#TakeABiteOutOfLyme 3

#Takeabiteoutoflyme and do the #Lymediseasechallenge - details below!

Today's Lyme fact:

Lyme Disease is known as 'the great imitator' - a name that was associated with syphillus in the 19th Century.  Both diseases are caused by a type of bacteria called a spirochete - shaped like a snake from a snakes-and-ladders board: a head with a 'curly' tail.  This tail allows itself to move from cell-to-cell, using it in a corkscrew-type movement.  The bacterium's ability to do this is what can make it so difficult to diagnose, especially in later stages of the disease when the spirochetes have invaded many different cells in the body, causing multiple symptoms in multiple areas. 

Borrelia bacteria can cause neuroborreliosis when they infect the brain; in some cases this can be extremely serious and cause permanent damage, including, blindness and paralysis; other extremely serious conditions caused by borrelia include different heart conditions - this can cause damage to heart tissue that is so severe heart transplants are required.  Left untreated, Lyme disease can be a fatal disease.

A prominent doctor in the Lyme community is Dr Richard Horowitz who has proposed the name 'Lyme-MSIDS' where 'MSIDS' stands for 'Multi Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome'.
(See slideshow here.)

This name is very apt and many patients feel it should be adopted as it is far more encompassing and reflects more truth about what is generally known as 'Lyme'. Very often, particularly in patients who are seriously ill, there are multiple infections to treat and recognising this does help explain, in some cases, why the person is extremely ill, and why treatment can take so long.  Ticks carry more than 'just' Lyme Disease - they carry some other nasty bugs too.

#takeabiteoutoflyme

The #LymeDiseaseChallenge doesn't require a personal invitation, so I nominate everyone reading to take part, or to make a donation to ILADS.


The challenge is easy - 

1.Take a bite out of a lime & share the photo on your own facebook page or other social media outlets  - if there's no photo, it didn't happen! The funnier, the better; you may want to take a series of photos for a mini collage! Please remember to hashtag #takeabiteoutoflyme 


2.Share a fact - help spread information about Lyme Disease
(For some facts, see: http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-lyme/ )


3.Pass it on!  Nominate 3 friends to #takeabiteoutoflyme and support Lyme Disease Awareness


Please consider making a donation to ILADS, and international charity voted for by Lyme sufferers to benefit from this awareness campaign.  Find out more here: 
http://lymediseasechallenge.org/spread-hope-lyme-disease/


You can also share, reblog, retweet, or just join in if you feel like it - 

It's an open invitation!

Please help us beat Lyme Disease! 

(I'm posting my photos frame by frame so I can nominate more people and add another fact each day - so watch this space........!)

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

 ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~

#TakeABiteOutOfLyme 2

My photo and fact for today: 

There are no definitive blood tests for Lyme Disease.  Current Lab tests are not reliable and give many false negatives.  This is because they are antibody tests and can only look for evidence of the presence of the Borrelia bacterium that causes Lyme Disease, not an active infection; nor evidence of infection in people whose immune systems have not produced antibodies.  Some people simple do not produce antibodies  -  the bacteria can hide from the immune system and multiply, hidden - this means the immune system won't produce antibodies and the test will be negative - even although the person may be severely ill.

It is also, therefore, impossible to distinguish between an active infection and prior exposure to the bacterium.  As with most illnesses, some people do not become severely ill with Lyme Disease; in some, they find a tick, or develop a bullseye rash (the only known definitive indicator of Lyme) - these are the lucky ones; the ones who are (in areas where doctors are well informed about Lyme) given antibiotics immediately; often, but not always, stopping the disease in its tracks.  For those (like me!) who are diagnosed in the stages of a late, systemic infection, diagnosis and treatment are much more complex.

This is why it is so important - for both the general public, and doctors - to understand how to identify and treat Lyme Disease early.  Please support Lyme awareness!  And if you can, please consider donating to ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society - details are below.

The #LymeDiseaseChallenge doesn't require a personal invitation, so I nominate everyone reading to take part, or to make a donation to ILADS.


The challenge is easy - 

1.Take a bite out of a lime & share the photo on your own facebook page or other social media outlets  - if there's no photo, it didn't happen! The funnier, the better; you may want to take a series of photos for a mini collage! Please remember to hashtag #takeabiteoutoflyme 


2.Share a fact - help spread information about Lyme Disease
(For some facts, see: http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-lyme/ )


3.Pass it on!  Nominate 3 friends to #takeabiteoutoflyme and support Lyme Disease Awareness


Please consider making a donation to ILADS, and international charity voted for by Lyme sufferers to benefit from this awareness campaign.  Find out more here: 
http://lymediseasechallenge.org/spread-hope-lyme-disease/


You can also share, reblog, retweet, or just join in if you feel like it - 

It's an open invitation!

Please help us beat Lyme Disease! 

(I'm posting my photos frame by frame so I can nominate more people and add another fact each day - so watch this space........!)

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

 ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~

#TakeABiteOutOfLyme

There's some campaigning going on in the Lyme community just now - started and very carefully planned via a facebook group, some determined Lyme disease sufferers have launched #LymeDiseaseChallenge - a cyber campaign aimed at spreading awareness and increasing knowledge of Lyme Disease; as well as raising money for ILADS - International Lyme and Associated Diseases Association (money raised will go to ILADSEF - their educational fund).  See below for further information on the charity and on how to donate.

The #LymeDiseaseChallenge doesn't require a personal invitation, so I nominate everyone reading to take part, or to make a donation to ILADS.


The challenge is easy - 

1.Take a bite out of a lime & share the photo on your own facebook page or other social media outlets  - if there's no photo, it didn't happen! The funnier, the better; you may want to take a series of photos for a mini collage! Please remember to hashtag #takeabiteoutoflyme 


2.Share a fact - help spread information about Lyme Disease
(For some facts, see: http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-lyme/ )


3.Pass it on!  Nominate 3 friends to #takeabiteoutoflyme and support Lyme Disease Awareness


Please consider making a donation to ILADS, and international charity voted for by Lyme sufferers to benefit from this awareness campaign.  Find out more here: 
http://lymediseasechallenge.org/spread-hope-lyme-disease/


You can also share, reblog, retweet, or just join in if you feel like it - 

It's an open invitation!

Please help us beat Lyme Disease! 

(I'm posting my photos frame by frame so I can nominate more people and add another fact each day - so watch this space........!)

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

 ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~