Lyme Science Blog

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Symptoms: Atypical Case and Missed Diagnosis SYMPTOMS DON’T LOOK TYPICAL? RMSF MAY BE MISSED Can Rocky Mountain spotted fever symptoms be missed when they don’t follow the typical pattern? Quick Answer: Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) symptoms can be atypical and difficult to recognize early. Delayed diagnosis is common when symptoms […]

Top 10 Lyme disease blogs for 2023! 1)  What does a Lyme flare up feel like? When a Lyme disease flare occurs, patients will notice a return of the symptoms they have experienced before or a worsening of existing symptoms. Some patients may also develop new symptoms. A flare-up can come and go and vary

Chronic Lyme disease patients dismissed by medical community In their article, “Medical Gaslighting and Lyme Disease: The Patient Experience,” Fagen and colleagues examine the extensive range of gaslighting techniques experienced by chronic Lyme disease patients.¹ And, explore the demographic variables (i.e., geographic location) that may be associated with higher rates of medical gaslighting. These dismissive

Hearing loss – a complication of Lyme disease In their article “Isolated Sudden Bilateral Neurosensory Hearing Loss as a Presentation of Lyme Neuroborreliosis: A Case Study,” Rochd et al. discuss the case of a 23-year-old woman who “presented with a 2-month history of temporal headache, tinnitus, and instability, which was followed by sudden bilateral hearing

Can Lyme Disease Cause Fainting? Lyme Carditis and Sudden Heart Block Can Lyme disease cause fainting or sudden collapse? Lyme carditis can disrupt the heart’s electrical system within weeks of infection—leading to dangerous heart block and repeated fainting episodes that require immediate medical attention. Key Warning: Fainting after a tick bite is not normal. It

Can pets harbor ticks, even in the winter? In their article, “An analysis of companion animal tick encounters as revealed by photograph-based crowdsourced data,” Kopsco and colleagues found, “The percentage of reports of ticks found on companion animals is more than doubled in the fall and winter seasons from what was reported in the spring and

Borrelia Mayonii: Atypical Lyme Disease in the Midwest Borrelia mayonii is a recently discovered species that causes Lyme disease with atypical features. Since the species was first identified 7 years ago, there have been only 7 reported cases of Lyme disease caused by Borrelia mayonii. In Open Forum Infectious Diseases Correspondence, McGowan and colleagues describe

Lyme disease causes cardiac complications The case involved a 46-year-old man with Lyme disease who presented to the clinic with cardiac complications, which initially manifest as palpitations. The patient lived in a Lyme endemic region and reported that one month earlier, he had a “pinching sensation in his right thigh with an associated macular erythematous

Bartonella Psychiatric Symptoms: Anxiety, Mood Changes, and Misdiagnosis Bartonella psychiatric symptoms can look like primary mental illness before anyone considers infection. Sudden panic attacks, rage, agitation, depression, or personality change may be treated as psychiatric disease alone—especially when the connection to tick bites, flea exposure, rashes, or swollen lymph nodes is missed. That is one

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Diagnosis: Clinical Challenges Rocky Mountain spotted fever diagnosis can be challenging, especially with atypical presentations. Rocky Mountain spotted fever has primarily been reported in 5 states in the United States, according to the CDC. These include Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and North Carolina. However, RMSF has been documented in other states,