"The whole thing with Lyme disease really is diagnosis and treatment,"

"The whole thing with Lyme disease really is diagnosis and treatment,"
said David Weld, executive director of the American Lyme Disease
Foundation. "If caught early, you can prevent later-stage problems."


----------------
Don't Take Lyme Disease Lightly
The tick-borne illness remains a serious threat, experts caution

The mention of West Nile virus can send some people into an unwarranted
panic.

But did you know that Lyme disease infected more than 23,000 Americans
in 2002, more than double the number of those infected by West Nile?

Both are insect-borne diseases, both can have a debilitating effect on
the human body, and both are continuing their relentless spread into
new areas of the country.

So why do headlines seem to scream every new case of West Nile virus,
while Lyme disease is met with a "ho-hum" shrug?

Doctors believe the explanation lies in the fact that West Nile virus
can kill -- taking 264 lives in 2003 -- while Lyme disease is
considered potentially debilitating but not fatal.

"The whole thing with Lyme disease really is diagnosis and treatment,"
said David Weld, executive director of the American Lyme Disease
Foundation. "If caught early, you can prevent later-stage problems."

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. These
bacteria are transmitted to humans through the bite of infected deer
ticks, and caused 23,763 infections in the United States in 2002,
according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lyme disease was discovered in 1977 when arthritis was observed in
children in Lyme, Conn.

People with Lyme disease generally have a rash in the shape of a
bulls-eye at the site of infection, and also can suffer from such
symptoms as fever, malaise, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and joint
aches. The incubation period from infection to the onset of the rash is
typically seven to 14 days but may be as short as three days and as
long as 30 days.

If left untreated, more dire symptoms can arise: arthritis, mainly in
the large joints; neurologic abnormalities, such as aseptic meningitis,
facial palsy, motor and sensory nerve inflammation and inflammation of
the brain; and cardiac problems, such as an enlarged heart or acute
inflammation of the tissues surrounding the heart.

Doctors treat Lyme disease using oral antibiotics, or intravenous
antibiotics if the disease has progressed to its later stages, said Dr.
Peter Welch, an infectious disease doctor at Northern Westchester
Hospital Center in Mount Kisco, N.Y.

"The most common reason for intravenous treatment is if the disease has
invaded the nervous system," Welch said. "The pills don't penetrate
into the nervous system as well."

There is some debate among doctors over whether Lyme disease is
completely curable.

"There's one school of medical thought that antibiotics should be given
for months or years, and that the disease is not curable," Welch said.
"I'm not in that camp."

Welch believes the human body can be rid of the bacteria with proper
weeks-long treatment using antibiotics.

In 2002, the latest year for available statistics, 95 percent of Lyme
disease cases were from the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

However, the disease continues to crop up in new areas, mainly where
both deer and human populations are growing, Weld said.

"In the last two years, five or six counties just north of San
Francisco have been identified as a real hot spot," he said. "There are
a lot of deer there, and a lot of people.

People likely to catch Lyme disease are those who enjoy outdoor
activities, such as hiking, camping or fishing, or live or work in
residential areas surrounded by tick-infested woods or overgrown brush.
Individuals engaged in outdoor occupations, including landscaping,
forestry, and wildlife and parks management in endemic areas, may also
be at risk, health officials said.

To protect yourself against Lyme disease, doctors recommend, first,
that you avoid places likely to be infested with ticks, particularly in
the spring and summer. Deer ticks favor a moist, shaded environment,
especially areas with leaf litter and low-lying vegetation in wooded,
brushy or overgrown grassy locales, according to the CDC.

People who do venture into tick habitats should wear light-colored
clothing to help spot ticks. Wearing long-sleeved shirts and tucking
pants into socks or boot tops can help keep ticks from reaching your
skin.

Welch also recommends the use of insect repellents containing DEET,
although he added that the best way to prevent Lyme disease is to
perform frequent tick checks.

"Remember that if ticks are removed before they've been attached for 48
hours, they usually do not transmit the disease," he said. "If you find
a tick on you and remove it, only about 2 percent of those bites result
in Lyme disease."

One of the newer advances in the fight against Lyme disease has been
technology to help eliminate ticks, Weld said.

The Lyme foundation promotes the use of a bait station that lures deer
in with corn, then coats their ears and neck with insecticide while
they feed. Two studies have found that a station can eliminate up to 98
percent of the ticks in a given area, he said.

"It's the ultimate answer, from my viewpoint," Weld said.

More information

American Lyme Disease Foundation

To learn more about Lyme disease, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.

Story from REDNOVA NEWS:
http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=153766

Published: 2005/06/04 10:52:44 CDT

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