: Ciguatoxin confusion? Cig found in farm-raised salmon...

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I believe they're not 100% certain that it is not always an epitope, but in

general you're

correct -- it may be related in some way, and in the last NCF issue I believe

they

suggested it could be a spinoff of a virus, possibly carried by an insect. But

I still don't

know HOW they know those who have it didn't get it through the food chain...

And not every CFS patient has this ciguatera epitope -- I think that should be

stressed. I

know you said a " large percentage " , but then said it's being produced " in our

bodies " .

They are finding the actual ciguatera toxin in other parts of the world besides

the tropics,

because of fish meal used to feed other animals (chickens, dog and cat foods,

etc.. And I

also read a report of ciguatera being found in farm-raised salmon -- the farm

being in

Chile.

Perhaps I'm worrying too much about it, and I don't know if I have it, but I and

quite a few

people in our local CFS group all became ill within months to a year or so of a

trip to

Mexico...

best regards,

dan

>

>

>

> I agree that ciguatera is generally know as a tropical problem, not a

> temperate/Northern fish problem. However, it is not, so far as I

> know, a -common- contaminant of tropical fish or people around the

> world would not be eating fish as readily as they do.

>

> I wonder if the person asking about this confused the ciguatera

> -epitope- which is evidently present in a large percentage of CFS

> patients with ciguatera toxin itself. I believe the research shows

> that the epitope is NOT ciguatera toxin per se; they don't even know

> if its effects result from the same process; moreover the epitope is

> generally considered to be produced endogenously, that is from within

> our own bodies (liver) rather than being consumed from an external

> source. (That's one reason it is present; it is continually produced

> as fast as it is detoxed/metabolized into other substances, as

> opposed to ciguater which is consumed and the effects run their

> course as the body rids it.) We PWCs do not have a problem with

> ciguatera (which among other things caused a reversal of temperature

> sensation such that people might think ice cream is 'hot' and hot

> soup is 'icy cold'. The epitope is molecularly close to the ciguatera

> toxin and that's why people refer to ciguatera as a short reference

> but it has been shown that it is not ciguatera toxin.

>