Is Lyme disease underreported?

MONDAY, Aug. 19 (HealthDay News) — About 300,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, which is about 10 times higher than the number of cases reported each year to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a new report.

Is chronic Lyme disease psychosomatic?

Often called psychosomatic. Lyme pain is real, not imagined. Often, patients lose their health, livelihoods, relationship, home, and dignity in the process of getting diagnosed. This is not due to an improper coping mechanism or a cognitive manifestation of emotional stress.

What is the controversy over Lyme disease?

The controversy around chronic Lyme disease emerged when patient advocacy groups and some doctors began to use the term to describe patients who had nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue and pain, and testing did not always show that they had been exposed to Lyme disease.

Why are cases of Lyme disease increasing?

One study suggests that increasing temperatures will boost the number of cases of Lyme disease by more than 20 percent by 2050. Some scientist attribute the rise in Lyme disease to more people coming in contact with ticks as people start to move from urban areas to to more suburban areas.

What country has the highest rate of Lyme disease?

In one publication, the estimated incidence of Lyme disease was as high as 206 cases per 100,000 population in Slovenia and 135 cases per 100,000 population in Austria, which are among the highest reported rates in Europe.

Can Lyme disease be debilitating?

Chronic Lyme disease is an ongoing Borrelia burgdorferi infection that can involve any body system or tissue. The infection produces a wide range of symptoms and signs, which can be debilitating for some patients. Common symptoms include severe fatigue, migratory musculoskeletal pain, headaches, and impaired memory.

Why is Lyme disease so prevalent in the northeast?

Reasons contributing to the seasonal variability of tick activity and the probable northeast spread of Lyme disease are tick and host habitat range expansion, longer seasons for tick activity, and increased human exposure seasonally.

Why are ticks so prevalent in New England?

Ticks are robust and thriving in New England, according to Mather, in large part due to the increasing population of the white-tailed deer, a favorite meal for the deer tick. “We think of deer as the reproductive host for these blacklegged ticks,” Mather told Boston 25 News reporter John Monahan.