What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?

Lyme disease is a multisystemic condition caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, transmitted through tick bites. It presents with a range of symptoms that can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, nervous system, musculoskeletal system, and more.

Key Insights from Research Papers:

Patients with Lyme disease often experience fatigue, cognitive difficulties, and musculoskeletal pain, which can persist for a significant period after treatment.
Neurological involvement, such as meningitis, encephalitis, cranial neuritis, and radiculoneuropathies, can occur in up to 40% of patients, with psychiatric symptoms like depression and anxiety also reported.
Chronic neurologic manifestations of Lyme disease may include encephalopathy characterized by memory loss, mood changes, or sleep disturbance, and polyneuropathy with radicular pain or distal paresthesias.
Early symptoms of Lyme disease typically include a skin rash, often described as erythema migrans, accompanied by fever, chills, fatigue, headache, and joint pains.
Rheumatic symptoms such as arthralgia and myalgia are common, with nearly 30% of symptomatic patients reporting these issues.
Persistent symptoms in children diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease include musculoskeletal pain, headache, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction.
Despite treatment, some patients may experience post-Lyme syndrome, where symptoms like fatigue, arthralgias, and myalgias persist for months.

Conclusion:

Lyme disease symptoms are diverse and can range from early manifestations like skin rashes and flu-like symptoms to more chronic issues involving neurological, psychiatric, and musculoskeletal complaints. Persistent symptoms can occur even after treatment, highlighting the complexity of this disease and the need for further research into effective diagnosis and management.

What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?

Summary

Sources and full results

Post-treatment Lyme Disease as a Model for Persistent Symptoms in Lyme Disease

Post-treatment Lyme disease is a useful model for studying persistent symptoms in Lyme disease, with potential etiologies including microbial persistence, host immune dysregulation, or altered neural networks.

Lyme disease: a neuropsychiatric illness.

Lyme disease can cause neurologic and psychiatric symptoms, and psychiatrists in endemic areas should consider it in the differential diagnosis of atypical psychiatric disorders.

Chronic neurologic manifestations of Lyme disease.

Lyme disease patients may experience chronic encephalopathy, polyneuropathy, or leukoencephalitis, which usually improve with antibiotic therapy.

Lyme disease: neurologic and ophthalmic manifestations.

Lyme disease can cause ocular and neuro-ophthalmic abnormalities, but current criteria for diagnosis need improvement.

Rashes and Symptoms in Early Lyme Disease

Early Lyme disease patients often have a solid red rash with no clear central area, but symptoms often disappear with antibiotic treatment.

A critical appraisal of "chronic Lyme disease".

Chronic Lyme disease is a diagnosis often used to explain persistent pain, fatigue, and neurocognitive symptoms in patients without previous acute Lyme disease.

AB0902 RHEUMATIC LYME DISEASE SYMPTOMS BASED ON EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DATA IN HIGH ENDEMIC EUROPE AREA

Nearly 30% of Lyme disease symptoms in Lithuania were rheumatic, suggesting that joint and muscle pain can lead to infection diseases like Lyme disease.

Contributions of societal and geographical environments to "chronic Lyme disease": the psychopathogenesis and aporology of a new "medically unexplained symptoms" syndrome.

Chronic Lyme disease is a result of confusion, insecurity, and societal and geographical environments, leading to a state of disorganization called aporia.

Symptoms Over Time Suggest Chronic Lyme

Chronic Lyme disease in children is diagnosed by persistent musculoskeletal pain, headache, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction, with early treatment and antibiotic therapy being key to successful recovery.

The Consequences of Overdiagnosis and Overtreatment of Lyme Disease: An Observational Study

Overdiagnosis and overtreatment of Lyme disease can lead to increased disability and psychological distress in patients, with potential implications for public health.

Try another search