NEW YORK, Oct. 11 (UPI) — U.S. researchers found antibiotic therapy benefited those suffering with chronic Lyme encephalopathy, or cognitive impairment after Lyme disease treatment.

Patients with chronic Lyme disease report cognitive impairment, pain, physical dysfunction and fatigue — after the “standard” course of antibiotic treatment — three weeks of intravenous antibiotic therapy, principal investigator Dr. Brian Fallon, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York, explained.

In the study, patients with cognitive problems that developed after Lyme disease that persisted after the standard” course of antibiotic treatment were randomly selected to take an additional 10 weeks of IV antibiotic therapy or IV placebo.

The study, published in Neurology, reported repeated IV antibiotic therapy was more effective than a placebo in improving cognition, and among the more impaired, in improving pain, fatigue and physical dysfunction in those with chronic Lyme disease.

IV antibiotic therapy has the potential for serious risks such as systemic infection, thrombus formation or allergic reactions, Fallon said.

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