Journal of Clinical & Experimental Dermatology Research
Open Access

Abstract

Lyme Disease: Beyond Erythema Migrans

Herbert B. Allen, Harina Vin, Catherine Warner and Suresh Joshi

Background: With the recent discoveries of Borrelia burgdorferi and other spirochetes in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients and with a recent analysis showing the very same pathology in both syphilitic and Alzheimer’s dementia it seems both rational and urgent to consider all aspects of Lyme disease in a new light, especially the concept of “overdiagnosis”. The very presence of the organisms in the brains following supposedly effective treatment for Lyme disease is contradictory and should be the starting point for diagnosis and treatment. Also for consideration is the reliance on erythema migrans and serologies in the diagnosis of Lyme disease inasmuch as they occur in less than half the patients.