Hundreds of health problems have been caused by, misdiagnosed as or
mimicked by Lyme disease, including facial palsy, Alzheimer's
disease, anxiety, ADD, ADHD, Bell's Palsy, bipolar disorder, brain
tumor, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, depression, epilepsy, respiratory
distress syndrome, fetal death, fever, fibromyalgia, hearing loss,
heart block, hepatitis, lupus, memory impairment, meningeal
lymphoma, meningitis, migraines, mono, Multiple Sclerosis, Non-
Hodgkin's lymphoma, restless legs syndrome, Rheumatic Fever,
rheumatoid arthritis, seizure disorders, stroke, sudden infant death
syndrome, thyroiditis, Tourette's syndrome, urticaria and vertigo.
Nevertheless, even in late disseminated Lyme disease, intravenous
antibiotic therapy has a high success rate.

- Information provided by Colin Nicholl

Take precautions to prevent Lyme disease



You and your family live in an area with a high incidence of Tick
Borne Diseases, including Lyme disease, a potentially serious
affliction caused by spiral-shaped bacteria transmitted by infected
deer ticks, tiny spider-like creatures that live in woodland and
grassy areas.

Named for Old Lyme, Conn., the location where it was discovered
in 1975, Lyme can significantly undermine the quality of your life
if left untreated. The highest risk from these ticks is from April
to October when they are smallest and most active, but they are
active whenever the temperature is above 40 degrees.

One of the early signs of Lyme disease may be a bull's-eye red
rash. Later signs may include fluish symptoms such as muscle aches,
fever, tiredness and joint pain. More serious complications include
a whole host of symptoms, especially involving the joints, nervous
system and heart. Where there is a combination of severe fatigue,
muscle aches/stiffness, and neurological or arthritic
symptomatology, a diagnosis of Lyme disease should be considered.

Lyme disease, especially in its early stages, can be treated
with antibiotics. If you suspect that you have Lyme disease, do not
delay consulting with your doctor.

Take precautions

Take the following precautions, especially when walking in a
wooded area:


Wear light-colored clothing, making ticks easier to spot.


Avoid common tick habitats such as tall grass, bushes, brush and
woods.


Keep to the center of pathways. Do not rest on fallen logs or sit on
the forest floor.


Wear long trousers and long-sleeved shirts; tuck your trousers into
socks.


Use a tick repellent.


Before going indoors, brush off your clothing.


Once indoors, check your whole body carefully for ticks, removing
and crushing unattached ticks, and following the procedure below if
you find ticks attached to you.

Note: most people do not feel a tick biting, nor do they sense
the drawing of blood by the tick over the next 2 to 4 days of
attachment.

Know how to remove a tick

If you find a tick imbedded in your skin, take the following
measures:


Remove the tick promptly. Ticks removed within 24 hours are less
likely to infect you.


Use a tick removal device (tickedoff.com) or tweezers to remove the
tick. Grasp the tick's head, including its mouth parts, and tug
gently and repeatedly until the tick withdraws its barbed mouth from
your skin. Remember that the bacteria are in the tick's saliva, so
do not squeeze its body, suffocate it with Vaseline, or burn its
bottom with a match, which can cause it to spit or spew.


Preserve the tick in a jar of alcohol, noting the date and location
of the bite and where you think you picked up the tick.


Wipe the area of attachment with antiseptic and wash your hands and
tweezers with antibacterial soap.

Diagnosing Lyme disease

If you develop a striking red bull's-eye red rash (typically
within 4-6 weeks of a bite) photograph the rash and keep a record of
the date on which it first appeared. Have a doctor examine the rash,
mentioning your concern that it may be an erythema migrans rash. (If
your doctor suspects that you have a Lyme rash, he/she will
typically prescribe a course of oral antibiotics, which, if taken
faithfully, should take care of the infection.)

If you develop a "summer flu" (whether or not you recall a
rash), consisting of aching muscles and/or joints, swollen glands,
headaches, exhaustion, fever, neck stiffness or cold sweats, consult
with a medical doctor and request a Lyme test, preferably
the "Western Blot," as the frontline blood test (ELISA) has been
widely questioned.

All Lyme tests are difficult to interpret and far from
foolproof. Consequently, the CDC insists that Lyme disease is a
clinical, rather than a laboratory, diagnosis.

If you have Lyme disease and it is undetected and left
untreated, you may develop strange arthritic, neurological and/or
cardiological symptoms over the following months and years, which
could prove difficult to diagnose.

Hundreds of health problems have been caused by, misdiagnosed
as or mimicked by Lyme disease, including facial palsy, Alzheimer's
disease, anxiety, ADD, ADHD, Bell's Palsy, bipolar disorder, brain
tumor, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, depression, epilepsy, respiratory
distress syndrome, fetal death, fever, fibromyalgia, hearing loss,
heart block, hepatitis, lupus, memory impairment, meningeal
lymphoma, meningitis, migraines, mono, Multiple Sclerosis, Non-
Hodgkin's lymphoma, restless legs syndrome, Rheumatic Fever,
rheumatoid arthritis, seizure disorders, stroke, sudden infant death
syndrome, thyroiditis, Tourette's syndrome, urticaria and vertigo.
Nevertheless, even in late disseminated Lyme disease, intravenous
antibiotic therapy has a high success rate.

- Information provided by Colin Nicholl



Paul Marshall
http://www.tourettes-disorder.com
editor@...