'I was in bed for 2 years' - what is Lyme's disease and how easy it is to catch
Model Bella Hadid recently revealed she is recovering from a long battle with Lyme disease, making many people question the bug-borne illness that causes extreme fatigue.
Due to extreme climate change, ticks, the disease-carrying bugs, are out earlier this year and also staying around longer than usual. This may mean that more people than usual are prone to catching the illness. Goudarz Molaei, a tick expert in the US, told the Associated Press: "It's going to be an above-average year for tick activity and abundance."
In 2015 singer Avril Lavinge went public with her diagnosis and said: "I had no idea a bug bite could do this. "I was in bed for f****** two years."
Bella Hadid shares the brutal toll of her hidden health battle on Instagram (bellahadid/Instagram)What is Lyme disease and what causes it?
Lyme disease is caused by borrelia bacteria and humans can contract the infection if they are bitten by an infected tick. The ticks mainly live throughout most of the United States, but they are also prevalent in woodland and heath areas throughout the UK and Europe. Not all ticks will carry the bacteria, so a tick bite won’t always result in catching the disease.
Ticks usually live in areas of overgrown or deep vegetation, so where possible it's best to avoid long grasses and stick to a footpath. A report in 2018 from the Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology, linked tick populations to the climate. It said: "Both tick activity and survival depend on temperature and humidity."
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What are the symptoms?
If you have walked in an area of long grass where ticks are prevalent it is good to check your skin for a bite. Many people with early symptoms of Lyme disease develop a circular red skin rash around the bite. Ticks are not easy to spot as they are smaller than the size of a pin-head, but after they have been feeding on you they swell to around the size of a pea.
Bella Hadid has been having more intense treatment recently (bellahadid/Instagram)"The classic sign of Lyme disease is a distinct circular rash at the site of the bite," Dr Riccardo Di Cuffa, a GP, told the Telegraph. He continued: "It can take three days to a month to appear, looks like a red bull's eye spot and has a red circular rash surrounding it, like a dart board." The rash can reach 15 cm wide and is raised but only a third of those who contract Lyme disease actually get the rash.
But as well as a rash, some people will experience flu-like symptoms as well as muscle and joint pain, tiredness and loss of energy. The devasting impact of the disease is chronic Lyme disease, or Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) which can cause severe tiredness or cognitive impairment.
How is it diagnosed and treated?
If you think you have Lyme you will need two types of blood tests to help confirm or rule it out. But in some cases, it could take a few weeks to form in your blood and may not be detected straight away. Your GP can then recommend treatment based on your symptoms alone and repeat the test a few weeks later. But you should seek treatment if a rash is present as late-stage treatment can lead to more severe symptoms.
If confirmed, you will be prescribed a three-week course of antibiotics which should clear up the infection in a few weeks, although this can take several months. However long-term fatigue can last years and unfortunately, there is no evidence to suggest that once you’ve had Lyme disease you’re immune to it.
How can you prevent Lyme?
It's advised if you are going for a walk to put insect repellent on your dog as well as yourself as ticks will climb onto any mammal. The little bugs crawl up to the top of foliage and wait for a human or dog to walk by so that they can then attach themselves. If you are not walking on a path, it is best to tuck your trousers into socks and put insect repellent on your clothes as well as your skin. Plus wearing light-coloured clothing makes ticks easier to spot and brush.
After a walk, get someone else to check for bites in areas that you may not be able to look at. Such as armpit, groin and scalp. There is a special way of removing ticks, so if you notice one on your skin it is best to go to a pharmacy or GP where they can remove it properly. The chance of contracting Lyme is far less if you successfully remove the tick without squashing its insides back into your skin.
Where in the UK is at risk?
The South of England and the Scottish Highlands are potential high-risk areas for Lyme disease. Exmoor, the New Forest and other rural areas of Hampshire, the South Downs, parts of Wiltshire and Berkshire, parts of Surrey and West Sussex, Thetford Forest in Norfolk, the Lake District, the North York Moors and the Scottish Highlands also have a high population of ticks. Charity Caudwell LymeCo charity and Lyme Disease UK estimate that there could be up to 45,000 new cases of Lyme disease in the UK.
What celebrities have Lyme disease?
Both Bella Hadid and her brother Anwar were diagnosed with Lyme in 2013 and one of the images she shared on Instagram included a letter from 2014 outlining her serious symptoms. However her symptoms have worsened recently and she shared an update on Instagram two days ago, writing: "Living in this state, worsening myself with time and work while trying to make myself, my family and the people who support me, proud, had taken a toll on me in ways I can't really explain. To be that sad and sick with the most blessings/privilege/opportunity/love around me was quite possibly the most confusing thing ever."
Justine Bieber revealed in 2020 he had "a rough couple of years", in a lengthy message on Instagram, in which he said he has been diagnosed with the disease. And Avril Lavinge said: "I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move. I thought I was dying. There were definitely times I couldn't shower for a full week because I could barely stand. It felt like having all your life sucked out of you."
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Other celebrities who have had Lyme disease include Hadid's mother Yolanda, actress Amy Schumer, singer Shania Twain, and actors Ben Stiller and Alec Baldwin.
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