| georgia 2005-06-29, 5:50 pm |
| http://www.sonomanews.com/articles/...ries/news06.txt
The bite that keeps on giving
By Jason Walsh Index-Tribune News Editor
06.03.05 - It started in February of 1988 with stiff joints and a small
rash.
But at age 47, Sonoma-resident Thora Graves thought it might just be
what
comes with getting older.
Then nightmarish headaches began.
Graves' body pain was getting worse and her nerves were so on edge that
every motion felt like her skin was ripping through cobwebs.
Doctor after doctor, 12 of them in seven months, offered a different
diagnosis - from stress-related disorders to encephalitis to Lou
Gehrig's
disease.
As the misdiagnoses mounted, Graves' memory began to fail.
She left her job as office manager for a San Rafael medical group when
she
lost all the doctors' paychecks.
She stopped driving her car out of fear of forgetting where she was
going.
Or how to get back.
In her pocket Graves began carrying a card with her name written on it,
but
often couldn't find the card.
"I was only 47 years old and I felt like I had Alzheimer's," Graves
said.
Finally, after more than half a year of pain and fear, doctors at
Stanford
Medical Center told Graves she was suffering from Lyme disease, the
malady
derived from bacteria transmitted through infected deer ticks.
Through the daily help of antibiotics, Graves' headaches, burning skin
and
memory loss began to fade.
Today life seems pretty much back to normal.
"It's taken me years to feel like I'm back to my old self," said
Graves, who
guesses she was victimized by a hungry tick during one of her many
walks in
the Sonoma Valley hills. "For a while there it seemed as if everything
had
changed forever."
When Lyme disease is treated promptly, most people recover quickly.
But in 1988 little was known about the disease - it was first described
in
the Connecticut town of Old Lyme in 1975 - and because its symptoms
mirror
those of several more prominent illnesses, doctors rarely diagnosed it.
Even today, said Graves, doctors are wary of treating Lyme victims due
to
the difficulty in identification.
But immediacy is the key with Lyme. And when the disease is left
untreated
for too long sufferers can develop chronic fatigue, neurologic damage,
arthritis, vision and hearing difficulties and even mental problems.
"There are still a lot of misunderstandings about Lyme," said Phyllis
Mervine, president of California Lyme Disease Association (CALDA).
"Doctors
don't always look for it and so it's still not diagnosed very much."
Another problem, said Mervine - who suffered for a decade herself with
a
"mysterious illness" before being diagnosed with Lyme in 1987 - is that
most
people who get the disease do not recall a tick bite.
Most cases of Lyme are caused by the vampyric nymphal tick, a
poppy-seed-sized bloodsucker whose bite is relatively painless.
"Nymphs hatch out in late spring," Mervine said. "They are common in
leaf
litter under deciduous trees - especially under oaks and anywhere mice
are
numerous."
Since most cases of Lyme occur in the summer, the CALDA has been on an
awareness campaign and even recently persuaded state legislatures to
designate the first week of May as Lyme Disease Awareness Week.
"I'm not sure that people are really aware how often they're exposed,"
said
Mervine. "If 6 to 10 percent of all nymphal ticks are infected, then,
statistically, if you're bitten 10 or 12 times in your life at some
point
you should have gotten Lyme disease."
Graves, who continues to take antibiotics twice a day to keep the
disease at
bay, just thinks if Lyme disease awareness were greater then people
wouldn't
have to suffer through the kind of nightmare she did.
"People need to know that it's out there," Graves said. "They need to
take
every precaution that they can."
The California Lyme Disease Association believes that prevention is the
key
to avoiding Lyme. Here are a few tips:
- Avoid tick-infested areas and check yourself frequently for tiny
ticks for
several days following exposure.
- Sitting on downed logs is risky, as nymphal ticks frequently climb on
them.
- Remove any biting tick promptly, using tweezers or a special
tick-remover.
- Do not twist, squeeze or mutilate the tick. Try not to get any tick
fluids
on your skin.
- Disinfect the bite area and wash your hands.
- Save the tick in a small vial or plastic bag in case you want to test
it.
- Watch the area for signs of any developing rash, which may appear in
the
shape of a bull's-eye.
- Early symptoms of Lyme include flu-like illness with fever,
headaches,
swollen glands and aching muscles.
- See a doctor knowledgeable about Lyme disease if you experience
symptoms
after exposure to ticks.
For more information, visit www.lymedisease.org.
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