Mary Lynn Tucker

Mary Lynn Tucker is a registered nurse, yoga instructor and 20-year resident of the lake. She has worked in the field of wellness and health education since 1978 and currently serves on the adjunct faculty at The Jefferson College of Health Sciences.

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The outdoor activities we all enjoy, especially in the summer and fall, unfortunately leave us vulnerable to insect bites.

Most people know if they've been bitten by mosquitoes, bees, wasps or hornets.

These insect bites cause an immediate reaction, which usually is self-limiting and without long-term complications. The exceptions are for those who are allergic to stinging insects and may have an immediate anaphylactic reaction, or the transmission of mosquito-borne illnesses, such as malaria and dengue fever, which are uncommon in this part of the world. More insidious is a tick bite.

During President Bush's recent annual physical exam, it was announced that he had been treated for Lyme disease last year. Lyme disease is a tick-borne bacterial infection caused by a particular species of bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. It is carried by deer ticks and western black-legged ticks, which are endemic throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Asia and Australia.

Because these ticks are about the size of a sesame seed, their bite may go unnoticed. Or, a person may find and remove a tick and fail to develop symptoms until three to 30 days after the bite.

The first symptom of having been bitten by an infected tick may be a bull's-eye-type rash at the site of the bite.

If this goes unnoticed and the infection progresses, flu-like symptoms may develop. There may be fever, chills, headache and fatigue. Because these symptoms mimic a typical passing cold or flu virus, they might be dismissed.

However, if the bacterial infection is allowed to continue untreated, it can spread to joints, the nervous system and the heart.

Nancy Dahlstrom, an art professor at Hollins University, had a grueling five-year battle with Lyme disease.

"I developed a chest cold that lingered long enough for me to go to the doctor for treatment. After a 10-day course of antibiotics to treat chest congestion and severe earaches, I developed an acute sensitivity to sound. Volume increased daily, to the point that when a coffee mug was put onto a wooden table, the sharpness of the sound was jarring to my body," said Dahlstrom.

She reported her symptoms to her doctor, had multiple medical tests (which showed nothing), saw hearing specialists and spent more than three years becoming more and more debilitated.

Dahlstrom lost 25 pounds (down to 95 pounds from her previously healthy 120), had no energy and eventually had to quit her job and go on disability.

After being told by specialists at several prominent medical centers that "my problem was all in my head," taking antidepressants and doing her best to adapt, a friend finally suggested that she be tested for Lyme disease.

The test for Lyme disease is called the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, or ELISA, test. The results from this sometimes-unreliable test were a false negative. It wasn't until she persisted and had the more definitive (albeit more expensive) Western Blot laboratory test that she was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease.

For Dahlstrom, getting appropriate treatment once the diagnosis of long-term Lyme disease was made was not easy. She eventually found a doctor in Maryland who specializes in Lyme disease (and other coinfections), was on IV antibiotics for three months, took nutritional supplements, made dietary and lifestyle changes, and began the long road to recovery.

Now, a year after completing her antibiotic treatments, Dahlstrom continues a strict regimen of prescribed exercise, eats a healthful diet and is able to solve sudoku puzzles (her cognitive abilities had been affected by the brain infection the bacteria caused). She is back at work, teaching at Hollins University, and is a vociferous advocate for spreading the word about Lyme disease.

As with any disease, prevention is best.

For more information about Lyme disease, consult the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (www.ILADS.org) or the Lyme Disease Association (www.lymediseaseassociation.org).