The British Medical Journal ran a leading article saying it was time for a new approach to Lyme disease , that nasty infection transmitted by ticks carried by wildlife such as deer and foxes. I’ll say it is. Just listen to this horror story of a friend of mine.

A single mother of a 10-year-old son, she was beset last year by incredible tiredness, numbness, tingling and shooting pains in her arms, legs, hands, face and joints.

Her face went on to become paralysed down one side – Bell’s palsy. Coping with all this she became stressed, anxious and depressed. She saw doctor after doctor but to no avail. No one could tell her what was wrong and all tests were negative.

The final straw was when she was admitted to a mental ward with psychosis which is when I heard all about her ghastly predicament.

Read more:My Lyme disease living hell

I confess I was baffled. A less psychotic type would be hard to find. She held down a taxing job and saw to her sporty son on her own. Previously efficient, she confessed to not being able to think straight or make ­decisions. She felt dizzy and ­occasionally had double vision. Her memory had gone and she couldn’t compute numbers or find words.

Then a bright doctor thought of Lyme disease. Sure enough the tests came back positive. But her story doesn’t end there. She had antibiotic ­treatment and her ­symptoms eased off. Then, out of the blue, they returned, full on, with mood swings, rages, crying and even hallucinations.

She had post-treatment Lyme disease, which is where the heart and other vital organs can be affected. At the moment, she’s on once-weekly intravenous ­antibiotic treatment which is set to continue indefinitely and she’s now slowly getting better.

You think I’m exaggerating? Just go to Lyme Disease Action (lymedisease action.org.uk ). It’s all there. This is a horrible condition and the BMJ’s call to action comes not a moment too soon.

There are 100,000 new cases in Europe each year but many infections go ­undiagnosed. Recently, the UK medical community was forced out of its comfort zone by the realisation that Lyme disease is complex and attacks many organs.

There’s a frightening lack of ­understanding of the disease among doctors. We need more national and international cooperation, more research and improved diagnostic tests. People and doctors must be aware of the risks of Lyme disease.

GPs must work with infectious disease specialists so that, in the future, patients like my friend don’t suffer.