Latest news with #BayAreaLymeFoundation
Axios
3 days ago
- Health
- Axios
Tick season is here — and it's worse than last year
Summer is here, and that means tick frenzy is, too. Why it matters: Ticks, which are most active in warmer seasons, transmit Lyme disease through bacteria in their bite. The disease causes rash, flu-like symptoms and joint pain — and can be fatal if untreated. Driving the news: Tick densities on average are higher this year compared with last year, San Francisco State University biology professor Andrea Swei told Axios. At Swei's field sites in Marin and San Mateo counties, average nymph densities are up around 20% to 30% this year. Nymphs transmit diseases at higher rates than adult ticks. The Bay Area Lyme Foundation has recorded a similar increase in regional tick activity, particularly in chaparral areas, local parks and redwood forests. Zoom in: On the West Coast, Lyme is spread by the Western black-legged tick, which has a three-year life cycle and is abundant along California's north coastal areas, according to Swei. Caveat: While ticks are traditionally associated with grassy areas and bushes, a 2021 study found Lyme-carrying ticks in beach areas at equal rates to woodland habitats in some parts of northwestern California. What they're saying: When outdoors, "we recommend wearing white so the ticks are more visible, tick-checking yourself and your gear when you arrive home and two days later, and being vigilant to see a doctor if you have any symptoms," Bay Area Lyme Foundation executive director Linda Giampa told Axios via email. They often first attach to pets. You can also treat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin as a preventative measure, per the CDC. What to expect: If you find a tick attached to your body, the best way to remove it is to position tweezers between your skin and the tick's mouth and tug gently to remove the whole thing. Don't squish it; flush it down the toilet. Ticks can spread disease within hours of attaching to a person.
Time Magazine
4 days ago
- Health
- Time Magazine
7 Surprising Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Nearly 500,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year in the U.S. For about 75% of them, the first sign will be a skin lesion that appears one to four weeks after being bitten by an infected deer tick. But it might not look how you'd imagine: Only 20% of these lesions take on the classic bull's-eye appearance commonly associated with Lyme. Other early symptoms of Lyme disease mimic what you might experience with the flu: a fever, chills, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes. Within the first five to 10 days of Lyme disease infection, most people will only experience these relatively ordinary symptoms. If they're promptly diagnosed with and treated for Lyme—which generally means two to three weeks of the antibiotic doxycycline—the story often ends there. But for up to 10% of people, most of whom aren't diagnosed or treated promptly, the disease triggers lingering, serious symptoms. Researchers aren't sure exactly what causes chronic Lyme disease, but speculate it could be the result of factors like persistent bacteria or genetic predispositions. When someone has it, 'there's almost nothing it can't do,' says Dr. Amy Edwards, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine who specializes in infectious diseases. The complex symptoms often stump doctors, but 'once it's caught you off guard a few times, you're kind of looking for it everywhere. Every time someone comes in with weird symptoms in the summer, you're like, 'Could it be Lyme disease?'' Here's a look at some of the surprising symptoms that Lyme disease can cause, especially as it progresses. Heart problems When Lyme isn't treated effectively early on, it can end up impacting the cardiac, neurologic, and rheumatologic systems, says Dr. Amy Duckro, an infectious disease specialist with Kaiser Permanente in Colorado. In 1 out of every 100 patients, for example, Lyme bacteria enters the heart tissues, which is called Lyme carditis. This kind of heart inflammation can lead to light-headedness, fainting, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, or chest pain. In some cases, people develop atrioventricular block, which is a blockage that prevents electrical signals from moving from the upper to the lower chambers of the heart. When the blockage gets particularly bad, patients often need a temporary pacemaker paired with IV antibiotics, says Dr. Sunjya K. Schweig, who's on the scientific advisory board of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a non-profit that aims to accelerate medical breakthroughs for Lyme disease. He wants people to be aware that this can happen, and to take symptoms like new heart palpitations seriously. 'It's treatable, it's curable, and it can also kill you if it's not caught,' he says. 'It's a really big deal.' Brain fog It took Kirsten Stein more than two years—and 15 doctor's appointments—to be diagnosed with Lyme disease. During that time, she struggled with an array of mental and physical symptoms. The most alarming was the brain fog and short-term memory loss that clouded her every day: She recalls running into a close friend, for example, and not being able to summon the names of the woman's kids, despite seeing them multiple times a week. 'I remember thinking, 'That's not good,'' she says. During a conversation with her husband, she couldn't conjure the word 'glass' and started pointing at things; while playing a game with friends, she excused herself to the restroom because she couldn't think clearly enough to participate. Another time, she dropped her son off at school—and five minutes later, asked her daughter where he was. 'It was terrifying,' she says. Many patients report similar experiences with brain fog, Schweig says. It's likely caused by Lyme-induced inflammation in the central nervous system. 'We see a huge amount of brain effects: difficulty focusing, difficulty thinking, difficulty reading and absorbing information,' he says. 'It can be extremely disruptive to people's lives, because they can't function. They can't go about their normal learning and working and paying attention and doing projects and following through with their tasks.' Bell's palsy There are 12 nerves—called the cranial nerves—that originate in the brain and play an important role in sense and movement for different parts of the head, face, neck, and torso. Lyme disease can affect those nerves, triggering Bell's palsy, which causes sudden weakness or paralysis on one side of the face. It's especially common in adults, she says, and typically appears several weeks to months after infection. Eye problems In the early stages of Lyme disease, people sometimes experience eye irritation and conjunctivitis. As the condition progresses, 'you can get cranial nerve inflammation or infections, and this can cause double vision called diplopia,' Schweig says. Research suggests Lyme can cause sudden vision loss, damage to the optic nerve, and neurotrophic keratitis (decreased corneal sensation). It's also possible to experience blurry vision, eye floaters, tearing, extreme sensitivity to light, and inflammation of the retina. Hearing problems The inflammation that Lyme causes can affect the inner ear, leading to a variety of symptoms, including hearing loss and tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, Schweig says. Ear issues can also trigger dizziness and balance problems. In one study that included 216 people with a tickborne disease, 162 experienced otolaryngological symptoms—making them a 'frequent manifestation,' according to the study authors. The most common complaint was tinnitus (77% of participants), followed by vertigo and dizziness (54%), a headache (39%), and unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, or hearing loss in one ear (17%). Arthritis One of the most common symptoms of Lyme that Edwards sees in young people is arthritis. It often happens the same way: Kids show up in the emergency room in the late fall with a big, swollen knee and, perhaps, a low-grade fever. Sometimes they also have a limp or are unable to put weight on their leg. 'It's actually not crazy painful—it hurts, but it's not debilitating,' she says. 'Everybody's like, 'Did you injure it?'' But it turns out they're experiencing arthritis caused by a tick bite they might not have even been aware of during the summer. 'It's actually the most common way that Lyme presents in children,' Edwards says. Kids typically get better once they start a four-week regimen of doxycycline. The problem, she adds, is that not all clinicians make the connection, which can delay diagnosis and proper treatment. Debilitating fatigue Research suggests that Lyme disease can cause persistent fatigue, even when it's diagnosed and treated early. In one study, participants with a history of Lyme were 8 to 15 times more likely to report moderate or severe fatigue than those who had never had the disease. That resonates with Caitlin Durcan, 27, who developed Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick while working at a summer camp in upstate New York. She experienced a range of symptoms—migraines, puberty-like emotional instability, brain fog, puffy eyes—for months before finding a doctor who prescribed an aggressive treatment regimen that has mostly alleviated her symptoms. At the time, Durcan was in college, and one of the worst manifestations of the disease was overwhelming fatigue. 'I was very sluggish and tired all the time,' she recalls. 'I'd go to class, I'd come home, and I'd sleep for three hours. I'd wake up, I'd go to my classes, and I'd come back home and sleep. I couldn't stay awake for a day, and my friends were just like, 'Clearly something is really wrong.'' Durcan—who never developed more traditional symptoms like a rash or fever—says her experience recovering from Lyme changed her entire perspective on life. She was so relieved to feel like herself again that she started venturing outside her comfort zone, seizing social opportunities and signing up for her first-ever half marathon. She urges other people struggling with Lyme-related symptoms to continue advocating for themselves. 'It's a really tricky, weird illness, and it presents itself so differently in everyone' she says. 'Finding a doctor who believes you and understands that what you're telling them is the truth, and who wants to help you, is huge.'
CBS News
16-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Woman living with Lyme disease shares advice after 16 years of misdiagnosis
While outside this spring, it's easy to forget about a small biting inconvenience. But May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about Lyme disease, its symptoms and the importance of tick bite prevention. The Minnesota Department of Health says ticks can be found in every county in Minnesota. Immature ticks are considered more of a disease risk because they are smaller and harder to notice. That's why this time of year, the odds of contracting the disease are greater. Many people are misdiagnosed and have not started getting the help they need to ease the symptoms of the uncurable disease. Symptoms can include sudden hearing loss, tinnitus, heart palpitations, vertigo, migraines and arthritis. Ladislav Kubes / Getty Images For Lisa Najarian, she suffered for 16 years with symptoms and misdiagnosis before a blood test confirmed she had the disease. "I was bedridden for an entire month with vertigo. We could not get rid of it," Najarian said. After her diagnosis, Najarian and her husband, financial expert and former NFL player Pete Najarian, founded the Twin Cities Lyme Foundation. It is now which is now being rolled into the Bay Area Lyme Foundation. "We had to hand this off to them because I am not in a position any longer to give 100% of my efficiency to people who need it," said Lisa Narajian. She says anyone with doubts should make sure their doctor is someone with training in Lyme disease.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Science Translational Medicine Study Funded by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation Identifies FDA-approved Piperacillin as More Effective, Targeted Treatment for Lyme Disease
An additional Science Translational Medicine study also funded by Bay Area Lyme Foundation uncovers how lingering bacterial cell wall molecules may contribute to chronic Lyme symptoms PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif., April 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, announces two pre-clinical studies published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine. The studies demonstrate promising implications for improved Lyme disease treatment and understanding of chronic Lyme through peptidoglycan, a molecule found in the cell wall of the bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), which causes Lyme disease. The first study finds piperacillin, an FDA-approved treatment for pneumonia that inhibits peptidoglycan production, may be a more effective treatment for Lyme disease than the current 'gold standard' treatment, doxycycline, which is not effective for up to 20% of patients. The second study uncovers how lingering peptidoglycan builds up in the joint fluid and liver, contributing to chronic Lyme symptoms, which affect over 20% of patients treated for Lyme disease. 'Piperacillin may be a game-changer for improving Lyme disease treatment, which is currently a challenge for researchers and physicians. Furthermore, our new mechanistic understanding of how piperacillin affects peptidoglycan synthesis is unexpectedly informing our development of a biomarker-based approach to diagnose acute Lyme disease,' said Brandon Jutras, PhD, associate professor of Microbiology-Immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and a Bay Area Lyme Foundation 2021 Emerging Leader Award winner. 'Our second study explores the role of peptidoglycan in chronic Lyme symptoms; peptidoglycan influences an inflammatory and chronic illness response for weeks or even months after infection, adding to the growing evidence that remnants of bacteria and viruses can stick around and keep affecting the body, similar to the occurrence of Long COVID in some patients.' In the first study, researchers screened nearly 500 FDA-approved compounds using a wide range of scientific techniques to identify potential treatments for Lyme disease. Piperacillin stood out as a top performer in laboratory studies, effectively killing the Lyme-causing bacterium at very low concentrations by targeting its unique peptidoglycan cell-wall pattern. In pre-clinical models, piperacillin cured infection at doses 100 times lower than doxycycline, a standard Lyme treatment, and did so without disrupting the gut microbiome. These findings suggest that piperacillin could become a promising new option for specifically treating Lyme disease when administered at low doses. The second study focused on the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, and its unique cell wall component called peptidoglycan. This molecule was found to persist in joint fluids in human samples, potentially driving inflammation and long-term health issues. Using pre-clinical models, the team discovered that the liver acts as a 'storage site' for bacterial peptidoglycan, where it can remain for weeks or months, unlike peptidoglycan produced by other bacteria. The presence of peptidoglycan triggered changes in immune responses and energy metabolism like fatigue and inflammation. These findings suggest that lingering bacterial molecules like peptidoglycan could play a role in chronic Lyme disease, drawing parallels to other chronic conditions like Long COVID, where persistent antigens may contribute to ongoing heath issues. 'Dr. Jutras' findings show great potential for improving Lyme disease treatments and identifying the mechanisms causing persistent and chronic Lyme disease, informing new potential avenues for diagnostics and therapeutics,' said Linda Giampa, executive director of Bay Area Lyme Foundation. 'It is rewarding for all of us at Bay Area Lyme Foundation to have seen the progress of Dr. Jutras' work from when we selected him as an Emerging Leader Award winner in 2021 through this promising research, which closely aligns with our mission of making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure.' Together, these studies represent a significant advancement in understanding and treating Lyme disease. Bay Area Lyme Foundation remains committed to supporting innovative science that not only deepens our understanding of Lyme disease but also accelerates the development of more targeted diagnostics and therapies to improve patient outcomes. About Lyme disease The most common vector-borne infectious disease in the US, Lyme disease is a potentially disabling infection caused by bacteria transmitted through the bite of an infected tick to people and pets, and may also be passed from a pregnant mother to her unborn baby. If caught early, most cases of Lyme disease can be effectively treated, but it is commonly misdiagnosed due to lack of awareness and inaccurate diagnostic tests. There are approximately 500,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year, according to statistics released in 2018 by the CDC. As a result of the difficulty in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, up to two million Americans may be suffering from the impact of its debilitating long-term symptoms and complications, according to Bay Area Lyme Foundation estimates. About Bay Area Lyme Foundation Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a national organization committed to making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure, is the leading public not-for-profit sponsor of innovative Lyme disease research in the US. A 501c3 organization based in Silicon Valley, Bay Area Lyme Foundation collaborates with world-class scientists and institutions to accelerate medical breakthroughs for Lyme disease. It is also dedicated to providing reliable, fact-based information so that prevention and the importance of early treatment are common knowledge. A pivotal donation from The LaureL STEM FUND covers overhead costs and allows for 100% of all donor contributions to Bay Area Lyme Foundation go directly to research and prevention programs. For more information about Lyme disease or to get involved, visit or call us at 650-530-2439. Media contact: Tara DiMilia Phone: 908-369-7168 Sign in to access your portfolio
