Lyme disease causes more than just physical ailments. Often times, when Lyme disease goes undiagnosed, the brain becomes infected, causing neuroborreliosis. Patients may appear to just be suffering from psychological problems, such as hallucinations, obsessive compulsive disorder, or manias. Referring the patients to psychologists or psychiatrists, physicians often do not diagnose patients who suffer from cognitive impairments with Lyme diseases. However, what they are suffering from is not created in their head, but instead by a bacteria which has created lesions in the brain. Much like syphilis, which can cause neuropsychiatric disease, once these sufferers are treated with antibiotics, they can return to a normal mindset (as long as brain damage is not too severe). A milder case of neuroborreliosis is encephalopathy, which results in a confused mind-state (i.e. inability to concentrate, lapses of memory, difficulty following asleep, and lethargy). Because these symptoms are not obviously associated with severe health problems, many Lyme disease sufferers live their lives unaware that they are suffering from this disease.
Check out this article, to read more about the psychological effects of Lyme disease.
No comments:
Post a Comment