ARTICLE Early Signs of Lyme Disease Lyme disease is an illness that is spread by bites from ticks infected by several Borrelia bacterium. ( courtecy;- medicineNet.com )

Lyme Disease

• Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) facts
• What is Lyme disease? What causes Lyme disease?
• What is the history of Lyme disease?
• What are risk factors for developing Lyme disease?
• What are Lyme disease symptoms and signs?
• What types of doctors treat Lyme disease?
• What tests do health-care professionals use to diagnose Lyme disease?
• What are Lyme disease treatments? What is the prognosis of Lyme disease?
• What are complications of Lyme disease?
• Is it possible to prevent Lyme disease? Is there a Lyme disease vaccine?
• Where can people find more information about Lyme disease?

Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) facts

• Lyme disease is an illness that is spread by bites from ticks infected by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia afzelii, or Borrelia garinii.
• Lyme disease can affect the skin, joints, heart, and the nervous system.
• Lyme disease occurs in phases, with the early phase beginning at the site of the tick bite with an expanding ring of redness.
• Lyme disease is diagnosed based on the patient's clinical signs of illness and the detection of antibodies to the causative bacteria in the blood.
• Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics.

Lyme Disease Signs & Symptoms

Lyme disease is medically described as occurring in three phases, each with distinctive symptoms. The first phase is early localized disease, which occurs three to 30 days after the tick bite that transmitted the infection. This stage is characterized by skin inflammation. The rash that occurs is referred to as erythema migrans. It develops in about 70% of people who get Lyme disease. It starts at the site of the tick bite and expands over the next several days. It can eventually cover an area up to about 12 inches across. Some of the area may clear, giving the rash at times a bull's-eye appearance.

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What is Lyme disease? What causes Lyme disease?

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Lyme disease is a tick-borne diseasecaused by a bacterium called a "spirochete." In the United States, the actual name of the bacterium is Borrelia burgdorferi. In Europe, the bacteria Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii also cause Lyme disease. Certain ticks frequently found on deer from various locations harbor the bacterium in their stomachs. Borreliosis is spread by these infected ticks when they bite the skin, which permits the transmission of the spirochete through the skin to infect the body. So Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease. Lyme disease is not contagious from an affected person to someone else. Lyme disease can cause abnormalities in the skin, joints, heart, and nervous system.