Lyme Disease

Lyme disease

I love summer, but not the insects that come with it.  That said, I’d much rather have any number of wasp or bee stings than be bitten by a tick carrying Lyme disease.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that’s often hard to treat and can go undiagnosed for years.   Ben Stiller;  Amy Schumer and Justin Bieber are among the celebrities who have talked recently about their struggles with the disease – and earlier this week the model Bella Hadid revealed she had undergone intensive treatment for it.   Although it can be treated with antibiotics, they are no guarantee of a cure.   But there may be a new approach.   Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the US realising that the bacteria that causes Lyme disease relied on sugar as its main energy source, decided to test the effect of a drug that blocks this.  They found that the drug stopped the bacteria that causes Lyme from growing and spreading.

So far this has been tested only in the lab, but it may be a way forward for a disease likely to become more common with global warming.

In the meantime, use insect repellent in high-risk places such as grassy and wooded areas.  And if you develop a rash like a dartboard bullseye, and muscle or joint pain, it may be worth getting it checked out.