This article is once again, one of the most important articles you will read. This is a continuation of my former article about America’s second fastest growing infectious disease. Prevention of Lyme disease is a better alternative than trying to treat Chronic Lyme.
There are areas that are of higher risk than others. Consideration must be taken into the fact that not only do people travel from time to time, whether it is work related or vacation, people also relocate. Relocation and travel can be from “high risk” Lyme areas to places where Lyme may be almost non-existent. Then you have traveling for a family emergency. People easily forget about these. As a result, an onset of symptoms in a “low risk” Lyme zone may not be traced to the possibility of being exposed to Lyme. Then a possible situation could be that someone with symptoms does ask to be checked for Lyme. The response may be “there is no Lyme here”. Your response as a paying patient should be “I know, but I travel to places that do have a high risk of Lyme”. If you have relocated, you need to inform the doctor as well. “I have not always lived here I moved here from a high risk Lyme zone”.
In any event of strange symptoms developing, a Lyme test must be requested no matter your location. If you are living in an area where Lyme is, precautions must be taken to prevent infection.
Permethin is a chemical effective in preventing Lyme infected ticks from attaching on to your clothes. Permethin must be sprayed on all cloths and boots, etc. Do not spray the chemical on your skin. Pretreated clothes are available as well. There is a company named “Insect Shield” that will pretreat clothes for about $2.00 per item. These pretreated clothes are effective up to almost 70 washes.
Reducing the deer population is not an effective way to prevent Lyme. Lyme comes from rodents too, especially the white-footed mouse. If people are against using chemicals, then a thorough inspection needs to be done upon returning from outdoor activities. You should also avoid sitting on stone walls, keep wood piles in sunny areas, and never sit directly on the ground. Parents and teachers must inspect children thoroughly after any outdoor activity. Walking off paths is in not recommended. All outdoor workers must do a thorough inspection as well or consider wearing permethin treated clothes.
For people that have already been exposed to Lyme, the biggest mistake is the thought of being “immune”. There is no evidence that you can not become re-infected. Due to the mild winter, this could be a bad tick season. Precautions must be taken.
“Lyme Is Not the Only Disease”
The co-infections that come with Lyme are often overlooked. Lyme can be more difficult to treat if there is a co-infection that has not been treated. Many people are unaware of these and that is the reason for this article. The list of Lyme co-infections are: Babesia, Bartonella, Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Tick Paralysis and Mycoplasma. Babesia has 13 strains of which standard labs only test for two. A Lyme-literate doctor should be able to diagnose such co-infections. Co-infections result in more serious symptoms than Lyme itself. The period of recovery may be longer as well.
The three main co-infections are: Babesia, Bartonella and Ehrlichia. Symptoms of Babesia are: imbalance, sweats, headache and chills. The symptoms of Bartonella are: flu-like symptoms, sore throat, weak immune system, and exaggerated Lyme symptoms. Ehrlichia symptoms include: ongoing fatigue and headaches.
The co-infection symptoms listed are only a few of the many symptoms that come with each one. Research must be done on these in every household. These tick borne illnesses are easily cured if caught and treated on time. The best cure is prevention. This article is written on the research that I did and my own experience as well. I am not a doctor. Any exact information on these should be obtained from a Lyme- literate doctor.
Marc’s email is marcmerullo@gmail.com
