So the more I read about Lyme disease, the more worried I get.
With over 300,000 cases alone reported annually to the CDC, we don’t know how many undiagnosed people are walking around—or trying to—after having been infected from a tick.
What really concerns me is after reading Devon Andrea’s article that appeared in Bel Mara Health, an online publication, the outlook for thousands of treated patients isn’t so bright. Why? Because patients who are treated with antibiotics are not necessarily cured according to the findings in a recent clinical trial called the PLEASE study.
Scientists in the study found that after receiving 12 weeks of antibiotic treatment, symptoms of Lyme disease persisted in 280 patients.
In one of the arms of the study, scientists also looked at using a standard combination treatment with antibiotics, but it yielded the same results as compared to placebo: symptoms of Lyme disease persisted.
I find this alarming. Here we have the head of the trial Dr. Bart Jan Kullberg, stating that after receiving treatment, patients reported little to no benefit in the relief of their symptoms—and that their symptoms seem to be attributed not to active Lyme disease, but some other type of related chronic Lyme disease syndrome.
I’d like to know if you’ve been treated for Lyme disease but still feel as though you have one or more of the following symptoms:
- Chronic fatigue
- Sleep issues
- Joint and or muscle pain
- Stiffness
- Edema or swelling in your joints
- Concentration and or cognitive issues
Please be careful out there! Spray yourself with tick repellent, check yourself regularly—especially after being in the woods or brush, and talk to your doctor if you suspect you’ve been bitten. You too, could be suffering from active or chronic Lyme disease which could seriously affect the quality of your life.
Do ticks have you worried? What do you do to prevent tick bites? We’re dying to know.
