{"id":1034,"date":"2023-04-02T13:42:52","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T17:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/?p=1034"},"modified":"2023-04-02T13:42:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T17:42:52","slug":"the-chronic-lyme-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/science\/the-chronic-lyme-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chronic Lyme Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Second possibly only to mosquitos, ticks are the most reviled insect found in New England nature. Like mosquitos, which are notorious vehicles for viruses such as Zika and West Nile, blacklegged ticks (deer ticks) spread <\/span>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/span><\/i> infection, resulting in Lyme disease. Affecting over 30,000 people a year in the United States, mostly in the northeastern states, Lyme disease is a bacterial infection which causes both local and global symptoms. Early symptoms include fever, muscle fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, and, mostly notably, an erythema migrans rash. Left untreated, patients may develop facial palsy (partial facial paralysis), arthritis, central nervous system inflammation, and heart palpitations. Diagnosis of Lyme disease is based primarily on symptoms and the possibility of exposure to Lyme-carrying ticks, although laboratory tests of patient serum for anti-<\/span>B. Burgdorferi<\/span><\/i> antibodies may also be considered. Treatments usually consist of a several week course of antibiotics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the majority of Lyme disease patients recover after initial treatment, 5-20% of patients continue feeling symptoms such as fatigue, muscle pain, and difficulty concentrating. This disorder, called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, falls under a broader category of disorders referred to as \u201cchronic Lyme disease.\u201d Also included in this category are patients without a history of Lyme disease but with Lyme-like symptoms; patients with other recognizable disorders seeking an alternative diagnosis; and patients with positive serological results for anti-<\/span>B. Burgdorferi<\/span><\/i> antibodies but no past exposure to ticks or other routes of infection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The majority of chronic Lyme patients fall into the middle two categories: those with symptoms but no history and the misdiagnosed. Moreover, in clinical trials, traditional treatment routes for Lyme disease such as antibiotics have not been effective in alleviating symptoms. Because many of those diagnosed with chronic Lyme do not match the diagnostic criteria for traditional Lyme disease, most scientists and physicians reject the diagnosis. However, a small but very vocal group of patients and physicians fervently believe in the existence of chronic Lyme disease. They are represented by po<\/span>werful advocacy groups such as the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) and the Lyme Disease Association (LDA). These groups have been effective at lobbying politicians and regulators to get protections for chronic Lyme sufferers, even as the physician community become increasingly convinced of its inaccuracy.<\/p>\n

Although Lyme disease may seem a relatively simple disease with a clear cause (tick-borne bacterial infection) and treatment plan (antibiotics), the controversy over chronic Lyme disease reveals complexities. And this particular controversy doesn’t seem to be abating. It seems that the concept of chronic Lyme disease, like the disorder it purports to describe, is here to stay.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Cited:<\/span><\/p>\n

CDC. (2022, January 19). <\/span>Lyme disease home | CDC<\/span><\/i>. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. <\/span>https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/lyme\/index.html<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chronic symptoms<\/span><\/i>. (2018, April 11). Lyme Disease. <\/span>https:\/\/www.columbia-lyme.org\/chronic-symptoms<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Feder, H. M., Johnson, B. J. B., O\u2019Connell, S., Shapiro, E. D., Steere, A. C., & Wormser, G. P. (2007). A critical appraisal of \u201cchronic lyme disease.\u201d <\/span>New England Journal of Medicine<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>357<\/span><\/i>(14), 1422\u20131430. <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1056\/NEJMra072023<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lantos, P. M. (2011). Chronic Lyme disease: The controversies and the science. <\/span>Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>9<\/span><\/i>(7), 787\u2013797. <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1586\/eri.11.63<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mosquito-borne diseases | niosh | cdc<\/span><\/i>. (2020, February 21). <\/span>https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/niosh\/topics\/outdoor\/mosquito-borne\/default.html<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whelan, D. (n.d.). <\/span>Lyme inc.<\/span><\/i> Forbes. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from <\/span>https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/forbes\/2007\/0312\/096.html<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Second possibly only to mosquitos, ticks are the most reviled insect found in New England nature. Like mosquitos, which are notorious vehicles for viruses such as Zika and West Nile, blacklegged ticks (deer ticks) spread Borrelia burgdorferi infection, resulting in Lyme disease. Affecting over 30,000 people a year in the United States, mostly in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[63,1],"tags":[127,126,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-1034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-biology","7":"category-science","8":"tag-chronic-lyme","9":"tag-lyme-disease","10":"tag-ticks","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Sophie Nigrovic '24","author_link":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/author\/snigrovi\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-science-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}