Why Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lyme Disease Are Getting Misdiagnosed for Each Other
This study analyzed misdiagnosis among both Lyme and RA patients
Dr. Arvikar and her fellow colleagues analyzed patients at the hospital’s Lyme arthritis clinic between the years 2003 and 2015. They were motivated to study the patient group thought to have Lyme arthritis when they actually had RA. “It seemed like they were suspected to continue to have Lyme disease or Lyme arthritis, so they kept being treated for those conditions rather than the appropriate treatment for the new type of arthritis,” said Dr. Arvikar.