Your Health

Beware of Lyme Disease, “The great imitator”

W. Gifford-Jones MD & Diana Gifford-Jones

June 18, 2020

BY W. GIFFORD- JONES MD & DIANA GIFFORD-JONES

What a relief to be outside after being isolated by the coronavirus. But beware! Warmer weather means that ticks are in the woods around you. Or even in your own back yard. A report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows, a tick bite can trigger diverse and deadly consequences.

One case involved a 37-year-old man complaining of flu symptoms, fever, sore throat and joint pain. He had been in a tick-infested area several weeks earlier but did not recall a tick bite. His doctor diagnosed a viral infection and the patient improved.

Weeks later heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and chest pains sent him to the emergency room. There was no evidence of the typical tick rash. But an ECG showed complete heart block. The diagnosis? Lyme carditis. Treatment of the disease was started.
Yet the man’s condition deteriorated, and he died.

Another case involved a 4-year-old boy who developed fever, vomiting, general weakness, unsteady gait, and disorientation. Fortunately, doctors made a speedy diagnosis, antibiotics were administered, and the boy recovered.

A third patient, a 57-year-old woman, suffered severe neurological symptoms, showing several organs in the body can be affected. It’s why Lyme Disease has been called, “the great imitator,” and why diagnosis is often delayed.

Families with country homes are well aware of the pleasures of outdoor life. But they know the hazards of tick season which runs from April through October. So how do you protect yourself?

First, know your enemy. The black-legged tick is an insect related to spiders and mites. It has a two-year life cycle and needs a host to feed.

Next, ticks are plentiful. Studies show that there may be 2,000 infected ticks in an acre of forested land.

If bitten by a tick, you might find it lodged in your skin and needing immediate removal. But ticks can bite, eat, and move on without you knowing. So you need to be aware of signs you’ve been bitten. A tick bite might produce nothing more than a little bump, but it can also result in a rash that appears even as long as a month after a bite. The classic tick bite rash looks like a bulls eye, as it’s red, circular, with a clear center and red ring around it. But don’t be fooled by not seeing it. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that only three people in ten get this specific rash. Bites may be painless, or painful, itchy and hot. It can be associated with low-grade fever, headache, sore muscles, fatigue and often-joint pain.

The best Rx is prevention, prevention, and prevention. It’s worth every effort, given the risk of cardiovascular and neurological complications. This means wearing clothing that protects arms and legs, and the use of insect repellent.

Follow a strict routine of searching to ticks on all parts of the body after being in tick territory. This involves complete removal of clothing and having a proper tweezer available if a tick is found.

How soon should it be removed? Some studies say that it takes 24 hours before a tick transmits Lyme Disease. But good sense says it’s prudent to remove it as soon as possible to decrease the risk of transmission. And don’t forget to check pets for ticks or give them anti-tick medication.

If untreated, the disease strikes again in about three to five months. About one in ten patients develop an irregular heart rate, or heart block. The majority recover after a short time.

Neurological complications develop in about 10% of cases. For instance, peripheral nerves may be involved, or they may suffer form Bell’s Palsy, meningitis or encephalitis.

A final cycle of Lyme Disease starts from five months to five years following the first infection. Patients tend to complain of pain in large joints such as the knee.

So, take this disease seriously. Never forget prevention is better than cure.

Newsletter Signup

Stay in the loop with exclusive news, stories, and insights—delivered straight to your inbox. No fluff, just real content that matters. Sign up today!

In this article:

Up Next:

Preventing, treating, and understanding repetitive stress injuries

Don't Miss:

Ten cents a dance: Or twenty cents to fight the virus

Written By W. Gifford-Jones MD & Diana Gifford-Jones

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones, MD is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University and in Gynecology at Harvard. His storied medical career began as a general practitioner, ship’s surgeon, and hotel doctor. For more than 40 years, he specialized in gynecology, devoting his practice to the formative issues of women’s health. In 1975, he launched his weekly medical column that has been published by national and local Canadian and U.S. newspapers. Today, the readership remains over seven million. His advice contains a solid dose of common sense and he never sits on the fence with controversial issues. He is the author of nine books including, “The Healthy Barmaid”, his autobiography “You’re Going To Do What?”, “What I Learned as a Medical Journalist”, and “90+ How I Got There!” Many years ago, he was successful in a fight to legalize heroin to help ease the pain of terminal cancer patients. His foundation at that time donated $500,000 to establish the Gifford-Jones Professorship in Pain Control and Palliative Care at the University of Toronto Medical School. At 93 years of age he rappelled from the top of Toronto’s City Hall (30 stories) to raise funds for children with a life-threatening disease through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Diana Gifford-Jones, the daughter of W. Gifford-Jones, MD, Diana has extensive global experience in health and healthcare policy. Diana is Special Advisor with The Aga Khan University, which operates 2 quaternary care hospitals and numerous secondary hospitals, medical centres, pharmacies, and laboratories in South Asia and Africa. She worked for ten years in the Human Development sectors at the World Bank, including health policy and economics, nutrition, and population health. For over a decade at The Conference Board of Canada, she managed four health-related executive networks, including the Roundtable on Socio-Economic Determinants of Health, the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, the Canadian Centre for Environmental Health, and the Centre for Health System Design and Management. Her master’s degree in public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government included coursework at Harvard Medical School. She is also a graduate of Wellesley College. She has extensive experience with Canadian universities, including at Carleton University, where she was the Executive Director of the Global Academy. She lived and worked in Japan for four years and speaks Japanese fluently. Diana has the designation as a certified Chartered Director from The Directors College, a joint venture of The Conference Board of Canada and McMaster University. She has recently published a book on the natural health philosophy of W. Gifford-Jones, called No Nonsense Health – Naturally!

Click to comment