Lyme Disease is a very misunderstood infection. If caught immediately and given proper treatment (often, at least a month of strong antibiotics) it can be completely eradicated. Unfortunately, that is very often not the case. Contrary to popular myth, Lyme Disease does not always result in a bull's eye rash. It does not always cause flu-like symptoms. And many people don't even know they were bitten by a tick.
Then again, while Lyme is not contagious, it can be transmitted through pregnancy or nursing.
It's usually not only Lyme (Borrelia) we're dealing with. Lyme finds itself in the company of many different co-infections: Bartonella, Babesia, Anaplasma, Erhlichia and more. When the bacteria goes untreated, it can create multi-systemic infections, with symptoms ranging from arthritis to chronic fatigue to brain fog and/or rage. Lyme and co-infections are frequently misdiagnosed as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ALS, Altzheimer's, Parkinsons, MS.
The Borrelia bacteria enters the body as a spirochete which is corkscrew shaped. Like Bartonella and Babesia, this infection is very adept at eluding the immune system. Borrelia can "morph" into biofilms and cysts (round bodies.) Successful treatments address all the forms of Lyme Disease and its co-infections.
It's a tough world, having Lyme Disease. Many people who aren't aware shrug it off, thinking, "Just take a couple of weeks of antibiotics." Too many doctors do not understand Lyme or are afraid to treat it. But chronic Lyme persists and it's the fastest growing infectious illness, with over 300,000 new reported cases in the United States annually. Lyme is everywhere--in every state in the USA and in every continent except Antarctica.
For more information, please refer to:
http://lymediseasechallenge.org