Lyme Disease

Get Email Updates

Lyme Disease Bloggers

Free Newsletter

Receive the latest and greatest in women's health and wellness from EmpowHER!

Lyme Disease: Diagnosis, Causes and Risks

By EmpowHER October 4, 2011 - 8:13am
 
Rate This
0 comments View Comments

Lyme disease is an illness that has been popping up with greater frequency in the news. There is some disagreement and confusion as to how widespread this disease is, and how serious the condition can become.

What is Lyme disease? It is an infection that is spread by ticks that carry the Borrelia burgdorferi spirochete (spiral-shaped bacteria). Chipmunks, shrews, mice and a wide variety of birds can all be carriers of B. burgdorferi.

According to the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) there are five subspecies of B. burgdorferi, with over 100 strains appearing in the United States. To make identification of Lyme disease even more difficult, many organs can be affected by the spirochetes. Consequently Lyme disease symptoms come in a variety of forms.

Lyme disease symptoms in humans may be mistaken for a number of other diseases, including lupus, dementia, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome">chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromalgia and Parkinson's ...

http://www.empowher.com/lyme-disease/content/what-lyme-disease

 
Rate This
0 comments View Comments

We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.

Around the Web

Add a CommentComments

There are no comments yet. Be the first one and get the conversation started!

Image CAPTCHA
By hitting submit, you agree to EmpowHER's terms of service and privacy policy

Improved

620 Health

Changed

294 Lives

Saved

211 Lives
1 lives impacted in the last 24 hrs Learn More

Take our Featured Poll

What did you do for the Memorial Day weekend? :
View Results