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- Multiple sclerosis (MS) and Lyme disease are diseases that stem from very different causes. MS is a life-long autoimmune condition that disrupts the communication between your brain and your body. Lyme disease can happen if you’re bitten by a deer tick infected with the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi.
People also ask
Do you have Lyme disease or multiple sclerosis?
What is the difference between Lyme disease and MS?
What do MS and Lyme disease have in common?
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Differences between Lyme disease and MS. The biggest difference between Lyme disease and MS is that Lyme disease is an infection. You can develop Lyme disease only if you are bitten by a tick that carries it. Your doctor may ask you whether you have been exposed to ticks.
- Overview
- Symptoms of MS and Lyme disease
- What is Lyme disease?
- What is multiple sclerosis (MS)?
- Lyme disease and MS are often confused
- How each condition is treated
Lyme disease vs. multiple sclerosis
Sometimes conditions can have similar symptoms. If you feel tired, dizzy, or have numbness or tingling in your arms or legs, you may have multiple sclerosis (MS) or Lyme disease.
Lyme disease and MS have several symptoms in common, including:
•dizziness
•fatigue
•numbness or tingling
•spasms
•weakness
Lyme disease is a condition transmitted from the bite of a black-legged or deer tick. When a tick attaches to you, it can transfer a spirochete bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. The longer the tick is on you, the more likely you are to get Lyme disease.
Ticks live in areas lush with tall grasses and woods. They’re most common in the Northeast and upper Midwest of the United States. Anyone is susceptible to Lyme disease. There are at least 30,000 reported cases each year in the United States.
MS is a nervous system condition caused by immune system dysfunction. It affects your central nervous system. If you have MS, your immune system attacks the protective layer that covers nerve fibers, known as myelin. This causes problems in impulse transmission between your brain and spinal cord and the rest of your body, resulting in a range of symptoms.
MS is more commonly diagnosed in young adults and in those prior to middle age. Almost 1,000,000 people in the United States have it. It can range from mild to severe and is a lifelong condition.
The symptoms of Lyme disease and MS can be similar. Doctors may confuse one with the other. To diagnose these conditions, your doctor will need to conduct blood and other tests. If your doctor suspects you have MS, you may need:
•MRI
•spinal tap
•evoked potential tests
It’s unlikely that you have both Lyme disease and MS, but it’s possible. Some of Lyme disease’s symptoms can mimic those of MS. It can also follow a relapse-remittance course, where symptoms come and go.
If your history and medical results suggest either condition, your doctor may decide to try antibiotic therapy to see if there’s an improvement in your symptoms. Once they fully determine your condition, you’ll begin a treatment and management plan.
Generally, Lyme disease is a treatable condition that requires antibiotic therapy. Some, even after antibiotic therapy, may experience chronic Lyme disease and require different courses of treatment.
People with MS can be treated with one or more potential treatments. These aim to speed the recovery from attacks, slow the progression of the disease, and manage symptoms. The treatment will be aimed at and tailored to your specific type of MS. Unfortunately, there’s no current cure for MS.
Hearing the words “you have Lyme disease” or “you have MS (multiple sclerosis)” can be quite unsettling. And to complicate matters, when Lyme disease affects the central nervous system, the symptoms can be very similar to MS. So it can be hard to tell the difference to the untrained eye.
Mar 31, 2021 · 19. 11. What Are They? | Symptoms | Differences | Diagnosis | Support. Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that can affect multiple organs and body systems. In some cases, Lyme disease impacts the central nervous system (CNS) in what’s known as neurologic Lyme disease (NLD).
May 30, 2023 · Lyme disease can be confused with MS because an MRI of the brain of a person infected with Lyme disease may have some similar findings to the brain MRI of a person with MS. In addition, findings from a spinal tap can be similar in MS and Lyme disease, as cerebrospinal fluid samples can be positive for a type of protein called an oligoclonal band.
Feb 10, 2023 · Lyme disease is an illness caused by borrelia bacteria. Humans usually get Lyme disease from the bite of a tick carrying the bacteria. Ticks that can carry borrelia bacteria live throughout most of the United States. But Lyme disease is most common in the upper Midwest and the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states.
