That's quite a journey — over 20 years between a Lyme diagnosis and an RA diagnosis. It's a really valid question to ask whether the two are connected.
There is research suggesting that certain bacterial and viral infections may trigger RA in some people. The thinking is that when the immune system fights off an infection Show Full Answer
That's quite a journey — over 20 years between a Lyme diagnosis and an RA diagnosis. It's a really valid question to ask whether the two are connected.
There is research suggesting that certain bacterial and viral infections may trigger RA in some people. The thinking is that when the immune system fights off an infection, it can sometimes go into overdrive and begin attacking healthy tissue, which is essentially what happens in RA.
While the search results don't specifically call out Lyme disease by name, bacterial infections are among the suspected triggers for RA. The connection works like this:
- The immune system produces antibodies to fight bacteria
- Sometimes those antibodies mistakenly target healthy tissue
- This can lead to the development of autoantibodies, which are a hallmark of RA It would absolutely be worth mentioning your Lyme disease history to your rheumatologist if you haven't already. Even if the direct link isn't fully proven, sharing that piece of medical history could be valuable — both for your own care and for helping researchers better understand how infections may contribute to RA development over time.
June 1
Join
Your Privacy Choices
