Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Lyme Disease: A Literature Review of Psychiatric and Cognitive Impacts
Background: Lyme disease can lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms like depression, anxiety, and cognitive issues, often mimicking primary psychiatric disorders. This paper examines the connection between Lyme disease and neuropsychiatric outcomes to improve diagnosis and treatment.Materials and Method...
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Vilnius University Press
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Acta Medica Lituanica |
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| Online Access: | https://www.journals.vu.lt/AML/article/view/38092 |
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| author | Gabija Šegždaitė Odeta Aliukonytė Kamilė Pociūtė |
| author_facet | Gabija Šegždaitė Odeta Aliukonytė Kamilė Pociūtė |
| author_sort | Gabija Šegždaitė |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Background: Lyme disease can lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms like depression, anxiety, and cognitive issues, often mimicking primary psychiatric disorders. This paper examines the connection between Lyme disease and neuropsychiatric outcomes to improve diagnosis and treatment.Materials and Methods: The PubMed database was searched for scientific literature sources. Publications published in English in 2019–2024 were selected. All psychiatric symptoms and disorders found to be associated with Lyme disease were included. For neurological symptoms, the analysis focused on studies addressing cognitive dysfunction.Results: Acute neuroborreliosis may have minimal effects on the cognitive function and typically resolves well with treatment. However, some studies suggest that Lyme disease can affect the patients’ cognitive abilities, leading to impairments in verbal fluency, attention, and memory, with a few isolated dementia-like cases highlighting the need for careful diagnosis. Nevertheless, recent large-scale studies show no increased risk of dementia. Regarding psychiatric symptoms, findings are also inconsistent, with some studies suggesting an increased risk of depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and other mental health conditions, while others find no such association.Conclusions: There is no strong evidence supporting Lyme disease’s role in long-term cognitive or psychiatric disorders. However, an early diagnosis and timely antibiotic treatment remain crucial in minimizing long-term consequences and improving patient outcomes.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c8e0f21b92d442c8a156d5a58805eb6b |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1392-0138 2029-4174 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Vilnius University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Medica Lituanica |
| spelling | doaj-art-c8e0f21b92d442c8a156d5a58805eb6b2025-08-20T02:55:52ZengVilnius University PressActa Medica Lituanica1392-01382029-41742025-04-0132110.15388/Amed.2025.32.1.17Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Lyme Disease: A Literature Review of Psychiatric and Cognitive ImpactsGabija Šegždaitė0https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0259-6823Odeta Aliukonytė1https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6062-9340Kamilė Pociūtė2https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9916-4418Lithuanian University of Health SciencesVilnius UniversityVilnius University Background: Lyme disease can lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms like depression, anxiety, and cognitive issues, often mimicking primary psychiatric disorders. This paper examines the connection between Lyme disease and neuropsychiatric outcomes to improve diagnosis and treatment.Materials and Methods: The PubMed database was searched for scientific literature sources. Publications published in English in 2019–2024 were selected. All psychiatric symptoms and disorders found to be associated with Lyme disease were included. For neurological symptoms, the analysis focused on studies addressing cognitive dysfunction.Results: Acute neuroborreliosis may have minimal effects on the cognitive function and typically resolves well with treatment. However, some studies suggest that Lyme disease can affect the patients’ cognitive abilities, leading to impairments in verbal fluency, attention, and memory, with a few isolated dementia-like cases highlighting the need for careful diagnosis. Nevertheless, recent large-scale studies show no increased risk of dementia. Regarding psychiatric symptoms, findings are also inconsistent, with some studies suggesting an increased risk of depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and other mental health conditions, while others find no such association.Conclusions: There is no strong evidence supporting Lyme disease’s role in long-term cognitive or psychiatric disorders. However, an early diagnosis and timely antibiotic treatment remain crucial in minimizing long-term consequences and improving patient outcomes. https://www.journals.vu.lt/AML/article/view/38092Lyme diseaseborreliosispsychiatric disordersneuropsychiatric symptoms |
| spellingShingle | Gabija Šegždaitė Odeta Aliukonytė Kamilė Pociūtė Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Lyme Disease: A Literature Review of Psychiatric and Cognitive Impacts Acta Medica Lituanica Lyme disease borreliosis psychiatric disorders neuropsychiatric symptoms |
| title | Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Lyme Disease: A Literature Review of Psychiatric and Cognitive Impacts |
| title_full | Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Lyme Disease: A Literature Review of Psychiatric and Cognitive Impacts |
| title_fullStr | Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Lyme Disease: A Literature Review of Psychiatric and Cognitive Impacts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Lyme Disease: A Literature Review of Psychiatric and Cognitive Impacts |
| title_short | Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Lyme Disease: A Literature Review of Psychiatric and Cognitive Impacts |
| title_sort | neuropsychiatric manifestations of lyme disease a literature review of psychiatric and cognitive impacts |
| topic | Lyme disease borreliosis psychiatric disorders neuropsychiatric symptoms |
| url | https://www.journals.vu.lt/AML/article/view/38092 |
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