A mouse study of a reg­imen that erad­i­cated the bac­terium in the test tube, set­ting the stage for human trials; antibi­otic cock­tails using existing drugs; strate­gies to dis­cover new drugs that selec­tively target the Lyme bac­terium; and ways to alter the com­po­si­tion of the microbiome—the com­mu­nity of microor­gan­isms inhab­iting the human body—to stop the autoim­mune reac­tions that char­ac­terize the disease.

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Ixodes scapularis/CDC

These are the four possible Lyme disease treatment regimens being investigated by researchers at Northeastern University in Boston.

Uni­ver­sity Dis­tin­guished Pro­fessor Kim Lewis, who leads the Lyme dis­ease research team, is now expanding that ther­a­peutic reach with the help of a $1.5 mil­lion grant from the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation.

If Lyme is caught early, patients gen­er­ally recover quickly when treated with antibi­otics, pri­marily doxy­cy­line. How­ever, 10 to 20 per­cent of patients go on to develop a debil­i­tating chronic con­di­tion called Post-​​Treatment Lyme Dis­ease Syn­drome, or PTLDS, with symp­toms that include extreme fatigue, arthritis, muscle pain, and cognitive difficulties.

Read more at Northeastern University

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