronic relapsing neuroborreliosis." Eur Neurol. 1995;35:113-117.
This information is provided for general educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute (i) medical advice or counseling, (ii) the practice of medicine or the provision of health care diagnosis or treatment, (iii) or the creation of a physician -- patient relationship. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, contact your doctor promptly.
Follow Leo Galland, M.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Pilladvised/
Michealene Cristini Risley: Lyme: Emerging Disease or Hidden Epidemic?
Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D.: The Hidden Dangers of Bug Bites
Leo Galland, M.D.: Lyme Disease Symptoms: Key Facts About This Mysterious Illness
Jeffrey Smith: Lyme/Autism Group Blasts Genetically Modified Foods as Dangerous
I can't drive very far anymore (I used to drive 300 miles just to see my then-boyfriend.) When I have a spell, my driving suffers. I sleep it off in the car, but can't do that in 100+ degree heat. Once active, I can't do much anymore, because of these spells. They occur 2 to 8 times per week, lasting approx. 2 to 10 hours each time. I can no longer work due to these spells. I applied for SSDI but SS has screwed up, I've got to start over. I am losing my house and will be homeless.
I have been to the doctor many times. I have been complaining of the pain for years. It has gotten worse. I'm told, "take ibuprofen". When I told them I was taking 2000-5000 mg/day, they said, "Oh, that's too much, don't take that much" but didn't give me anything else. Finally, after taking a cocktail of acetominophen/ibuprofen/naproxen sodium/aspirin every day for a year, I finally got the doctor to give me gabapentin (Neurontin) which has helped a great deal.
I mentioned the possibility of Lyme's, was told, "Oh, you've taken antibiotics, so you don't have it". (The longest I've taken antibiotics is 10 days.) It has taken 2 years to get any medical professional to pay attention to me, but seeing as how I will soon be on the streets, I don't know what good it will do.
Not sure I can pinpoint a date, but about 5 years ago, I had increasing joint and muscle pain. 2 years ago, I experienced a spell that lasted about a week-10 days, wherein I was very disoriented, spacey, weak. I frequently needed assistance to walk. My right side was paralyzed in a head injury when I was a child, but I've recovered so that few people can tell I was ever paralyzed, but my right leg dragged and wouldn't work right. The doctor shrugged. I eventually got better. Not long after, I started having these "spells". I would frequently have difficulty breathing (I'm asthmatic) which asthma medications didn't help. I had tachycardia (120 bpm), disorientation, "spaciness", slurred speech, extreme tiredness, lack of energy, uncoordinated walking, etc. I tested my blood sugar; it was fine. Symptoms seemed like those of low blood sugar and/or a TIA, but I would get better after 2 to 10 hours, especially if I slept.
I am a dog rescuer. Ticks are still a fact of life. I use Frontline but it really doesn't work that well. A few years ago, I picked an average of 20 ticks per dog per day during the worst of the tick season. Last summer we had a horrible drought and it wasn't so bad. Regardless, I get plenty of exposure to ticks every year.
A friend's Corgi (they live in New Jersey) got Lyme's, and he very nearly died. I forget all the veterinary care he needed, but it cost thousands, and he was a very, very sick dog. That's my only semi-direct experience with Lyme's. My mother had Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick Fever (uncommon in these parts) when I was a child, and she had some kind of rickettsia circa 1994.
Do you have unexplained symptoms?
* Post-Lyme leftovers, ringing in the ears and eye twitching. Due for a check-up with my Lyme Specialist.
Have your been tested for Lyme or other tick-borne diseases?
* Yes, once by asking ex-family Dr., gave me 10 days abx "Just in case" ELISA test negative, no further treatment. More sever problems 8 months later, asked to get the Western Blot test directly, they refused ordered another ELISA Test, drug test, and liver test. He asked me if I drank, I said yes. he said "It's probably your liver". I never went back the next day to get blood drawn, he was so mean and rude". I had been going to that Dr's office since I was 12.
My neighbor gave me the # of their Lyme Doctor, because they went through the same hell. I made an appointment, and needed to go back to the ex-Dr. to get my medical records. In it he wrote "Tics looked staged," "Family History of mental health problems" (Anxiety in Mother, I have C-PTSD).
The new Lyme Dr. sent out for the Western Blot directly, 4 out of 5 bands, and a long list of clinical symptoms.
How do you think you may have gotten Lyme disease?
* Grew up covered in ticks in S. Jersey, definitely had two bites from Wilkes-Barre, PA. Their were ticks inside the house I bought, from the previous owner having indoor-outdoor cats.
Guinea hens eat deer ticks...................time to expand the menagery!
The Director's sister featured in "Under the Eightball" had Lyme, Chlamydia Pneumonia, and black mold in her house. He had to send out for the samples himself, because the coroner wouldn't do it. But he was allowed to get samples to send himself.
According to all of her Dr's she died of M.S.
Their main website is down... but here is the youtube trailor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UOhME0K4hw (You will see more of the sister in the full-length documentary)
. I live in a damp part of the country and must take 3 different anti-fungal pills for 9 months of the year. It is very hard on my liver. I feel "OK" but I struggle always with severe depressions because the Lyme’s bacteria HAS crossed the blood brain barrier. And yes, it has been scientifically proven that limes can cross the blood brain barrier.
The most important thing I have to tell you is this: Taking 4 weeks of antibiotics WILL NOT cure you. I took antibiotic injections in my glut muscle 4 times a week for 4 YEARS. Of course, insurance covered nothing, so don't expect help there. The antibiotics DID help a ton, but 4 weeks is nothing . You'll be on them for years.
IF, the big IF they catch the disease within the first few weeks, then 4 weeks of antibiotics may "cure" you, but if symptoms return (even years down the road), then you were not cured. Some lingered and have made you their new home.
My biggest hope is that the medical field (conventional drs.) will wake up and see that Lyme’s is a real disease and it is as debilitating as MS , MD, or any other long term disability disease. WAKE UP DOCTORS !
I am a 56 yr old woman. I was bitten by a tick when I was 18. I got very sick and was told I had mono and I needed to "just get over it". . Being young and strong, I "got over" it. However, I always wondered why I felt so "slow" and breathless many times. why my limbs were so weak.
When I turned 43 and entered menopause the symptoms returned with a vengeance. The disease and all the co-infections had had almost 30 years to do what it wanted with my body. Now drs. told me it was menopause and I just "needed to get over it:. One suggested I take a nap.
After countless visits to countless conventional drs., I turned to a naturopath. By that time I was bedridden, so weak I could barely walk. I even had trouble getting enough air. I was suicidal, full of rage at the way I was being brushed aside, and very ready to end it all. My naturopath is the one who suggested I might have Lyme's disease. I laughed and said the last time I was bitten by a tick was when I was 18. We tested me and I came out very positive.
What began was a painful 10 year journey. Today I take 65 pills a day (down from 100). I get massages every 2 weeks to help keep the pain at bay. Continued..
As a healthy young, vivacious woman, you do NOT forget being bedridden for 2 wks.
So I used my journal where I'd been and what I'd been doing at this time. I eliminted all the NORMAL ways of being bitten:
NO pets nor did my roommates have pets; SUB-ZERO IOWA weather, no gardening nor was I a gardner at that time.
So finally determined the tick came OFF MY FOLK'S CUT CHRISTMAS TREE which they had from the time we were toddlers until he last of 5 kids graduated and left home!
I've met many families onine, all bitten by ticks coming off cut christmas trees!!
Took me 5 yrs. of hell to be approved for SSDI, social security disability insurance, work benefits! DDS employees treat us horribly during this long procedure of 24/7 anxiety for all the duplicate paperwork sent to us over and over.
I've not read any of the comments so far, sharing this brief story with you per your request.
I've talked to over 60-65,000 people since July 2004 !! I helped them find LYME LITERATE MDS treating longer than 1 month of antibiotics and accurate info to start their long journeys.
BettyG, Iowa lyme activist, group leader, llmd coordinator
July 2004, it took me 35 yrs. of hell before I was correctly diagnosed with CHRONIC LYME DISEASE after seeing 40-50 MDS; UNACCEPTABLE!
I had my blood sent to IGENEX DIAGNOSTIC LAB, CALIF. for western blot and co-infection testings. My western blot came back POSITIVE; so I am counted in IOWA'S LYME statistics!
Co-infections were negative. |My local clinic tok more of my blood and sent it to MAYO CLINIC, MINN. for testings. Came back NEGATIVE on both where they tested ONLY 5 protein bands and only 2 protein bands vs. the 15-16 TOTAL protein bands there are! SHAME ON MAYO CLINIC!
I had 4 skin biopsies; 2 cam back "UNKNOWN BUG BITE"! They did NOT pursue as they should have; shame on my local clinic for all the years of hell they put me thru!
I was the one who had to keep pursuing why I felt like hell; no dr. or RX med had helped me to date.
I later had testings from MDLabs east coast and FLORIDA'S lab now under a new name.
How do you think you may have gotten Lyme disease? Since it took 35 yrs. of hell before my correct diagnosis, I used my journal notes from a teenager. I was 20 when I was bitten.
I went back to where I got extremely ill. Went to dr. and got 1st wrong diagnosis, MONO/EPSTEIN BARR VIRUS, where I was bedridden for 2 wks.