Nothing puts an illness into the spotlight more than when an afflicted celebrity speaks out. Take Lyme disease. In January 2020, Justin Bieber stunned his fans when he revealed his Lyme disease diagnosis on Instagram. And he’s not the only celebrity whose life has been impacted by Lyme. Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain, Kelly Osbourne, Debbie Gibson, Alec Baldwin, Yolanda and Bella Hadid, and even President George W. Bush are among the celebrities known to have struggled with Lyme disease.
Unfortunately for the rest of us, Lyme disease isn’t reserved for the A-list. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 300,000 Americans catch Lyme disease every year.
What is Lyme disease and how do you get it?
How can I protect myself and my family against Lyme disease?
The only guaranteed way to protect yourself against Lyme disease is prevention, and that means avoiding tick bites.
“I didn’t know anything about tick avoidance or Lyme disease, and that is why we got so sick. Be safe in the outdoors by staying on the trails and not in deep underbrush,” Kathleen O’Rourke — co-founder of Bay Area Lyme Foundation, Lyme disease patient, and mom to a son with Lyme disease — previously told TheStir. “Also wear light clothing, bug spray, and do tick checks. If you do get a tick, remove it by using a tick remover placed at the absolute closest point of the skin and lift it off.”
Nightly tick checks, showering after you come indoors, and putting your clothing in the dryer are among other tick-fighting steps recommended by the CDC.
