What Is Lyme Disease

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Lyme Disease is an inflammatory infection that spreads to humans through tick bites.  In Manitoba, blacklegged ticks (deer ticks) may carry the Lyme Disease bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi or Borrelia Mayonii). See the Manitoba Health Website for pictures of the blacklegged tick.

Lyme is a borreliosis caused by borrelia bacteria, which commonly infects woodland animals like mice or deer.  Ticks pick up the bacteria by biting infected animals, and then pass it on to their human hosts.  There are many strains or genospecies of borrelia that cause Lyme Disease (borreliosis) in humans just as there are many strains of the flu virus that cause flu symptoms in humans, with some strains more virulent than others. 
Stages of Lyme
​3 Stages of Lyme (often blurred together quite rapidly)
Stage 1: Early infection (first few days after infection)
Stage 2: Infection spreads (days to weeks following infection)
Stage 3: Chronic Lyme (days to weeks after infection if left untreated, or not properly treated, for months/years after infection

Lyme is most treatable during Stage 1.  As time passes, both treatment and diagnosis becomes more difficult.  Symptoms worsen during each stage of infection, ranging from flu-like symptoms to neurological illnesses, including paralysis.  With chronic Lyme Disease every system and organ in the body can be affected. This includes the potential for hormone disregulation as well.   Early treatment results in the best outcome, but is not a guarantee of a cure.  Research is showing that "Persister" cells of the bacteria can exist even after months and years of treatment resulting in the potential for a relapse of symptoms.
Symptoms
​Symptoms of lyme and other tick-borne diseases can be wide and varied.  They can appear quickly and acutely or slowly over time.  Symptoms can be vague and wax and wane making diagnosis difficult or they can be debilitating, ranging from muscle and skeletal pain, to flu like symptoms, headache, stiff neck, facial paralysis, digestive issues, central nervous system involvement and more.  If you are concerned you might have a tick-borne disease(s), here is a link to a questionnaire by Dr. Richard Horowitz which may help in determining the likelihood of a tick-borne disease: Symptoms – You Can Get Better