Lyme Disease Essay

Lyme disease first became known in 1975 in Lyme, Connecticut when a group of mothers had informed researchers their children all had been identified in having rheumatoid arthritis. This was unusual, and led the researchers to pinpoint the bacterial cause of the children’s illness. It was then in 1982 the condition was given the name “Lyme disease”. In the United States about 300,000 people are diagnosed each year, but because many of the symptoms resemble other diseases it is hard to diagnose and many cases go undiagnosed. The disease is found all over the United States and in over 60 countries all over the world. It is most common in the East, Midwest, and West Coast of the United States, but is found on all continents besides Antarctica. The rise in public awareness has caused the number of known cases of Lyme disease to increase. Though Lyme disease affects people of

One of the most common diseases transmitted by ticks is Lyme disease. The disease is found all over the United States and in over 60 countries all over the world. The deer tick as well as the black legged ticks are mostly found in grassy and wooded areas. Borrelia burgdorferi, a corkscrew-shaped bacterium, is the cause of Lyme disease, and can affect any organ in the body; the brain, the muscles, the heart, the joints, and even the nervous system. Since Lyme disease can resemble many other diseases such as; multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, as well as psychiatric illnesses, it is often misdiagnosed. Most people get infected from a bite of an immature tick, which are close to the size of the head of the pin, making the bite painless and hard to detect at the time of the bite. The transmission of Lyme is more likely the longer the tick is attached. Ticks may stay attached for days if undisturbed, making it more likely to get the