Weird Skin With Chronic Lyme Disease Pictures? You may have ACA

What is ACA?

It is Acrodermatitis Chronica Atrophicans, a skin condition that frequently accompanies late stage Lyme borrelliosis (afzelii) but almost exclusively by those of European heritage.

Originally discovered and documented by Dr. Buchwald in 1883, it was not until 1902 when Dr’s Herxheimer and Hartmann began to study the phenomena in earnest that clear evidence began to mount. (The full name of the disease now carries the name of Dr. Herxheimer in most references.)

Now it is estimated that close to 10% of all Europeans with Lyme disease have ACA and in fact it is the most common late and chronic manifestation of European Lyme disease. However, given the fact that most doctors in North America do not believe in chronic Lyme disease, it is not surprising that dermotologists would not be trained to recognize ACA, and even Lyme literate doctors are sadly lacking any significant training about ACA.

Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is a skin condition that takes a progressive course that leads to atrophy of the skin in a variety of ways but sharing certain common characteristics.

Not surprisingly, involvement of the peripheral nervous system is frequently observed as a part of ACA (numbness, tingling, pain…)

As we know, clinical manifestations of Lyme borreliosis are almost unlimited. they can affect the skin, nervous system, muscles, joints eyes, ears, any organ including the heart. With ACA, the skin becomes papery thin and almost shiny and transparent so that the blood vessels, veins, arteries and tissue can be seen through the skin in various degrees which give the skin a pinkish/bluish color.

ACA is most commonly found on the hands and feet but can be found most anywhere on the body. Unfortunately, if you think you have it, there isn’t a very good chance of diagnosis.

Doctors absolutely despise patients who come into their office armed with information from the internet. However, you may have a chance if you come armed with the following article from WebMD: emedicine.medscape.com/article/1051695-overview. This site also has some remarkable pictures at emedicine.medscape.com/article/1051695-media.

For your own understanding of ACA, a picture is worth a thousand words. There is a remarkable collection of pictures from Dermis.net (the lead picture for this post is from their site), make sure to click on your flag of nationality to read the text in the correct language: DERMIS.net.

Finally, there is a glaring and amazing point I would like to make – above and beyond the possible diagnosis that many may have been suffering with for years without a clue of its connection to chronic Lyme disease. perhaps you will have jumped ahead to the obvious question this post raises by the accepted and even honored research by Dr. Hartmann and Dr. Herxheimer over one hundred years ago.

Why and how can it be that the respected doctors of the day believed without a doubt in chronic Lyme disease and studied symptoms and treatment of such while our “advanced doctors have disregarded over a century of research and documentation to cling to their platform of “there is no such thing as chronic Lyme disease.”

The next time you are challenged about chronic Lyme disease, you may want to bring up this ignored fact – that chronic Lyme disease is not debated in Europe. do we even need to ask why?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jenna Smith is a writer and amateur dressage rider who has published many articles on health and fitness. Struck down with Lyme disease in October 2006, Jenna has devoted her time to helping others with Lyme disease and other health concerns. Jenna’s goal is to help people discover cutting edge strategies for healing disease and obtaining optimum health. Learn more about chronic Lyme disease, and claim your free ebooks on alternative treatment protocols at: LymeDiseaseResource.com and Neuro-Lyme.com.

Jenna also publishes a Lyme Blog, Lyme Video Blog and a Daily Inspiration Blog, all accessible from the websites, and has published a novel, “the Goddess of Sumer” available at Amazon.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jenna_SmithEzineArticles.com/?Weird-Skin-With-Chronic-Lyme-Disease?-You-May-Have-ACA&id=4770693

 Are You Sick?Could you identify the symptoms of Lyme disease it you had to? Or would you be more likely to assume there was something else wrong with you? are you even aware of some of the major Lyme disease symptoms? If you live in an area of the world where the disease is prevalent, it is a good idea to know what to look for. You won’t want to go too long without treating the disease. Treating the disease early will help to keep it from getting worse. we have compiled some of the symptoms to look for.

Finding yourself confused lately? If you are suffering with extreme levels of confusion, you may have Lyme disease. it is important to note that not everyone with confusion has Lyme disease. for instance, you probably don’t have Lyme disease if you walk into a kitchen and simply forget what you went in there for. Entering a kitchen though and suddenly being unaware of what the kitchen is for would be a good indicator for that person to be checked out by their doctor. If your level of confusion has moved beyond the “normal” talk to your doctor and ask to have some tests run.

You may notice different symptoms in stage one than you will in stage three. Knowing that there are three stages and that each one manifest itself differently from the others is important information. the heart and nervous system become involved in the “early disseminated disease” stage also referred to as Stage two. It’s all in the name as far as the symptoms of this stage go. There are a number of palsies that begin to present in this stage. Occassionally inflammation of the heart and internal complications will present in this stage.

Peripheral neuropathy and meningitis are two Lyme disease symptoms that are also hard to diagnose. Peripheral neuropathy is often first noticed in a numbness in the hands and feet. Or it can be similar to a tingling or burning or even like you are wearing thin gloves. usually this particular symptom is caused by trauma to the brain or a major injury that affects the nerves. on the other hand, meningitis can be hard to catch until it has completely manifested. it can also be incredibly contagious so if you start showing signs of meningitis go see your doctor to get tested immediately.

Lyme disease is tricky. There are many different ways the disease manifests itself. the many stages vary greatly from one another. Diagnosis is complicated by the symptoms being stand alone disorders. at the same time there are some people who don’t suffer from any Lyme disease symptoms and can go untreated for a really long time, until the disease finally starts to show itself in its final stages. If you start to notice changes in your health you should always talk to your doctor. Discuss the possibility of running some tests with your doctor. Procrastination in regards to your health is always a bad option.