The Cause Of Lyme Disease And How To Prevent It

Lyme disease is a common North American condition that affects both humans and animals. This is because the disease comes from a common source and that source is insects known as deer ticks. Lyme disease poses a potential threat because it can contribute to conditions that affect the heart, the brain, the bones and muscles.

The Cause

Lyme disease is not actually a direct infection from a tick bite. It is the bacteria that is found in the saliva of these ticks that contain the bacteria that causes lyme disease. The bacteria itself is called Borrelia because it is from the genus of the same name. When a tick with the Borellia bites a person, the symptoms do not instantly show, including the rash itself. The rash begins to manifest any time between the day the bite occurred and a month. When the rash appears, this is basically the initial stage of the disease. At first, it was thought that only 3 genospecies of Borellia caused lyme disease. This is not the case anymore; scientists have found that there are more genospecies out there that can cause the disease. Today there are at least 300 strains of the Borellia bacteria that causes the disease to manifest itself in humans and in animals.

Prevention

The most obvious way to prevent lyme disease from ever forming on your body is to stay away from tick-infested areas. In fact, it may be best to stay away from any insect infested areas like the woods or the forest or even your backyard grass. This is because the disease might also be passed on by other insects but it’s not clear which ones. Other measures one can take is to wear clothing that covers the entire body when going out to a wooded area like when camping or taking a nature hike. On trips like these, you might also want to make use of insect repellent lotions and sprays to keep insects away from you.

Another fact that scientists have been able to gather is that lyme disease occurs the most between May and September. This is because ticks that are in their nymph stages are the ones that are more likely to carry the disease with them. So, as an added measure and only if you can avoid it, try not to spend too much time in the outdoors during these months.

Lyme disease is not to be scoffed at or taken for granted. It is one of those diseases that get worse as time goes by, especially if it is not treated in the early phases of its development. Lyme disease has been known to contribute to conditions like arthritis, the weakening of the bones and muscles, heart conditions such as heart block, and also neurological conditions and the overall mental state of people who are infected with the bacteria. Taking precautions to prevent you from getting infected should be taken seriously. You can get more information from your family doctor or from a specialist.