When making a diagnosis, rheumatologists must consider the fact that rheumatoid arthritis and some infectious diseases have overlapping musculoskeletal manifestations.
A team of researchers investigated whether credible evidence supporting a causal relationship between Lyme disease and Alzheimer disease or Lewy body dementia exists.
At an ACR Convergence 2021 session, John Aucott, MD, and Sheila Arvikar, MD, discussed the various aspects of Lyme arthritis, including incidence, prevalence, symptoms, and treatments, and other tick-borne illnesses, to inform rheumatologists in practice.
The case of a 49-year old woman with erosive genital ulcerations, rashes, and skin lesions associated with Lyme disease is reviewed.
Prophylactic antibiotic therapy should be given within 72 hours of identified high-risk tick bite
This study suggests that steroid use in Lyme disease-associated facial palsy patients experienced worse long-term facial function outcomes.
Lyme disease, transmitted by a bite from a tick infected by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, had long been considered easy to treat, usually requiring a single doctors visit and a few weeks of antibiotics for most people.
