[DogtorJ]

I thought that you guys might be interested in this thread I started on the MS forum. It is one of those strange and wonderful things that comes along and really challenges the mind.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ad.php?t=13197

It's great to be back,
John

[DogtorJ]

Interesting link:

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache...nk&cd=31&gl=us

[diamondheart]

Everything happens to me on my right side in terms of pain and symptoms. I think this might have more to do with a head injury I had when I was two and took a trip down a flight of stairs. I have a scar on my right eyebrow from that one. Of course, they said I would be fine - just a mild concussion, but more recently I've wondered if I did have some brain damage, but never really noticed it?

I also have scoliosis, but all my pain shows up on my right side usually. I clearly get muscle tightness on my left side, but rarely pain there.

Claire

[jennyj]

I have MS, as well as many food intolerances, and more of my long term problems are on my right side. I feel pain instead of cold on my right leg and I don't have as much feeling as I used to. I'm trying to think back though to my first MS attack back in 1993, and at that time my MS affected both sides of my body. It was either numbness on the right side of my face and the left side of my body or the left side of my face and the right side of my body. I can't remember.

I do currently have eye twitches that only affect the left eye. And, interestingly enough, I had surgery in July 2006 to remove a large ovarian cyst (due to advanced endometriosis) from my left side. In many circles it is believed that endometriosis is autoimmune related.

John, does it seem from your research that autoimmune diseases tend to favor the left side at the beginning, or throughout the course of the disease?

[DogtorJ]

[QUOTE=jennyj;69749John, does it seem from your research that autoimmune diseases tend to favor the left side at the beginning, or throughout the course of the disease?[/QUOTE]


Hi Jennyj,

In my veterinary experience, immune-mediated conditions, such as those of the eye, and peripheral neuropathies (e.g. Bell's palsy, Trigeminal neuropathy)usually strike one side and then the other IF it does strike the other side, just as they are typically described in the human literature. I have this thread going on the MS forum to try to sort a few things out if possible. To me, understanding MS holds the key to our understanding many other things since it appears to have many of the elements described below.

Until recently, I too had a very limited view of immune-mediated disorders. We have all been faced at some point with the misconception that the "autoimmune diseases" are a the result of an immune system gone haywire- that the immune system doesn't know what it's doing as it attacks the body for no good reason. That is an incorrect and downright abominable idea. It knows exactly what it is doing. We just have not completely grasped what it is going after in all cases of immune-mediated disease.

But, we are getting much closer to understanding this. However, the first thing to do is to put away that deception that the body makes mistakes. It doesn't...ever. Only we make the mistakes that injure our body. Then we can see what is really going, as we bombard our cells with all sorts of garbage while handcuffing our immune system with cover-up drugs while all the while providing the body with inadequate and even harmful fuel on which to perform. Yeah, it's our body's fault alright.

The fact is that there is a war going on in our body, a desperate struggle of "good versus evil" that parallels what we see going on around us. The key players are viruses, lectins, nutrients, pollution, chemicals/carcinogens, opportunistic organisms like bacteria/mycoplasma/fungi, lack of sleep and crazy lifestyles.

In the study of immune-mediated diseases, what you find is that the cells become abnormal and the immune system is called in to either kill them or to simply clean up the debris. Many of the cells are dead before the immune system even arrives. The fact is that certain food lectins (http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html) can kill cells or force them to change into something that the body doesn't like without the immune system ever becoming involved. The immune response is secondary. We're blaming the wrong guy when we point the finger at the immune system as the culprit. It's just doing it's job, which is "housecleaning" in many cases.

And the viruses are not really the culprits either. That is the cool thing to see. They are just doing what they were designed to do...adapt to the garbage that we are throwing at them. They have been doing it since Creation. But, we are throwing more and more at them and many of these things are the worst things they have even faced (e.g. carcinogens) and in the highest abundance. What do we expect from these guys???

But why do these diseases states get put off as long as they do? (They're not waiting as long as they used to, are they? Surprised after that last paragraph?). They "wait" because our bodies/cells start out healthier as do our immune systems. They "wait" because we have lots of reserves to start out with, as we can live on 1/2 of one kidney and 1/4th of our liver. The death of theses cells is actually an ongoing process. We just don't feel the results until we get to "critical mass". Perhaps the immune system is signaled in to do the major housecleaning because it knows that we are getting desperately low in healthy tissue. Could that be why some don't survive the first attack while others never see another assault?

And, there are good things in our bodies and diets that block the attachment of the bad things. There are good lectins and other binding agents that keep the bad ones from attaching. Some of these are produced by our own body and others come from our foods (e.g. fruits and veggies). Why does "an apple a day keep the doctor away"? Apples contain pectins that bind lectins. How does glucosamine work? It binds the lectins of wheat,et al and keep them from attaching to the cells that line the joint thereby preventing the inflammation they can cause. We know this.

Next, there are viruses inside the cells that react to the challenges that we throw at them. The glaring example is the group of retroviruses that are embedded in our very DNA that cause cancer when challenged by carcinogens. Is that the only virus in the cell? Not by a long shot. Viruses are critical in the normal function of nature, being responsible for variation and adaptation, with the latter being the key here. So some viruses are essential to our very existence. They are not the demons we have made them out to be.

And that is why some our cells literally invite them in. Our cells can produce lectins that attract viruses and facilitate their entry into the cell. Why would they do that? Because the cell needs the virus??? I believe that is true in many of not all cases. But, if we don't see that viruses play an essential role in our function, we can't possibly understand why a cell would roll out the red carpet for a virus, can we? (How do "genetics" work, anyway? How does a non-living sequence of amino acids in our DNA do anything? The fact is that estimates of 45% of our DNA is made up of viral sequences. Now that makes sense.) All we have been seeing is the most superficial aspect of all of this- the diseases being "caused" by these viruses when, in fact, they are just reacting to our insults.

So, do you see the war going on? Good lectins versus bad lectins, good viruses versus "bad" (over-adapting) viruses? All the while, we are pouring toxins into the mix and feeding the body garbage for "nutrition" and expecting it to perform optimally. Thank God (literally) that we start out with so many reserves, which are meant to give us a fighting chance to wake up before we do irreversible harm. And we blame our body...or God? Whoa!

I used to think the whole left versus right thing would have no medical explanation and that it was going to be purely a "level two" (spiritual) thing. I'm seeing things a bit differently now. But, why these diseases strike one side and then the other rather than both sides at the same time will never have a medical explanation. That is pure Grace.

I hope this helps in some way,
John

[mrsD]

I for one would like to see documentation of this: Wheat lectins in joints:

Originally Posted by DogtorJ

And, there are good things in our bodies and diets that block the attachment of the bad things. There are good lectins and other binding agents that keep the bad ones from attaching. Some of these are produced by our own body and others come from our foods (e.g. fruits and veggies). Why does "an apple a day keep the doctor away"? Apples contain pectins that bind lectins. How does glucosamine work? It binds the lectins of wheat,et al and keep them from attaching to the cells that line the joint thereby preventing the inflammation they can cause. We know this.

While looking for some documentation to the above, I did see using gliadin lectins for BENEFIT---

J Drug Target. 2003 Aug;11(7):415-23; discussion 423-4.Click here to read Links
Receptor mediated targeting of lectin conjugated gliadin nanoparticles in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori.

* Umamaheshwari RB,
* Jain NK.

Pharmaceutics Research Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar, MP 470 003, India.

The present work describes the potential for using lectin-conjugated gliadin nanoparticles as a means of locating and anchoring a drug delivery system on the carbohydrate receptors of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Gliadin nanoparticles (GNP) bearing acetohydroxamic acid (AHA) were prepared by a desolvation method. Ulex Europaeus Agglutinin I (UEA I) and Conconavalin A (Con A) lectins were bound to GNP formulations by the two-stage carbodiimide coupling technique. Lectin-agglutination assay was performed to evaluate the binding efficacy of lectin formulations to carbohydrate receptors of H. pylori strains. Strong agglutination patterns were observed with mannose-specific Con A-GNP and alpha(L)-fucose specific UEA-GNP formulations. In situ adherence assay was performed to examine the efficacy of lectin formulations to inhibit the binding of H. pylori strains with human stomach cells. Lectin formulations completely inhibited the H. pylori binding. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of the formulations was evaluated by percent growth inhibition studies (%GI) by using isolated H. pylori strain. The inhibitory efficacy of UEA-GNP and Con A-GNP was approximately two-fold higher compared to GNP. These lectin-conjugated gliadin nanoparticles are found to be potential candidate for targeted drug delivery and are anticipated to be useful in the treatment of H. pylori.

PMID: 15203930 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

I did find an article that said lectins bind glucosamine in the gut for some people. I could not find that it does so in the joints.

Purpose: To identify changes in bowel habits when there is exposure to glucosamine. Design: Case study. Materials and Methods: Six autistic children were exposed to glucosamine 500?mg twice daily without any change in diet. Results: Five of the children had relief of diarrhoea, the sixth had no change in bowel habit but ate bread containing gluten without any change in behaviour. Conclusion: Gluten contains a plant lectin that binds glucosamine. Glucosamine binds to potato lectin in the same manner and may protect the gut in responsive children. This is reflected in a change in bowel habit, indicating a possible protective activity.

from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/conten...00004/art00007


I did find this interesting original article:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Food-Lecti...tion&id=275056

It also contains the word MAY many many times. The proper use of "may" makes the article I am linking to more accurate, IMO.

I think paraphrasing others work, without citing the original documents does not lend well to informational sharing or accuracy.