[I_WMD]

Posted: May 9, 2008
http://newswire.rockefeller.edu/?page=engine&id=755

[New theory suggests how hepatitis C may cause rare immune disease

Of the hepatitis alphabet, the C variant may be the nastiest. In 1990, researchers observed that most patients with hepatitis C also develop a rare autoimmune disease called mixed cryoglobulinemia, a condition that frequently leads to cancer, arthritis or both. Now, researchers at Rockefeller University say that a decade-old explanation of how one disease causes the other is likely wrong, and instead offer a new — albeit controversial — theory of their own: that the pathogen causing the disease zeros in on a specific cellular target that has yet to be identified.

In persons infected with hepatitis C virus, the immune system initially ramps up the production of infection-fighting B cells, which make molecules called antibodies. As these B cells multiply, they make antibodies and release them into the blood where, under normal circumstances, they latch onto the invading pathogens and mark them for destruction. In mixed cryoglobulinemia, there is a problem: the B cells don’t stop multiplying, sending the body into a tailspin of pathological conditions that follow a slow, smoldering course.]

Blood 111(3): 1344-1356 (February 1, 2008)


In this little excerpt [ sorry 'bout that ] .... but I was Dx'ed with cryoglobulinemia back in 2005 when I suffered from a seizure induced from viral menengitis....
A little more than a month ago I finally had a blood draw for LFT [ liver function tests ] taken and it came back with elevations where they should not be [ not to the extreme ] ,,, but also a red blood platlet count that was less than half the low norm amount .
I should say here that I did neglect having periodical check-ups for the last 2 years.

My question is ,,[?] ,, does anyone here have similiar or know of someone with this condition that might advise me as to the health related consequences and time factors as to looking into this by Doctors in >>>>.. oncology , or hemotology specialists ?

Thank You .

I_WMD.

was Dx'ed with hep C in 1979. geonotype 1A. pacific rim variety. It was then refered to as non a non b hepatitist.