What is Lyme disease that is keeping supermodel Bella Hadid off the ramp?

Bella Hadid has shared a new update about her life.

In an emotional Instagram post, the 26-year-old top model has opened up about her battle with Lyme disease.

She said that it is possible that her absence from significant fashion shows this year would continue and that she will make a comeback to the catwalk when she is “ready,” following treatment for continuing health issues.

Sharing a series of snaps showing herself receiving medical treatments, Hadid wrote, “Living in this state, worsening with time and work while trying to make myself, my family and the people who support me, proud, had taken a toll on me in ways I can’t really explain.”

Hadid, who was diagnosed with the illness in 2013, added that she was “okay, finally healthy and “wouldn’t change anything for the world… it made who I am today.”

Also read: Can new drug donanemab really slow the growth of Alzheimer's disease?

What is Lyme disease?

According to the UK-based National Health Service (NHS), Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be spread to humans by infected ticks, particularly by ticks of the Ixodes genus.

Quick Reads

View All

What are Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez doing at Paris Couture Week? Is it business or...

A nurse, a mother, a father… The heartbreaking stories of Americans killed in US immigration crackdown

Tick bites are similar to mosquito bites and form tiny, itchy bumps on the skin.

This disease has a range of symptoms and varying degrees of severity and demands attention and understanding.

In the month of April, Hadid said on TikTok that she had a tooth infection that led to health complications, and in her most recent post, she described “15 years of invisible suffering.”

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says if the disease is left untreated, the infection can spread to the joints, heart and nervous system.

What are the symptoms?

According to NHS, a circular or oval-shaped rash around a tick bite can be an early symptom of Lyme disease in some people. It can appear up to three months after being bitten by an infected tick and can last for several weeks.

The rash appears to be darker or lighter in the centre and might gradually spread. It is not usually hot or itchy.

Some people also get flu-like symptoms a few days or weeks after they were bitten by an infected tick, such as:

• a high temperature, or feeling hot and shivery

• headache

• muscle and joint pain

• tiredness and loss of energy

• shortness of breath

• fatigue

Also read: Plant Pandemic is Real: How a disease is threatening wheat, the world’s most important food crop

How is it treated?

According to CDC, early diagnosis and proper antibiotic treatment of Lyme disease are important and can help prevent late Lyme disease.

“The state of the science relating to persistent symptoms associated with Lyme disease is limited, emerging, and unsettled,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In August 2022, a Lyme disease vaccine entered late-stage clinical trials, indicating that a vaccine could be approved in the coming years.

Speaking about the potential vaccine, Dr John Torres, NBC News senior medical correspondent, said on TODAY at the time that after the initial shots, people may need an annual dose of the vaccine.

“So it’s a bit more complicated than most vaccines, but certainly will protect against something that can be fairly dangerous,” he said.

Also read: Rare tick-borne virus detected in UK, health agency warns

How common is it?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the illness is the most prevalent tick-borne disease in the country.

In June 2022, BMJ Global Health published research on the condition and found that, given the rise in Lyme disease rates over the previous 20 years, it was possible that 14 per cent of the world’s population had been afflicted.

Senior research scientist at the Yale School of Public Health, Dr Peter Krause, told NBC News that he was not surprised by the proportion.

He explained after the study was published, “This is not like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s so much more disease than we thought there was. These numbers are a bit higher than I would have thought, but this isn’t a revolutionary finding.”

The CDC estimates that it receives about 30,000 reported cases of Lyme disease each year.

Since this number does not include every case, the actual number of people who develop Lyme disease could be as high as 476,000, the CDC added.

Who else in the Hadid family has this disease?

According to Today.com, Bella Hadid, Anwar Hadid, 24, and Yolanda Hadid, 59, all claim to have contracted the illness spread by ticks.

Yolanda Hadid often discussed having Lyme disease while she was a cast member of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

Additionally, she stated in a blog post on BravoTV.com that Bella Hadid and Anwar Hadid “have been in extensive holistic treatment ever since they were diagnosed in 2013.”

The reality TV personality wrote at the time, “I spent the majority of our time outside in nature with the kids and we lived on a horse ranch in Santa Barbara for ten years.”

With inputs from agencies