MEDICAL – some manifestations

Lyme disease and Bell’s palsy: an epidemiological study of diagnosis and risk in England

Lilli Cooper, Michael Branagan-Harris, Richard Tuson and Charles Nduka
Br J Gen Pract 2017; 67 (658): e329-e335. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp17X690497

Abstract

Background Lyme disease is caused by a tick-borne spirochaete of the Borrelia species. It is associated with facial palsy, is increasingly common in England, and may be misdiagnosed as Bell’s palsy.

Aim To produce an accurate map of Lyme disease diagnosis in England and to identify patients at risk of developing associated facial nerve palsy, to enable prevention, early diagnosis, and effective treatment.

Design and setting Hospital episode statistics (HES) data in England from the Health and Social Care Information Centre were interrogated from April 2011 to March 2015 for International Classification of Diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) codes A69.2 (Lyme disease) and G51.0 (Bell’s palsy) in isolation, and as a combination.

Method Patients’ age, sex, postcode, month of diagnosis, and socioeconomic groups as defined according to the English Indices of Deprivation (2004) were also collected.

Results Lyme disease hospital diagnosis increased by 42% per year from 2011 to 2015 in England. Higher incidence areas, largely rural, were mapped. A trend towards socioeconomic privilege and the months of July to September was observed. Facial palsy in combination with Lyme disease is also increasing, particularly in younger patients, with a mean age of 41.7 years, compared with 59.6 years for Bell’s palsy and 45.9 years for Lyme disease (P = 0.05, analysis of variance [ANOVA]).

Conclusion Healthcare practitioners should have a high index of suspicion for Lyme disease following travel in the areas shown, particularly in the summer months. The authors suggest that patients presenting with facial palsy should be tested for Lyme disease.

http://bjgp.org/content/67/658/e329

FACIAL PALSY UK   http://www.facialpalsy.org.uk/

http://www.facialpalsy.org.uk/causesanddiagnoses/

 

“Bell’s Palsy of the Gut” and Other GI Manifestations of Lyme and Associated Diseases A SPECIAL ARTICLE 

Virginia T. Sherr
Abstract
Bell’s palsy signifies paralysis of facial muscles related to inflammation of the associated seventh Cranial Nerve. Physicians may not realize that this syndrome is caused by the spirochetal agent of Lyme disease until proven otherwise. Whether it is a full or hemi- facial paralysis, Bell’s palsy is cosmetically disfiguring when fully expressed. Sudden loss of normal facial expression terrifies patients who naturally fear they are having a stroke. When a smile is asked for, normal countenances warp into bizarre grimaces. The amount of tooth area exposed in this attempt to smile helps doctors evaluate the degree of paralysis and its change over time (Figure 1). In every case of Bell’s, doctors need to carefully investigate by history, physical, and laboratory work every shred of evidence that might suggest the presence of cryptic tertiary Lyme, a serious multi- system, gut and neuro-brain infection even though about half of fully diagnosed patients have no evidence whatsoever of having had a tick-bite. Gastrointestinal Lyme disease may cause gut paralysis and a wide range of diverse GI symptoms with the underlying etiology likewise missed by physicians. Borrelia burgdorferi, the microbial agent often behind unexplained GI symptoms—along with numerous other pathogens also contained in tick saliva—influences health and vitality of the gastrointestinal tract from oral cavity to anus. Disruptions caused by GI borre- liosis (Lyme) may include, amongst many others, distortions of taste, failure of other neural functions that supply the entire GI tract—paralysis or partial paralysis of the tongue, gag reflex, esophagus, stomach and nearby organs, small and/or large intestines

“Bell’s Palsy of the Gut” and Other GI Manifestations of Lyme and Associated Diseases A SPECIAL ARTICLE. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237409367_Bell’s_Palsy_of_the_Gut_and_Other_GI_Manifestations_of_Lyme_and_Associated_Diseases_A_SPECIAL_ARTICLE [accessed Aug 4, 2017].

 

other manifestations can be found under Research  http://www.visavissymposiums.org/research/