1

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Toxoplasmosis: how does one know one's infected, and should I worry?

« on: 08/08/2011 05:30:54 »

Maybe there is a role for cod liver oil in treating toxoplasmosis. The first study below shows how CD8+ T cells can be mobilized to erradicate the "latent" brain cysts so pervasive in toxoplasmosis . The second  article focuses on the role of vitamins A  and D in the body's immune response. Perhaps everyone who develops seizures or symptoms labeled 'schizophrenic' should be tested for toxoplasmosis and for deficiences of vitamins A and D. 




Am J Pathol. 2010 Apr;176(4):1607-13. Epub 2010 Feb 18.
Removal of Toxoplasma gondii cysts from the brain by perforin-mediated activity of CD8+ T cells.
Suzuki Y, Wang X, Jortner BS, Payne L, Ni Y, Michie SA, Xu B, Kudo T, Perkins S.
Source
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. yasu.suzuki@uky.edu

Abstract
Chronic infection with Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most common parasitic infections in humans. Formation of tissue cysts is the basis of persistence of the parasite in infected hosts, and this cyst stage has generally been regarded as untouchable. Here we provide the first evidence that the immune system can eliminate T. gondii cysts from the brains of infected hosts when immune T cells are transferred into infected immunodeficient animals that have already developed large numbers of cysts. This T cell-mediated immune process was associated with accumulation of microglia and macrophages around tissue cysts. CD8(+) immune T cells possess a potent activity to remove the cysts. The initiation of this process by CD8(+) T cells does not require their production of interferon-gamma, the major mediator to prevent proliferation of tachyzoites during acute infection, but does require perforin. These results suggest that CD8(+) T cells induce elimination of T. gondii cysts through their perforin-mediated cytotoxic activity. Our findings provide a new mechanism of the immune system to fight against chronic infection with T. gondii and suggest a possibility of developing a novel vaccine to eliminate cysts from patients with chronic infection and to prevent the establishment of chronic infection after a newly acquired infection.

PMID:
20167872
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
PMCID: PMC2843452
Free PMC Article

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20167872


Nat Rev Immunol. 2008 Sep;8(9):685-98.
Vitamin effects on the immune system: vitamins A and D take centre stage.
Mora JR, Iwata M, von Andrian UH.
Source
Gastrointestinal Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. j_rodrigo_mora@harvard.hms.edu

Abstract
Vitamins are essential constituents of our diet that have long been known to influence the immune system. Vitamins A and D have received particular attention in recent years as these vitamins have been shown to have an unexpected and crucial effect on the immune response. We present and discuss our current understanding of the essential roles of vitamins in modulating a broad range of immune processes, such as lymphocyte activation and proliferation, T-helper-cell differentiation, tissue-specific lymphocyte homing, the production of specific antibody isotypes and regulation of the immune response. Finally, we discuss the clinical potential of vitamin A and D metabolites for modulating tissue-specific immune responses and for preventing and/or treating inflammation and autoimmunity.

PMID:
19172691
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
PMCID: PMC2906676
Free PMC Article


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2906676/?tool=pmcentrez

2

Physiology & Medicine / Re: What recovery is possible following a stroke?

« on: 07/08/2011 18:59:31 »

 I hope the original poster is still checking in here and still improving. My left side from the waist up side was "hopelessly" paralyzed in 1982 from a massive stroke. During the stroke the main artery to my right hemisphere ruptured where it feeds from the carotid so there was no option for putting in a shunt. I was comatose for eight days and not expected to live. Over many years and a number of setbacks my recovery from paralysis is complete other than a barely noticeable drooping on the left side of my face.
  That sort of recovery is unusual, but I contend it can and should be the normal course of stroke recovery. Dr. Edward Taub at the University of Alabama has pioneered a movement therapy for overcoming paralysis from strokes (and I think he is working with traumatic brain injury now also). The technique is called "constraint induced movement therapy" and here is one link about it:
http://www.health.uab.edu/17653/
  If the original poster has not fully recovered, don't give up hope. I had a wonderful physical therapist who helped get my paralyzed torso to respond and fully recover over a five year period. And she started working with me twelve years after that side was paralyzed, so don't let the time of recovery discourage you either. There is no maximine time for recovery, despite what many experts may say.

3

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Toxoplasmosis: how does one know one's infected, and should I worry?

« on: 05/08/2011 02:54:40 »

Greetings, Iko,
Nice to hear the good news of your family. This may be a good time to revive the cod liver oil issue for leukemia. There may be more interest in it now than in the past as more is being understood on the role of nutrition in disease--progression and healing.

Facebook or even Yahoo, might be good possibilities for bringing up the CLO topic, especially with the parent's groups. Considering all the research and publicity since Merck bought the CLO company, this may be an excellent time to start the discussion up again. It should not be forgotten!

 A few years ago I moved to Kentucky seeking medical treatment for the spinal cord disorder, big mistake. However, all is well and am starting to write again.

About Toxoplasmosis:
 Supposedly, in it's dormant stage, toxoplasmosis is doing no harm, thus it is often not treated. Further, the drugs used can have such severe side effects, it may be safer to try other treatments, i.e., improve the ability of the immune system to keep the infection in it's dormant stage.
 However, in the dormant phase the slower growing cysts are embedded in the brain and elsewhere in the body. Aren't they having some sort of effect, causing irritation, inflammation to those tissues? If so, would this not help explain slow degenerative phase in some disorders to which it may be linked, i.e. seizures, Parkinson's, schizophrenia? I have some questions to ask about some aspects of disease progression, such as in Parkinson's, and a few others.
 I just published an overview article on toxoplasmosis.  The plan is to do one on epilepsy, and on other conditions that may have a toxoplasma link.

Toxoplasma decor for the home

 

4

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Toxoplasmosis: how does one know one's infected, and should I worry?

« on: 02/08/2011 00:04:53 »

This abstract should be dedicated
to Zoey, she is deeply interested
in this issue...but where is Zoey?

Meta-analysis of three case controlled studies and an ecological study
into the link between cryptogenic epilepsy and chronic toxoplasmosis infection.

Palmer BS.


Barts & The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of London, United Kingdom.

A meta-analysis was performed on three case controlled studies which examined the relationship between latent toxoplasmosis gondii infection in the immunocompetent host and cryptogenic epilepsy. Further comparison was also made by examining the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis rates for 17 various countries, cities or regions against the prevalence rates for epilepsy in those regions.http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0756e/T0756E06.htm

[]

It's been a while since I logged in here. Came to this page while searching out information on toxoplasmosis and epilepsy. Iko-if you still roam here, do you have any new information in toxoplasmosis and neurological disorders? Can the infection be treated with cod liver oil?

5

Physiology & Medicine / Thyroid panel-what do these test results mean?

« on: 12/08/2007 08:33:16 »

 You and your wife's  trip to Portugal sounds like  a great adventure! I'm tentatively planning to move in the next month or two, so all projects are on hold. My old chevy  250,000 miles [402,000 km?],is getting new tires and a tune up for travelling. If you get stuck in Spain, think of all the nice people you'll meet!

6

Physiology & Medicine / Thyroid panel-what do these test results mean?

« on: 11/08/2007 04:55:36 »

p.s.
Of course, if this did mean a thyroid problem, CLO mightstill  be the first choice in natural medicine:

Journal of Nutrition Vol. 9 No. 2 February 1935, pp. 123-129
Copyright © 1935 by American Society for Nutrition This Article
 
 Full Text (PDF) 
 Purchase Article 
 View Shopping Cart 
 Alert me when this article is cited 
 Alert me if a correction is posted 
 
Services
 
 Similar articles in this journal 
 Alert me to new issues of the journal 
 Download to citation manager 
 
Google Scholar
 
 Articles by Sherwood, T. C. 
 Articles by Luckner, W. G. 
 Articles citing this Article 
 Search for Related Content 
 
PubMed
 
 Articles by Sherwood, T. C. 
 Articles by Luckner, W. G. 
 
Further Studies on the Effect of Cod Liver Oil on the Thyroid Gland
Two Flates (Six Figures)
T. C. Sherwood and W. G. Luckner

Department of Anatomy and Physiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington


Vitamin A apparently causes some change in the thyroid gland of rats.

Iodine present in the cod liver oil was not responsible for any change in the thyroid gland. However, iodine in the approximate amount found in cod liver oil, given in the form of potassium iodide had a decided effect on the thyroid structure of the rat.

A previous report of the senior author ('34) has been repeated and confirmed.

Due to the various results obtained, it is concluded that carotene and cod liver oil do not produce identical thyroid pictures, but in many respects these are similar.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manuscript received 30 July 1934.

7

Physiology & Medicine / Thyroid panel-what do these test results mean?

« on: 11/08/2007 04:49:21 »

Thanks Iko!
 Nice to see you are still cod fishing here! Another physician said the results are insignificant, given the normal TSH, but should get retested in a year. No symptoms of Rheumatism, hyper-or hypothyroidism, so no worries.  Hope all is well with you and your family.

Zoey

8

Physiology & Medicine / Thyroid panel-what do these test results mean?

« on: 10/08/2007 20:10:42 »

  I had a thyroid test which showed an abnormal level of free T4.
  The TSH was normal: 2.73, ref range: 0.42-5.47 uIU/ml
  Free T4 was high:   2.63, ref range: 0.59-1.17 ng/dl
An article on a physician's web page said that a high free t4 with a normal TSH rules out both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. Does the high level of free t4 on my test indicate anything? I have no history of thyroid problems  nor many  symptoms of hyper or hypothyroidism. Is this test result something to cause concern and of what?

9

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?

« on: 14/05/2007 04:32:26 »

Below is the newsletter from the CLL group. I wasn't able to get a response about posting, but think it is ok to do so.
---------------

Thttp://www.clltopics.org/Alert/direct_display_alert.php?reqnum=47

 

Topics Alert Archive

Alert Number 47

Those Pesky Aches and Pains
Date: October 5, 2004

One of the common mistakes we (and our doctors!) make is attributing everything that goes wrong to CLL. If you are tired, you hurt all over, your muscles ache, heck you can feel the pain in your very bones, and nothing works, not even fistfulls of NSAIDs, why, it must be the dreaded CLL acting up, right?

Not so fast, you could be dead wrong laying this at the door of the 'dragon'. You could be suffering from something that can be very easily corrected, a real cheap fix. Not only does it not cost a lot, it is not even toxic (isn't that a welcome change from the usual caveats with chemo drugs?), and it might even help you fight the CLL. What is this drug? It is called vitamin D3. I have discussed this topic before on Topics (Vitamin D3 Essential for Health) but I think it bears repeating. Below are direct quotes from a very recent paper in the prestigious Mayo Proceedings, December of 2003. You can read the whole article for free, as well as the editorial that accompanied it. I have provided the links below.

There are two reason for my visiting the issue of vitamin D3 deficiency again. First, it is all too easy to dismiss the symptoms of vitamin D3 deficiency, especially when we are dealing with a bunch of cancer patients. Doctors expect us to complain of aches and pains, what else is new? If they take us seriously at all, they may consider something like fibromyalgia, in addition to the catch-all of CLL. Most often, you are expected to grin and bear it, with the not-so-subtle sub-text: stop whining. The other reason is that I still see "miraculous" claims made for "coral" calcium, with no understanding of calcium homeostasis and how calcium is used in our bodies. Calcium absorption needs adequate vitamin D3, otherwise it just goes for the ride, in one end and out the other. Trust me, your toilet does not need any more calcium. "Coral" calcium is no better than regular calcium you get at the drug store, or even antacids like Tums, it just costs more. It is also significantly worse in one important respect, the presence of high levels of very toxic heavy metals such as mercury. Coral has had a long time to accumulate the heavy metal toxins we have been putting out into the oceans. You worry about eating fish that have lived for a few years, about the level of heavy metals they may have accumulated over that time. Folks, coral has been around a lot longer, and was busy accumulating all the mercury and other heavy metals we were pumping into the oceans in the bad old days, before environmentalism became 'cool'.

Here is what the Mayo Clinic had to say on the subject of vitamin D3, calcium, mysterious aches and pains. They specifically talk about potential misdiagnosis of fibromyalgia, when the problem could well be vitamin D3 deficiency - something that can be easily tested for, and fixed. The quotes are from Mayo, but I did the highlighting to identify points of interest.

Overall, 93% of the 150 children and adults in the study, which included 6 broad categories of ethnic groups, were vitamin D-deficient. Is this unexpected? No. Is this newsworthy? Yes.
(The authors) evaluated both children and adults who reported persistent musculoskeletal pain that did not meet the strict criteria for fibromyalgia defined by the American College of Rheumatology. The association between nonspecific musculoskeletal pain and vitamin D deficiency was suspected because of a higher prevalence of these symptoms during winter than summer.
Vitamin D is essential for the efficient utilization of dietary calcium. In a vitamin D-deficient state, the amount of calcium absorbed is inadequate to satisfy the body's calcium requirement, This results in osteopenia and osteoporosis. This is the likely explanation of why patients with osteomalacia often experience a dull unrelenting aching sensation in their bones. These symptoms are either dismissed or misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia by many physicians.
Vitamin D deficiency causes muscle weakness and muscle aches and pains in both children and adults.
It has been estimated that 90% or more of our required vitamin D comes from exposure to sunlight. Anything that interferes with the penetration of solar ultraviolet radiation into the skin, such as increased melanin pigmentation and sunscreen use, will diminish the cutaneous production of vitamin D3.
People who live at higher latitudes and who are more prone to vitamin D deficiency are at increased risk of developing prostate, colon, breast, and other solid tumors; autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes; hypertension; and cardiovascular heart disease.
When patients with nonspecific skeletomuscular pain are evaluated, their serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels should be obtained. Physicians should disregard the laboratory-reported lower limit of the normal range. A serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of at least 20 ng/mL is necessary to minimally satisfy the body's vitamin D requirement. Maintenance of a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 30 to 50 ng/mL is preferred.
Patients should have their vitamin D status, ie, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, tested once a year, preferably at the end of the fall season, to ensure that they do not become vitamin D-deficient before winter.
http://www.mayo.edu/proceedings/2003/dec/7812e1.pdf

http://www.mayo.edu/proceedings/2003/dec/7812a1.pdf

I thought you folks might also like to see the two abstracts below. The first one talks about calcitriol (another name for Vitamin D), in clinical trials at Roswell Park Cancer Institute for its anti-cancer activity. The second one talks about a vitamin D3 analog that seems to be effective in CLL. Why the vitamin D3 analog? Why not just use the cheap and available vitamin D3? That is an important question. If you overdose on vitamin D3, it can lead to something very dangerous, called hypercalcemia, which means too much calcium in your blood. Hypercalcemia can be fatal, if it is not immediately detected and treated. The reason for developing the vitamin D3 analog is to see if we can keep the anti-cancer effects, while avoiding the problems with hypercalcemia. Good concept: we need to keep an eye on this initiative, see how far it goes.

In the meantime, please do discuss your vitamin D3 status with your doctor. You may want to revisit our review article "Vitamin D3: Essential for your health" on our website, to get your arms around the arguments you may need to make, to bring your doctor on board. In my opinion, it surely pays to be pro-active on this front. Do remember, unlike the general Joe Shmoe basking on the beach, as CLL patients you have significantly higher (ten times higher!) risk of skin cancer, so getting all the vitamin D3 you need from sun-bathing is not a really good option for you (Do read the article Dying to Get a Tan?. Stay in the shade, pop your doctor's recommended dose of vitamin D3 supplement with a nice cup of freshly brewed green tea (or a good glass of pinot noir!) - that should do it right by you. And get yourself some over-the-counter calcium tablets. Stop wasting good money and destroying coral reefs, while you poison yourself with mercury and other heavy metals.

Be well,

Chaya
__________

Abstracts:

J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2004 May;89-90(1-5):519-26.

Anti-tumor activity of calcitriol: pre-clinical and clinical studies.

Trump DL, Hershberger PA, Bernardi RJ, Ahmed S, Muindi J, Fakih M, Yu WD, Johnson CS.

Department of Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA.

1,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol (calcitriol) is recognized widely for its effects on bone and mineral metabolism. Epidemiological data suggest that low Vitamin D levels may play a role in the genesis of prostate cancer and perhaps other tumors. Calcitriol is a potent anti-proliferative agent in a wide variety of malignant cell types. In prostate, breast, colorectal, head/neck and lung cancer as well as lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma model systems calcitriol has significant anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo. Calcitriol effects are associated with an increase in G0/G1 arrest, induction of apoptosis and differentiation, modulation of expression of growth factor receptors. Glucocorticoids potentiate the anti-tumor effect of calcitriol and decrease calcitriol-induced hypercalcemia. Calcitriol potentiates the antitumor effects of many cytotoxic agents and inhibits motility and invasiveness of tumor cells and formation of new blood vessels. Phase I and II trials of calcitriol either alone or in combination with carboplatin, taxanes or dexamethasone have been initiated in patients with androgen dependent and independent prostate cancer and advanced cancer. Data indicate that high-dose calcitriol is feasible on an intermittent schedule, no dose-limiting toxicity has been encountered and optimal dose and schedule are being delineated. Clinical responses have been seen with the combination of high dose calcitriol+dexamethasone in androgen independent prostate cancer (AIPC) and apparent potentiation of the antitumor effects of docetaxel have been seen in AIPC. These results demonstrate that high intermittent doses of calcitriol can be administered to patients without toxicity, that the MTD is yet to be determined and that calcitriol has potential as an anti-cancer agent.

PMID: 15225831
_____________

http://www.bloodjournal.org/cgi/content/full/bloodjournal;101/7/2454

Blood. 2003 Apr 1;101(7):2454-60. Epub 2002 Nov 21.

The vitamin D3 analog EB1089 induces apoptosis via a p53-independent mechanism involving p38 MAP kinase activation and suppression of ERK activity in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells in vitro.

Pepper C, Thomas A, Hoy T, Milligan D, Bentley P, Fegan C.

Department of Haematology, Llandough Hospital, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, United Kingdom.

EB1089, a novel vitamin D3 analog, has been shown to have cytotoxic and antiproliferative properties in a variety of malignant cells. However, its potential as a treatment for B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) has not been evaluated. EB1089 induced apoptosis in all of the 102 B-CLL samples tested with a mean LD(50) (the concentration of EB1089 required to kill 50% of cells) value (+/- SD) of 2.1 x 10(-8) M (+/- 1.4 x 10(-8) M). Furthermore, no significant difference was found in the cytotoxicity of EB1089 in B-CLL samples from previously treated and untreated patients (P =.1637). Induction of apoptosis was associated with a reduction in Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 protein expression, but this was evident only in the apoptotic cells. In contrast, the expression of Bax, p21, and p53 was not altered in the viable or apoptotic cells from either B- or T-lymphocyte lineages. EB1089-induced apoptosis was preceded by activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and suppression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity, and this was associated with downstream activation of caspase-3. The pancaspase inhibitor (Z-VAD-FMK) and the caspase-9 inhibitor (Z-LEHD-FMK) were able to partially abrogate the apoptotic effects of EB1089 but did not affect the phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase or the suppression of ERK. The B-CLL cells in the study were shown to highly express vitamin D receptor, but an additional receptor-independent mechanism of cell killing cannot be ruled out at this stage. These findings show that EB1089 is a potent apoptosis-inducing agent in B-CLL cells and may be useful in the treatment of B-CLL patients, particularly those with p53 mutations or drug-resistant disease.

PMID: 12446453
_____________

NOTICE: This page from the Topics Alert archive was originally emailed to subscribers of Topics Alert, a free service of CLL Topics Inc. If you are not a subscriber and you wish to receive email Alerts, please register at the Topics Alert subscription page. The content of this page is intended for information only and it is NOT meant to be medical advice. Please be sure to consult and follow the advice of your doctors on all medical matters.

Disclaimer: The content of this website is intended for information only and is NOT meant to be medical advice. Please be sure to consult and follow the advice of your doctors on all medical matters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright Notice:

Copyright © 2002-2007 CLL Topics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CLL Topics, Inc. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

However, you may download and print material from CLLTopics.org exclusively for your personal, noncommercial use.

———

10

Physiology & Medicine / How Identical are identical twins ?

« on: 14/05/2007 04:17:24 »

 As a kid we had neighbors who were mirror twins; one was left handed, the other right handed. It was nearly impossible to tell them apart. One was good in math, the other English so one went to math class twice a day the other English. The teachers didn't catch on.

11

Physiology & Medicine / Newly diagnosed arachnoid cyst-B12 connection?

« on: 03/05/2007 01:11:56 »

 I'm ending this topic. The MRI was not properly interpreted. The "cyst" is one that resulted from the brain surgeries, nothing new, not an arachnoid cyst.
Zoey

12

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?

« on: 03/05/2007 01:07:02 »

 One of the CLL groups did post a long newsletter, much like you, Iko, suggesting the use of CLO in leukemia. They asked it not be reproduced so am trying to contact them about it. As per your recent posts, the focus will shift back to how to alert parents of ALL children.
Zoey

13

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?

« on: 27/04/2007 05:28:09 »

Hi Zoey,

I should re-check piles of papers, but I am afraid that a proper seasonality as never been reported for leukemias.
In the past, spots of lymphoma and leukemia cases called 'clusters' had been reported now and then to propose an infectious etiology for these diseases: nothing scientifically 'heavy' I must say.
ikod
[/quote]

Greetings ,
 The search on seasonal variations in development of leukemia is bearing fruit-- perhaps for vitamin D deficiency and infection  as predisposing factors?  Some studies were done long before vitamin D's importance was recognized. One name keeps turning up, FR Fekety, but I've not succeeded yet in finding who or where this person may be, if still around. A lot of this person's publications are in the Maryland Medical Journal so maybe this is where to find out more about this researcher.

1: Md State Med J. 1969 Nov;18(11):73-7 passim. Links
Season and the onset of acute childhood leukemia.Fekety FR Jr, Carey JJ.
PMID: 5352399 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]{I am getting a copy of this article}
-----------

                         
The Niavaran branch of the National Library of Iran offers a pleasant environment for its users.


The population of Iran is about 68,000,000. I couldn't tell from the more recent article below how signifigant the numbers of cases of childhood leukemia are in relation to other counties. I didn't find how many cases are diagnosed yearly countrywide.

2.Review Article

Seasonal variations in the onset of childhood leukemia/lymphoma: April 1996 to March 2000, Shiraz, Iran
Mehran Karimi, Hooman Yarmohammadi *
Hematolgy Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
 
email: Hooman Yarmohammadi (yarmohml@sums.ac.ir)

*Correspondence to Hooman Yarmohammadi, Hematology Research Center, Nemazee Hospital, PO Box 71935-1311, Shiraz, Iran.

Keywords
seasonal variations • leukemia and lymphoma in childhood • infection


Abstract
Infection has long been suspected as a possible factor in the aetiology of leukemia and lymphoma, one of the most common malignancies in children. Since most viral infections have seasonal variations of onset, if seasonal trends in 1 month of diagnosis of leukemia and lymphoma could be proved, this would be supportive evidence for an infectious aetiology. A total of 367 cases in the Hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, from April 1996 through March 2000, who were diagnosed as having acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) chronic myeloblastic lymphoma (CML), Hodgkin's disease (HD) or non-Burkitt's type non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NBNHL) were analysed. The month of appearance of the first symptom and the date of diagnosis were recorded. ALL demonstrated statistically significant monthly variation in the date of appearance of the first symptom (p < 0.05; peak in October) and the date of diagnosis (p < 0.05; peak in November). Seasonal variation was demonstrated in the date of the first appearance of symptoms in BL (p < 0.042), and in the date of diagnosis in AML (p < 0.049). There was no statistically significant seasonal variation in the month of diagnosis for other groups. Analysis based on the date of the first symptoms and the date of diagnosis for ALL patients, using summer-winter ratios, also showed a significant winter excess (p < 0.001). Our data provide modest support for an autumn-winter peak in the diagnosis of childhood ALL, underlying mechanisms that account for these patterns are likely to be complex and need more definitive studies. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


------------

Do the cases of rickets described below not suggest a problem with vitamin D deficiency in this same region?

Evaluation of patients with different types of rickets in Fars Province

 H. Karamifar

 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz-IRAN

 There are different causes for rickets. Vitamin D deficiency, disorder in vitamin D metabolism and action, familial X-linked

hypophosphatemia, renal failure, hepatic disease & oncogenous rickets are some of the major causes of rickets. In this research we had the opportunity to study 50 cases of rickets during one year period in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences hospitals. The diagnosis of rickets was besed on clinical, biochemical and radiological evidence. The results showed that vitamin D deficiency was the most common form of rickets. 36 cases (72%) had vitamin D deficiency rickets, 3 cases (6%) had vitamin dependent rickets and 11 cases (22%) had vitamin D resistant rickets. The sex distribution was 26 (52%) females and 24 (48%) males. There was not a significant difference in female to male ratio in this study. We found that 71.4% of patients had used breast milk during infancy and they had not used vitamin D supplement. Almost all of them were from cold climate regions of Fars Province. Sixteen (32%) of vitamin D dificiency cases were under one year age and they were cared at home. Radiological finding in wrist X-Ray was present in all patients. The most important symptoms of patients that were comming to hospital or office were convulsion and infections especially pneumonia, respectively. These results indicate that although several factors are concerned in the development of rickets, the main cause is lack of vit D in Fars Province. There is less sun in the winter months when it is cold, children are kept indoors for most of the first year of life and when they go out in the winter they are well wrapped up. This suggests that lack of sun light in the absence of adequate dietary intake of Vit D is the main causal factor.

http://erc.ac.ir/iced/5/oral/Evaluation%20of%20patients%20with%20different%20types%20of%20rickets%20in%20Fars%20Province.htm

There is a problem with vitamin D deficiency in Iran as this excerpt describes:

Vitamin D status in mothers and their newborns in Iran
Zhila Maghbooli,1 Arash Hossein-Nezhad,1 Ali Reza Shafaei,1 Farzaneh Karimi,1 Farzaneh Sadat Madani,1 and Bagher Larijani1
1Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 5th Floor, Shariati Hospital, North Kargar Avenue, Tehran 14114, Iran
Corresponding author.
Zhila Maghbooli: zhilayas@yahoo.com ; Arash Hossein-Nezhad: ahosseinnezhad@sina.tums.ac.ir ; Ali Reza Shafaei: emrc@sina.tums.ac.ir ; Farzaneh Karimi: emrc@sina.tums.ac.ir ; Farzaneh Sadat Madani: emrc@sina.tums.ac.ir ; Bagher Larijani: emrc@sina.tums.ac.ir
Received July 13, 2006; Accepted February 12, 2007.

Discussion:

Our findings reveal a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women and newborns. Almost two in three mothers had vitamin D deficiency (VDD), while one in ten newborns had normal vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women and newborns has been reported in several studies [18,26-28]. This prevalence is reported based on an old definition of vitamin D deficiency, and many investigators now define deficiency as <80 nM (32 ng/mL) circulating 25(OH)D/L [29,30]. Based on this cut-off, only 4% of pregnancies in our study had normal serum vitamin D concentrations. It seems most studies define the cut-off point for vitamin D and calcium intake based on serum vitamin D and calcium concentrations. Thus new cut off point definition based on outcomes may be more suitable [12,23,31-34]
------

The full article is available online:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1808477

14

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?

« on: 26/04/2007 16:17:18 »

HI dqfy,
Welcome back! I have no "scientific" background either, just a bad case of terminal curiosity and easy access to the internet. There may be a pattern if  more cases of leukemia turn up where there is also a greater number of some infection, influenza being one that's been studied.
   It isn't a scientific study, but have you spoken to the parents in Redondo Beach whose kids developed leukemia? Maybe if you all look at each child's medical history you will see a possible common thread, to study further.
  My current searching is turning up some older studies done on seasonal patterns in development of leukemia and am trying to get a full copy of one article now. They go back about to the sixties, before the value of vitamin D was so well understood. But if the studies show that more cases are reported in some areas during winter months [when vitamin D deificiency is more common] it may point to a pattern involving vitamin D. We could then check and see what studies have been done on Vitamin D deficiency in those areas to see if there may be a correspondence.
Quote from Iko:
...wait, but the chain of events:

1) epidemic - immune response - normal response - neutralizing antibody - healing
2) epidemic - immune response - overridden reaction - CLONE expansion - organ invasion

leave plenty of space to environmental AND nutritional factors
don't you think?
-------------
  Is there anything you have noticed that suggests any kind of pattern to you on what may have led to your child developing the disorder?

   

15

Physiology & Medicine / Newly diagnosed arachnoid cyst-B12 connection?

« on: 26/04/2007 16:04:56 »

Hi Iko,
  I'm not too worried yet because there is such a large cyst remaining from the depression caused by the temporal lobectomy. The bigger problem may be figuring out how to alleviate the pain and pressure without surgery.  I see a new neurologist on Monday and will ask him also to compare this new MRI to the ones a few years ago-no arachnoid cyst on the brain then.
  If it is an arachnoid cyst-new, then my sense is it is related to the spinal cord syrinx, it is refered to as syringomyelia of the brain.
   There is actually some relief now in knowing that the pressure and pain in my head that so impair my reasoning and moods, is not just attitude.
   This made me think again about the Whipple's disease, and the cysterocercosis, as it is so common.  This acts, to me so like infections; it can be no coincidence that my symptoms improve with antibiotics, antiparasitics, or antifungals. Thank you for those links. I'm going to check them out. 
Zoey
 

16

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?

« on: 25/04/2007 22:18:08 »

You mean "understand" as finding patterns, rhyme and reason. I found reports of the "clusters" too. The problem in the reporting was the immediate assumption was that if there are a lot of cases in one area, it must be enviromental, excluding nutritional enviroments. Maybe that's why there are not more Shanghai Reports.
Regards,
Zoey

17

Physiology & Medicine / Newly diagnosed arachnoid cyst-B12 connection?

« on: 25/04/2007 22:12:37 »

Thanks Paul.

18

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?

« on: 25/04/2007 06:03:28 »

I liked Rhode Island, wish I could afford to live there for a while and use the library. Have patterns in the development of leukemia been noted like that in Finland? In general, are more cases of leukemia diagnosed at one time of year or another?
---

19

Physiology & Medicine / Newly diagnosed arachnoid cyst-B12 connection?

« on: 25/04/2007 05:17:26 »

  Today I got results of an MRI which indicates an arachnoid cyst in my right hemisphere. Several years ago an MRI showed a cyst in the center of my spinal cord [syringohydromyelia]. After learning that B12 deficiency can lead to spinal cord degeneration. I began to take a lot of it, and last year  an MRI showed this cyst was nearly gone. Can B12 deficiency [or B12 metabolism problems] also be linked to formation of arachnoid cysts? Antibiotics gave a lot of relief to the spinal cord pain. Can lingering bacterial or other infections lead to cyst formation in the spinal cord and brain?
Zoey

20

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Vitamin D deficiency in Leukemia?

« on: 22/04/2007 06:11:48 »

Hi Iko,
 This is interesting. There must be more research like this buried in the stacks. My exploration tonight was not successful. There are more libraries yet to visit. Maybe I'll go to Toronto's library.


 
Yorkville Branch Library opened on June 13, 1907, in what was then the city’s north end. It was the first of four libraries constructed with a $350,000 grant made by Andrew Carnegie to the Toronto Public Library in 1903. Designed by Robert McCallum, City Architect, Yorkville’s classical, Beaux Arts style is similar to libraries in many smaller Ontario communities. It features two pairs of columns, a projected portico, Doric capitals, a bracketed cornice, and stone quoins, band courses and keystones. Yorkville is now the Toronto Public Library’s oldest library.