Lyme Science Blog

Lyme Disease Knee Pain: Why It’s Often Missed Lyme disease knee pain can mimic arthritis, sports injuries, or overuse conditions—making it one of the most commonly missed presentations of tick-borne illness. Clinical Insight: Knee pain in Lyme disease may present with swelling, intermittent symptoms, or fluctuating severity—patterns that differ from typical orthopedic injury. Because knee […]

POTS and Lyme Disease: Why Symptoms Are Often Missed POTS and Lyme disease may be linked through autonomic dysfunction. Many patients experience symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, brain fog, and a rapid heart rate—especially when standing. These symptoms are often misunderstood or attributed to anxiety, even when they reflect an underlying physiologic problem. Key pattern:

Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Cases Could Reach 2 Million Post-treatment Lyme disease cases are rising, and a 2019 study estimates that nearly 2 million Americans may be affected. This growing number highlights a critical gap in Lyme disease care: many patients continue to experience symptoms despite standard treatment. For a significant number of patients, standard antibiotic

Lyme Carditis Atrial Fibrillation: A Missed Early Warning in a Young Patient Lyme carditis atrial fibrillation represents an unusual early presentation that can mislead clinicians. A 23-year-old man’s case demonstrates why atrial fibrillation in young patients from endemic areas deserves immediate Lyme disease consideration — even though classic Lyme carditis typically presents with heart block,

Asian Longhorned Tick in New York: First Human Bite Raises Public Health Questions The Asian longhorned tick has officially been identified in New York following the first documented human bite in the United States. This discovery raises an important public health concern: emerging tick species may go unnoticed until human exposure occurs — a pattern

Tick Bite Risk in Military Personnel: Lessons from German Army Training Tick bite risk in military personnel is an underrecognized occupational hazard, particularly during field training in endemic regions. A study examining German military recruits evaluated how often tick bites occurred during basic training and whether complications followed. The authors found that “one out of

1H-MRS Early Lyme Neuroborreliosis: Brain Injury Missed by MRI 1H-MRS early Lyme neuroborreliosis may reveal neurologic damage that is not visible on standard MRI scans. This raises an important clinical concern: patients with Lyme disease symptoms can include neurologic complaints even when conventional imaging appears normal. The authors conducted a study to determine whether 1H-MRS

Lyme Disease Cardiac Problems: 19 Documented Complications Lyme disease cardiac problems extend far beyond the classic heart block presentation. A comprehensive literature review documents 19 distinct cardiac manifestations — from sinus arrest to ventricular flutter to cardiac arrest. The first reported case of exercise-inducible heart block demonstrates how physical stress can unmask hidden conduction abnormalities

Infected Deer Ticks Moving Into New York City Parks Infected deer ticks are moving into New York City parks, highlighting a growing urban risk for Lyme disease. There has been an “unprecedented increase in locally acquired cases in New York City,” writes VanAcker in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. In response, VanAcker and colleagues launched

Anchoring Bias Lyme Disease: When Diagnosis Goes Wrong Anchoring bias in Lyme disease can occur when clinicians fixate on an initial diagnosis and fail to adjust their thinking as new information emerges. Conversely, this same cognitive bias may also occur when Lyme disease is incorrectly diagnosed and the true underlying illness is missed. Aguirre and