Eye involvement, RAI, bee pollen

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/3/99 5:01:36 AM !!!First Boot!!!,

petri001@... writes:

<< The National Graves Disease Foundation bulletin board

(http://209.114.200.77/bb/new.asp) is LOADED with posts from people who've

had

more eye difficulties post RAI than before. As someone with moderate eye

problems, I rejected RAI in part because I was convinced it would worsen my

eye

problems and in part, because drinking radioactive material seemed

instinctly

wrong. Now, three months into remission without allopathic treatment, my

eyes

are in superb condition. I used to tape them shut and no longer have to do

so.

I take one quarter teaspoon of bee pollen a day -- there's no " hard "

evidence,

but anecdotal evidence that bee pollen helps bulging/pain/double vision. If

you

decide to take bee pollen, be careful because some people are dangerously

allergic. Only take two or three granules initially; if you have no

reaction,

you should be okay to try a quarter teaspoon. People who are allergic to

bee

stings shouldn't take this.

, any thoughts on bee pollen? I'm not sure what to think, except a

couple

of people have had good results improving double vision with this, and I

feel

like it's helped me. >>

Hi and Everyone,

Thanks for the great info about eye problems developing or worsening

after RAI. I've also read the literature and completely agree that the

studies show that eye problems (ophthalmopathy) worsens after RAI. The big

question now for me is WHY. I'm trying to figure that out.

You mentioned that you took bee pollen seemed to help you recover from

Graves' and eye involvement. I have never heard of the use of bee pollen for

this before, so I looked it up and found five studies which have correlated

the effects on pollen and autoimmune thyroid disease. I found the studies

very interesting (I'll add the abstracts to the end of this email) because

they seem to imply that people who suffer from allergic reactions to pollen

are more likely to get autoimmune thyroid disease. Apparently allergic

people have higher levels of IgE immunoglobins and there is an elevation of

IgE in people with autoimmune disease.

What I'm wondering is if there is a greater likelihood of a person who

has allergies and who gets Graves' or Hashimoto's of developing eye disease.

I don't have allergies and I didn't develop eye disease (other than itching

and irritation). Anyone who has had allergies and developed eye disease?

When you add to this research the anecdotal information that some people

benefit from taking bee pollen, it gets very interesting. I've heard that

some people take bee pollen for relief from allergies. Anyone else heard

that? You would think that pollen would aggravate allergies.

Here are the studies (no authors or titles,but if you want more info let

me know). What do you think?

POLLEN FILE:

We previously reported that allergic rhinitis was an aggravating factor for

Graves' disease and that thyrotoxicosis relapsed 2 months after an allergic

attack. In this paper, we report a patient who showed onset of Graves'

thyrotoxicosis after an attack of allergic rhinitis. The patient, a

30-year-old woman, was initially diagnosed with subclinical autoimmune

thyroiditis. Interestingly, the patient showed weak activity of

thyroid-stimulating antibody (TSAb), while TSH-binding inhibitory

immunoglobulin (TBII) was negative and her thyroid function tests, including

TSH, were completely normal. The patient developed severe allergic rhinitis

in response to Japanese cedar pollen lasting from February until April in

1995 with an increase in serum antigen-specific immunoglobulin E and

peripheral blood eosinophils. Two months later, she developed thyrotoxicosis

in association with increase in TSAb and TBII. These findings suggest that

allergic rhinitis not only aggravates Graves' disease but also induces the

clinical onset of Graves' thyrotoxicosis.pollen allergic rhinitis may

initiate thyrotoxicosis.doc

Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder characterized by circulating TSH

receptor antibodies (TRAb), the majority of which lies in the immunoglobulin

G (IgG) class. However, there may be a role of other immunoglobulins in the

induction and maintenance of hyperthyroid Graves' disease. We focus on the

role of IgE on these issues. One third of hyperthyroid Graves' disease shows

IgE elevation (greater than 170 U/mL). This prevalence is significantly

higher than other thyroid diseases and controls, suggesting IgE elevation

appears associated with autoimmune Graves' disease. Half of Graves' patients

with IgE elevation have hereditary and/or allergic conditions such as

bronchial asthma and pollen allergy. There is a significantly smaller

decrease in TRAb in patients with IgE elevation than in those with normal IgE

during methimazole treatment. The remission rate is significantly less in

patients with IgE elevation than in those with normal IgE. These findings

suggest that TRAb synthesis is increased when IgE synthesis is stimulated.

There is an elevation of interleukin (IL)-13, but not of IL-4, in two thirds

of patients with IgE elevation in the absence of detectable helper T-cell-1

marker, IFN gamma. It seems that TH2 cells are stimulated in hyperthyroid

Graves' disease to secrete excess IL-13, following stimulation of B cells to

secrete TRAb and IgE. IgE elevation as a result of aggravating complex

(IL-13-IgE synthesis), thus, may play a role in the participation of thyroid

autoimmunity rather than its pathogenesis.IgE elevation in graves and pollen

allergy.doc

Two postpartum and 7 spontaneous episodes of transient hypothyroidism

developed during 5 years of observation in a florist with autoimmune

thyroiditis and seasonal allergic rhinitis. The spontaneous episodes recurred

twice a year regularly in spring and in autumn, the seasons of her allergic

rhinitis. In most of these episodes as well as in the postpartum ones,

hypothyroidism was preceded by transient thyrotoxicosis. In addition to the

similarity in the clinical course, the changes in antimicrosomal antibody

titers in pregnancy-unrelated episodes were almost identical to those in

postpartum episodes. Throughout the observation periods, she had supranormal

serum total immunoglobulin (Ig) E concentrations and high antigen-specific Ig

E levels for various pollen extracts such as cedar and ragweed. However, we

failed to demonstrate a correlation between thyroid function and total or any

antigen-specific Ig E level. The present findings suggest that the

pregnancy-unrelated thyroid dysfunction in our patient developed as a result

of silent thyroiditis and through similar immunological mechanisms to those

in postpartum thyroiditis. And it is suspected, though unproved, that the

seasonal recurrence of pregnancy-unrelated thyroiditis has some causal

relation to her allergic disease.pollen-seasonal recurrence of autoimmune

hypoT.doc

Lancet 1971 Nov 20;2(7734):1121-3

Immune responses of non-atopic individuals to prolonged immunisation with

ragweed extract.

Greenert S, Bernstein IL, JG

Publication Types:

· Clinical trial

PMID: 4107398, UI: 72036048

NO ABSTRACT

To investigate the possible participation of immunoglobulin E (IgE) in the

autoimmune process of Graves' disease, incidence of elevation of serum IgE

level, TSH receptor antibody (TRAb), and thyroid status were studied in 66

patients with hyperthyroid Graves' disease, 54 patients with Hashimoto's

thyroiditis, 19 patients with bronchial asthma, and 15 patients with pollen

allergy. In hyperthyroid Graves' patients, elevation of serum IgE levels (>

or = 170 U/mL) was found in 19 of 66 patients (29%), 11 of whom had

hereditary and/or allergic conditions. Elevations of serum IgE levels were

found in 63% of patients with bronchial asthma and in 40% of patients with

pollen allergy. Mean values of serum IgE were the same in patients with

hyperthyroid Graves' disease and with bronchial asthma. During methimazole

treatment TRAb decreased without fluctuation of IgE levels in both groups.

The decrease in TRAb was significantly greater in patients with normal IgE

than in patients with IgE elevation. After prednisone administration,

reduction in TRAb was greater in patients with normal IgE than that in

patients with IgE elevation. High incidence of IgE elevation in hyperthyroid

Graves' disease and slower reduction in TRAb in association with IgE

elevation suggest a difference in the autoimmune processes in Graves' disease

with and without elevation of IgE.pollen allergy.IgE.graves.doc