Is it Spring Yet?
Bob Staples of Bobs Pet Stop in home dog behavior training.
Well, the ticks will be out and we need to be informed.
Another great article by the AKC and lymedisease.org
Lyme disease in dogs, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a bacterial illness that can be transmitted to humans, dogs, and other animals by certain species of ticks. It is caused by the spiral-shaped bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi that is carried inside the tick and then gets into the dog’s or person’s bloodstream through a tick bite. Once in the bloodstream, the bacteria can travel to different parts of the body and cause problems in specific organs or locations, such as joints, as well as overall illness. The ticks that carry Lyme disease are especially likely to be found in tall grasses, thick brush, marshes, and woods—waiting to grab onto your dog when he passes by. A tick can transmit the disease once it has been attached to the dog for 24 to 48 hours.
First named when a number of cases occurred in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1975, the disease can be hard to detect and can cause serious, ongoing health problems in both dogs and people.
Although Lyme disease can occur nearly anywhere in the U.S., infection risk is low in some regions and high in others. The areas of highest occurrence are the Northeast, the Upper Midwest, and the Pacific coast.
For you dog training needs, contact Bobs Pet Stop 28 years and going strong.
Lyme Disease in People:
If Lyme disease is not diagnosed and treated early, it may become late-stage or chronic. This may also occur when early treatment is inadequate. While some symptoms of chronic or late stage Lyme disease are similar to those of early Lyme, as the graphic below shows, there are important differences.
Lyme disease may spread to any part of the body and affect any body system. Typically, it affects more than one body system. In our survey, which drew over 5,000 responses, patients with chronic Lyme disease reported an average of three severe or very severe symptoms, with 74% reporting at least one symptom as severe or very severe.
An extensive list of symptoms of chronic Lyme disease was developed by Dr. Joseph Burrascano, a pioneer in treating chronic Lyme disease.
Lyme Disease Symptoms Checklist
Many Lyme symptoms, such as fatigue, cognitive impairment, joint pain, poor sleep, mood problems, muscle pain, and neurological presentations also occur in other diseases. Hence, the symptoms of Lyme disease significantly overlap those of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, depression and Alzheimer’s disease. Many Lyme patients report being misdiagnosed with a different condition before being properly diagnosed with Lyme disease.
In order for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to recognize a Lyme case for surveillance purposes, there must be “objective” findings, such as positive blood tests, Bell’s palsy or joint swelling (even though Lyme blood tests are unreliable and the CDC’s accepted “objective” indicators are not common). www.lymedisease.org
Bobs Pet Stop In-Home Dog Training Bucks County Pa www.BobsPetStop.com