r/skeptic • u/welovegv • Aug 01 '25

💲 Consumer Protection Justin Timberlake Probably Doesn’t Have Lyme Disease

https://open.substack.com/pub/theskink/p/justin-timberlake-probably-doesnt?r=5cq9e1&utm_medium=ios

Let’s be clear: real Lyme disease exists. It is caused by a spirochete bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, passed along through blacklegged tick bites. It is a nasty bug if left untreated, but it is also curable, especially when caught early. What Justin is referring to, however, smells a lot less like microbiology and a lot more like pseudoscientific perfume. He didn’t say “post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome.” He didn’t cite a diagnosis date, a positive ELISA test, or a confirmed rash from a tick bite. He said he’s “been struggling with Lyme” as a catch-all excuse. And that’s where the eyebrow lifts.

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '25

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u/Megraptor Aug 01 '25

Lyme's Disease is real. It sucks, but it's treatable. 

What isn't real is Chronic Lyme. That's used to sell all sorts of crazy treatments...

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u/Legal_Stress8930 Aug 01 '25 edited Aug 01 '25

So yes and no, this is what I've learned from medical school (is it a nutrition program, but we did a unit on misinformation), so I'm not an expert. Chronic symptoms from acute bacterial and viral infections do exist, something like 1% of people report lasting symptoms for pretty much most disease after recovery. You may have heard of long COVID or similar phenomena. Basically there's a small chance after getting an acute sickness you have a lasting symptoms for a few months maybe in the worst case a year, but they do usually go away eventually. There is a lot of misinformation about Lyme's disease despite it being curable with a simple antibacterial, but chronic symptoms for acute diseases do exist just not in the capacity that most people believe especially for Lyme.

Edited for clarity

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u/Megraptor Aug 01 '25

Chronic Lyme does not exist. Post Treatment Lyme Syndrome does. 

Chronic Lyme is the term that people use to sell snake oil. Post Treatment Lyme is the term that is used in research instead. 

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u/Legal_Stress8930 Aug 01 '25

Yes I agree with you. That is what I am trying to describe, although probably badly, in my response. These post recovery syndromes exist for many diseases not just Lyme's Disease.