5 Neurological Complications Of Lyme Disease To Be Aware Of

By Danica Reynes

Neurological complications such asintracranial hypertension, cranial neuropathies,encephalomyelitis, radiculitis and encephalopathy could develop if Lyme is untreated.

Lyme disease is an infection that is transmitted to humans after being bitten by an infected tick. The early symptoms of Lyme disease include a characteristic rash that appears around the part of the body where the bite occurred, fever, chills, headaches, muscle and joint pains, and swollen lymph nodes. Lyme disease shares symptoms with more common illnesses and as a result people that have contracted it end up using inappropriate treatments or miss getting treatment entirely. Lyme disease, when left untreated, can lead to severe complications. In the second stage of Lyme disease, neurological complications like numbness, severe headaches, and visual disturbances may occur. The following are some of the neurological complications of Lyme disease:

Radiculitis

One of the first neurological complications that can be caused by Lyme disease is a painful radiculitis. Pain that radiates through the distribution of a nerve’s dermatome is defined radiculitis. Characteristic of the early stages of infection, this condition may start to appear as early as the first weeks. Patients generally experience sensory, motor and mixed symptoms and conditions such as weakness and sudden reflex and sensory changes. These symptoms are very similar to and are often mistaken for nerve-impingement symptoms.

Skull neuropathies

Cranial neuropathies involve the patient’s cranial nerve or the nerves involved in processing sensory perceptions such as sights, smells, sounds and others. As Lyme disease progresses the multiple cranial nerves of can all be affected at the same time in someone infected with the disease. Only 50-70% of people who have neurological problems will have complications.

High blood pressure in the brain

Intracranial hypertension is a rare neurological disorder connected with Lyme disease. Children experience it more often than an adult. Headaches and papilledema are common side effects associated with intracranial hypertension. Papilledema, the swelling of a patient’s optic disc, develops over a span of a few hours to a few weeks. In some cases, abnormalities in Cerebrospinal Fluid may also occur.

Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord

Encephalomyelitis usually includes brainstem abnormalities and sometimes resembles ischemic patterns. There is some evidence from medical sources that implies parenchymal involvement Cerebellar syndromes, motion disorders, hemiparesis, and spastic paraparesis are all indicators of this complication. You’ll find this problem more often in Europe than in North America.

Are you at all familiar with Encephalopathy?

Encephalopathy is one of the most common complications that occurs in the later stages of Lyme disease. This complication causes changes ranging from minor to severe in the patient’s cognitive functions and polyradiculoneuropathy. Late stage infections, such as encephalopathy, are often associated with extreme fatigue, difficulty sleeping, severe irritability, photophobia, erratic mood swings, word-finding difficulties, and also problems communicating through verbal speech or the written word. Also reported are problems with sensory perception. The symptoms are varied and inconsistent in which sometimes they can be experience and gone at other times.

Early identification of the symptoms of Lyme disease and administration of immediate treatment are the best ways to prevent it from developing into worse neurological complications.

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