In order to deal properly with Lyme disease we need to understand and — if possible — remove the underlying causes and risk factors. We need to ask: "What else is going on inside the body that might allow Lyme disease symptoms to develop?"
Accurate diagnosis of the factors behind Lyme disease consists of three steps:
Cause | Probability | Status |
---|---|---|
Alzheimer's Disease** | 98% | Confirm |
Chronic Fatigue-Fibromyalgia** | 25% | Unlikely |
Gout** | 16% | Unlikely |
Rheumatoid Arthritis** | 4% | Ruled out |
Guillain-Barre Syndrome** | 0% | Ruled out |
Lupus (SLE)** | 0% | Ruled out |
Multiple Sclerosis** | 0% | Ruled out |
Lyme Disease. Have you ever been diagnosed with this condition? It is a tick-borne disease characterized by circular rash, headache, fever, chills and, later, by possible arthritis and neurological and cardiac disorders.
Possible responses:
→ No / don't know→ Minor episode now resolved → Major episode now resolved → Current minor problem → Current major problem |
Spirochetes, such as those found in Lyme disease, may be one of the causes of Alzheimer's disease and may also be the source of beta amyloid deposited in the brains of such infected patients.
Lyme disease should be a differential diagnosis for all fibromyalgia patients who could have been exposed to a tick bite.
Lyme disease is similar to gout and is sometimes misdiagnosed as such.
Putting aside the issue of whether Lyme disease does or does not cause some cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, the two diseases share so many symptoms that Lyme disease can be mistaken for Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Lyme arthritis is often mistaken clinically for systemic lupus erythematosus.
Lyme Disease has been called "The New Great Imitator", a replacement for that old "great imitator" neurosyphilis. The two diseases share so many symptoms that Lyme disease should be ruled out if multiple sclerosis diagnosis is in question.
The symptoms of Lyme disease have frequently been misdiagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis and subsequently mistreated.