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Lyme disease is usually curable if treated early. However, complications may occur if the diagnosis of Lyme disease is delayed or if antibiotic treatment is not performed properly, if Lyme disease develops along with other diseases, or if the Lyme disease patient has reduced immunity. In these cases, even with antibiotic treatment, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and neurological symptoms may persist for years. It rarely leads to death.


Precautions

The best way to prevent Lyme disease is to use insect repellent to avoid being bitten by disease-carrying ticks. If you are going to an area with a lot of trees or brush, it is helpful to wear a shirt with long sleeves and tuck long pants inside your socks to prevent ticks from coming into contact with your skin. Lyme disease refers to an infectious disease that causes diseases in various organs by invading the body by the Borrelia bacteria in the process of biting a person by a tick, an insect. When the microscopic ticks suck the animal's blood, the bacteria spend the rest of their lives in the tick's intestines. When this tick bites an animal or person, bacteria enter the bloodstream and cause disease.





Cause

Lyme disease is caused by spiral bacteria that live in ticks. Ticks mainly attach to the body of animals, especially deer and small rodents. When a person is bitten by a tick infected with Borrelia, they get Lyme disease.


Symptom

Lyme disease usually progresses in three stages.

In the first stage, a skin rash develops within a month of the tick bite. These rashes gradually grow in size, ranging from a small coin-sized rash to a rash that spreads all over the back. Symptoms include headache, fatigue, chills, fever, and pain along with the rash.


In the second stage, the fungus invades the nervous system and moves throughout the muscular and skeletal system. This process causes pain. In addition, dizziness, shortness of breath, and electrocardiogram abnormalities may also occur.

In the third stage, arthritis develops periodically and recurring. It occurs in about 20% of untreated patients and usually begins within two years of a tick bite. Although these symptoms are typical for most patients, they vary widely. Some patients have symptoms such as facial paralysis, meningitis, memory loss, severe mood swings, and difficulty concentrating.


Diagnosis

Lyme disease is diagnosed based on a medical history and physical examination. Serological tests are helpful in the diagnosis if the skin does not have the characteristic migratory erythema.


Cure

 Doxycycline and amoxacillin are mainly used. In severe cases of Lyme disease, antibiotics such as ceftriaxone may be used.




lapse

Lyme disease is usually curable if treated early. However, complications may occur if the diagnosis of Lyme disease is delayed or if antibiotic treatment is not performed properly, if Lyme disease develops along with other diseases, or if the Lyme disease patient has reduced immunity. In these cases, even with antibiotic treatment, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and neurological symptoms may persist for years. It rarely leads to death.


Precautions

The best way to prevent Lyme disease is to use insect repellent to avoid being bitten by disease-carrying ticks. If you are going to an area with a lot of trees or brush, it is helpful to wear a shirt with long sleeves and tuck long pants inside your socks to prevent ticks from coming into contact with your skin.