[Zoey (OP)]

  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

[paul.fr]

Zoey, although i can offer no input here. I do wish you all the best, and hope you have a nice big family giving you their love and support. You know you have it from your extended family here.

[Zoey (OP)]

Thanks Paul.

[iko]

 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

Hi Zoey,

But this new one is not spinal, is it?  No new symptoms?
May be it has been there before and old MRIs couldn't get it...
what did your doctor tell you?
Any suggestion about the cause by your neuropathoradiologist?
Your 'case' is surely difficult and tricky, but some expert will help you somewhere.
Take care

ikod

me start searching, but never trust a conftransfusion doc to fix your brain!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=7650528&query_hl=35&itool=pubmed_docsum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17074279&query_hl=43&itool=pubmed_docsum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Search&db=pubmed&term=syringohydromyelia+and+cystercercosis&tool=fuzzy&ot=syringohydromyelia+and+cystecercosis

[Zoey (OP)]

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
 

[Zoey (OP)]

 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

[iko]

Good news Zoey!

but why ending this topic?
We could go on with cystic mysteries
and occult infections (me like those),
vitamin B12 and all sort of things...
plus MRI misinterpretations!  []
See you around

ikod

[iko]

Importance of vitamin B12 is being revisited
after long years of criticism and hostility.
Not a 'tsunami' effect like with vitamin D,
only a correct re-evaluation of its qualities.
This is one of many recent positive reports:

Vitamin B12, folic acid, and the nervous system.

Reynolds E.
Institute of Epileptology, King's College, Denmark Hill Campus, Cutcombe Road, London, SE5 6PJ, UK. reynolds@buckles.u-net.com

There are many reasons for reviewing the neurology of vitamin-B12 and folic-acid deficiencies together, including the intimate relation between the metabolism of the two vitamins, their morphologically indistinguishable megaloblastic anaemias, and their overlapping neuropsychiatric syndromes and neuropathology, including their related inborn errors of metabolism. Folates and vitamin B12 have fundamental roles in CNS function at all ages, especially the methionine-synthase mediated conversion of homocysteine to methionine, which is essential for nucleotide synthesis and genomic and non-genomic methylation. Folic acid and vitamin B12 may have roles in the prevention of disorders of CNS development, mood disorders, and dementias, including Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia in elderly people.

Lancet Neurol. 2006 Nov;5(11):949-60.

Preventing Age-Related Cognitive Decline
By Laurie Barclay, MD

...
Replacement of B vitamins in deficient individuals often improves short-term memory and language skills. Elderly subjects who are low in folic acid show impairment in both word recall and object recall, suggesting a vital role for folic acid in memory function in later life. Memory impairment in the elderly related to vitamin B12 deficiency can be reversed by vitamin B12 injections or supplements.
High doses of vitamin B6 and folate reduce blood levels of homocysteine, a toxic buildup product linked to heart disease and cognitive impairment. In dementia patients with even mild deficiencies of vitamin B12 or folate, replacement can improve cognition, especially in those with elevated blood homocysteine levels. In a study of 76 elderly males, vitamin B6 was better than placebo in improving long-term information storage and retrieval.

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2005/images/apr2005_cover_cognitive_04.jpg

Life Extension Magazine - April 2005    http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2005/apr2005_cover_cognitive_02.htm 
 

[iko]

Whether our elderly relatives need vitamin B12 or not,
to keep their brain in good shape is still a matter of
debate.  Negative reports prevailed in the past, now
times are changing a bit.
This is a positive report from Israel.
I find it sharp and encouraging indeed...
If only a few patients respond to a treatment, we have
to identify their 'size and shape', instead of throwing
the whole research in the garbage bin.

Neuropsychology of vitamin B12 deficiency in elderly dementia patients and control subjects.

Osimani A, Berger A, Friedman J, Porat-Katz BS, Abarbanel JM.Kaplan Hospital, Rehovot, Israel and the Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.

Cobalamin deficiency may cause cognitive deficits and even dementia. In Alzheimer's disease, the most frequent cause of dementia in elderly persons, low serum levels of vitamin B12, may be misleading. The aim of this work was to characterize the cognitive pattern of B12 deficiency and to compare it with that of Alzheimer's disease. Nineteen patients with low levels of vitamin B12 were neuropsychologically evaluated before treatment and a year later. Results were compared with those of 10 healthy control subjects. Final results suggest that there is a different pattern in both diseases. Twelve elderly patients with dementia improved with treatment. Seven elderly demented patients did not improve; they deteriorated after 1 year although their levels of cobalamin were normal. Analysis of the initial evaluation showed that the 2 groups of patients had a different neuropsychological profile. The group that improved had initially more psychotic problems and more deficits in concentration, visuospatial performance, and executive functions. They did not show language problems and ideomotor apraxia, which were present in the second group. Their memory pattern was also different. These findings suggest that cobalamin deficiency may cause a reversible dementia in elderly patients. This dementia may be differentiated from that of Alzheimer's disease by a thorough neuropsychological evaluation.

J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2005 Mar;18(1):33-8.

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