https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-and-rheumatoid-arthritis-impairs-quality-of-life/
LYME ARTHRITIS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS LEADS TO POOR QUALITY OF LIFE
Lyme Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis can greatly impair a person’s quality of life. A recent study examines survey results from 90 patients to assess the levels of impairment for patients with both these conditions.
In the study “Assessment of quality of life in patients with Lyme arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis,” Yuskevych and colleagues surveyed 90 patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis who were treated at their rheumatology clinic.¹
Nearly 50% of the patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis also tested positive for Lyme disease.
Survey results indicated, “The presence of Borrelia burgdorferi [the causative agent of Lyme disease] in patients with arthritis not only significantly reduced the motor activity of patients, but also complicated the mental adaptation to their own disease.”
The patients had high and moderate disease activity, significantly reduced physical activity, and body pain.
The quality of life of patients with Lyme arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis was worse due to severe joint pain and a greater degree of functional disorders compared to the patients with only Rheumatoid Arthritis.
The authors considered depression as a cause of the problem with Rheumatoid Arthritis. “Depression imposes a significant burden on the health-related quality of life, disability, and mortality of individuals with arthritis,” wrote the authors.
“Patients with [Lyme arthritis] have significantly lower MCS (mental component score) values, which is explained by the patients’ severe psychological adaptation to their own disease, given the prevalence of [Lyme disease] at the present and its tendency towards chronicity.”
The authors suggested that an active infection might be the cause of the mental health issues in individuals with these conditions. “We can speculate that the conscious that joints disease may be connected with infection not with the autoimmune disease caused a more depressive reaction.”
Editor’s note: I often see patients with both a rheumatologic condition and Lyme disease. I have had patients with Lyme disease whose symptoms were initially thought to be from a flare-up of the rheumatologic condition.
Related Articles:
Lyme disease protein tricks immune system, ignites arthritis
Treatment of Lyme arthritis with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs
Will steroid injections help children with Lyme arthritis of the knee?
References:
- Yuskevych VV, Zhulkevych IV, Makhovska OS, Smiyan SI. Assessment of quality of life in patients with Lyme arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Reumatologia. 2022;60(1):35-41. doi:10.5114/reum.2022.114352
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For more:
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2022/05/04/why-do-some-people-develop-severe-lyme-arthritis-others-dont/
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2022/01/20/high-cost-of-treating-lyme-arthritis-in-children-with-surgery/
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2021/12/20/lyme-arthritis-in-children-can-present-throughout-the-year/
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/12/19/immunoassay-may-help-identify-pediatric-lyme-arthritis/
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/08/30/successful-treatment-for-lyme-arthritis-after-knee-surgery/
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2021/03/17/3-lyme-arthritis-studies-how-our-immune-system-can-fail-to-shut-off-when-theres-an-infection/
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/02/08/a-joint-effort-the-interplay-between-the-innate-and-the-adaptive-immune-system-in-lyme-arthritis/
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2021/07/22/lyme-disease-protein-tricks-immune-system-ignites-arthritis/
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2022/03/10/lyme-disease-an-underdiagnosed-cause-of-mono-arthritis/ In the comment section of this article I give treatments that have helped me with this. I would also like to add a few things here: DIET for me has been huge. Eliminating gluten, sugar, alcohol, and some dairy (I seemingly can eat aged cheeses that are hard, as well as fatty 4% cottage cheese and whipping cream for coffee). This has been the most important change I’ve made. This change alone dropped my inflammation that was causing the pain and truthfully – getting to the core problem of inflammation should be our #1 goal as it drives all of these issues. I will also add this form of curcumin to try (I am not affiliated and receive no monies from this company but have simply noticed radical improvement in pain reduction): https://www.amazon.com/Integrative-Therapeutics-Theracurmin-Supplement-Bioavailable/dp Each cap is 300 mg. I took 1 cap twice a day spread out. I noticed immediate improvement. Lastly, I also purchased a TENS unit that packs a punch. Be careful! This thing made me scream the first time I used it and I only went up to level 3 when there’s a total of 8! I can make my muscle contract at 3 so I can’t imagine what 8 would do: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NCRE4GO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I got the TENS unit for muscle pain in my trapezius muscles; however, this shows it can also benefit arthritis. Please read this article for more on using a TENS unit for arthritis. This also explains more for electrode placement for arthritis, specifically in this video, and this goes into depth on the subject. Since these units are typically under $50, it’s a cheap experiment that may really help. Obviously, this is not curative but for symptoms. Again, in my book, dealing with the underlying inflammation is key.
Practical TENS demonstration for RA in the hand
Madison Area Lyme Support Group 