interesting article on Varicella (chicken pox) Virus and Achalasia

[Guest guest]

I know we try to figure out " what caused this, why did I get achalasia " --

I found this interesting article showing a connection with the virus that

causes Chicken Pox (varicella-zoster.)

http://gut.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/3/299?eaf

This study was VERY small, and it didn't show that EVERYONE with achalasia

has a connection with the varicella-zoster virus, but I think it *does*

lend a little credibility to the theory that achalasia can be triggered by

a virus.

It may very well be that several viruses are possible causes.... it may be

Chicken Pox in one person, Influenza in another person, a stomach bug

virus in another person, etc. Maybe we have some sort of physiological

(genetic or structural) predisposition to having a virus (any virus, not

just varicella-zoster) " lodge " in the oesophageal myenteric plexus and

cause achalasia.

I'm particularly interested in the varicella-zoster virus, because I was

exposed as a teen, yet never had chicken pox (my grandmother had

" shingles " on and off for years after my grandfather died, so I'm assuming

that I at some point came into contact with the virus because I had

contact lots with my grandmother, and would even put topical treatments on

her lesions on her back where she couldn't reach.)

A couple months ago I talked to my doctor about getting my titres checked

for varicella-zoster (I'm planning on doing it this month, in fact)

because of the fact that I run a risk of being exposed because I have a

child (he's been immunized, but just taking him to school or even the

playground increases MY chances of being exposed to some other contagious

child.) I want to get immunized myself, now that we have a vaccination

for Chicken Pox, but I don't want to get the shot if I'm already immune.

I'll be really interested to see if my titres show that I'm immune, yet

never had any signs of infection. When the time comes for me to have the

myotomy, I'll DEFINITELY ask about whether I can get them to check the

tissues for evidence of the varicella-zoster virus!

Debbi

[Guest guest]

Debbi Heiser wrote:

>...I'm particularly interested in the varicella-zoster virus, because I was

>exposed as a teen, yet never had chicken pox ...

The only reason my mother knew I had chicken pox was that my sister had it

first so she was looking for it. I only had two spots which would have been

easy to miss. I would guess that if a person can get by with only two spots

another person may get by with no spots.

notan

[Guest guest]

Debbi wrote:

I'll be really interested to see if my titres show that I'm immune, yet

never had any signs of infection. When the time comes for

me to have the

myotomy, I'll DEFINITELY ask about whether I can get them to check

the

tissues for evidence of the varicella-zoster virus!

When I was pregnant with my 3rd

child (almost 15 years ago), I needed to have an emergency C-section. My other

children were at home with chicken pox at the time this was happening, and to the

best of my knowledge or my mother’s, I had *never* had chicken pox. My Dr. wasn’t willing to do the

C-section knowing that I had been exposed and that I had never had chicken pox,

so they had to put the C-section on hold until the test results came back.

The test results showed that I was immune…but

to the best of anyone’s knowledge, I never had chicken pox.

(BTW… I had a healthy little itty

bitty 3lb. 15oz. baby boy 5 weeks pre-mature…who is now taller than I am…and

I’m 5’10”)

STS(MSTI)

Sandi in No CA

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[Guest guest]

dra, I don't think you read my whole message.

I wasn't saying that ONLY chicken pox was a possible cause, but just that it's possible that ANY viruses might be a trigger for this disease. These are two quotes from my original message that spell this out:

This study was VERY small, and it didn't show that EVERYONE with achalasia has a connection with the varicella-zoster virus, but I think it *does* lend a little credibility to the theory that achalasia can be triggered by a virus.

It may very well be that several viruses are possible causes.... it may be Chicken Pox in one person, Influenza in another person, a stomach bug virus in another person, etc. Maybe we have some sort of physiological (genetic or structural) predisposition to having a virus (any virus, not just varicella-zoster) "lodge" in the oesophageal myenteric plexus and cause achalasia.

Based on your comment, I got the impression that you didn't read past the first sentence to see the next two paragraphs.

Debbi

that is interesting but I never had the chicken pox as a child. I had the vaccine a couple of years ago. So that may not be the case.Debbi Heiser <heiser@...> wrote:

I know we try to figure out "what caused this, why did I get achalasia" --I found this interesting article showing a connection with the virus thatcauses Chicken Pox (varicella-zoster.)http://gut.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/3/299?eafThis study was VERY small, and it didn't show that EVERYONE with achalasiahas a connection with the varicella-zoster virus, but I think it *does*lend a little credibility to the theory that achalasia can be triggered bya virus.It may very well be that several viruses are possible causes.... it may beChicken Pox in one person, Influenza in another person, a stomach bugvirus in another person, etc. Maybe we have some sort of physiological(genetic or structural) predisposition to having a virus (any virus, notjust varicella-zoster) "lodge" in the oesophageal myenteric plexus andcause achalasia.I'm particularly interested in the varicella-zoster virus, because I wasexposed as a teen, yet never had chicken pox (my grandmother had"shingles" on and off for years after my grandfather died, so I'm assumingthat I at some point came into contact with the virus because I hadcontact lots with my grandmother, and would even put topical treatments onher lesions on her back where she couldn't reach.)A couple months ago I talked to my doctor about getting my titres checkedfor varicella-zoster (I'm planning on doing it this month, in fact)because of the fact that I run a risk of being exposed because I have achild (he's been immunized, but just taking him to school or even theplayground increases MY chances of being exposed to some other contagiouschild.) I want to get immunized myself, now that we have a vaccinationfor Chicken Pox, but I don't want to get the shot if I'm already immune.I'll be really interested to see if my titres show that I'm immune, yetnever had any signs of infection. When the time comes for me to have themyotomy, I'll DEFINITELY ask about whether I can get them to check thetissues for evidence of the varicella-zoster virus!Debbi