Can Lyme Disease Cause Multiple Sclerosis

Diagnosing Lyme Disease And Ms

Some of the effects of Lyme disease and MS can be seen in imaging tests. Lyme disease may sometimes lead to abnormalities similar to those seen in people with MS on MRI brain scans and analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid.

If you are unsure about your symptoms, see a neurologist who is specially trained to know the differences between MS and Lyme disease. Neurology experts will be able to perform tests used to diagnose the two conditions, such as:

• Blood tests
• MRI scan
• Lumbar puncture
• Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test, or a Western blot test, which checks for the presence of antibodies to B. burgdorferi

Apparent Variants Of Multiple Sclerosis

During the early part of this century, a number of disorders were described which are now considered clinicopathological variants of MS.

Schilder’s diffuse sclerosis is more complex. Dr Schilder certainly found it difficult to recognise, his second report describing two patients who had other diseases. However, there is a syndrome distinct from, but related to MS, usually of childhood onset, whose progressive course is punctuated by occasional periods of accelerated disease activity. Widespread, confluent or diffuse demyelination involving the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem, with pronounced axon loss and often cavitation, are characteristic features. The neurological manifestations include those seen in MS, although dementia and other mainly cortical features are more prominent, including hemiplegia, cortical blindness and deafness. Inherited leucodystrophies must be excluded.

Balò’s concentric sclerosis is characterised pathologically by alternating concentric rings of demyelination and apparently normal myelinoccasionally strikingly seen on MRI. Episodes of repeated inflammatory demyelination at the same site, with intervening periods of myelin repair, probably explain this architecture. No particular clinical phenotype is commonly associated.

Ruling Out What Is Not Going On

Medical conditions can have similar symptoms. Feeling tired, dizzy or weak, experiencing numbness or tingling in the hands and feet or the onset of vision problems could be symptoms of MS or Lyme disease. Yet they are very different conditions with very different causes and treatments. An accurate diagnosis requires ruling out what is not going on.

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I Was Wondering If Lyme Disease Affects Vision

Lyme disease can affect eye sight in a number of ways. If the extraocular muscles are involved as in a cranial nerve palsy, then the muscle weakness may result in double vision. Patients may report that their visual acuity appears to be less or that they have lost color vision or can’t see the full visual field. If there is central involvement of the visual pathways, then some patients may experience a marked sensory hyperacusis such as prominent painful light sensitivity or rarely visual trails. In very rare cases, an unattenuated increase of intracranial pressure from neurologic Lyme disease may result in blindness. Of course, any visual problems should be checked by an ophthalmologist or a neuro-ophthalmologist who can then perform a thorough differential diagnosis to rule out other conditions.

At What Point Do I Stop Antibiotics For The Psychological Symptoms Of Lyme Disease And Conclude That These Symptoms Will Not Go Away

The cause of the psychological symptoms in Lyme disease is unclear. It is clear that patients with acute Lyme disease who develop new onset depressive symptoms or irritability or cognitive disturbances often show a remarkable improvement when given antibiotic therapy. If the psychological symptoms persist or if the initial symptoms are severe, it is very important to consult with a psychiatrist to evaluate how best to treat these symptoms apart from the antibiotic therapy. When symptoms continue even after a repeated course of antibiotic therapy, this could be due to the fact that an activated immune system results in a change in neurotransmitter functioning. As a result, the altered neurotransmitter function may contribute to ongoing depressive symptoms, even after the immune system is no longer activated. Treatment of the psychiatric symptoms at that point would require anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medications or psychotherapy.

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Lyme Disease Misdiagnosed As Multiple Sclerosis

The following articles compiled by LymeInfo provide information about Lyme disease being misdiagnosed as Multiple Sclerosis. The differential diagnosis can be tricky, as Lyme tests can be falsely negative. Disseminated Lyme disease is also very complicated to treat. Therefore, it is important for those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis to be thoroughly evaluated by a physician skilled at diagnosing Lyme disease. After reviewing the below articles, please browse around the Lyme Info website to learn more about Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Be sure to visit our Lyme Disease Diagnosis & Treatmentpage. The list below is merely an introduction and does not cover all articles on this topic.

Can Parasites Cause Pain

A parasite may invade a specific organ or migrate through several organs. One common cause that leads to physical pain, especially in the abdominal region, is when patients present with acute abdominal pain due to inflammation in the bowels, bile ducts, and/or intestine. A parasite infestation may also induce a cyst formation that could be complicated with rupture, superinfection, or mass effect, each causing extreme levels of pain in patients.

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Bacteria Are The Cause Of Alzheimer’s As Well

So much more could be written about this subject. Such as the fact that spinal cord lesions together with a lesion in the cerebellum or brainstem is very rare in neurological diseases and almost exclusively occurs in only MS and Lyme disease. There is a lot of hard evidence that Fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s, CFS, Lupus, Crohn’s ME, Pick’s disease , Alzheimers’ disease and ALS are also caused by spirochetal bacteria. 14 out of 16 deceased Alzheimer’s patients had living Treponema spirochetes in their brain. Please people – it is not normal to have bacteria in your brain! The only result can be brain damage of a type and pace commensurate with the type of bacterium and the state of your immune system and personal genetics. Countless millions of people dying the most horrific slow deaths due to infections that are near-impossible to detect with currently employed diagnostic methods, but certainly treatable in the sense that further deterioration can usually be stopped and often even reversed in clinical trials and anecdotal evidence:

Isn’t it strange that the geographic mortality rate for MS is nearly identical to that of Lyme diease? With near-identical hotspots for both diseases, even in areas with a low population density :

Can Parasites Cause Tremors

A tremor is an unintentional and uncontrollable rhythmic movement of one part or one limb of the body. It is categorically different from muscle spasms. Tremors, both resting and active, may appear mild, short-lived, and can be caused by too much caffeine or even dehydration. But they may also signal a much deeper problem or disease such as multiple sclerosis. Parasitic infection of the nervous system can be the root cause of tremors.

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Lyme Disease Vs Ms: Causes And Transmission

Lyme disease is caused by a bite from the Ixodes scapularis, or deer tick. These ticks are not inherently infected with Lyme disease, but rather they get it from feeding on an affected animal. These ticks can be found in wooded lands and prefer damp areas underneath trees. Because ticks are so tiny, it is difficult to notice that they are on you, let alone that they bite you, so its important that you cover your body and check yourself every so often if you are going out for a hike.

Tick populations are higher in the East, Midwest, and West coast, but can be found all across the U.S.

There is some debate about how long it takes a tick to infect a person. Some experts suggest its up to 24 hours from attachment, and others believe its even less than that. Essentially, the longer a tick is attached to you, the higher your risk of developing Lyme disease is.

The cause for multiple sclerosis is largely unknown, but what is known is that it is an autoimmune disease in which the bodys own immune system begins to wrongfully attack itself. In multiple sclerosis, the target for attack is the myelin, which is the protective coating around nerve fibers and the spinal cord. Genetic and environmental factors have been credited as possible causes for multiple sclerosis.

Low Seroprevalence Of Lyme Disease Among Multiple Sclerosis Patients In New Brunswick

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 June 2020

Gregg MacLean

Affiliation:Department of Medicine, Horizon Health, Saint John, New Brunswick, CanadaDepartment of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Peggy Cook

Department of Medicine, Horizon Health, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

L. Robbin Lindsay

Affiliation:Zoonotic Diseases and Special Pathogens Division, National Microbiology Laboratory , Public Health Agency of Canada , Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Todd F. Hatchette

Affiliation:Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CanadaDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nova Scotia Health Authority , Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Duncan Webster*

Affiliation:Department of Medicine, Horizon Health, Saint John, New Brunswick, CanadaDepartment of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

*

Correspondence to: Duncan Webster, MA, MD, FRCPC, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Saint John Regional Hospital, Saint John, New Brunswick, CanadaE2L 4L2. Email:

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Can Parasites Cause Poor Balance

Poor balance can commonly occur in the elderly or ill adults and is often brushed off or overlooked because it usually passes quickly.

With multiple sclerosis, poor balance is persistent. Parasites can cause poor balance, especially with the condition neurocysticercosis, where an adult tapeworm releases its eggs inside the infected persons body. The eggs develop into larvae which live in cysts in the brain. Cysts in the brain and spinal cord can cause seizures, headaches, confusion, poor balance, stroke or even death.

Parasites And Multiple Sclerosis: Whats The Connection

Parasites Pam Bartha

Researchers and physicians have observed an increase in autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis , over the last several decades. In fact, MS is the most common non-traumatic cause of neurological disability in young adults in developed countries. As the cause of MS is still unknown and there is no cure, an emerging body of evidence points to a causal link between parasitic infestations and multiple sclerosis.

MS is considered an autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system the brain and spinal cord. It is thought that the immune system mistakenly attacks myelin, a fatty tissue that surrounds and protects nerves. This impacts the nerves ability to send and receive messages to and from the brain, spinal cord and the rest of the body. MS is unpredictable, disabling, and degenerative.

Current evidence continues to build and validate that parasites are the cause of multiple sclerosis. Though the specific infections have yet to be fully researched and accepted by health authorities, the evidence is growing too loud to ignore.

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Is Multiple Sclerosis A Symptom Of Lyme Disease

. and why is there no current ongoing aggressive human pathology being done in Canada specific to looking for Lyme in patients diagnosed with MS considering that Canada has some of the highest per capita rates of MS in the world?

Lyme on the Brain Lecture Notes of Tom Grier

MS and SpirochetesIn every Lyme disease support group in this country , there have always been at least one multiple sclerosis, MS, patient who turned out to have Lyme disease, and was recovering on antibiotics. But if this is true why is there is no documented connection between spirochetes and M.S.? As it turns out there are more than 50 such MS-spirochete references prior to World War II and going back to as far as 1911, and published in such prestigious journals as the Lancet.

1911 Buzzard Spirochetes in MS Lancet

1913 Bullock MS Agent in Rabbits Lancet

1917 Steiner Spirochetes The Cause of MS Med Kiln

1918 Simmering Spirochetes in MS by Darkfield Micro

1918 Steiner G. Guinea Pig Inoculation with MS infectious agent from Human

1919 Steiner MS Agent Inoculation into Monkeys

1921 Gye F. MS Agent In Rabbits Brain 14:213

1922 Kaberlah MS Agent In Rabbits Deutch Med Works

1922 Sicard MS Spirochetes in Animal Model Rev Neurol

1922 Stepanopoulo Spirochetes in the CSF of MS Patients

1923 Shhlossman MS Agent in Animal Model Rev Neuro

1924 Blacklock MS Agent in Animals J. of Path and Bac

1927 Wilson The Rat as A Carrier of MS British Med Journal

1927 Steiner G Understanding the Pathogenesis of MS

Can Lyme Disease Be Sexually Transmitted

First of all, if you have been treated for Lyme disease, even if your Western blot is positive, it is very unlikely that there are any spirochetes still circulating in your bodily fluids. Second, there is no good documentation that Lyme disease can be contracted by sexual contact. Given the number of cases of Lyme disease that have been diagnosed over the last 20 years and the fact that there are have been instances where people with active infection are having sexual intercourse but have not yet been treated, one would expect there to be many well documented cases of suspect partner to partner transmission this is not the case. Therefore, for all these reasons, it is highly unlikely that a person could acquire Lyme disease through unprotected intercourse or other sexual contact.

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Lyme Disease Vs Ms: Risk Factors

One of the risk factors for Lyme disease is being in wooded, grassy areas for prolonged periods of time, especially in the Northeast and Midwest parts of America where deer ticks are more prevalent. Other risk factors include exposing skin in such environments and not removing a tick properly once one has latched onto you. As mentioned, the longer the tick is attached, the greater the risk of Lyme disease.

Risk factors for multiple sclerosis include age, being female, having a family history of multiple sclerosis, having certain infections like Epstein-Barr, being white or of Northern European descent, living in temperate climates, already having another autoimmune disease, and smoking.

The Lyme Disease/ms Connection

Is there a connection between Lyme disease and Multiple Sclerosis ? As a patient of Lyme disease who talks to many patents who have been diagnosed with one or the other, or both, I started collecting any relevant articles to this discussion.

Rather, I should call it a debate. Lyme disease patients insist that MS is really just Lyme disease misdiagnosed. Many MS patients that I have talked to think it is a totally independent disease from Lyme disease.

Sadly, after twenty years of having Lyme disease, I still cannot talk to many doctors about this without being met with an eye roll.

But, maybe we are looking at it wrong. Since Borrelia Burgdorferi and some other bacterial infections and viruses, as well as parasites, all seem to infect people differently, maybe these infection lead to these conditions or syndromes.

Maybe instead of calling it a misdiagnosis we should be saying, Lyme induced MS, Lyme induced Parkinsons, Lyme induced Dementia, Lyme induced Fibromyalgia, Lyme induced Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. You get the point.

I propose this for two reasons.

Please make sure to check out the Lyme Deaths VS MS Deaths Map.

Multiple Sclerosis and Lyme Disease Articles

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What Is The Significance Of Band 41 On The Igm And Igg Western Blot It Is Not Lyme Specific And The Cdc Requires More Bands To Be Present Before A Diagnosis However It Is A Band For Bacteria So What Else Could Cause That To Be Positive If Not Lyme

The 41 kd band is often found on the Western blot. We did a study where we looked at the banding patterns of patients with chronic Lyme disease and healthy controls from the inner city of NY who have never had Lyme disease. We found that a large percentage of the healthy controls tested positive on the 41kd band. For that reason, we don’t feel the 41kd band has much clinical signfiicance in guiding us as to whether a person has been exposed to the agent of Lyme disease. One reason a positive 41 kd band might emerge is that our mouths contain non-pathogenic spirochetes it is conceivable that some may seed the blood stream periodically and lead to the positive 41kd immune responses.

Lyme Disease Vs Ms: Us Prevalence

Majority of MS patients are diagnosed between the ages of 20 to 40, but it can develop at any age. There are over 400,000 cases of multiple sclerosis in the U.S., with women accounting for the majority of cases. Each week, there are an additional 200 cases of multiple sclerosis diagnosed in America.

There are roughly 30,000 Lyme disease cases reported annually, but its not an accurate reflection of how many cases actually occur, as these are incidences only reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In order to improve data collection on Lyme disease, the CDC has set out two different studies known as Project 1 and Project 2. Project 1 estimated 228,000 cases of Lyme disease through laboratory testing, and Project 2 estimated 329,000 cases of Lyme disease based on claims from medical insurance databases.

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Touched By Lyme: Strong Connection Between Lyme Disease And Ms

TV and film actress Selma Blair created a stir this past weekend, when she announced on Instagram that she has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis

The Cruel Intentions actress, who is currently filming a project for Netflix, posted that she was diagnosed in August. She further stated:

I am disabled. I fall sometimes. I drop things, she posted. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken gps. But we are doing it. And I laugh and I dont know exactly what I will do precisely but I will do my best.

Alas, when somebody makes this kind of announcement, the first thing that pops into the heads of people in the Lyme community is What if its actually Lyme disease?

Im not saying that every case of MS is caused by Lyme disease. But its very common for people who actually have Lyme disease to be misdiagnosed with MS. In fact, according to MyLymeData, 14% of chronic Lyme patients in the study said they had initially been misdiagnosed with MS.

And unfortunately, MS treatment typically involves immunosuppressionexactly what you dont want with a bacterial infection like Lyme disease.

Dr. Steve Phillips speaks on the connection between Lyme and MS in a video he and Dana Parish have posted on Facebook.

Read more about the connection between Lyme disease and MS: