Lyme Disease Health Article

ORGANIZATIONS

American Lyme Disease Foundation, Inc. Mill Pond Offices, 293 Route 100, Suite 204, Somers, NY 10589. 800-876-LYME. <http://www.w2.com/docs2/d5/lyme.html>.

Centers for Disease Control, Washington, DC. Lyme Disease Information Voice Information System. (404) 332-4555. <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lymeinfo.htm>.

The Lyme Disease Network of NJ, Inc. 43 Winton Road, East Brunswick, NJ 08816. <http://www.lymenet.org>.

National Institutes of Health Lyme Lines, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Box AMS, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20891. <http://www.medlineplus.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/lymedisease.html>.

Rebecca J. Frey, PhD

KEY TERMS

Blood-brain barrier—A blockade of cells separating the circulating blood from elements of the central nervous system (CNS); it acts as a filter, preventing many substances from entering the central nervous system.

Cerebrospinal fluid—Clear fluid found around the brain and spinal cord and in the ventricles of the brain.

Erythema migrans (EM)—A red skin rash that is one of the first signs of Lyme disease in about 75% of patients.

Lyme borreliosis—Another name for Lyme disease.

Spirochete—A bacterium shaped like a loosely coiled spiral. The organism that causes Lyme disease is a spirochete.

Vector-borne—Delivered from one host to another, as in an insect or tick bearing an organism causing an infectious disease.