Solar Urt and Light sensativity

[Guest guest]

Hi,

There are quite a few new memebers who have joined recently who have been dxd with solar urticaria, which is one of the " physical urticarias " . Here are some things that you might want to consider. First solar urticaria can be confused with other types of light sensativities like PLE......polymorphic light eruption. PLE is a condition that some people experience who have lupus and some people who have lupus have urticaria as well. So this is a definate thing to check out. There are a few other light sensativity afflictions which have a urticarial type eruption. This all needs to be considered. Second, the physical urticarias are a common symptom with mastocytosis especially solar urticaria and pressure urticaria, as well as angioedema and/or shocking. If you have a physical urticaria, angioedema or shocking and you also experience gastro-reflux, GERD, or other gastro-intestinal problems such as IBS inflamatory bowel sydrome, and (some experience) deep bone or joint pain......then you may be someone who needs to check out the possibility of systemic mastocytosis...........not to be confused with those cases of masto which include UP (urticaria pigmentosa), which is a confirmed dx of masto. Other symptoms of masto can include, smell sensativities, syncope (fainting), salicylate sensativites..........the list is long. I have mentioned the top symptom considerations. Third PUVA is a treatment that is sometimes used with people who have light reactions or solar urticaria. It is a treatment not without controversy........some articles I have read say that it can cause a person to be well for only a short period of time, then retreatment has to be applied, some site the risk of cancer and it is absolutely the wrong treatment for someone with anaphylaxis symptoms.......it can send this type of person into shock. Others worry about causing mast cells to be more squirrelly than before. I have recently read about a person on the masto board who has been evaluated for this treatment and has been found to be not a good candiate..........however she notes that she is taking pharmaceutical grade beta carotene, as well as using sun blocks. That reminds me of an article I have in the file about carrots and their effect on anaphylaxsis. Think I'll post it..........this was retrieved from my strange and weird file. Hugs, Myra

Biol Pharm Bull 1999 Jun;22(6):551-5

The effect of feeding carrots on immunoglobulin E production and anaphylactic response in mice.

Akiyama H, Hoshino K, Tokuzumi M, Teshima R, Mori H, Inakuma T, Ishiguro Y, Goda Y, Sawada J, Toyoda M

National Institute of Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.

[Medline record in process]

Carrot juice was administered orally to BALB/c mice immunized intraperitoneally with dinitrophenylated (DNP)-OVA for about 1 month. The titers of DNP-specific IgE, DNP-specific IgG, and the levels of total IgE in mouse sera were determined. The DNP-specific IgE production by mice fed carrot juice was significantly inhibited. On the other hand, the DNP-specific IgG production and the level of total IgE in mice fed carrot juice were not significantly different from those in control mice. We also examined the effect of feeding carrots on immediate-type hypersensitivity. One hour after antigen stimulation, the ears of mice fed carrots swelled less than those of control mice. Furthermore, the rise in serum histamine in the mice fed carrots under active systemic anaphylaxis was lower than in controls. We then examined the pattern of cytokine production by spleen cells from mice followed by restimulation with DNP-OVA in vitro. The spleen cells from the mice fed carrots produced more interferon-gamma than those from the control group. In contrast, the spleen cells from the mice fed carrots produced less interleukin-4 than those from the control group. Furthermore, the interleukin-12 production of the spleen cells from mice fed carrots was also higher than that of the control group. These findings suggest that feeding carrots improves the helper T cell (Th)1/Th2 balance, inhibiting specific IgE production and antigen-induced anaphylactic response.

PMID: 10408224, UI: 99334709