Lyme Disease is an infection- not a disease...

So I've been thinking a lot about how we label things and the impact they have on our psyche--

My opinion has always been that Lyme and co are infections..not diseases. I think what we think of things affect us deeply psychologically...

Here's an example from "dear pharmacy.com" that pleads my case...

"....I’m one of those rare health experts who is not afraid to talk about this infection. I‘m bothered that they call Lyme disease a “disease,” because in my mind, you are not diseased, you are merely infected. Your body can clear an infection and you can get back to a healthy state, so I don’t like to label people with infections, as “diseased.” Especially because many Lyme patients are attractive, making it harder for friends, spouses and families to believe them because they look good. The external rarely matches the internal state of chaos. Rather than using disease, I often like to use the term “dis-ease.”"

So... Just my 2 cents but I think our gnarly (West Coast slang...) infections are mislabeled and makes a heavy impact on our potential to heal emotionally....

You beat me to it. I was going to say it's dis ease too. :)

While I agree whole heartedly with everyone that has posted about how the different words themselves can affect us - I have to disagree on the usage of the word disease. We are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi - but that's not as easy to say or type, so we say Lyme disease.

Technically, disease means:
": an illness that affects a person, animal, or plant : a condition that prevents the body or mind from working normally

: a problem that a person, group, organization, or society has and cannot stop."
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disease


So please do not be offended when others use the word disease....including me, please!

Now, with that being said - using the word infection or dis-ease can be a powerful thing rather than using the word disease. I too purposefully choose to use the word infection as I was healing and referring to myself during that time.

Yes! We do treat the infections!! And it does wonders for our mental state to refer to them as only infections, but my point was just that in this instance, the bacteria causes and infection, and the infection leads to the disease. Not that we must refer to it as a disease all the time though!

I just didn't want anyone offended by my referring to infection with Bb as Lyme disease, as that actually covers all strains of Borrelia, not just Borrelia burgdorferi.

Dr. H calls Lyme "multiple systemic infectious disease syndrome" in his new book...

Dr. J in DC uses something like BBC (borrelia burgdorferi complex). I think this helps in many ways. Insurance doesn't get the 4 lettered "L" word so claims are paid a little easier.
The other burning question is "is it cure able? I answer treatable not curable. Just my thoughts.

I guess that depends on what your definition of disease is. Under the medical definition, they sure do!