I've been writing about health for over a decade now, covering everything from immunity-supporting supplements to biohacking to recovery advice – but over the last 10 years, there's one topic that has come up time and time again, and it has baffled me every time.
The topic in question? Lyme disease. In the years I've been writing about health, celebrities including Avril Lavigne, her fellow Canadian superstars Shania Twain and Justin Bieber, plus model Bella Hadid and actress Riley Keough have all shared that they have the condition, which is caught via tick bites.
Last week, singer Justin Timberlake became the latest in the A-List line to reveal he has Lyme disease, making me wonder, why do so many celebrities catch the illness?
Why do so many celebrities catch Lyme disease?
Given that Lyme disease is caused by tick bites, it's baffling that so many megastars are infected. Ticks are normally found in tall grass and woodlands – not the primary habitat of the likes of Justin (both Timberlake and Bieber) or Avril Lavigne and co.
Shania Twain explained exactly how she caught the disease, sharing in her documentary, Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl, that she was riding her house when she was bitten by a tick. "The tick was infected with Lyme disease, and I did get Lyme disease and my symptoms were quite scary."
None of the other celebrities have explained how they contracted the infection, so I asked osteopath and holistic practitioner Frédéric Roscop, who was diagnosed Lyme disease and treated himself, why so many stars have fallen foul of the illness.
"More accurate diagnostics and broader awareness have made it easier to identify Lyme – and people are finally getting answers," He said. "I've seen a shift in both patients and practitioners becoming more informed and proactive in seeking diagnoses. Lyme is also no longer a localised disease. With climate change and globalisation, ticks and tick-borne illnesses are appearing in more parts of the world - it has quietly become a global issue."
So, by my reckoning, Roscop believes Lyme disease is common among celebrities because people are more aware of the condition now, thus seeking diagnosis.
Medical expert Dr. Philip Kadaj adds: "It's not necessarily that celebrities are more prone to lyme disease, but rather, a few factors make their diagnoses more visible. Firstly, publicity and advocacy. Celebrities such as Justin Timberlake and Avril Lavigne have publicly shared their diagnoses and struggles, raising awareness and making it seem more common among stars.
He says that outdoor lifestyles are a factor, too. "Many celebrities may spend time in wooded or grassy areas—horseback riding, hiking, filming on location - where ticks thrive."
Access to diagnosis is a contributor too, according to Dr. Kadaj, who works with medical Q&A platform JustAnswer: "Celebrities often have better access to specialists who can diagnose lyme, especially in cases where symptoms are vague or chronic."
Identifying symptoms of Lyme disease
Roscop explains that in the past, the symptoms of Lyme disease were often confused with other illnesses, noting that Lyme disease can mimic conditions such as chronic fatigue, anxiety, or autoimmune disorders – also often common among hardworking celebrities.
"[The symptoms] are where patients - and even clinicians - can get lost. Lyme and other tick-borne infections can mimic a wide range of chronic health problems," he begins.
"Fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, hormonal imbalance, insomnia, and autoimmune flare-ups may all trace back to an underlying infection. In my work, I refer to this as the "neurotic behaviour" of the body - when long-term disruption or unprocessed stress expresses itself through erratic or chronic symptoms. Because the infection targets each individual’s most vulnerable area, symptoms are rarely textbook."
In Avril's case, fatigue was the worst impact, with the singer explaining to Billboard Magazine. "I was in bed for [expletive] two years.
Avril realised she was unwell while on tour, telling ABC News in 2014: "I had night sweats and I felt like I had the flu, I had blood tests and they didn't really know what was wrong with me."
The singer went on to share that two months into her illness, she began to suspect she had Lyme disease, leading her to contact a specialist in the illness.
Speaking of her struggle for a diagnosis, Avril said: "Those were the worst years of my life as I went through both physical and emotional battles.
"I had accepted death and could feel my body shutting down. I felt like I was drowning. Like I was going underwater, and I just needed to come up for air. Like I was in a river being pulled in a current. Unable to breathe."
For Shania, the symptoms were different. "I was on stage feeling dizzy, I was losing my balance, I was afraid I was going to fall off the stage," the star said in her documentary.
The Come On Over singer explained she experienced millisecond blackouts every 30 seconds, and while she recovered from these issues, she worried that her voice would never be the same again. Shania previously admitted that the "debilitating" illness left her feeling sad and depressed.
Bella Hadid was bedridden with the condition, while Hailey Bieber defended her husband against criticism from those "trying to downplay the severity of Lyme disease".
"Please do your research," she urged them on social media.
Early warning signs of Lyme disease
While symptoms of Lyme disease vary, there are early signs of the condition to look out for. It's widely reported that the main sign of Lyme disease is a distinctive circular rash at the site of the tick bite around three to 30 days after being bitten. However around one in three people don't develop the rash. Instead, Roscop says: "The first signs may be subtle - fatigue, disrupted sleep, poor recovery, or a general sense that something is "off."
"If you've had a tick bite, flu-like symptoms or persistent health complaints that don't resolve, it’s worth speaking to a practitioner who understands the full picture of Lyme
and its co-infections. Even years later, it's possible to unravel what's happening beneath the surface."
If not caught early, Lyme disease can cause pain and swelling in the joints, as well as problems affecting the nervous system such as pain and numbness in limbs, memory problems and difficulty concentrating.
Heart problems such as inflammation of the heart muscle, heart block and heart failure are also possible, as well as inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord (meningitis).
Diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease
The NHS advises seeing your GP if you have been bitten by a tick or visited an area in the past month where infected ticks are found and you get flu-like symptoms or a circular red rash.
A spreading rash after a known tick bite should be treated with antibiotics. Blood tests can be carried out to confirm the diagnosis after a few weeks, but these may come back negative in the early stages of the infection.
If you suffer from long-lasting symptoms or post-infectious Lyme disease, you may see a specialist in microbiology or infectious diseases, who can arrange for further tests for other tick-borne infections.