Does Lyme disease run in families? After the health update, the family history of Bella Hadid

Bella Hadid shared pictures and details about her diagnosis of Lyme disease on social media.

The model, who is 26 years old, has had Lyme disease for 15 years, but she has now said that she is “finally healthy.” Many of Hadid’s other pictures were of her getting care over the years. Hadid wrote, “The little me who had to go through hard times would be so proud of the adult me who didn’t give up on herself.”

Anwar Hadid, Bella’s brother, and Yolanda Hadid, Bella’s mother, have both talked about how they also had to deal with Lyme disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that every year, about 476,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease and treated for it.

VITTORIO ZUNINO CELOTTO/GETTY IMAGES

How does Lyme disease happen?

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria that get into the body. The CDC says it is spread to people by the bites of infected black-legged ticks.

Even though three Hadid family members have Lyme disease, there is no evidence that it is hereditary or passed from one family member to another.

The CDC says that it is possible, but rare, for a mother with untreated Lyme disease during pregnancy to pass the infection on to her baby.

How does Lyme disease make you feel?

Lyme disease can affect people in different ways. In an Instagram post, Bella Hadid said she has been suffering “invisibly” for 15 years.

“A circular or oval-shaped rash around a tick bite can be an early sign of Lyme disease in some people,” says the U.K.’s National Health Service. People who get bitten can get “flu-like symptoms” like a fever, headaches, sore muscles, and tiredness.

After being checked out in November 2013, when she was 17 years old, Bella was said to have a long list of problems, such as fatigue, attention deficit disorder, memory problems, headaches, dizziness, PMS, chest pain, and trouble sleeping.

Bella says in her most recent Instagram post that she went through “100+ days of Lyme, chronic disease, and co-infection treatment” to end the 15 years of pain she had been in.

Has anyone in the Hadid family had Lyme disease?

Even though three Hadid family members have talked about having Lyme disease, it is not a disease that runs in the family.

Mother Yolanda Hadid, who used to be on the show Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, has talked about her experiences with Lyme disease more than once in the last ten years.

In a blog post in 2016, she said that Bella and Anwar had been diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2013 and had since been getting “extensive holistic treatment.”

Yolanda explained how all three got the same disease by saying, “Lyme disease often affects more than one person in the same family. My kids and I lived on a horse ranch in Santa Barbara for ten years. We spent most of our time outside in nature.”

Newsweek has asked the people who work for Bella Hadid for more information.