Chronic Lyme Disease
What is "Chronic Lyme Disease?"
Lyme disease is an infection caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. In the majority of cases, it is successfully treated with oral antibiotics.
The
term “Chronic Lyme Disease” (CLD) is very confusing, as it has been
used to describe people with different illnesses. While the term is
sometimes used to describe illness in patients with Lyme disease, in
many occasions it has been used to describe symptoms in people who have
no evidence of a current or past infection with B. burgdorferi (Infect Dis Clin N Am 22:341-60,
2008). In other cases, “CLD” is used in patients who have non-specific
symptoms (like fatigue and pain) after treatment for Lyme disease, but
who have no evidence of active infection with B. burgdorferi. Physicians sometimes describe these patients as having Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome (PLDS).
Because of the confusion in how the term CLD is employed, experts in this field do not support its use (New Engl J Med 357:1422-30, 2008).
How is Lyme disease treated?
To learn about this and the Alternative Perspective, click here
