Lyme Disease
Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) is an infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. It is one of the fastest-growing infectious bacterial diseases in the USA, but most physicians have little experience diagnosing and treating Lyme disease.
Lyme Disease Symptoms
Lyme disease symptoms are varied and often mistaken for other chronic conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and dementia – to name a few. Working with a Lyme disease treatment specialist in Chicago will help you receive the proper diagnosis.
One of the tell-tale symptoms is a red bulls-eye rash at the location of the bitten site within days to weeks after exposure. However, not all affected by Lyme will experience a rash. Other symptoms may appear and reappear. Those symptoms include the following: fever, aches, fatigue, neck stiffness, jaw discomfort, muscle pain and stiffness, swollen glands, red eyes, memory loss, and even partial facial paralysis.
How Do You Get Lyme Disease?
If you are new to Lyme disease, you may wonder, “How is Lyme disease transmitted?” Lyme disease is caused by a spiral-shaped bacteria called Borrelia. There are 100 strains of Borrelia in the USA. An infected tick must bite you, and the bacteria enter your bloodstream through the bite. Often, when people are infected with Lyme, they are also infected with multiple other bacteria and/or viruses, so the immune system is left to fight multiple infections simultaneously.
How Long Does Lyme Disease Last?
Many cases of Lyme disease are treated with a round of antibiotics in the first stage of the condition. However, around 10% of people who develop Lyme disease go on to develop Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, or Chronic Lyme Disease. Chronic Lyme disease can last for months after the initial infection. While the exact cause of PTLDS is unknown, some research states that an autoimmune response is to blame for the lingering symptoms.
Can Lyme Disease be Cured?
Lyme Disease Treatment Specialist in Chicago
At Peak Health Institute, we understand that Lyme disease symptoms and diagnosis will vary by individual. Often, test results alone can be inconclusive since antibodies can take several weeks to develop. If a person has only recently received a tick bite, a blood test may return a negative result despite the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream.
As functional medicine practitioners who specialize in properly detecting Lyme disease, we can utilize comprehensive testing to overcome potential misdiagnosis.
What’s more, Lyme disease treatment is all-encompassing and takes a holistic, whole-body approach to support your overall health. Functional medicine looks to the root cause of your symptoms and addresses all bodily symptoms contributing to your disease.
Working with a Functional Medicine practitioner and Lyme disease treatment specialist in Chicago to eliminate Lyme will include detailed treatment options and integrative natural medicines that help treat Lyme disease.
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