Read the following Science Daily article: Radboud University. (2016, March 30).
ID: 101679 • Letter: R
Question
Read the following Science Daily article:
Radboud University. (2016, March 30). Prolonged antibiotic use has no benefit for persistent symptoms of Lyme disease. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 21, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160330184638.htm
Write a brief summary (one paragraph) about the study that answers the following questions: What is Lyme disease and what causes it (state whether a virus or bacterium and the specific type)? What are symptoms of chronic Lyme disease? What was the purpose of the study? What was the rationale for performing the study? What was the overall design of the study? What were the independent and dependent variables? Explain based on definitions of the variables. What was the short-term antibiotic treatment? What was the control and was it a positive or a negative control and how it was used as that type of control? What were the results of the study and the major importance of the findings? Summarize the results in a table.
Please answer the question in essay form (not as an outline or as bullets) using complete sentences. Cite sources of information you used to answer the questions or that support your answer.
Explanation / Answer
Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, that’s transmitted to humans through a bite from an infected black-legged or deer tick. Symptoms can occur anywhere from 3 to 30 days after the bite, and symptoms can be wide-ranging, depending on the stage of the infection.
Early signs and symptoms of Lyme disease include fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, and swollen lymph nodes.
In about 70% to 80% of infections, a rash is seen. About 30% of those rashes have a “bull's-eye” appearance, but most do not. “It’s uniformly round and red” or bluish-red.
As infection progresses, symptoms can include:
Severe headache or neck stiffness,Additional rashes on other areas of the body,Arthritis with severe joint pain and swelling, particularly in the knees,Loss of muscle tone or “drooping” on one or both sides of the face,Heart palpitation or an irregular heartbeat,Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord,Shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet.
Doctors diagnose Lyme disease based on symptoms and a history of tick exposure. Two-step blood tests are helpful.However, the accuracy of the test depends on the disease stage; in the first few weeks of infection, the test may be negative, as antibodies take a few weeks to develop. Tests aren’t recommended for patients who don’t have Lyme disease symptoms.
The antibiotics amoxicillin and tetracycline are used, usually for 10-21 days for the treatment of Lyme disease.A large-scale study of 280 patients has shown that long-term treatment with antibiotics does not lead to better results than short-term treatment.
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