October 1, 2004

The Second Great Imitator

One of the many reasons that Lyme disease is so hard to diagnose is that it disguises itself. I have recently seen a list of over 300 illnesses that Lyme can be mistaken for. It took 7 years for my diagnosis. During that time, I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Allergy to Hormonal Dysfunction to Adrenal Exhaustion to Mercury Poisoning to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (and a few in between that I have forgotten). I even had an examination with a Lyme literate naturopathic doctor who concluded that I did not have Lyme. I never saw a tick, never saw a tick bite, never had a bull's eye rash.

The First Great Imitator was Syphilis. It also disguised itself as a myriad of different diseases. Both Syphilis and Lyme are spirochetes and look very much alike under the microscope. This is the term for the type of bacterium. It's a long skinny worm shape with pointed ends that can move easily through tissue with a spiral spring-like motion. It can even change its shape when needed. It can shed its cell wall and enter a cell, where it can remain undetected because the body's own cells provide it with a perfect place to hide. It can hide in muscle, organ, joints, brain. No cell is safe from its intrusion. When it leaves a dying cell to look for new territory, it takes a piece of the cell's membrane and travels covered in a cloak of the body's own cell wall material - undetectable and unchallenged by the body's immune system.

I don't suggest that the Lyme bacterium has a brain, intellect and free will, but I do hail the mysteries of evolution that could produce such a perfect storm.

Posted by Laureen on October 1, 2004 1:05 PM