Re: tired of this [blaming the immune system]

[Guest guest]

Yes Kate I did say that- knowing exactly what a true immune booster

is.. that's my point - people say immune booster when that's not what

they mean. They talk about 'boosting the immune system " like it's as

easy as eating a candy bar.. I think that's whta Penny means.

A true booster will probably make you sick like an interferon

injection..

Barb

> > Kate.. how were the Immune SYstems boosted? With what?

> That was the German Filgrastim article at lymenet.de -- Isabel

> Diterich, Immunomodulation and new therapeutic strategies in Lyme

> borreliosis, Dissertation (Dr. rer. nat.), Universität Konstanz,

2003.

> (im Cache). I think it was you yourself, Barb, that called

Filgrastim

> an immune booster in your comment.

>

> I am puzzled a bit by the article below. These patients did better

> after they received IVIG ( " a novel treatment for pain " ), but the

> authors don't seem to be considering that infection could be

involved

> at all. Wouldn't the IVIG have boosted their immune systems and

maybe

> knocked out something? It looks to me like they think they are

just

> manipulating which cytokines are being produced.

>

> - Kate

>

> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060726083452.htm

>

> Source: Wiley & Sons, Inc.

> Date: July 26, 2006

> Lower Levels Of Anti-inflammatory Proteins May Contribute To

Chronic

> Widespread Pain

>

> Science Daily — Chronic widespread pain, a common medical

condition,

> can be difficult to treat and is often associated with fatigue,

poor

> sleep and depression. A connection between fibromayalgia (FM) and

> cytokines (proteins that act as messengers between cells) was

> suspected after cancer patients treated with the cytokine

interleukin

> -2 developed FM-like symptoms. Since then, other studies have

shown

> contradictory results. A new study published in the August 2006

issue

> of Arthritis & Rheumatism examined cytokine profiles in patients

with

> chronic widespread pain and found that they had significantly

lower

> levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10.

>

> Led by Nurcan Üçeyler of Julius-Maximilians University in

Wurzburg,

> Germany, researchers analyzed cytokines in 40 patients with

chronic

> widespread pain (26 of whom had FM), 40 controls and an additional

> group of 15 patients. The 40 pain patients had received

intravenous

> immunoglobulin (IVIG) as a novel treatment for pain that was not

> responsive to standard therapy, while the additional 15 patients

did

> not receive this treatment. Blood samples were analyzed for both

pro-

> inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. In addition,

patients

> were asked to rate their pain, fatigue, mood, cognitive function

and

> sleep quality on a scale of 1 to 10.

>

> Patients in the pain group did not differ in the expression of the

> pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-2, IL-8 and TNF±, but did have

> significantly lower levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4

> and IL-10 compared with the healthy control group. The 15 patients

in

> the additional group showed similar findings, although the

difference

> in IL-10 between this group and the controls was not statistically

> significant.

>

> Etc.

>

> " Once confirmed and validated in further studies, " they conclude,

> " cytokine expression patterns may eventually help in supporting

the

> diagnosis of chronic widespread pain and in guiding the

appropriate

> treatment approach. "

>

> Article: " Reduced Levels of Antiinflammatory Cytokines in Patients

> With Chronic Widespread Pain, " Nurcan Üçeyler, Regine Valenza,

> Stock, Schedel, Günter Sprotte, Sommer,

> Arthritis & Rheumatism, August 2006; (DOI: 10.1002/art.22026).

>