"Overlapping symptoms" is part of my latest Lyme Awareness Art series realized with ink on Strathmore paper.
As the title describes it, many of the Lyme disease symptoms ( fatigue, cognitive impairment, joint pain, poor sleep, mood problems, muscle pain, and neurological issues) significantly overlap those of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, depression and Alzheimer’s disease. No wonder it is so difficult to diagnose it! Not to mention that it is even harder to treat it or the ripple-effect it has on one's life!
In the last years I have seen an increasing effort in the media on touching this controversial topic, but it's still not enough! Most of the articles focus on prevention. I agree that it is a good start, but we have to pick up the pace at some point!
One study realized by Michael Benros, professor of immuno-psychiatry at the University of Copenhagen, shows that Lyme disease could be associated with subsequent mental health issues among some of the individuals that experienced long-term symptoms.
His study revealed that patients with Lyme disease have a 42% higher rate of affective disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder, and a 75% higher rate of death by suicide.
Shouldn't we pay more attention to this, be aware of an increased risk of mental health problems, instead of having Lyme cases overlooked and telling patients that everything is in their head? Shouldn't we have trained treating clinicians, able to recognize the illness as well as providing guidance and a relevant treatment?
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