subject: Symptoms and Causes of Lyme disease [print this page] Symptoms and Causes of Lyme disease Symptoms and Causes of Lyme disease
Lyme disease is transmitted to individuals, due to the transfer of bacteria by the bite of ticks. Ticks feed on and carry around a bacterium known as Borreli burgdorferi, and as soon as they bite an animal or human, it is transferred to their blood.
People who live in the woods or in grassy areas have a much more tendency of being bitten by ticks and obtaining Lyme disease than the rest. This is because in these areas ticks are present in great quantity. Therefore, it is essential for these people to take common sense precautionary measures.
If the treatment begins just after the tick has bitten the person, there would be much higher chances for him or her to recover completely. Catching the disease at its onset is always better; however, even if the treatment is provided later, complete cure is possible.
Lyme disease may have an effect on different body parts and not every person would go through the same symptoms for this reason. Depending on which body part has been affected, the symptoms may vary, however the following are some general symptoms:
Small rashes may start appearing on skin, especially where the tick has bitten the person. These may either start appearing in a few days or in a month. The size of the rash again varies from person to person, as for some it may be twelve inches big, and for the rest around a fingertip. Rashes that take place due to tick bite is a trademark of this disease, and these affect eighty percent people who have been bitten.
If the person was quite sensitive to tick's saliva, the rash might start appearing at the instant the tick bites him or her. The usual rash is called erythema migrans is not the same as this one, as these rashes start fading away in some weeks and do not expand.
There are also other symptoms involved with Lyme disease, and these include body ache, chills, headaches and fever accompanied by high fever. The less common ones include heart problems, hepatitis and a severe form of fatigue.
