posted on September 6, 2000 08:18:01 AM new
Some of the things being said in a thread in the EO, in which people are discussing eBaying in relation to disabling conditions, reminded me of a fascinating article in The Atlantic I'd read on germ theory a while back. To crudely summarize, it sugggests that germs--infectious agents--are likely responsible for many of the diseases now sadly common in the world. Here's a paragraph from the last third of the article:
The catalogue of suspected chronic diseases caused by infection, according to David A. Relman, an assistant professor of medicine, microbiology, and immunology at Stanford University, now includes "sarcoidosis, various forms of inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Wegener's granulomatosis, diabetes mellitus, primary biliary cirrhosis, tropical sprue, and Kawasaki disease." Ewald and Cochran's list of likely suspects would include all of the above plus many forms of heart disease, arteriosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, many if not most forms of cancer, multiple sclerosis, most major psychiatric diseases, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, cerebral palsy, polycystic ovary disease, and perhaps obesity and certain eating disorders. From an evolutionary perspective, Cochran says, anorexia is strikingly inimical to the survival principle. "I mean, not to eat -- what would cause that?"
Disclaimer: I don't wholly cotton to the Darwinian "fitness" idea in the article, and have real problems with it as it's applied--and it's all theoretical anyway--to sexuality.
posted on September 6, 2000 10:06:12 AM newPareau Just popped in for a minute - your post really caught my attention.
I've never read about this particular theory - but my own illness (onset about two years ago) has been examined to the max with no clear answers from specialist - or from my own studies. Everyone has a theory - most lean toward early M.S. but all have said that it doesn't follow the normal patterns of M.S. In short, they're confused.
My own personal theory is that my symptoms - mostly blurred vision with some serious memory lags - are allergy/environment related. My vision problems seem to escalate when a swelling on my neck is "acting up." Sometimes the swelling goes completely away and simultaneously my vision problems seem to lesson in frequency. Still there - but much less. I've been told that the swelling is allergy related - a blockage of sorts caused by unexplained infection that won't seem to go away and stay away. My neurologist doesn't think it's related - but it seems too coincidental to me.
Of course, some days I swear that it must be related to my "ever changing hormones."
One thing I have learned is that there are lots and lots of "new" undiagnosable illnesses - and some of them are surely related to our environment. I've made a lot of changes in my diet and such trying to reverse or at least slow this down.
Didn't mean to go on about my stuff - but, it's very frustrating. Most of the time I ignore it all as best I can - but, sometimes it helps to vent.
posted on September 6, 2000 11:39:14 AM new
mybiddness, it was you and HCQ I thought of when I posted this. It's frightening how many people I know who have symptoms of the sort you describe, but who can't get anything beyond a dx of symptoms (like fibromyalgia; "you're in pain, and we don't know why", and they're just not being helped by conventional medicine. I too believe that some sort of allergic reaction is taking place, but to what? Have you had any luck with identifying dietary culprits?
posted on September 6, 2000 11:47:30 AM new
My experience over the past 5-7 years, as I deal with physical problems and try to find an answer has been very frustrating. I think women especially are often dismissed as being "hysterical", or "emotional". We are looked at as nothing more than a "walking ovary".
My first MRI 4 years ago didn't show anything, and I was not sent to a neurologist at that time either. My regular MD diagnosed "depression", and put my on Serzone for 14 months.
Of course I was depressed, I felt like crap! While the meds helped the depression, my physical symptoms remained, even though they came and went.
Having some "Bright White Spots" show up in the MRI I had done 2 years ago at least gave us something tangible to "see". I did see a neurologist at the time, and am long overdo to see him again. I only think to call when I am having problems, then the sypmtoms stop, and I never call.
Diet plays a role with me, as do strong chemicals, perfumes, that sort of thing. I stay away from Nutrasweet, my vertigo really acts up if I use that in any way. Stress can trigger symptoms as well, I am in the middle of a "crash and burn" after the events of August.
posted on September 6, 2000 01:07:21 PM new
This might be interesting to a friend of mine who has been going through something similar to chronic fatigue syndrome for the past two years, which appeared to have been brought on by a bout of mono. She goes through peaks and deep valleys and is terribly frustrated with it. Having always been a very active and athletic person, she now suffers from near total lack of energy, sleeplessness, and impaired cognitive functioning. She has seen many doctors and no one has been able to make a conclusive diagnosis or find a way to help her.
I also have an uncle who suddenly went from being perfectly healthy to having an unexplained and vicious array of symptoms. He initially almost died, and they don't even know what's causing his troubles, which include blood problems, brain problems, physical functioning, you name it.
Sometimes it seems like our medical sciences are so advanced, but there's really so much that's still unknown. Germ theory sounds reasonable -- after all, germs can cause short-terms illnesses -- why not chronic ones, too?
posted on September 6, 2000 02:07:15 PM new
One of the most frustrating things about having an undiagnosed illness is that sometimes the doctors seem to want to put a label on it - no matter what.
My MRI's show white spots on the brain but a spinal tap didn't reveal anything they were looking for for a definite M.S. diagnosis. When I study M.S. I've never found a case that cites the same type of vision problems that I'm having. In fact, I can't find anything that "looks" like what I'm going through. I studied HCQ'sFibromyalgia link also and that doesn't describe what I'm going through either. During my last visit to the neurologist I tried to make her pinpoint why she made an assumption of early M.S. To make a long story short - I didn't get a clear answer from her and in fact she started throwing out all kinds of other possibilities - including depression, hormonal changes, etc. Why is it that a doctor can't just say - I DON'T KNOW! I would much prefer that to grasping for a label to put on it.
I've completely cut out sugar substitutes (two years ago) but I really don't have a way to gauge whether that has made a difference. My symptoms persist but haven't noticeably worsened.
My advice to anyone using those type of substitutes is to seriously consider the possible risk and consequences. Hindsight at work here. I'm sure there are lots of other things that we haven't even realized are causing undiagnosed health problems.
Wheewhhh! I talk too much. Off to get some more work done.
posted on September 6, 2000 03:05:48 PM new
I'll second the advice above about caution using aspartame/NutraSweet. I discontinued its use almost a year ago with discernible positive results to my health; I had consumed a considerable amount of NutraSweet daily for many years. Since my experience, over 50 RL friends and acquaintances have quit using it, with the majority, especially of those with heavy intake, experiencing improvements with their health. Others did not detect any changes.
If anyone has interest or concerns, the link below is a good beginning to investigate some of the dangers that have been associated with aspartame. There's a lot of information available on the web as well as in print.
posted on September 6, 2000 03:26:08 PM new
I think a lot of the time we want to know that THAT, that thing over there, that one thing, is what made us sick. I suspect the real answer is "well, it could be this, or that, or this AND that and something else."
The most recent data on FMS makes it pretty clear that it's neurochemical. Everything seems to revolve around serotonin - did you know that wacky serotonin levels can actually affect your blood pressure (or lack thereof, in my case)? Yup. Depression, migraine, pain sensation, blood pressure...sheesh. Once your neurochemistry is screwed up, watch out. Everything goes haywire. There's more than just blood moving around in our bodies; we're pretty complicated chemically.
With me, I'm pretty sure it's a hereditary problem. My genealogy (sorry Pareau) research shows a distinct line of clinical depression and neurological problems (including chorea and MS) along one line. My mother's got FMS. My dad was severely depressed most of his life (you can see from old family photos when it kicked in when he was a kid). So I was genetically set up to have a predisposition for this sort of thing.
Even as a kid, I was sensitive to light, sound, movement, and had a real craving for carbohydrates (which stimulate serotonin production, as it turns out). Otherwise I was perfectly healthy. My family called me cranky and oversensitive. Well DUH, turns out I am - more pain receptors that are stimulated more easily than in other folks.
The hard part was getting a diagnosis; THEN the hard part was dealing with my radically-changed life. I'm not the "me" I was - but then, I realized, NObody's the "they" they were. Everybody changes in different ways. It's been long enough that I can't really remember what I was like "before", which is fine with me. Now if I can just do the same forgetting job on how skinny I was at 19
I spent a short time on FMS "support" message boards, but got so sick of people griping about how awful their lives were and talking about how they were going to send off for the latest quack "cure", rather than saying "okay, this is what is, how do I manage it best?" that I quit that circuit. This is a chronic illness. Nobody knows how to cure it yet, but you can manage it AND you can still be happy and productive, and there are plenty people a lot worse off.
, and they're just not being helped by conventional medicine. I too believe that some sort of allergic reaction is taking place, but to what? Have you had any luck with identifying dietary culprits?
