I've been seeing lots of online chatter regarding Lyme Disease and MS.

I think it's probably because this movie is now on Netflix streaming...

http://www.underourskin.com/

Yes, Lyme can affect the central nervous system, but Lyme Disease of the central nervous system is different than MS.  And Lyme does not cause MS in most people.

Lyme Neuroborreliosis (LNB) is the manifestation of Lyme disease in the brain.  White matter lesions might be noted, but Lyme rarely affects the eyes or spine.  Common symptoms of Neuroborreliosis are headache, altered mental state, Bell's palsy and sleep disturbances.

Here's a good paper on Lyme neuroborreliosis--

This review describes the current knowledge of the pathogenesis of acute Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB), from invasion to inflammation of the central nervous system.Borrelia burgdorferi (B.b.) enters the host through a tick bite on the skin and may disseminate from there to secondary organs, including the central nervous system. To achieve this, B.b. first has to evade the hostile immune system. In a second step, the borrelia have to reach the central nervous system and cross the blood–brain barrier. Once in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the spirochetes elicit an inflammatory response. We describe current knowledge about the infiltration of leukocytes into the CSF in LNB. In the final section, we discuss the mechanisms by which the spirochetal infection leads to the observed neural dysfunction. To conclude, we construct a stringent concept of the pathogenesis of LNB.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2148032/

For those who are interested in learning more for themselves or their loved ones, I recommend visiting a Lyme Literate Doctor (LLD)--This is what we did for Jeff, and he had blood panels done by Igenex lab.  We paid out of pocket, since insurance didn't cover it.   He was negative for Lyme.  He was also tested for antiphospholipid syndrome (APS or Hughes Syndrome.)  We went through all the MS differentials, hopeful each time that "this is it!" and they were negative.  Until he was tested for CCSVI at Stanford.

Everyone is different.  Make sure you rule out all the differentials...

Here's more info on how to find a Lyme Literate Doctor---

http://www.lymenet.org/

Here's the Igenex site:

http://igenex.com/Website/

Yes, Lyme is a problem, and it is underdiagnosed.  But it does not cause MS in everyone....it can create an MS-like reaction in the brain, if the infection crosses the blood brain barrier.  Just want to make sure everyone does the research, gets the differential diagnoses crossed off their lists, and just doesn't watch one documentary on Netflix and think "this is it!"

Joan