S.L.A.M. Sturbridge Lyme Awareness of Massachusetts

05/01/2026

05/01/2026

May is Lyme & Tick-borne Disease Awareness Month

04/19/2026

Project Lyme’s Stories That Heal Author Series brought together top Lyme disease doctors, advocates, researchers, and patients in NYC—highlighting innovation, collaboration, and hope for the future.

04/19/2026

A study published just weeks ago in the National Library of Medicine (NIH) — “Autoimmune Epilepsy Temporally Associated With Lyme Disease” (Cipriano et al.) — explores the connection between Lyme-associated illness and treatment-resistant seizures.

🧠 At the center of this research is autoimmune epilepsy — a condition where the immune system becomes dysregulated and begins affecting normal brain function, contributing to seizure activity.

Here’s what the study found:

⚡ Seizures did not respond to standard anti-seizure medications
⚡ Symptoms worsened after starting antibiotics, likely due to an inflammatory response (similar to a Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction — when dying microbes trigger increased inflammation)
⚡ Patients showed immune system abnormalities like low immunoglobulins (important immune proteins) and evidence of neuroinflammation (inflammation in the brain)
⚡ Brain-related antibodies were detected, suggesting immune activation impacting the nervous system
⚡ Seizures improved after immune-based treatments like steroids and IVIG (therapies that help regulate and support the immune system)

What this means in real terms:

👉 Infections like Lyme can enter and impact the brain and nervous system
👉 The body responds with an immune reaction, which can become dysregulated
👉 Both the presence of microbes and the resulting inflammation may contribute to neurological symptoms like seizures

Why this matters

Many people with Lyme disease experience neurological symptoms — seizures, panic attacks, cognitive dysfunction, psychiatric changes — and are often misunderstood or misdiagnosed.

This research reinforces something important:

👉 The connection between infection, the immune system, and the brain is real
👉 Lyme disease can involve complex neurological and neuroimmune processes
👉 Patients deserve comprehensive, informed care that considers these connections

If you or someone you love has experienced neurological symptoms with Lyme, you are not alone — and your experience is valid 💚

💬 Comment below if you’ve experienced neurological symptoms from Lyme — your story matters and helps others feel less alone.

04/17/2026

We don't just wait for breakthroughs. We fund them.

At GLA, we believe that every patient deserves a treatment plan backed by cutting-edge science. We are working tirelessly to ensure that the "invisible" becomes visible and the "untreatable" becomes a thing of the past.

Your story is the fuel for our mission. Together, we are making the science catch up.

Learn more about how we do research, differently: https://hubs.la/Q04bS1JV0

04/17/2026

04/15/2026

Here's a fun tick ID fact: ONLY the adult female Lone Star tick has a white spot on its back. The nymph stage doesn't have any white pigment, so no wonder you didn't recognize it. Here's more about this dangerous tick https://bit.ly/see_the_star URI Cooperative Extension Cape Cod Times

04/09/2026