PNI question

[Guest guest]

>

>> Along the same lines, re. a BPD-related behaviour - obsessive

cleanliness -

> there's also the hygiene hypothesis, which proposes that the ever-

increasing

> incidence of autoimmune disorders...<<

Hi -- are autoimmune disorders actually increasing or are they

being diagnosed more frequently? If increasing any ideas why?

>

>>my MS stays in remission...unless I have to spend time with nada,

in which case my balance & endurance soon take a hike and cognitive

problems come on like gangbusters within an hour of so of listening

to her malicious ravings.<<

Amazing how that happens, eh?

>> I'll just keep focusing on the serenity & sanity of my

newfound nada-free zone!

>

> F :-)

Good for you! Amazing how easy it is to keep a distance when your

physical health actually depends on it. It's not so easy to connect

the dots with " hidden " stress and illness. Until something happens.

~db

[Guest guest]

~db wrote:

" Hi -- are autoimmune disorders actually increasing or are they

being diagnosed more frequently? "

Hey backatcha', db! Sorry for the tardy response - we're in the throes of

winter lambing & my wee ewes are popping out lots of triplets & quads, so

I've been spending lots of time in the barn bottle feeding newborn lambs.

(One of the many things I love about sheep farming - spending half your day

feeding & cuddling impossibly cute little lambs is considered to be *work*!

Can't for the life of me figure out that one...I think it's pure fun...but

I'm happy to accept the credit anyway... :-)

In the case of more recently-recognized disorders such as chronic fatigue

you're likely correct. But standardized diagnostic criteria have existed &

detailed records have been maintained for disorders such as MS, autoimmune

diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis for more than 40 years, and the majority

of studies on such disorders indicate that incidence is increasing, and at a

dramatic rate.

" If increasing any ideas why? "

I'm not sure, and I doubt that there'll be a definite answer to your

question for a very long time. I've noticed that for most autoimmune

diseases, researchers believe that environmental links exists, but

relatively little research has been done on environmental causes/effects.

Even the MS Society grants more funding to research leading to the possible

development of drugs to manage MS than to research leading to possible ways

to prevent MS.

One thing which has been 'proven' to my satisfaction - autoimmune diseases

are significantly more prevalent in developed countries, in which more

processed foods are eaten, folks get less physical exercise, children tend

to receive a full course of vaccinations, hygiene levels are higher, and

there's more direct exposure to environmental toxins/pollutants such as

pesticides, preservatives,

medication residues and household chemicals. Studies show that if a person

from an area with a low MS-risk (eg Japan) moves to an area with a high-MS

risk (eg Canada) their risk of developing MS doesn't increase....but their

children's risk does, probably because their kids more thoroughy adopt the

lifestyle of their new country.

Which makes me wonder if the scientific community's methods, which seek one

cause for one effect, will ever find the full answer to autoimmunity, as I

think it's caused/triggered by a combination of adverse environmental

factors to which different genetic types have sensitivity. Eg we both might

be senstive to overexposure to environmental mercury and particulate matter

in air - but your genetics might cause your immune system to attack your

pancreas, while my genetics dictated that my immune system attacked my

myelin.

That's my theory & I'm stickin' to it...at least until someone points out

the fatal flaws in my logic...- what's yours?

F :-)