Black patients ’ Lyme disease often diagnosed late, possibly due to missed signs

FINDINGSA UCLA study suggests that many physicians may not have the knowledge or training to properly recognize how Lyme disease appears on the skin of Black patients. The disease, caused by the tick-borne Borrelia bacterium, generally begins with a bull ’s-eye–shaped rash on the skin, along with fever, headache, chills and muscle pain; if not diagnosed promptly and treated with antibiotics, it can lead to more severe and long-lasting symptoms.UCLA ’s Dr. Dan Ly found that approximately 1 in 3 Black patients who were newly diagnosed with Lyme disease already had related neurological complications such as meningitis, neuropathy and cranial neuritis — an indication that the disease may not have been properly diagnosed in its earlier stages. Less than 1 in 10 newly diagnosed white patients had these complications.BACKGROUNDMedical textbooks and other physician-training materials tend to underrepresent Black patients, Ly said, which could account for delays in diagnoses of certain diseases and conditions, like Lyme disease — delays that can lead to serious health complications. About 300,000 cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.METHODLy analyzed 2015 –16 data from a nationwide sample of Medicare beneficiaries. The sample comprised approximately 6,200 white patients (mean age 72.4) and 167 Black patients (mean age 66.1), all of whom had been newly diagnosed with Lyme disease. Approxi...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news