Author: Admin (---.cu27.vnnyca.adelphia.net)
Date: 06-06-02 15:29
Sarina,
Both Crohn's and Sarcodiosis require that
1. Your body has a genetic predisposition to an unusually active immune reaction, and
2. There is a stimulus to set off and/or sustain the inflammatory process
Sarcoidosis is strictly an immune disorder which is diagnosed by the process of exclusion, so that if you are later found to have, for example, berylliosis, then your sarc diagnosis is nullified. Crohn's is somewhat similar, depending on the degree of throughness of the biopsy pathologist.
But I don't think it is helpful to think as either of the syndromes as entities in and of themselves (for they really are not true diseases but syndromes (groups of observations and symptoms from a poorly defined cause)).
I think it is more useful to think of both syndromes being due to the same two items I have listed above. Sometimes the stimulus may cause a greater formation of immune macrophages in one organ or another, but the fundamental underlying process is the same. Different individuals have different genetic makeups, and their susceptibility to one or other set of symptoms is consequently also a little different.
The most recent research about the triggers for sarcoid has centered on bacteria. It has been found that a sarc patient can have an immune reaction to bacteria that a 'normal' individual would not reject as a 'foreign invader', and activate its immune system to reject.
One of the most common bacteria that has been implicated is Propionibacterium Acnes, the bacteria thought to cause acne eruptions. A recent International study found that even such an innocuos bacteria seemed to be capable of causing a sarcoid immune reaction. There are other threads on SarcInfo that go into bacterial genesis in detail, I just wanted to point out to you the manner in which our thinking is shifting from sarc being an autoimmune disorder to one that is caused by immune agents that would normally be assimilated into the body. The concept of 'autoimmunity' was always an anathema to medicine, and it seems that this myth is at last being dispelled.
The scary thing about Propionibacterium Acnes is that it is resistant to many of the antibiotics, especially Erythomycin, the most commonly prescribed bacteria for skin disorders. Luckily, it is susceptible to the Tetracycline family, and even a few days of therapy with the tetracyclines can kill refractory bacteria, such as Rickettsia. Print these references out to discuss with your doctors, it seems that most doctors want to prescribe a one year course of tetracyclines, which may not always be necessary.
Finally, fatigue is a very common symptom of patients who have sarcoidosis, Arthritis, or indeed any inflammatory disorder. IMO it is primarily caused by the hormone 1,25 Dihydroxyvitamin D3 and/or the Angiotensins II, III and IV which are formed by the inflammatory macrophages.
It is my experience that if you get rid of the inflammation you find that the neuro symptoms disappear as well.
..Trevor..
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