Lyme Disease: Debunking Common Myths and Misconceptions by Laura Piazza • Sunapee, NH

Lyme Disease: Debunking Common Myths and Misconceptions
by Laura Piazza • Sunapee, NH

Life in America offers us ample opportunity to enjoy all that the great ourdoors have to offer. And while spending time outside has numerous benefits for your health and wellbeing, it also unfortunately puts you at risk for tick bites, Lyme disease, and other tickborne illnesses. Not to fret – tick-borne illnesses are preventable!

Conflicting and incorrect information about how and when you should protect yourself and what you should do if you find a tick on yourself can make prevention confusing. Right now there are two “standards of care” for Lyme disease. One standard believes that it’s a simple illness, easily diagnosed, and easily cured with one or two short courses of antibiotics (www.idsociety.org/lyme). The other believes that Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses are complex medical conditions that often long-term antibiotic treatment (www.ilads.org).

The majority of the mainstream medical community follows the first approach. I have personal experience of being bitten by a tick, followed by the subsequent mismanagement of this situation, which led to years of misdiagnosed chronic Lyme disease. Given my experience and continued fight with this chronic illness, I believe in the peer-reviewed, evidence-based ILADS standard. It’s important to be aware of both standards of care so you can have the opportunity to advocate for yourself or child if you ever find yourself in the position I did.

Below are some need-to-know facts on the topic:

You don’t have to go deep into the woods to be at risk of being bitten by a tick.
When tested by the state of New Hampshire, where I live, more than 50 percent of the ticks are shown to carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. This statistic is consistent with testing in other New England states.
New England states continue to be ranked the highest for Lyme disease cases per capita.
Lyme disease is known as one of the great imitators of other illnesses and is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and ALS, to name a few.

If you’re bit, know the facts and be your own advocate:

Improper removal can increase the chance of transmission, so if you do find a tick, follow the directions at www.lymedisease.org/lyme101/prevention/ tick_removal.html to ensure proper removal.
Conventional wisdom says that it takes 24 hours or longer for a tick to transmit the disease through a bite; however, evidence suggests it may also occur over a shorter span of time. More importantly it’s impossible to know, for sure, when the tick attached.
Ticks can carry and transmit several other dangerous and hard-to-treat bacteria and parasites.
Upon being bit by a tick carrying Lyme disease, there is a small window of opportunity to treat the infection so that it’s completely eradicated.
Treating the infection with too short a round of antibiotics, or the wrong dosage, may not eradicate the infection and could lead to a chronic infection.
Testing is very unreliable.
The bull’s eye rash is definitive for Lyme disease, but less than half of those who develop Lyme disease recall having the rash. While the bull’s eye rash is what most people look for, it can vary considerably in its presentation.
Treatment guidelines for all stages of Lyme, including prophylactic treatment can be found on page 19 of the downloable PDF "Diagnostic Hints and Treatment Guidelines for Lyme and Other Tick Borne Illnesses," written by Lyme expert, Dr. Joseph Burrascano at www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/treatment_guidelines.html.
Consider the risk-benefit ratio of taking a round of antibiotics versus the potential of getting infected with Lyme and other tick-borne illness, and find a Lyme literate doctor. A Lyme disease support group facilitator can point you in the right direction (www.lymenet.org/SupportGroups).

The best way around finding yourself in the situation where you have to visit the doctor, however, is by taking the following precautions when spending time outdoors:

Consider treating your body, clothes and/or yard with either natural or synthetic tick repellants.
Wear light-colored clothing, and long-sleeved shirts that are fitted at the wrist.
Tuck your pants into your socks and your shirt into your pants.
Wear a hat and tuck your hair into it, especially if you are going to be in tall shrubbery or in the woods.
Do frequent tick checks on any exposed skin while you’re outside.
Upon coming inside, immediately put all of your clothes in the washing machine and wash in hot water, or put them in the dryer and run it on high for at least 15 minutes; do a thorough tick check; and brush your hair and take a shower.

For more in-depth prevention information, read our article “Lyme Disease Prevention Tips” at www.recipesforrepair.com/prevention.

Laura Piazza, co-author of Recipes for Repair: A Lyme Disease Cookbook, is an award-winning professional photographer, graphic designer, and chronic Lyme patient. She presents on the topics of Lyme prevention and the important role good nutrition plays when battling any illness. Laura is a contributing writer for Peer Observation Magazine (www.peerobservationsmagazine.com) and a wellness educator at the Concord Co-Op.