Cognitive Decline in Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome

Retrograde and semantic amnesia in a case of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome: did something lead to a psychogenic memory loss? A single-case study

OBJECTIVE

To describe a case of Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) with an atypical cognitive profile.

METHOD

A 41-year-old PTLDS patient underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing and psychological assessment.

RESULTS

The patient exhibited impaired intensive attention but preserved selective attention. Executive functions were normal. Short-term and anterograde memory were intact, while retrograde and semantic memory were significantly impaired. The patient also experienced identity loss, specific phobias, dissociative symptoms, and depressed mood.

CONCLUSIONS

Severe episodic-autobiographical and retrograde semantic amnesia was consistent with some reports of dissociative amnesia. Loss of identity and phobias were also highly suggestive of a psychogenic mechanism underlying amnesia.

Superior efficacy of combination antibiotic therapy versus monotherapy in a mouse model of Lyme disease

Lyme disease (LD) results from the most prevalent tick-borne infection in North America, with over 476,000 estimated cases annually. The disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) sensu lato which transmits through the bite of Ixodid ticks. Most cases treated soon after infection are resolved by a short course of oral antibiotics. However, 10-20% of patients experience chronic symptoms because of delayed or incomplete treatment, a condition called Post-Treatment Lyme Disease (PTLD). Some Bb persists in PTLD patients after the initial course of antibiotics and an effective treatment to eradicate the persistent Bb is needed. Other organisms that cause persistent infections, such as M. tuberculosis, are cleared using a combination of therapies rather than monotherapy. A group of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs previously shown to be efficacious against Bb in vitro were used in monotherapy or in combination in mice infected with Bb. Different methods of detection were used to assess the efficacy of the treatments in the infected mice including culture, xenodiagnosis, and molecular techniques. None of the monotherapies eradicated persistent Bb. However, 4 dual combinations (doxycycline + ceftriaxone, dapsone + rifampicin, dapsone + clofazimine, doxycycline + cefotaxime) and 3 triple combinations (doxycycline + ceftriaxone+ carbomycin, doxycycline + cefotaxime+ loratadine, dapsone+ rifampicin+ clofazimine) eradicated persistent Bb infections. These results suggest that combination therapy should be investigated in preclinical studies for treating human Lyme disease.

Posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review and comparison of pathogenesis

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the United States and has been causing significant morbidity since its discovery in 1977. It is well-documented that about 10% of patients properly treated with antibiotics never fully recover, but instead go on to develop a chronic illness dubbed, posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) characterized by severe fatigue, cognitive slowing, chronic pain, and sleep difficulties. This review includes 18 studies that detail the symptoms of patients with PTLDS and uses qualitative analysis to compare them to myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a strikingly similar syndrome. In the majority of the PTLDS studies, at least four of the six major symptoms of ME/CFS were also noted, including substantial impairment in activity level and fatigue for more than 6 months, post-exertional malaise, and unrefreshing sleep. In one of the included PTLDS articles, 26 of the 29 ME/CFS symptoms were noted. This study adds to the expanding literature on the post-active phase of infection syndromes, which suggests that chronic illnesses such as PTLDS and ME/CFS have similar pathogenesis despite different infectious origins.

Neuropsychiatric Lyme Disease and Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease in the United States, is caused by infection with the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. While most patients with acute Lyme disease recover completely if treated with antibiotics shortly after the onset of infection, approximately 10-30% experience post-treatment symptoms and 5-10% have residual symptoms with functional impairment (post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome or PTLDS). These patients typically experience pain, cognitive problems, and/or fatigue. This narrative review provides a broad overview of Lyme disease, focusing on neuropsychiatric manifestations and persistent symptoms. While the etiology of persistent symptoms remains incompletely understood, potential explanations include persistent infection, altered neural activation, and immune dysregulation. Widely recognized is that new treatment options are needed for people who have symptoms that persist despite prior antibiotic therapy. After a brief discussion of treatment approaches, the article focuses on vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), a neuromodulation approach that is FDA-approved for depression, epilepsy, and headache syndromes and has been reported to be helpful for other diseases characterized by inflammation and neural dysregulation. Transcutaneous VNS stimulates the external branch of the vagus nerve, is minimally invasive, and is well-tolerated in other conditions with few side effects. If well-controlled double-blinded studies demonstrate that transcutaneous auricular VNS helps patients with chronic syndromes such as persistent symptoms after Lyme disease, taVNS will be a welcome addition to the treatment options for these patients.

Language Fluency Deficits in Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome

OBJECTIVE

Recent neurocognitive studies of patients with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) find consistent deficits in memory and processing speed. Language fluency deficits are observed as well but may be secondary to poor memory and slowing rather than an independent deficit.

METHOD

This study performed a secondary analysis of data presented previously, including individuals with PTLDS and comparison samples of healthy volunteers (HC) and patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), to determine if language fluency deficits could be accounted for by poor performance in these other neurocognitive domains.

RESULTS

Basic verbal abilities, memory, and processing speed were all significantly associated with fluency performance. MDD patients' fluency deficits relative to HC were accounted for by these covariates. However, PTLDS patients' poorer fluency performance relative to both other groups was not.

CONCLUSIONS

Language fluency appears to be an independent area of neurocognitive deficit within the constellation of PTLDS symptoms.

Efficacy and safety of antibiotic therapy for post-Lyme disease? A systematic review and network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

At present, the pathogenesis of post-treatment Lyme disease (PTLDS) is not clear, so the treatment scheme of PTLDS, especially antibiotic treatment, is still controversial. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of antibiotics in the treatment of PTLDS using network meta-analysis (NMA).

METHODS

Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature search was conducted on randomized controlled trials in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library (the literature was published from database inception through December 16, 2022). Using random effect model and fixed effect model. STATA17.0 software was used to evaluate the quality and heterogeneity of the included research literature.

RESULTS

The system included 4 randomized controlled trials (485 subjects). The network meta-analysis showed that ceftriaxone had better results than placebo [Mean = 0.87, 95% CI (0.02, 1.71)] and doxycycline [Mean = 1.01, 95% CI (0.03, 1.98)] in FSS scale scores. There was no statistical difference in FSS scale scores of other drugs after treatment. In terms of FSS score results, Ceftriaxone was the best intervention according to the SUCRA value of each treatment (97.7). The analysis of outcome indicators such as Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Mental-health Scale and Physical-functioning scale showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the antibiotic group and placebo group.

CONCLUSION

Ceftriaxone treatment may be the best choice for antibiotic treatment of PTLD, which provides useful guidance for antibiotic treatment of PTLD in the future.

Assessment of cognitive function, structural brain changes and fatigue 6 months after treatment of neuroborreliosis

BACKGROUND

Complete recovery after adequately treated neuroborreliosis is common, but studies report that some patients experience persistent symptoms like self-reported cognitive problems and fatigue. Persisting symptoms are often termed post-Lyme disease syndrome, of which etiology is not clearly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate cognitive function, possible structural changes in brain regions and level of fatigue. We have not found previous studies on neuroborreliosis that use standardized neuropsychological tests and MRI with advanced image processing to investigate if there are subtle regional changes in cortical thickness and brain volumes after treatment.

METHODS

We examined 68 patients treated for neuroborreliosis 6 months earlier and 66 healthy controls, with a comprehensive neuropsychological test protocol, quantitative structural MRI analysis of the brain and Fatigue Severity Scale.

RESULTS

We found no differences between the groups in either cognitive function, cortical thickness or brain volumes. The patients had higher score on Fatigue Severity Scale 3.8 vs. 2.9 (p = 0.001), and more patients (25.4%) than controls (5%) had severe fatigue (p = 0.002), but neither mean score nor proportion of patients with severe fatigue differed from findings in the general Norwegian population.

CONCLUSION

The prognosis regarding cognitive function, brain MRI findings and fatigue after adequately treated neuroborreliosis is favorable.

A multimodal neuroimaging study of brain abnormalities and clinical correlates in post treatment Lyme disease

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne infectious disease in the United States. Post-treatment Lyme disease (PTLD) is a condition affecting 10-20% of patients in which symptoms persist despite antibiotic treatment. Cognitive complaints are common among those with PTLD, suggesting that brain changes are associated with the course of the illness. However, there has been a paucity of evidence to explain the cognitive difficulties expressed by patients with PTLD. This study administered a working memory task to a carefully screened group of 12 patients with well-characterized PTLD and 18 healthy controls while undergoing functional MRI (fMRI). A subset of 12 controls and all 12 PTLD participants also received diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to measure white matter integrity. Clinical variables were also assessed and correlated with these multimodal MRI findings. On the working memory task, the patients with PTLD responded more slowly, but no less accurately, than did controls. FMRI activations were observed in expected regions by the controls, and to a lesser extent, by the PTLD participants. The PTLD group also hypoactivated several regions relevant to the task. Conversely, novel regions were activated by the PTLD group that were not observed in controls, suggesting a compensatory mechanism. Notably, three activations were located in white matter of the frontal lobe. DTI measures applied to these three regions of interest revealed that higher axial diffusivity correlated with fewer cognitive and neurological symptoms. Whole-brain DTI analyses revealed several frontal lobe regions in which higher axial diffusivity in the patients with PTLD correlated with longer duration of illness. Together, these results show that the brain is altered by PTLD, involving changes to white matter within the frontal lobe. Higher axial diffusivity may reflect white matter repair and healing over time, rather than pathology, and cognition appears to be dynamically affected throughout this repair process.

Kundalini Yoga for Post-Treatment Lyme Disease: A Preliminary Randomized Study

This study examined the adherence to and the potential benefit of Kundalini yoga (KY) for post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). Participants were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of a KY small-group intervention or a waitlist control (WLC). Adherence was measured as attendance at KY group sessions. Primary outcomes assessed pain, pain interference, fatigue, and global health. Secondary outcomes assessed multisystem symptom burden, mood, sleep, physical and social functioning, cognition, and mindfulness. Linear mixed models were used to test changes in outcomes over time as a function of group assignment; intercepts for participants were modeled as random effects. Although the target sample size was 40 participants, the study concluded with 29 participants due to recruitment challenges. No KY participants dropped out of the study, and participants attended 75% of group sessions on average, but WLC retention was poor (57%). Regarding primary outcomes, there was no significant interaction between group and time. Regarding secondary outcomes, there was a significant interaction between group and time for multisystem symptom burden (p < 0.05) and cognition (p < 0.01); KY participants reported improved multisystem symptom burden and cognition over the course of the study compared to WLC participants. To enhance recruitment and retention, future trials may consider expanding geographic access and including supportive procedures for WLC participants. This preliminary study supports the need for a larger study to determine if KY reduces multisystem symptom burden and enhances cognition among people with PTLDS.

Cognitive function in patients with neuroborreliosis: A prospective cohort study from the acute phase to 12 months post treatment

BACKGROUND

Long-term cognitive problems after neuroborreliosis treatment remain a subject of debate. We have previously shown that cognitive problems are not present in the acute phase of neuroborreliosis, although fatigue is common. The aim of this study was to re-assess the same patient cohort and evaluate long-term outcomes.

METHODS

In this follow-up, we re-assessed 58 patients with well-characterized neuroborreliosis 12 months after completing treatment. The same protocol with eight subtests measuring attention and processing speed and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) were used to compare the results from the acute phase to 12 months post treatment.

RESULTS

We found no changes in attention or processing speed but a reduction in the level of fatigue (median score on FSS: 4.9 vs. 3.9, p < .001) from the acute phase to 12 months post treatment.

CONCLUSION

The patient group did not develop problems with attention or processing speed post treatment, while the level of fatigue decreased.

Self-Reported Cognitive Function in Persons with Nonneurological Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review

Background

Globally, one in three adults has a chronic condition. Many chronic diseases that are not neurological in nature (e.g., diabetes and heart failure) are increasingly associated with cognitive symptoms. However, the instruments used to assess cognitive symptoms in those with nonneurologic chronic illness are heterogeneous, and questions remain as to how cognitive symptoms may be related to demographic and clinical outcome variables, neurocognitive test performance, and other patient-reported outcomes. In this review, we describe associations among self-reported cognitive function, cognitive performance, and additional patient-reported outcomes as well as how cognitive symptoms are measured in nonneurologic chronic illness.

Method

Multiple databases (PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, EMBASE, SCOPUS, the Cochrane Library, and Academic Search Complete) were searched for studies from 1990 to 2020 that provided data on self-reported cognitive symptoms in those with nonneurological chronic conditions. Initial search yielded 304 articles, of which 32 met inclusion criteria. Quality assessment was conducted using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme.

Results

Thirty-two total studies were included: twenty cross-sectional, 10 longitudinal, and 2 randomized controlled trials. The tools used to assess self-reported cognitive function in the studies were heterogeneous: 28 unique tools were used. Thirty studies examined associations among self-reported cognitive function and other patient-reported outcomes. In 19 there were significant associations. Six studies showed no significant associations between neuropsychological tests and self-reported cognitive function; another 6 studies found a significant association.

Conclusion

Tools to assess cognitive symptoms were heterogeneous. In most studies, self-reported cognitive symptoms were not correlated with neuropsychological test results, but the majority of studies found a strong association between self-reported cognitive function and other patient-reported outcomes. Implications. Consensus on measuring cognitive symptoms would facilitate cross-study comparisons and facilitate scientific progress in those with nonneurological chronic conditions. Based on these results, there is a need to establish a standardized approach for self-reported cognitive function measurement in patients with nonneurologic chronic illness.

Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome: Need for Diagnosis and Treatment

With the continued surge in Lyme disease cases, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) is becoming a more pressing health concern. The aim of this review is to identify comprehensive treatment strategies for PTLDS patients. Unfortunately, universal guidelines for diagnosing and treating PTLDS do not currently exist. Consequently, physicians cannot adequately address concerns of possible PTLDS patients. Patients are left suffering and searching for answers, and their activities of daily living and quality of life are adversely impacted. This review highlights that PTLDS clinical trials have focused mainly on treatment with antibiotics, yielding challenging results that lack consistency in inclusion criteria across trials. It will remain exceedingly difficult to extrapolate the outcomes of such studies if a standard for PTLDS diagnosis is not well-established. By focusing on treatment trials rather than establishing diagnostic criteria, research in this field ignores a critical step in investigating PTLDS. The first significant step is to create comprehensive guidelines for the diagnosis of PTLDS, which can generate uniformity and validate PTLDS treatment trials.

Contrast Sensitivity Loss in Patients With Posttreatment Lyme Disease

Purpose

Posttreatment Lyme disease (PTLD) is marked by neurologic symptoms, cognitive impairment, and significant symptom burden, including fatigue and ocular complaints. The purpose of this study was to determine whether contrast sensitivity (CS) is altered in patients with PTLD compared with healthy controls and, second, whether CS is associated with cognitive and/or neurologic deficits.

Methods

CS was measured using a Pelli-Robson chart with forced-choice procedures, and the total number of letters read was recorded for each eye. CS impairment was defined for age <60 years as logCS of 1.80 (36 letters or fewer) and for those age ≥60 years as logCS of 1.65 (33 letters or fewer). Participants self-administered a questionnaire to assess presence of ocular symptoms and underwent a neurologic exam and battery of neurocognitive tests.

Results

CS impairment was associated with an increased odds of being in the PTLD group that was 2.6 times as high as those without CS impairment (odds ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-5.2). Neither cases nor controls had significant distance acuity impairment. CS impairment was not associated with any of the ocular complaints in cases but was borderline associated with neurologic abnormalities and cognitive impairment.

Conclusions

CS impairment in patients with PTLD is linked to signs of cognitive and neurologic impairment and may be a marker of illness severity.

Translational Relevance

Further investigation into the value of testing CS impairment in PTLD cases is warranted, especially if it is an indicator of cognitive or neurologic manifestations.

Symptom Clusters and Functional Impairment in Individuals Treated for Lyme Borreliosis

Context: Persistent fatigue, pain, and neurocognitive impairment are common in individuals following treatment for Lyme borreliosis (LB). Poor sleep, depression, visual disturbance, and sensory neuropathies have also been reported. The cause of these symptoms is unclear, and widely accepted effective treatment strategies are lacking.

Objectives: To identify symptom clusters in people with persistent symptoms previously treated for LB and to examine the relationship between symptom severity and perceived disability.

Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of individuals with a history of treatment of LB referred to The Dean Center for Tick-Borne Illness at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital between 2015 and 2018 (n = 270) because of persistent symptoms. Symptoms and functional impairment were collected using the General Symptom Questionnaire-30 (GSQ-30), and the Sheehan Disability Scale. Clinical tests were conducted to evaluate for tick-borne co-infections and to rule out medical disorders that could mimic LB symptomatology. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to identify symptom clusters.

Results: Five symptom clusters were identified. Each cluster was assigned a name to reflect the possible underlying etiology and was based on the majority of the symptoms in the cluster: the neuropathy symptom cluster, sleep-fatigue symptom cluster, migraine symptom cluster, cognitive symptom cluster, and mood symptom cluster. Symptom severity for each symptom cluster was positively associated with global functional impairment (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Identifying the interrelationship between symptoms in post-treatment LB in a cluster can aid in the identification of the etiological basis of these symptoms and could lead to more effective symptom management strategies.

Key Message: This article describes symptom clusters in individuals with a history of Lyme borreliosis. Five clusters were identified: sleep-fatigue, neuropathy, migraine-like, cognition, and mood clusters. Identifying the interrelationship between symptoms in each of the identified clusters could aid in more effective symptom management through identifying triggering symptoms or an underlying etiology.

Post-treatment Lyme Disease as a Model for Persistent Symptoms in Lyme Disease

It has long been observed in clinical practice that a subset of patients with Lyme disease report a constellation of symptoms such as fatigue, cognitive difficulties, and musculoskeletal pain, which may last for a significant period of time. These symptoms, which can range from mild to severe, have been reported throughout the literature in both prospective and population-based studies in Lyme disease endemic regions. The etiology of these symptoms is unknown, however several illness-causing mechanisms have been hypothesized, including microbial persistence, host immune dysregulation through inflammatory or secondary autoimmune pathways, or altered neural networks, as in central sensitization. Evaluation and characterization of persistent symptoms in Lyme disease is complicated by potential independent, repeat exposures to B. burgdorferi, as well as the potential for co-morbid diseases with overlapping symptom profiles. Antibody testing for B. burgdorferi is an insensitive measure after treatment, and no other FDA-approved tests currently exist. As such, diagnosis presents a complex challenge for physicians, while the lived experience for patients is one marked by uncertainty and often illness invalidation. Currently, there are no FDA-approved pharmaceutical therapies, and the safety and efficacy of off-label and/or complementary therapies have not been well studied and are not agreed-upon within the medical community. Post-treatment Lyme disease represents a narrow, defined, mechanistically-neutral subset of this larger, more heterogeneous group of patients, and is a useful definition in research settings as an initial subgroup of study. The aim of this paper is to review the current literature on the diagnosis, etiology, risk factors, and treatment of patients with persistent symptoms in the context of Lyme disease. The meaning and relevance of existing patient subgroups will be discussed, as will future research priorities, including the need to develop illness biomarkers, elucidate the biologic mechanisms of disease, and drive improvements in therapeutic options.

Post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms score: Developing a new tool for research

Some patients have residual non-specific symptoms after therapy for Lyme disease, referred to as post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms or syndrome, depending on whether there is functional impairment. A standardized test battery was used to characterize a diverse group of Lyme disease patients with and without residual symptoms. There was a strong correlation between sleep disturbance and certain other symptoms such as fatigue, pain, anxiety, and cognitive complaints. Results were subjected to a Logistic Regression model using the Neuro-QoL Fatigue t-score together with Short Form-36 Physical Functioning scale and Mental Health component scores; and to a Decision Tree model using only the QoL Fatigue t-score. The Logistic Regression model had an accuracy of 97% and Decision Tree model had an accuracy of 93%, when compared with clinical categorization. The Logistic Regression and Decision Tree models were then applied to a separate cohort. Both models performed with high sensitivity (90%), but moderate specificity (62%). The overall accuracy was 74%. Agreement between 2 time points, separated by a mean of 4 months, was 89% using the Decision Tree model and 87% with the Logistic Regression model. These models are simple and can help to quantitate the level of symptom severity in post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms. More research is needed to increase the specificity of the models, exploring additional approaches that could potentially strengthen an operational definition for post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms. Evaluation of how sleep disturbance, fatigue, pain and cognitive complains interrelate can potentially lead to new interventions that will improve the overall health of these patients.

Cognitive impairments in patients with persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme disease

Background

Persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme borreliosis often include self-reported cognitive impairment. However, it remains unclear whether these symptoms can be substantiated by objective cognitive testing.

Methods

For this observational study, cognitive performance was assessed in 280 adults with persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme borreliosis (as part of baseline data collected for the Dutch PLEASE study). Cognitive testing covered the five major domains: episodic memory, working memory / attention, verbal fluency, information-processing speed and executive function. Patients’ profiles of test scores were compared to a large age-, education- and sex-adjusted normative sample using multivariate normative comparison. Performance validity was assessed to detect suboptimal effort, and questionnaires were administered to measure self-reported cognitive complaints, fatigue, anxiety, depressive symptoms and several other psychological factors.

Results

Of 280 patients, one was excluded as the test battery could not be completed. Of the remaining 279 patients, 239 (85.4%) displayed sufficient performance validity. Patients with insufficient performance validity felt significantly more helpless and physically fatigued, and less orientated. Furthermore, they had a lower education level and less often paid work. Of the total study cohort 5.7% (n = 16) performed in the impaired range. Among the 239 patients who displayed sufficient performance validity, 2.9% (n = 7) were classified as cognitively impaired. No association between subjective cognitive symptoms and objective impairment was found.

Conclusions

Only a small percentage of patients with borreliosis-attributed persistent symptoms have objective cognitive impairment. Performance validity should be taken into account in neuropsychological examinations of these patients. Self-report questionnaires are insufficiently valid to diagnose cognitive impairment.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01207739. Registered 23 September 2010.

Imaging glial activation in patients with post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms: a pilot study using [11C]DPA-713 PET

The pathophysiology of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) may be linked to overactive immunity including aberrant activity of the brain's resident immune cells, microglia. Here we used [¹¹C]DPA-713 and positron emission tomography to quantify the 18 kDa translocator protein, a marker of activated microglia or reactive astrocytes, in the brains of patients with post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms of any duration compared to healthy controls. Genotyping for the TSPO rs6971 polymorphism was completed, and individuals with the rare, low affinity binding genotype were excluded. Data from eight brain regions demonstrated higher [¹¹C]DPA-713 binding in 12 patients relative to 19 controls. [¹¹C]DPA-713 PET is a promising tool to study cerebral glial activation in PTLDS and its link to cognitive symptoms.

Precision Medicine: The Role of the MSIDS Model in Defining, Diagnosing, and Treating Chronic Lyme Disease/Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and Other Chronic Illness: Part 2

We present a precision medical perspective to assist in the definition, diagnosis, and management of Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS)/chronic Lyme disease. PTLDS represents a small subset of patients treated for an erythema migrans (EM) rash with persistent or recurrent symptoms and functional decline. The larger population with chronic Lyme disease is less understood and well defined. Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome (MSIDS) is a multifactorial model for treating chronic disease(s), which identifies up to 16 overlapping sources of inflammation and their downstream effects. A patient symptom survey and a retrospective chart review of 200 patients was therefore performed on those patients with chronic Lyme disease/PTLDS to identify those variables on the MSIDS model with the greatest potential effect on regaining health. Results indicate that dapsone combination therapy decreased the severity of eight major Lyme symptoms, and multiple sources of inflammation (other infections, immune dysfunction, autoimmunity, food allergies/sensitivities, leaky gut, mineral deficiencies, environmental toxins with detoxification problems, and sleep disorders) along with downstream effects of inflammation may all affect chronic symptomatology. In part two of our observational study and review paper, we postulate that the use of this model can represent an important and needed paradigm shift in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic disease.