I have two questions. The first is, I have read that many families become infected with Lyme. What is the best guess, thus far, that research has shown on Lyme disease being contagious? How do whole families end up with Lyme? I don't believe that each person is bit by a tick it just doesn't seem logical.
My mom was the first to be diagnosed and then me, and now my brother seems to be showing my early symptoms of cystic acne and abnormal hair loss. Is it safe to say that Lyme is the cause of cystic acne and abnormal hair loss/thinning? Is there a co-infection specifically that causes those symptoms?
Finally, my hair is much thinner and abnormally thin on parts of my head than it used to be. It seems to be at a stand still currently. Has there been any experience with hair regrowth while on medication? I do not have a receding hair line nor a crown it is just thinner in certain spots. Since meds my hair color has gotten darker but in terms of regrowth in the areas that are thinner I do not see happening yet.
Thanks!
Posts: 15 | From Syracuse, NY | Registered: Nov 2013
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steve1906
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
* Lyme an co-infections are not contagious.
* Hair loss can be caused by thyroid problems. Lyme disease may trigger hypothyroidism, which can triggers hair loss & thinning.
* Also,aging and stress can cause hair thining and loss of hair.
-------------------- Everything I say is just my opinion! Posts: 3529 | From Massachusetts Boston Area | Registered: Jul 2008
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BoxerMom
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posted
1. It absolutely makes sense that all family members can be exposed to ticks in endemic regions. And through family travel. Very, very common.
Lyme and co-infections are passed congenitally from mother to fetus. Many instances of congenital Lyme. It is often diagnosed as autism.
2. My hair loss and periods of cystic acne are related to parasites. I put Babesia in the parasite category, and I do experience hair loss during Babesia flares and herxes.
I am beyond the teenage acne phase, but I get something similar to cystic acne when I take antiparasitics, but not antimalarials.
BoxerMom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
The jury is still out on whether Lyme and co's are contagious. They are certainly not airborne. But many say they can be passed through body fluids, especially sexual contact.
Tick saliva has properties that help proliferate the infection, so tick bite is worse than person-to-person contact. People with healthy immune systems often remain asymptomatic, even with sick partners.
But not always.
But the most common causes of family Lyme are exposure, congenital and genetics (immune and detox genetic similarities).
steve1906
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16206
posted
I've done a lot of research on this, like others have. I guess it depends on which research you believe.
* Can Lyme disease be transmitted between humans via bodily fluids such as blood, semen, saliva, etc.?
We know that the spirochetes that cause Lyme disease disseminate through the blood stream after the tick bite and then lodge in various tissues of the body, such as the brain, joints, heart.
So can Lyme disease be transmitted via blood transfusions, for example? The answer is most likely "yes" given what we know about dissemination. For this reason, the American Red Cross does not accept blood donations from patients with Lyme disease. Regarding other bodily fluids, I know of no evidence finding borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes in saliva.
I also know of no published evidence to indicate that viable Lyme spirochetes can be found in semen. Hence, at this point, it is reasonable to assume that Lyme disease cannot be sexually transmitted.
posted
I read that the reason ticks transmit Lyme bacteria and infect people when say, mosquitoes and other biting insects usually do not, is that the tick stays long on the skin and "bathes" the Lyme bacteria in host blood for many hours or days.
The Lyme bacteria then arrange their outer proteins to mimic the hosts own cells, and that is why people's immune systems do not recognize them as "foreign" and attack them with antibodies, letting the Lyme bacteria take hold.
Even if Lyme bacteria are in semen, an immune-healthy partner has antibody system which will recognize the Lyme bacteria as foreign, since they will not have time to put on partner's cell proteins for disguise, so I read.
Lyme bacteria are anaerobic, oxygen kills them, so should not be hanging around close to the outside air on the skin.
From another source, not sure how reputable this one, I read that for some reason, the mouth saliva is hostile to Lyme bacteria.
All I can go by is what I read.....
Posts: 254 | From North Carolina | Registered: Nov 2013
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