The imaginary Lyme disease (pseudo borreliosis) is Lyme disease for which there is no evidence. People watch the symptoms and convince themselves that they have Lyme disease. There are also "tick-borne disease doctors" who, taking advantage of the ignorance of patients, trick them into ineffective therapies. Check if you really suffer from Lyme disease.

Imaginary Lyme disease (pseudo borreliosis)is Lyme disease for which there is no evidence, but the patient is convinced that he is struggling with this disease.

The current "fashion" for Lyme disease is to blame for everything, which causes that each tick bite, joint discomfort or unusual symptoms, prompts people to undergo a Lyme disease test.

Meanwhile,not every tick is a carrier of Lyme disease,not always a bite by an infected tick is synonymous with disease, and unusual symptoms attributed to Lyme disease, such as fatigue, heaviness, hair loss or insomnia , may indicate many other diseases.

Besides - and equally important -a positive Lyme test result in itself is not yet evidence that someone has been infected with the disease.

However, most people do not know about it, what some "specialists", "tick-borne disease doctors" use.

They persuade he althy or sick (for something else) patients to have Lyme disease, tricking them into costly, years-long, ineffective and life-threatening pseudo-medical treatments.

Imaginary Lyme disease (pseudo-Lyme disease) - causes

- I am observing with concern the phenomenon of a kind of"overdiagnosis" of Lyme disease- says Dr. Marcin Czarnecki, specialist in infectious diseases at the Department and Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Liver Diseases and Acquired Immune Deficiencies of the Medical University in Wrocław.

- If a patient comes to the family doctor with, for example, joint pain, the first test ordered to him is often a Lyme disease test, after which the patient receives antibiotics - adds the expert. - It's a bit as if joint pain is caused most often, and in fact even only by Lyme disease, which of course is not true. Whatever happens to this patient afterwards, it contributes to Lyme disease, explains Dr. Czarnecki .¹

Lyme disease gives a lotcommon symptoms that appear in dozens of other diseases, but the "fashion for Lyme disease" means that each symptom is attributed to this disease.

The problem of too frequent diagnosis of Lyme disease was noticed already in the 1990s in the USA . Retrospective results from two US centers focused on Lyme disease were analyzed and it was shown that some people diagnosed with Lyme disease do have other diseases that have symptoms similar to tick-borne disease .²

It turned out that some patients with previously diagnosed Lyme disease actually suffer, inter alia, from to:

  • ankylosing spondylitis,
  • rheumatoid arthritis,
  • osteoarthritis,
  • lupus,
  • multiple sclerosis,
  • amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
  • Alzheimer's disease,
  • and even a brain tumor .²

Currently, this problem is even greater, because there is a "fashion for Lyme disease" . If there are very common symptoms that can be attributed to dozens of diseases, including Lyme disease, there is a high risk that the latter disease will be diagnosed, even though there are no objective reasons for it.

According to an expertdr Marcin Czarnecki, specialist in infectious diseases, Department and Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Liver Diseases and NNO, Medical University in Wrocław

The risk of transmitting bacteria from an infected tick to humans ranges from 2 to 17% - most authors tend to 4%, which means that out of 100 people bitten by a tick, they will develop Lyme disease not more than 4. The risk is therefore not high. If the tick is removed within 24 hours of injection, it is close to zero. Nevertheless, it is commonly believed that antibiotic therapy should be initiated immediately after a tick bite. This procedure is pointless - the risk of harm related to antibiotic therapy unjustified here does not outweigh the possible benefits that would result from its implementation. Treatment with antibiotics should be used only after diagnosis of Lyme disease. Moreover, it should be emphasized that scientific societies, including the Polish Society of Epidemiologists and Infectious Diseases, do not recommend molecular tests for the presence of Borrelia in their guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. The result of a molecular test (PCR) for a tick cannot be used as a basis for decisions regarding the treatment of a patient stung by the tick. Taking this problem with a pinch of s alt, a person who sees a doctor without any symptoms of the disease, but with a positive resultgenetic testing of a tick, only tick treatment may be recommended.

The misinterpretation of serological tests (ELISA) also contributes to the "over-recognition" of Lyme disease. It is commonly believed that any positive result is equivalent to Lyme disease.

This is not true - if the ELISA test result is positive, it does not necessarily mean that the patient has Lyme disease.

If the ELISA test results are positive, it does not mean that the patient has Lyme disease. The presence of antibodies in the blood is not a disease.

Positive Lyme test in he althy people

The patient may have been infected in the past, hence a positive test result, but his current condition has nothing to do with Lyme disease.

After Lyme disease, there are antibodies that can stay in the body for years. Also, the ELISA result may be false positive.

All positive or equivocal ELISA tests should be Western blot verified. Remember thatin the case of Lyme disease, you should perform several tests in the specified orderand analyze all the results together.

It is equally important to use tests from the same company (for screening and for confirmatory testing).

Only then is such research credible. If we combine this with specific clinical symptoms, it may or may not be related to Lyme disease.

There is one more rule -Lyme disease testing must not be used in patients with nonspecific symptomswho had no chance of infection.

Lyme disease confirmation

The element confirming the diagnosis of Lyme disease in doubtful cases is therapy.If the symptoms persist after a properly conducted therapy, it means that the diagnosis was incorrectand the patient is struggling with another disease.

Meanwhile, some doctors misinterpret the lack of response to treatment as treatment-resistant Lyme disease .²

There is no evidence that the bacteriumBorrelia burgdorferi , which causes Lyme disease, is resistant to any antibiotic used to treat Lyme disease. Failure to respond to appropriate antibiotics is a rare occurrence in true Lyme disease .²

The latest research also confirms this. - Many people are persistently, chronically treated for Lyme disease - says Dr. Marcin Czarnecki.

- Remember that the negative effects of long-term antibiotic therapy are sometimes very serious and it is particularly difficult to accept it if it is carried out without rational justification - the patient will certainly not benefit from suchproceedings. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines say clearly: if symptoms return after antibiotic therapy, a diagnosis other than Lyme disease should be considered - adds the expert.

Please note thatticks that spread Lyme disease can also transmit other diseases , e.g. babesiosis, tick-borne encephalitis.

Worth knowing

Fashion for tick research

Another fashion related to Lyme disease is to subject a tick that has bitten to a laboratory test. However, as doctors argue, this practice has no justification and is not recommended by any specialists, as it does not contribute anything important to making diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.

It only exposes patients to considerable expenses (a tick test costs from 150-300 PLN). Tick ​​research is of scientific importance, e.g. to delimit areas for ticks infected with TBE.

Imaginary Lyme disease (pseudo-Lyme disease) - watch out for scammers

In recent years, a whole business has developed using the fashion for Lyme disease, fear and ignorance of patients (apparently Lyme disease can be made even in desert areas of the USA and in countries where there are no ticks that transmit this disease).

This business is made up of a group of "tick-borne diseases doctors" who deliberately misinterpret test results, persuade he althy or sick (for something else) patients to have Lyme disease for several years, very expensive and often very dangerous - because life-threatening - therapies.

Interestingly, these "Lyme disease experts"require the patient to sign a consent for a non-officially recommended treatment . In such a situation, the injured party bears all responsibility for the consequences of treatment.

There is a medical-patient movement that supports a different form of Lyme disease treatment than stated in official recommendations (International Association of Lyme Disease and Related Diseases, ILADS).The views of ILADS contradict the officially applicable recommendations of the Polish Society of Epidemiologists and Doctors of Infectious Diseases.

Consequences of Lyme disease treatment in he althy people

Long-term use of antibacterial drugs is associated not only with the cultivation of resistant bacteria, but also with the destruction of beneficial bacteria living in the human body, with infections with other microorganisms, including fungi, disorders of the liver and kidneys, and finally, if antibiotics are administered intravenously, with severe infections at the injection site followed by sepsis.

There are centers in Krakow and Warsaw where people suffer from Lyme diseasedrugs are administered against protozoa or against malaria! And it is long-term or cyclical.

There are known situations with suspension of the medical profession or even a prison for those charlatans who treat people with non-existent Lyme disease using bismuth, dinitrophenol or veterinary drugs.

Remember:If there are medical indications, the suspicion of true Lyme disease should always be diagnosed and treated under insurance.Do not perform any tests at your own expense.

According to an expertprof. dr. hab. n. med. Krzysztof Simon - Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University in Wrocław

[…] If the results are positive, it does not mean that the patient is sick. And that doesn't mean these results will normalize quickly. They can go on for years. […] Some doctors do not understand this either. Misinterpretation of the results by doctors or even charlatans who prey on the ignorance and fear of patients, means that people are treated unnecessarily for years, which poses a threat to their he alth and life. Ba! There are centers in Krakow and Warsaw, where Lyme disease is treated with anti-protozoan or anti-malaria drugs! And it is long-term or cyclical. This is not acceptable. […] I know a case of a patient who took doxycycline cyclically for 5 years and still had the same antibody titer. For me, she only had Lyme memory, but the doctor had never even done a Western blot for her. The patient showed symptoms of advanced liver disease on the verge of cirrhosis, but never really had active Lyme disease. There are also dysbacteriosis, damage to the marrow, digestive tract, reproductive organs, urinary tract, because drugs are chemical agents. In our country, mainly antibodies are treated and you want to treat them for the rest of your life. It is difficult to convince people that most antibodies are lifelong, or at least many years, which is not disease at all. […] ¹

Lyme disease test results. Photo EUROIMMUN POLSKA Sp. z o.o.

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