Lymes causing autism???

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What are Neurological Complications Of Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterial organism that is transmitted to humans via the bite of an infected tick. Most people bitten by an infected tick develop a characteristic skin rash around the area of the bite. The rash may feel hot to the touch, and vary in size, shape, and color, but it will often have a "bull's eye" appearance (a red ring with a clear center). However, there are those who will not develop the rash, which makes Lyme disease hard to diagnose because its symptoms and signs mimic those of many other diseases.

Seven to 10 days following an infected tick's bite, the first stage of Lyme disease begins with flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain.

Neurological complications most often occur in the second stage of Lyme disease, with numbness, pain, weakness, Bell's palsy (paralysis of the facial muscles), visual disturbances, and meningitis symptoms such as fever, stiff neck, and severe headache. Other problems, which may not appear until weeks, months, or years after a tick bite, include decreased concentration, irritability, memory and sleep disorders, and nerve damage in the arms and legs.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/lyme/lyme.htm

Interesting article, but I was amazed by this quote:

"New reports indicate up to 90% of children with autism are infected with Lyme disease. With autism at a staggering 1 out of 166 children, parents are questioning this new finding."

Are the statistics of autistic children with Lyme Disease THAT high? I wonder where these numbers came from, especially the one involving the rate of 1 out 166 children having autism. That's a LOT of kids, and a lot of people with Lyme Disease. Doesn't make sense to me. If Lyme Disease is THAT rampant, why hasn't the CDC gotten involved?

But do we trust that source? The article itself is skeptical.

The next quote in the article says something very different:

Although, technically, "up to 90%" could be a lot less than 90%.

Again, very sorry to Age1600 for the thread hijacking.

Awareness of it isn't that great, and I think especially among kids there's a tendency to blame things like that on sensory/proprioceptive problems (blame the Out of Sync Child books) or simply dysgraphia, rather than looking into it further.

When I was finally able to communicate just how much it hurt to write, I was 18 years old and had broken down crying trying to finish a test (prior to that I had learned to tough out pain for a time, but it got too bad to ignore). The disabled student center said they needed a doctor's note, the doctor wrote a note saying that he thought my gripping style was 'neurological' in nature, and that was it, I got my reasonable accommodation but nobody bothered checking further. I also saw a sensory integration therapist who I think was an OT and said not a word about this, just handed me some pencil grips that of course did not solve the problem at all. (Actually, that's what they did for me as a kid too.)

Even when I was finally diagnosed with hypermobility (after my jaw got so bad I could barely use it and the jaw specialist thought to check me for it), which was at 26 years old, nobody actually told me a great deal about it. Just "yeah that explains your joint pain, now let's focus on your jaw in particular and no other joint in your body".

I found out about ring splints through other people I knew who were hypermobile, asked an OT from the visiting nurses about them, she'd never heard of them but recommended a hand specialist, the doctor wrote the referral for the hand specialist, etc. I went to the hand specialist, who freaked out and told me never to do that again (after I showed her how my hands bent), then immediately set to work deciding which splints I needed for which fingers and then sizing me on them.

I'm thinking of making a page like Andrea's that's a page instead of just a blog post, because I don't think enough people realize what this is, and it's astounding to me how many children with really bad handwriting problems (or other things where physical things ought to be the first thing checked out) have this and have never been checked. Even though the test is so easy that even many laypeople can do it. And a huge amount of adults aren't diagnosed with it even when they should be. Plus, since mine is quite different than hers, it'd be a good example of how the severity of affected joints can vary. (For instance, it doesn't hurt me at all to bend my thumb flat against my forearm, but I don't think most of my fingers bend quite as far back as hers. That kind of thing.)

And yeah... I want to know why a lot of things about this too. Including why, when I had the same back/neck symptoms I'm having now (but many years earlier, when I was 19ish), why it was that the doctor told me to bend over, then told me that I was obviously perfectly flexible, and that therefore there couldn't be anything wrong with my back. (Even though my back problems -- and my mother's back problems -- result from being too flexible. But I forgot. When I repeated word for word what my mother told me about being "too flexible", my gym teachers scoffed and said "You can never be too flexible." Yeah... right.)



For a lot of us, it's more of an answer than handwriting is.

However, we're more prone to certain joint injuries from repetitive strain and the like. I have tendonitis myself. And the difference between typing with and without splints, is like the difference between using a keyboard with keys that go down easily and don't have far to go, and using an old-fashioned clunky clicky IBM keyboard, it's that drastic.

It feels almost like having a metal exoskeleton that makes sure that my fingers don't bend past where they're supposed to, and that allows me to use less force to accomplish more.

So typing is easier but comes with a different set of problems. Overall I'd still rather type, despite the fact that the pain can sometimes be pretty bad.



You should also talk it over with a physician, preferably one who knows about these things.

Reason: Hypermobility can (exactly how often is still debated) be a sign of a couple syndromes that can lead to life-threatening conditions like heart problems (e.g. mitral valve prolapse in Marfan's) and even though it's unlikely, anyone with hypermobility should still be checked. I don't want to alarm you, and it's still unlikely he has that, but you really ought to make sure so you can do something about it if he does.

hey, wow thanks for all your opinions, thoughts and knowledge, helps me a lot. I dont mind when u guys hijack the thread either hehe, but thanks for apologizing. Ive been testing for lymes in the last 5-6 years prob 5 times lol, all negative, you would think they would just stop but oh well. Yea im not too fond with my doctor, especially after today, so who knows, theres an aspie doctor in my town, i might be checking out hehehe. As far as the symptoms go, im only fatiqued when i dont sleep, and i usually dont sleep due to severe sensory problems and my breathing problems(im going to see a sleep doctor about sleep apnea), but when i do, im fine. When i dont sleep i ache, which is normal, i also go to the gym 4-5times a week, and take daily 2-3 mile walks everyday. I dont have any fever, chills, weird pains, and the only headaches i have are from me headbanging lol. I'm usually more irritable also when i dont sleep, heck who wouldnt be, but when i do, which was tuesday night and day i actually slept somewhat good, and i was happy as can be. I have no memory problems whatsoever. And no rashes. So I honestly dont think i have lymes, so whatever, i might take this test, i might not. Anyways thanks for everybodys help .

Technically, Autism is a disease if using the definition of "disease" from the dictionary.

There are no Lyme disease cases Iceland, they use Lyme disease free Icelanders to compare with people in where Lyme disease occurs e.g. "The negative control consists of serum from a resident of Iceland." - Alarcon-Chaidez et al. (2006).

But the Autism rates in Iceland are 8.6 per 10,000 (ICD 10 diagnosis), much the same as anywhere else.

http://www.euro.who.int/document/e89522.pdf - this contains the prevalence of Lyme disease in Europe...

Spain has 26 cases a year
German has 15,000 to 20,000 cases a year.

There is no connection between Lyme Disease and autism, but it may lead to misdiagnosis.

I've never had lyme disease and I still have Asperger syndrome. Heck, I have never seen a tick. Never. I don't even know what they look like, nor do I want to. So no, lyme disease does not cause autism or Tourette's and your doctor is full of it. I would switch doctors if at all possible.

I once met a diagnosed aspie woman online who also has Lyme disease. I remember her once saying that it adds to and even increases some of the symptoms of her Aspergers. However, she was born aspie and only contacted Lyme disease as an adult.

Anbuend,

Thanks for all the information on hypermobility. I've saved a copy of your post, and I printed the blog you previously linked for my son to look at and consider (he didn't seem to excited about reading it but, heck, he's 11). Whether or not it turns out to apply, it is definitely something we should investigate, so thank you for alerting me to it. And for taking the time to give me so much information. I know that writing all that wasn't easy for you.




Age1600,

Thanks for being so understanding about the tangent in your thread.

Hehe its okay, i really dont mind at all .

I found both these off another site, and now im even more upset, my symptoms that make me think i have lymes is weakness and aches everywhere. Everybody says though my aches and weakness could both be from lack of sleep, i never even as a baby had a good night sleep, due to sensory, and my breathing problems. I really dont know! I do know, I dont have any flu like symptoms, i cant remember the last time i had a fever ever, no bulleye rashes either, no rashes at all in fact, no vision problems, no facial paralysis which are all symptoms of lymes. Ive had lymes tests done to me plenty of times but were all negative but now there testing 5 parts, instead of just 3 and thats why more ppl are are getting the right diagnosis of lymes. So on wedsnday i go for the lymes test, and my heart is aching so much, i feel like going to have a heart attack because if i find out i have lymes, itll be like my autism was completely fake, like just some stupid disease .

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113734.php

http://www.liafoundation.org/

anyways i posted this and bumped it so ppl can read the new links i found.

As a baby I was a night owl, and I still am, though unfortunately that doesn't quite work with how school and work usually are.

If it turns out you have Lymes, I don't see how this would make the autism fake. Just having them both doesn't mean they're connected, especially when there isn't evidence of a causal relationship, or a plausible hypothesis.