Category: Lyme infections

Lyme disease: scientific breakthrough lays groundwork for new Lyme treatment

Lyme disease treatment
Treatment of persistent Lyme disease symptoms is a lifelong battle for some.

There are 30,000 new reports of Lyme disease to the CDC each year in the United States, but that does not account for the annual estimated occurrences of Lyme. One CDC report estimates 329,000 Lyme disease diagnoses per year in a five-year span!

Lone Star Tick

The higher incidence of Lyme is both due to higher tick populations, as well as improvements in diagnosis. But what happens after diagnosis? Do patients receive treatment, and go back to life as usual? Well, some do. Others, regrettably suffer from persistent Lyme disease symptoms, one of the most common is Lyme arthritis. Sufferers of Lyme arthritis endure a lifetime of joint inflammation and life-altering pain.

Lyme arthritis shows the presence of a particular cellular component of Lyme bacteria, called peptidoglycan.

Persistent Lyme arthritis is a lifelong battle for many, with life-altering pain. Some patients, who have tried all available medical treatments seek out holistic methods of pain relief, spending thousands of dollars out-of-pocket each year.

Thanks to Virginia Tech biochemist, Brandon Jutras, there is hope in treatment or even a cure for Lyme arthritis on the scientific horizon! Jutras has found that during the multiplication of Lyme-causing bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, it sheds a cellular component, peptidoglycan. Peptidoglycan exists in synovial fluid of Lyme arthritis sufferers, causing inflammation.

“We can actually detect peptidoglycan in the synovial fluid of the affected, inflamed joints of patients that have all the symptoms of Lyme arthritis but no longer have an obvious, active infection,” Jutras said.

Medical Xpress

The next phase of treatment of Lyme arthritis will be to find ways to destroy or eliminate the body’s response to peptidoglycan that comes from Borrelia burgdorferi, effectively eliminating Lyme symptoms!

While these scientific breakthroughs are spreading hope throughout the population of those, who suffer with persistent Lyme disease, there is but one sure method of Central Mass Lyme disease protection, and that is by prevention.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

Tick control methods are available, and should be a top priority for Central Mass residents, to prevent ticks from invading their yards and homes. A barrier spray will eliminate ticks on contact, and an additional comprehensive tick tube treatment will further prevent ticks by eliminating them when they take their first blood meal from mice. Call a professional tick control company to protect your home and family!

Is Your Tick Bite Infected? If You’re Concerned about Lyme Disease in Central Mass, Read More.

Not all ticks carry infections.  Many areas of the US don’t have a serious tick problem.  Did your tick bite give you Lyme disease?Unfortunately, Central MA is not one of them.

Ticks can carry more than one infection, which are often associated with the tick species.  Our most common tick in Massachusetts is the Deer tick, a carrier of Lyme Disease.

When bitten by a Deer tick, it can take 3-30 days before any sign of a Lyme infection has occurred.  It is important to write down on a calendar when you were bitten.  Any sign or symptoms occurring within 30 days should be reported to your physician.  He or she will need to know when you were bitten and when you noticed the first symptoms.  Ticks use an anesthetic when they bite, so they often go unnoticed.  If a tick is removed within 48 hours of first biting, the risk of them transmitting Lyme Disease is believed to be low.

Lyme disease prevention begins with trusted Central Mass tick control.

If you do find a tick attached to your skin, there are certain things you need to know.  Along with fatigue, chills, fever, headache, muscle and joint pain and swollen lymph nodes you should look for physical signs of an infection as well.  In the case of Lyme Disease, the infection will often show as a bulls-eye rash on your skin.  It can appear around the bite or anywhere on the skin.  The rash will often gradually expand further out from the area first discovered.  Some patients will simply notice a red blotch with no bulls-eye.  The rash is usually not itchy or painful.  Thirty percent of infected patients will not see a rash at all, so noting the other symptoms you are experiencing is important in your diagnosis.

Also read: Should I put anything on a tick bite?

The bulls-eye rash can have other variations.  Immune response, skin pigmentation and the location of the bite can affect how the rash develops.  In the photo on the right, only a small, inflamed area appears around the bite.  This inflammation is a first sign of a possible infection but not conclusive.  Inflammation is a naturally occurring healing process our body uses to repair damaged cells.  Consider any inflammation an indication you need to observe if you have any other symptoms and if a rash around the bite area.

Lyme Disease rashThis photo is the classic bulls-eye rash with which we are most familiar.  It clearly looks like a bulls-eye and is indicative of a Lyme infection.

Lyme rash
courtesy of dunehypnotherapy.co.uk.com

This photo shows a less defined bulls-eye.  It does have a reddish or brown center area with a lighter brown area around it.  This patient had a Lyme infection.

lyme disease infection
courtesy of helio.com

On tanned skin, the bulls-eye rash can be even more difficult to distinguish.  The darker pigmentation of the skin makes the rash more subdued and difficult to distinguish.  This photo is from a pediatric patient with a Lyme infection.

The most important thing to remember when bitten by a tick is to track your symptoms.  In many cases, no rash may appear.  Each patient’s immune system will respond differently to an infection but a rash is one more clue that a Lyme infection has occurred.

Remember, if you are in good health and Lyme Disease is diagnosed early you have an excellent prognosis of overcoming the disease after a few weeks of antibiotics.  Contacting your doctor as soon as any symptoms appear is your best course of action in overcoming any worry and getting rid of the disease.

Also read: Is Chronic Lyme disease real?

Dave Macchia Mosquito Squad square 2
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

Three Super-Easy Tips For Getting Rid Of Ticks

The University of Rhode Island Tick Encounter Resource Center is a great resource.

I wanted to share their top 3 easiest tips for getting rid of ticks that anyone can do, NO EXCUSES!

getting rid of ticks

In a page titled, TickSmart ™ Tips for TickSafe Living!, 5 tips were given by the Center but 3 are the most simple and easy ones to do.

Tip #1 involves duct tape.

Where would repair people, mechanics and homeowners be without this 11th Wonder of the Fix-it World?  Well, there’s yet another use for it when it comes to ticks.  Before ticks become attached to your skin or your dog’s skin, tear off a piece of duct tape and “stick it to them”.  Blotting up any ticks on the skin removes the tick and prevents them from becoming lost before you can throw them out.  Use a big enough piece of tape to fold it over the tick after removing it and seal them inside.  When you’re done, throw the tape in the trash.  How easy is that?

The second tip involves your toilet.

It’s OK; this one isn’t as bad as it sounds.  Since you have some privacy and your pants and lower garments are off it’s easy to spot any ticks on your skin.  Ticks like to hang out for a free meal in grassy and brushy areas.  They climb to a height anywhere from our ankles to knees.  They dry out quickly in the heat and sun so they try to find shade ASAP.  When they find you, that shade is under your clothes and not outside the fabric.  Once they get near your skin, they begin looking for places where the skin is thin and where the biggest blood supply can be found.  That is usually in the creases and folds of our skin, such as your waist and groin area.

Using the toilet exposes these areas to our view more than any other time of the day, so it’s sizes of ticksa good time to check for ticks in areas of our body normally hidden from our view.  If you feel a bump on your skin in an area and you can’t see clearly, it’s a good idea to inspect more closely with a mirror and flashlight.  Larvae and nymph ticks are very small so you may miss them if you are in a hurry to check. Finding a tick embedded in your skin and removed within the first 24 hours it attaches will greatly improve your chances of not getting a tick-borne infection.

What’s a dryer have to do with Tiverton tick control?

Hard ticks and soft ticks all need moisture, especially hard ticks like deer ticks.  Other soft ticks take a bit longer to dry out.  So tip #3 is to put the clothes you wore outside in the dryer as soon as you come indoors. Do this before washing them.  Ten minutes on high heat will dry out hard ticks and 15+ minutes will dry out the softer ones.  Washing won’t destroy ticks, no matter how hot the water.  Remember, they need moisture and are active in warm months so warmth and water are their two best friends.  Very dry and hot are their worst nightmare.  Once your clothes are finished in the dryer, wash them knowing you won’t be releasing any ticks into your closets or clothes hamper.

Don’t forget your Charlestown tick control.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

In addition to these tick tips, you can prevent ticks from ever reaching you when at home in your yard.  A licensed tick control company can apply a perimeter spray in your yard that serves as a barrier to ticks, as well as mosquitoes, eliminating 85-90% of the ticks in your yard.  Preventing ticks from ever reaching you is one of the most effective ways you can prevent tick-borne infections in your family.  In addition, you will enjoy your yard more during warmer months knowing everyone is better protected.

Also read:
Can you feel a tick bite?