Although once thought to be a form of arthritis that attacks children, lyme disease is actually a condition in which a bacterial infection has gotten into your blood stream. Unlike other types of conditions that have similar symptoms, lyme disease is transmitted to you by a dear tick. It was first discovered in 1975 when a group of children that was unreasonably large seemed to be suffering from arthritis. That led doctors to do a bit of unearthing and found that it was actually a bacterial infection that had caused the outbreak.

The bad news is that lyme disease is no longer found in just that one town of Lyme, Connecticut. Today, it is found in nearly every state in the United States with a concentration in New York, Minnesota, New Jersey and in Wisconsin. The disease has spread world wide as well as spreading into other types of animals. Not only can you get it from deer, but also from skunks, foxes, mice, moles, squirrels and horses (to name a few.) These conditions are most commonly found in animals that are in wooded areas or in grassy fields.

What Are The Symptoms?

Anyone that is exposed to these conditions can actually be put in dangers way of getting lyme disease. It is essential, then, that you understand the symptoms that it brings out. The tell tale sign of lyme disease is that of a rash, but not just any rash. This rash usually starts out with a small red spot where the tick has bitten. It then grows and expands significantly over the next days or even weeks. Usually, it will form a circle or a triangular shape on your skin. Sometimes, there is a red ring that is surrounding an area that is clear at the very center of the bite mark. This is called an erythma migrans and it affects at least 70 percent of those that will end up with lyme disease.

Other symptoms are also evident. If you are not treated by a doctor for your condition, you can develop conditions in which you have flare ups of arthritis like conditions. Your joints can become swollen and painful. Sometimes this will last for days, other times for months at at ime. It doesn't have to be the same joint affected each time either. About 15 percent of patients that have lyme disease end up with this symptom. Yet another symptom is that of an attack of the nervous system. Here, you can experience other illnesses like meningitis or even temporary paralysis of facila muscles. Limbs and the circulatory system can become weakened or lessened in their abilities.

What is common is the fact that individuals will experience some pain that seems to be that of arthritis. Although lyme disease has been mistaken in the past for arthritis, don't make this mistake. The symptoms and conditions of this condition can worsen, severely and can leave you with a lot of pain and eventually the breakdown of joints.