Lyme Disease: Hard To Detect, Easy To Treat--If Caught Early

     Today more people are escaping the bustle of the city and retreating to America's great outdoors. But in doing so, many are unaware of the dangers lurking in the wild. We're not talking about snakes, bears or poison ivy. One of the most dangerous species of wildlife is the "Ixodes dammni" - or deer tick.

     This blood-sucking, disease-carrying tick is so tiny, its bite often goes undetected, however the result -- Lyme disease -- can be devastating. Lyme disease, if caught early, can be treated and usually cured with antibiotic treatments. Unfortunately, the symptoms of Lyme disease mimic so many other diseases, it is often misdiagnosed. In its early stage, the most common symptoms are a red, circular, bull's-eye-shaped rash, flu-like symptoms, headache, fever, chills, nausea and fatigue. Early symptoms usually occur from 3 to 32 days after the victim has been bitten, and may sometimes last longer.

     The second stage of Lyme disease is accompanied by chronic rashes that look similar to chicken pox or poison ivy, severe headaches, facial twitches or tics, disorientation, swollen lymph nodes, irregular or extra heartbeats, eye pain, sensitivity to light, double vision, pressure in eye, ear pain, ringing, and hearing impairment, throat problems, nausea, severe fatigue, and weight gain or loss. In the third stage of Lyme disease the symptoms are chronic arthritis, short-term memory loss, partial paralysis, blindness, and extreme fatigue. These later symptoms may not show up until months, sometimes years after the victim has been infected.

     Why is it we have only recently heard of this disease? Many scientists believe Lyme disease has been around for more than one hundred years, however the first documented case in the U.S. was in 1969 in Wisconsin. Then in 1976, in Lyme, Connecticut, 51 cases of juvenile rheumatiod arthritis appeared. For a town with a population of 12,000, this was an extremely unusual occurrence. Doctors and researchers then determined that most of these victims had been bitten by a tick. This led to the discovery that Lyme disease was actually a tick-borne disease, caused by the bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, named after Dr. Willy Bergdorfer, the Rocky Mountain Laboratories researcher, who in 1982 discovered the spirochete as being the cause of Lyme disease.

     When a tick bites, it inserts its hypostome, or mouth-part, into the skin. This hypostome is shaped like a fish hook with a barbed end, making it difficult to pull out. The tick then injects saliva, containing an anticoagulant, into the bite to keep the blood from clotting, allowing it to feed for hours. The spirochete, which causes Lyme disease, is also carried in the saliva, thus infecting the blood host.

     All this sounds pretty scary. Although ticks and Lyme disease are a real concern, with the proper protection we are able to enjoy the great outdoors to the fullest. A leading pharmaceutical company in the Midwest offers the following advice that can put you on your way to a tick-proof summer.

• Avoid grassy and marshy woodland areas.
• Do not walk barefoot in grassy areas.
• When walking through wooded areas, stay on trails to prevent contact with possible tick-bearing shrubs.
• Wear light-colored clothing (easier to spot ticks) with long sleeves and tuck shirt into pants and pants into socks or boots.
• Routinely check for ticks on yourself and those around you, including pets, immediately after gardening or an outing in a potentially tick-infested area. Be sure to check hairline, ears, behind the knees, armpits and groin areas.
• The best prevention is to use an insect repellant with a higher Deet content as the main ingredient.

     Products containing 30 - 55 percent Deet have proven to be the most effective in repelling the tiny "deer tick," the primary carrier of Lyme disease. USDA studies show that when the formula of Deet drops below 30 percent, the effectiveness and time of protection begins to diminish rapidly. Insect repellants with over 55 percent Deet add virtually nothing to the product and offer no "extra protection". Government agencies consider Deet-based insect repellants safe for adults and children when used as directed.

Thanks to Jim White, and beOutdoors.com for their permission to reprint this article. Please bear in mind That beOutdoors.com has a copyright on this material.
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