Lyme disease is a tick-borne infection that can cause serious illness. Named after the Connecticut town where a cluster of cases were diagnosed in the mid 1970s, the disorder has now been reported throughout much of the United States, with the highest levels of infection on the East Coast, from Maine to Maryland, in the Upper Midwest, and in California.

The cause is a type of screw-shaped bacteria, known as a spirochete, that is transmuted by several species of tiny ticks. Although these ticks are most often found on deer, rodents, and other wild animals, they also bite humans.

The first sign of Lyme disease usually is a painless, donut-shaped red rash that develops at the site of the tick bite within a few weeks, although in some cases it shows up sooner. It is often accompanied by headache, low fever, achiness, and other flu-like symptoms.

Many people do not know that they have been infected with Lyme disease because they are unaware of having been bitten by a tick. Up to half of those who are bitten fail to develop the warning rash. Without treatment, weeks or even months after the bite, arthritic, cardiac, and/or neurological complications may occur. The most common manifestations are joint swelling, pain, and stillness. Less common complications include cardiac arrhythmias, meningitis, neurological disorders including paralysis, and depression and other psychological problems. Infection in pregnant women may lead to fetal death and miscarriage.

Diagnostic Studies and Procedures

There are blood tests for Lyme disease, but they have limitations. For example, it may lake months for an infection to produce a positive result using antibody tests. This situation is expected to change if experimental tests fulfill their initial promise. In the meantime, a diagnosis can often be made on the basis of symptoms and the likelihood of exposure to a tick bite.

Medical Treatments

Lyme disease usually can be cured with antibiotics, especially if treated in its earliest stages, before complications occur. In the past, penicillin or tetracycline were the drugs of choice, but current therapy favors doxycycline, a more readily absorbed tetracycline, or amoxicillin, a penicillin derivative that has increased potency. Doxycycline is most commonly used because it has to be taken only twice a day and causes fewer gastrointestinal side effects than amoxicillin, which must be taken three times a day. More serious infections, especially those involving the central nervous system, may be treated with ceftriaxone (Rocephin); this is a new antibiotic that is given by injection or intravenously.

Approaches for later and more severe manifestations of Lyme disease remain controversial. Generally, treatment at this stage is longer and more intensive. It may be necessary to undergo two to four weeks of intravenous therapy with ceftriaxone or penicillin G, especially for central nervous system complications such as meningitis. Intravenous therapy may be given in the hospital, an outpatient clinic, or at home by a visiting nurse or IV therapist.

If symptoms persist despite a course of IV antibiotics, some doctors recommend long-term intravenous therapy. Others feel this approach is futile.

Other medical treatments depend upon symptoms. For example, Lyme arthritis generally responds to aspirin, ibuprofen, and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

People with certain types of cardiac arrhythmias may be treated with anti-arrhythmia drugs; others may benefit from implantation of a pacemaker. Eye inflammation can be treated with antibiotic eye drops. Medication may also be prescribed to treat depression.

Vaccines against Lyme disease are being tested in areas of Connecticut where the disease is widespread. If these prove effective, Lyme disease will become a preventable disorder.

Alternative Therapies

Physical Therapy. A physical therapist can suggest exercises that will help inflamed joints retain function and maintain mobility, but at the same time will not damage them. An occupational therapist can teach new ways to perform daily tasks with minimal pain.

T'ai Chi. The gentle movements of this ancient exercise routine can help maintain flexibility and may also promote healing and a sense of well-being.

Self-Treatment

The ideal self-treatment is to prevent Lyme disease by avoiding tick bites. When walking in tick-infested areas, wear light-colored clothes on which ticks will be more visible, and spray them with permelhrin. Apply an insect repellant that contains DEET -- preferably in a concentration of less than 35 percent -- to exposed skin. (Check with your doctor before using DEET on a young child; it may cause seizures.) Also, try to avoid brush and leaf litter.

Shower as soon as possible after any outing into an area known to be populated by ticks, and then examine yourself carefully. If you find a tick attached to your body, remove it promptly by grasping it with a pair of tweezers as close to the skin as possible and lugging gently. The sooner it is removed, the lower the risk that it will transmit infection. Place the tick in a closed container so that it can be examined if you develop any symptoms.

Make sure that all cats and dogs wear tick collars, and comb pets regularly to remove any ticks.

Other Causes of Lyme Symptoms

Arthritis symptoms similar to those of Lyme disease may be caused by rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Reiter's syndrome, a type of infectious arthritis. Neurological symptoms may be due to encephalitis and other central nervous system infections. Depression and chronic fatigue syndrome may also be mistaken for Lyme disease.

The colon is part of the digestive system. It is a long tube comprised of the large intestines, rectum, and the anus, and it can reach up to 30 feet in length. It's primary roles are to allow for the absorption of nutrients into the blood stream, and to eliminate waste. If the colon is not working properly nutrients may not be adequately absorbed and waste may linger longer than healthy before being eliminated.

Body image is defined as to how believe we appear to the rest of the world. It is our perception of our physical characteristics. The amazing thing is that it is almost always false, and this inaccurate perception can lead to many emotional issues. For the longest time this used to be an issue that concerned mostly women, but with the growth of the beauty industry, and the ability of the media to reach us all whether we want to be reached or not, this problem now also affects men, especially young men.

Weight-loss generally involves shedding pounds of fat. And so it makes sense that dieters would want to know what their fat level is. However, athletes and those not dieting should be interested as this measure provides some insight in to your overall health.

Two of the most serious eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, a complex disease characterized by a distorted body image and self-starvation, and bulimia, which involves eating huge quantities of food followed by purging, usually through self-induced vomiting and/or laxative abuse. More than 90 percent of those with either of these conditions are adolescent girls or young women; boys are affected only occasionally. Some persons have features of both disorders.

Diverticulosis is a condition in which small pouches, or diverticula, protrude from a weakened segment of the colon wall. Many people have no symptoms. Others experience occasional mild pain or diarrhea or blood in the stools. But if waste material clogs one or more of the pouches, diverticulitis, an inflammation characterized diverticula by fever, bleeding, intense pain, and general malaise, may develop. If diverticulitis goes untreated, serious complications can arise, such as perforation of the intestine, which may lead to peritonitis, a life-threatening inflammation of the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity.

At some time, almost all babies develop diaper rash, which is confined to the skin covered by a diaper. The affected area is dotted with small, pimple-like bumps that may become scaly or crusty. Sometimes the sores ooze and have an unpleasant odor.

Muscular endurance, sometimes called muscular respiration, is the ability for a muscle to repeat a specific movement repeatedly. This is dependent on the body's ability to supply the muscle with oxygen, so it is obviously dependent on cardiovascular fitness. However it also depends on the muscle's ability to utilize the oxygen efficiently.

(Acute and subacute bacterial endocarditis, non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis)

Endocarditis is an inflammation or infection of the endocardium, the inner lining of the heart valves and chambers, and most often occurs in the valves.

Carpal tunnel syndrome, which encompasses a range of symptoms affecting the hands and wrists, is now the most common hand problem that primary-care physicians see. It has been estimated that millions of Americans presently have the syndrome, due primarily to their occupations.

Biofeedback training allows a person to gain a measure of control over bodily functions that are usually automatic, or involuntary -- for example, heartbeat, blood pressure, skin temperature, blood flow to the hands and feet, even brain-wave patterns. Some doctors believe that the results are similar to those of self-hypnosis.

Scoliosis, an exaggerated sideways curvature of the spine, comes from the Greek term for curved or askew. Very few people have perfectly straight spines, but to qualify as scoliosis, the curvature must be more than 10 degrees. The abnormality often affects the symmetry of the shoulders, hips, or rib cage. but in some cases, double curves may balance each other without affecting the shoulders or hips.

Breast stroke is done on the front. There is no side to side movement, and both sides of the body need to be symmetrical. Failure to remain symmetrical could result in disqualification during a meet.

With gout, a type of arthritis, tiny mineral, or urate, crystals collect in certain joints, causing an intense inflammatory reaction. The crystals are composed of uric acid, a metabolic waste product normally excreted in the urine.

In people with a hereditary metabolic defect, uric acid builds up in the blood and other body fluids. Most people with this condition, called hyperuricemia, do not develop gout, but those who do experience recurring attacks in the affected joints may also suffer kidney stones.

(Renal cell carcinoma; renal pelvic carcinoma; Wilms' tumor)

Kidney cancer is relatively uncommon in the United States, accounting for about 29,000 new cases and 12,000 deaths a year. In patients of all ages, males outnumber females about two to one. There are several types of kidney cancer; the most common are: Renal cell carcinoma, which most often originates in the nephrons, the filtering units of the kidney, and accounts for 85 percent of cases. This cancer can strike at any age, but it most common between ages 40 and 60. Cancer of the renal pelvis, which starts in the central part of the kidney, and frequently spreads to the ureter, the tube that carries urine from the kidney, and to the bladder. Wilms' tumor, a rare childhood malignancy, which usually occurs before the age of five years and often spreads to other abdominal organs. Wilms' tumor is quite different from adult kidney cancer. It produces a large abdominal swelling that grows rapidly. There may also be a low-grade fever, weight loss, fatigue, and other symptoms.