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Monday, September 14, 2015

Tips On The Question; Is There A Cure For Lyme Disease?

By Daphne Bowen


Lyme disease, also called Lyme borreliosis is a bacterial infection that is spread by ticks. Bacteria causing this disease are of the borrelia type. The disease is spread to humans through bites by the causative ticks. These ticks get the bacterium by biting other infected animals like deer and mice. However, not all ticks carry the bacterium causing Lyme disease. Most common diseases have their methods of treatment and cure. Due to the increasing spread and illnesses, more research has been done on the cure of Lyme disease. Answer to the question; 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.

Fevers, migran headaches and getting easily fatigued are the other accompanying signs. As the infection progresses, the joints, face and neck area, heart and muscles also get infected. Stiffness of the neck and easy cramping of muscles are other developing signs. In addition, the meninges get inflamed as the disorder spread and reach the brain. To diagnose the disease, signs and symptoms are assessed. Confirmatory diagnosis is done through blood testing.

There is a possibility to recover from this disease. Chances however, are increased with early detection of this disorder. Late diagnosis may lead to other complications that may not be fully resolved. Seeking early treatment is therefore vital to avoid all these.

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.

Amoxicillin and azithromycin, also antibiotics, act as second line medications for treating the disorder. They are effective when administered either orally or intravenously. The period of treatment varies and usually ranges from one week to four weeks to completely eliminate the disorder. This duration is however determined by the severity of the disease process. It has been proved that starting the treatment within the first two weeks of infection is effective but this is not possible since the bacteria can be visualized in blood for diagnosis after five weeks.

Preventing any disorder is more economical than curing it. Preventing Lyme disorder would be wise therefore than treating it. Several means to prevent the disease have been put up. Vaccination proved more effective than the other protective means. The production of particular vaccines stopped because of limited market available.

To add on that, use of preventive cloths for protection, wearing light colored clothes that makes the tick is easily visible, keeping off long grass, application of repellents and limited contact with deer and mice are other preventive means.




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