1. Lyme Disease Symptoms: Being Aware for a Healthy Lifestyle
Lyme disease is a disease caused by bacteria called Borrelia that is transmitted by tick bites. Lyme disease is controversial in Australia, because most Australian doctors are under the mistaken impression it is not possible to acquire Lyme disease in Australia. There is no doubt that Lyme disease can be acquired in Australia, as there are now a large number of proven cases of Lyme disease in Australian patients who have never left the country.
It is important to visit an expert Lyme disease doctor soon after you are bitten by a tick or if you’re experiencing symptoms of Lyme disease.
The first symptoms of Lyme disease, which develop within a few days of the tick bite, are flu-like symptoms, such as muscle pain, fever, weakness, headache and stiff neck. A few days after the tick bite almost 60% of lighter skinned patients have an enlarging skin rash called a “bulls-eye” rash, or EM rash.
Lyme disease can cause a very wide variety of symptoms, and can mimic many other illnesses. This is because the Borrelia bacteria that cause Lyme disease can affect every organ in the body, including the heart, brain, muscles, joints, liver and skin.
If left untreated, Lyme disease can affect the nervous system (causing fatigue, headaches, brain fog, sensitivity to light, dizziness and difficulty thinking clearly), the heart (causing abnormal heart rhythms and low blood pressure), the muscles and joints (causing muscle and joint pains), and the gut, causing a variety of stomach symptoms.
Lyme disease can cause symptoms vey similar to serious neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease.
Testing for Lyme disease needs to be done in a specialised laboratory, as the testing done in most Australian laboratories is not sensitive enough to pick up most cases of Lyme disease.

2. Because Lyme disease is a bacterial infection, the main treatment is antibiotics. Antibiotic treatment may need to be continued for up to three years. Most Lyme specialists use other treatments in conjunction with the antibiotics, such as herbal medicines and nutritional supplements.
Most patients with Lyme disease also have several so-called “co-infections”. This is because the ticks that carry the Borrelia bacteria that cause Lyme disease often carry other bacteria, such as Babesia, Bartonella, Chlamydia, Mycoplasma, Ricksettia and Ehrlichia. These co-infections also need antibiotic treatment.
Lyme specialists suspects that the disease can be carried not only by ticks, but by other arthropods such as fleas, sandflies and bedbugs.
There are possibly thousands of undiagnosed cases of Lyme disease in Australia.
Additional diagnosis and examinations are quite important to check Lyme disease as its pathogenesis (the system by which it occurs) is not entirely recognised. Doctors often find it difficult to diagnose this infection as it has symptoms that are similar to other common diseases.
If you have been bitten by a tick it is highly recommended that you visit a Lyme disease doctor. Lilyfield is the place where you can easily find an expert physician. You’ll find many patients of Lyme disease in Australia.