Borreliosis (Lyme Disease) is a serious bacterial infection which has wide ranging multi-systemic consequences to health when not recognised and treated promptly. Missing an opportunity to treat early can leave a patient with a lifetime of unnecessary health and welfare consequences.
Progression, without early antibiotic treatment, can lead to a multitude of chronic and debilitating conditions.
Borreliosis, a tick-borne infection, rarely travels alone and is invariably accompanied by other bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Borrelia (along with its variety of ‘companions’), has an affinity for the joints, ligaments, muscles, heart, eyes, and especially the nervous system.
Exhaustion, fatigue, insomnia, behavioural difficulties (especially in children), mood disorders, as well as neurocognitive symptoms such as memory loss and confusion states, are common features of this complex illness. Physical complaints often fluctuate producing a pattern of both active and dormant cycles. Neuro-endocrine and immune system responses may be altered by this disease. The autonomic system is particularly targeted. The stressful effects to the body, and the effects of stress generally will exacerbate and give impetus to this insidious illness.
As we keep saying, tick-borne illnesses are more than one infection –
“ To me Lyme is the infectious disease equivalent of cancer. We don’t talk about cancer as just one disease anymore, and we should stop talking about Lyme in this way. There are so many strains and co-infections. When you re bitten by a tick, you can get five or ten different infections at the same time.
I also find it ludicrous to call all tick-borne disease, Lyme Disease. In breast cancer we don’t just say “You have breast cancer” because that simply doesn’t mean anything anymore. The language is important because it has a bearing on treatment. With cancer, we know that administering one algorithmic form of treatment doesn’t work. You have to understand the wiring that drives those tumors – the nuances, the mutations – and target them specifically. I think we need to start thinking this way about Lyme“.
— Neil Spector MD, Oncologist, author of ‘Gone in a Heartbeat’, a true account of needing a heart transplant due to his tick-borne infections illness.
