| Introduction to Lyme disease and Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) ************************************************************************ as of 16 September 1998 Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is also known as: Acute Idiopathic Polyneuritis Acute Immune-Mediation Polyneuritis AIMP Ascending Paralysis GBS Kussmaul-Landry Paralysis Landry Ascending Paralysis Post-Infective Polyneuritis Disorder Subdivisions: Miller-Fisher Syndrome Fischer's Syndrome Acute Disseminated Encephalomyeloradiculopathy Chronic Guillain-Barre Syndrome Chronic Idiopathic Polyneuritis (CIP) CIP Relapsing Guillain-Barre Syndrome Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy Chronic Relapsing Polyneuropathy Polyneuropathy and Polyradiculoneuropathy Polyradiculoneuritis NORD - Guillain Barre Syndrome http://www.stepstn.com/nord/rdb_sum/40.htm - Lyme disease is also known as: Lyme arthritis Lyme borreliosis Lyme encephalopathy Lyme meningitis Tick-borne borreliosis Neuroborreliosis Borreliosis Lyme spirochaetal disease (LSD) Lyme disease is a serious bacterial infection caused by a tick bite and affects humans and animals. Symptoms of Lyme disease http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/6772/symptoms.txt [Editorial note: The purpose of this compilation of material related to Lyme disease and Guillain-Barre syndrome is to present information that could be considered prior to diagnosis and treatment. Putting aside the issue of whether Lyme disease does or does not "cause" some cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, the two diseases share so many symptoms that Lyme disease, as documented below, can be mistaken for Guillain-Barre syndrome. In any case, Lyme disease should be a differential diagnosis for all Guillain-Barre syndrome patients.] - Nine reasons for false negative Lyme disease tests results: The Lyme Disease Foundation (LDF), in their brochure entitled "LDF Frequently Asked Questions About Lyme Disease" lists the following nine reasons for false negative Lyme disease tests results: [brackets contain my words] a. Antibodies against Bb are present, but the laboratory is unable to detect them. [Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) is the Lyme disease bacteria.] b. Antibodies against Bb may not be present in detectable levels in patients with Lyme disease. Reasons are listed below. 1. The patient is currently on, or has recently taken, antibiotics. The antibacterial effect of antibiotics can reduce the body's production of antibodies. 2. The patient is currently on or has previously taken anti-inflammatory steroidal drugs (such as those taken to treat rheumatoid arthritis) or certain anticancer drugs. These can suppress a person's immune system, thus reducing or preventing an antibody response. 3. The patient's antibodies may be bound with the bacteria with not enough free antibodies available for testing. [I think this reason is very important and prevalent. For this reason, some of the worst cases of Lyme disease test negative - too much bacteria for the immune system to handle.] 4. The patient could be immunosuppressed for a number of other reasons and the immune system is not reacting to the bacterium. 5. The bacterium has changed its makeup (antigenic shift) limiting recognition by the patient's immune system. 6. The patient's immune response has not been stimulated to produce antibodies, i.e., the blood test is taken too soon after the tick-bite (2-6 weeks). Please do not interpret this statement as implying that you should wait for a positive test to begin treatment. 7. The laboratory has raised its cutoff so high that a patient's previously positive test is now borderline or negative. 8. The patient is reacting to the Lyme bacterium, but is not producing the "right" bands to be considered positive. Lyme Disease Foundation 1 Financial Plaza Hartford, CT 06103 (860)525-2000 fax (860)525-TICK Lyme Disease National Hotline (800)886-LYME email: mailto:lymefnd@aol.com web page: http://www.lyme.org/index2.html For more on false negative/positive Lyme disease test results see: Lyme disease and false negative or false positive blood test results http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/6772/false-neg-pos-index.html - Also see: Lyme Disease Misdiagnosed as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) Text Version http://www.geocities.com/lymeart3/gbs-index.html Lyme Disease Misdiagnosed as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) - Links Only http://www.geocities.com/lymeart3/gbs-links.html Lots Of Links On Lyme Disease http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Oasis/6455/lyme-links.html - Prepared by Art Doherty Lompoc, California doherty@utech.net | |
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