Health Report: Lyme disease
Many people - including doctors - have never heard of
Lyme disease. Jo Carlowe investigates whether this ignorance is
needlessly ruining people's lives...
When Joan Crawford, 35, from
Chester, was bitten by a tick at the age of 12 she had little idea
that this seemingly harmless bite would devastate her life for the
next 20 years.
She would spend periods of her adolescence and early adulthood
feeling exhausted, would be misdiagnosed as suffering from Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (ME) and even offered treatment for depression.
She now lives on a permanent regime of antibiotics. Joan thinks of
herself as one of the lucky ones - she has at least been diagnosed.
Like millions of British families, the Crawfords enjoyed spending
their holidays in the UK. In 1986 they went to stay on the west
coast of Scotland. They could never have known that this area is
one of the hotspots for the seemingly innocuous ticks that would
lead to Joan's debilitating illness.
These blood-sucking parasites mostly live on deer, sheep and
pheasants, but will happily feed on humans too. On transmission to
the blood of its host, the bacterium from the tick develops into
Lyme borreliosis - better known as Lyme disease. Caught early, the
disease causes little more than a rash and flu-like symptoms
curable with antibiotics but, left untreated, it can damage your
heart, joints and even the brain.
"After around six months it can enter its second phase,"
explains Terence Daymond, a consultant in rheumatology at the
Breakspear Medical Clinic in Hertfordshire, "causing
neurological problems, nerve palsies (muscle weakness), painful
joints or arthritis, abnormal heart rhythms, hearing problems and
severe malaise."
In rare cases the disease moves into a third phase, slowly
destroying the nervous system, causing numbing, chronic arthritis
(even in children), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and
the development of dementia.
To read more of this article please join
Candis...
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to submit a comment.
If you are not yet a Candis member and want to find out more about the benefits of joining Candis Magazine...
We're confident that our travel insurance will provide you with peace of mind, allowing you the freedom to sit back, relax and get the most out of your holiday. Whether you're off on a short break or venturing further afield, our policies will keep you covered. Save up to £22.58 with Candis Travel Insurance More
Comments:
There are currently no comments for this article, be the first by using the box below.