Left-sided afflictions
 

Hi Everyone,

I am new to NeuroTalk but used to post a fair amount on BrainTalks MS forum. I am a veterinarian-turned-reseacher following my diagnosis of celiac disease and subsequent miraculous recovery from a myriad of symptoms, including allergies, IBS, fibromyalgia, insomnia, depression and more. This really got my attention and I plunged into medical literature research as well as applying all that I had learned to my veterinary patients (and clients who would listen) with astonishing results. So, I created a Website to chronicle my discoveries and show the results.

I have had people suffering from MS contact me and those that have applied the dietary guidelines I write about have shown very good results, with one person I know having a full recovery including remission of lesions on follow-up imaging studies. This all makes sense to me after 7 years of intensive reading as to the real causes of neurodegenerative diseases.

But this thread is for something very specific and I would really appreciate your input.

Along the way, I started seeing some very interesting patterns. One of them was the observation that the vast majority of immune-mediated events of the eye occurred first in the left eye. This included keratitis (diseases of the cornea), uveitis (inflammation inside the eye), glaucoma, dry eye, and cataracts. In over 90% of the cases, the left eye was afflicted first and then the right IF it occurred in the other eye. This became true of other immune-mediated events, including peripheral neuropathies, equilibrium problems, and even kidney disease in the cat.

Two weeks ago, I had a woman who brought her dog in for an eye problem and it was on the left. As I have become accustomed to doing, I leaned out of the exam room and said "Hey Gena (my main tech), it's another left eye." The client said "What's up with that?" I explained and she said "That is so weird. I have lupus and it just hit my eyes and it hit MY left eye first." I said "Uh huh. Funny how that happens, eh?" And she said "But that's not all. I am a nurse and work in oncology and we have the same thing going in our office about breast cancer. It seems to be in the left breast MUCH more often than the right* and we make note of it just like you and Gena do." (*which I have now confirned). I had another tech three years ago have two MS attacks and they were both on her left side.

There are some interesting "fun facts" that go along with this concept, including the fact that approximately 90% of people are right handed (controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain), most are right-eye dominant (again, left brain), and that most of the amino acids in our body are left-handed amino acids (confirmed by Louis Pasteur).

But what I would like to know is whether any of you have experienced this pattern of the left side being affected before or more often than the right side?


Thanks for your help. I hope this helps you in some way.
John

Interesting question, John. I don't have MS, I've got MG. (I followed you over here from the link you left on the gluten sensitivity forum)
I don't know if you would expect the same left side effect with MG or not, but my left arm is usually more fatigued than my right. However, my right leg is more fatigued than my left. Of course, that may be because my right leg is my short leg, so it has always taken more abuse than the other over the years.
I'll follow this thread with interest to see what replies you get.

For me the answer is no.

MS it's self has not affected my vision but I do have congenital cataracts (both eyes).

The majority of my symptoms are from the waist down on both sides. If I have problems with my arms and/or hands, again it's both sides.

Thank you for your responses. I am going to address in more detail why I am asking this later in the thread. In the meantime, I have done an Internet search for "left-sided affliction" today and found some very interesting things.

Here is one of them-

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

Hey DogtorJ-
My first attack of my eye - which I did not know was related until the MS dx - was some sort of inflammation - in my left eye. I don't recall if they named it uvetis - felt like someone was in there with an ice pick.

Later - months - came an incredible headache (leftish side)

All of my sx, paresthesia, weakness, etc. started on my right side but I am left handed. Have you done any research on the fact that it's the non-dominant side?

Thanks
 

That's one of the aspects of this I am looking into. But, I had a woman in the exam room the other day who had her breast cancer on the right and her cataract in her right eye and she was right handed so I am not looking for super strong conclusions here, just trying to track down a definite trend I have been seeing. The only person I know personally that had a unilateral presentation of MS had it on the left side. When I did an Internet search for "left side, right side multiple sclerosis", it appeared to demonstrate a left-sided preponderance but I'm still reading.

And again, since the left hemisphere controls the right side, I was actually wondering whether I was going to find that the right side was affected more neurologically because the left brain was more commonly affected OR that the left side of the body was going to be more affected neurologically (e.g. MS attacks) because it is on the left half of the body where everything else seems to be affected more frequently. That is the real reason for the post. It makes more sense to me that the right side of the body would be more affected since the big issue appears to be the diseased state of the brain (oligodendrocytes).

I plan to discuss this with a few chiropractors I know and see if they have seen any trends one way or another.

Thanks for all of your inputs thus far. I hope that current research will shed light on this serious condition and bring relief to its sufferers. I would encourage anyone with MS to check heavily into the dietary aspects. "Excitotoxins" (glutamate and aspartate) and lectins are things to look into, as are the roles of viruses. I'm sure that most of you have read about the role of vitamin D. That's a big clue, I think.

Hi September. That sounds like it could be uveitis, which is inflammation of a part of the inside of the eye (uveal tract). Dogs with this come in squinting big time so it must really hurt.

The general rule of thumb is when you see one immune-mediated disease, look for others. That is because there are a number of common factors and triggers (lectins, viruses, malnutrition, failing immune systems, inhalant allergies). I have had other MS sufferers who have contacted me with ocular disorders like yours. In the past 3 months, I have had more cases of multiple immune-mediated disorders in a single patient than I have ever seen in my life.

In my city, we just experienced THE worst allergy season we have seen in 15 years. So, when we have that kind of thing and then enter the worst time of the year (November to Feb), we can expect bad things to happen. In fact, I told my techs to brace themselves, that we would be seeing serious problems this fall/winter and I was more right than even I anticipated. This period is the worst medical gauntlet of the year, due in part to the short days, dropping serotonin (and vitamin D levels), colder ambient/body temps (which viruses love), and less exercise.

But, this can have a positive spin put on it. When we find what is triggering one and eliminate it, we can see other things get better. To me, the dietary aspects hold the most promise for multiple recoveries and that is exactly what I am seeing (and experiencing myself).

Thanks for the input,
John

MS is not a disease that just affects the brain - MS is a disease of the CNS which is the brain and the spine. MS can and does affect one or both of these areas.

If someone has MS affecting the cervical spine more so than the brain I don't think what your looking for will hold up for MS....JMO.

You're right , of course. That is why I said "the big issue" not simply the issue. I should have made that more clear.

As you know, they used to think that MS was a disease of the myelin itself and now they know it is more of a problem in the oligodendrocytes (that produce the myelin), the highest concentration of which are in the brain. And you're right again, if it involves the upper motor neurons (those leaving the brain), we will see the left brain disease affecting the right side. If it involves the lower motor neurons (those occuring after the synapse of the upper motor neurons, where the impulse leaves the spine) then it will affect the same side as the damage.

I was going to try to explain much of this after the thread got going (as an explanation for the various responses...for emphasis), but now that you mentioned it.... :)

The answer to my question will be found in both presentations: Those that have both upper and lower extremeties affected on one side (suggesting upper motor neuron damage) and those that have one or both arms or legs involved, suggesting lower motor neurons involved. It's not quite that clear cut, of course, but I am simply looking for trends here.

Thanks for your input

John

I had optic neuritis before I was diagnosed, but did not loose my sight. Things just got kind of brown looking. This happpened several times, but I don't know if it was one eye more than the other.

However, my left side is definitely more effected from the MS than the right as far as everything else goes. I have weakness in both legs, but far more pronounced in the left.

I also had breast cancer on the left side.

Virginia

Hi, I'm (R) handed, my first MS sx's were (L) neck & arm numbness. At this stage only lesions in c spine. Sx's eventually spread to (R) side.
Several years later I had ON (L) eye, and 3 months after that in the (R) eye - and much worse, but by then I also had brain lesions. Hope this helps.
I'm off to check my (L) breast!

I was told by a breast specialist
 

That lesions in the left breast are more common in right handed women,
because they typically carry babies on that side, compress the breast, etc.
Small injuries can be sustained without realizing it.

The majority of women hold infants on the left, close to the heart.
It is an instinctive move.

Right handed women also injure the left breast more often because they may be carrying something and doing a task with the right hand/arm, and the left side then is more exposed.

But you can see from this statistical website that the variation is quite
small. What IS interesting is the favored quadrant, where breast cancer is
found.

Thanks for all of the great responses. This is getting very interesting.

Mrs. D- Thanks for the info. Did you mean to post a statistical Website?

Thank you again for your participation!

John

Dogtor, this is a question about cats. Mine will not sit on my lap unless I have a certain afghan on my lap. Why? She is about 11 months old, I got her from the humane society. She and all her litter mates were raised in a foster home.

She loves to sit on my husbands lap. I guess he is her 'chosen human'. But maybe she just knows that he needs that. When he comes home from work, she is on his lap almost instantly. He sits there and strokes her beautiful fur. Maybe she instinctively knows that he needs that after a hard day at a job that he hates.

Hi dogtorj! I just found this thread since my internet service was out due to LOTS of snow here in the northeast! Very interesting discussion though.

My first symptom of ms, 14 years before diagnosis, was optic neuritis in my left eye (blind spots). Two years later it appeared in the right and some time later back in the left. Most of my disability is from the waist down which began with foot drop in my left foot along with numbness, pins and needles.

The left leg has always been the most affected and now doesn't "work" at all. The right is catching up, but is still more mobile. Of course the majority of lesions I have are on the spine.

As to multiple "immune conditions", I also have fibromyalgia with severe pain 24/7. How did you 'cure' yours? I can't remember life without pain and it's really wearing me down.

By the way, I have an almost (May) 15 year old Bichon Frise. She has some age related problems, arthritis, hard of hearing, doesn't see as well as she used to, and white dog skin problems, but she's still pretty frisky for an old lady! The main problem is she seems to have forgotten she's housebroken. At least she isn't a German Shepherd!

Thanks for all your input.

Hi Judy,

Thanks for the input. Sounds like we need to have a talk. :)

My pain disappeared when I eliminated all gluten and dairy from my diet. That is one of the main focuses of my Website- the relief of pain through dietary restriction. This same approach has yielded some phenomenal results in the management of MS as well. A big part of Celeste Pepe's book Reversing Multiple Sclerosis is about diet. What she eliminated is the interesting part.

Once we grasp the damage that the "big 4" (gluten, dairy, soy, and corn) are doing...along with the MSG, aspartame, mercury and other pollutants...we can see how people like Celeste can make such claims. I have a "client" who adopted my diet and ultimately made a full recovery from MS once she moved from Boston to the middle of nowhere in New Mexico, away from all of the air pollution. It is a know fact that air quality affects all of the neurodegenerative diseases.

And all of these dietary principles apply to our pets. Dogs and cats do even worse on the big 4 than people, not having had the time to adapt to them like we have. They suffer skin allergies, IBS, seizures, and lots of immune-mediated diseases and higher cancer rates than people, all of which illustrate their intolerance of their horrific commercial diets. But, there are some diets out there that are much better than others. My site explains.

I look at fibromyalgia as very sensitive pain centers in the brain. We are doing a lot wrong that is making this happen (diet, lifestyle, environment). Our pain threshold goes up and down like a barometer as we insult our body or as we become chronically ill, with our pain thresholds bottoming out this time of year as our serotonin levels are their lowest. It makes sense to me that people with other chronic illnesses would have low pain thresholds. Pain is a protective mechanism and some need more protection than others. And if your pain improves, you know you are on the right track. That is what happended to that case of MS I mentioned above. She knew that she was on the right track when her pain, IBS, and headaches were lessening.

I hope this helps in some way.

John

Hey there John,

Thanks for taking the time to give me so much information! This is the first I've been here in awhile so haven't had a chance to check out your website. At this point, I'd try just about anything to find some pain relief! Of course if my legs would work even a little better, that would be a miracle!

As to the pollution, I live in a rural area where there are no big factories, etc. Also I have been aware of the bad things MSG, aspertame, etc., do to the body and have eliminated them from my diet. The dairy part would be really hard for me since I've always been a milk drinker. But I'll check out your site as soon a I get the chance! Thanks again!!

Wow!! This is an amazing thread to me for two reasons--1. I just read a link to YOUR site DogtorJ today!! I am now a huge fan! 2. I have celiac disease, fibromyalgia, and iritis in my LEFT eye with recent muscular weakness in my left side that has me thinking a neurological exam is in order. Not thrilled at yet another dx, and am now in a state of denial because I think it is almost certainly MS.
I am so amazed and thrilled to see you on this site -I rarely am on here, but check it out sometimes for new information.

Your personal site has helped me soooo much and I am forever grateful for it. (No, I am not related to the guy, nor is his site any kind of money-making thing people!!)

I forgot to mention that I also have had a large benign yet painful, breast lump removed about four years ago from my LEFT side too! (I am right handed)

Thanks, Shay!
 

I am so glad that you have found the site helpful, Shay. Thank you for your positive comments and your post here. I hope that your diagnosis will be something less serious than MS. BUT, that too can be helped. :)

Feel free to contact me through my site and I will do everything I can to help you find answers.

John

Most weaknesses on right side
 

Most of my impairments or weaknesses have come to the right side, starting with loss of some vision at eleven in right eye. When I got Optic Neuritis many years later, it was right eye for eight years. Everything on my right side is slightly smaller than on my left, including my right foot, and I think I was born that way.

As for my dominant side, I am ambidextrous pretty nearly. I learned to write with my right hand, so I am considered right handed. However, if I try, I can write a sentence quite clearly with my left hand. I used my left hand primarily to eat with for many years when my hands were weak--the left one seemed to be the less weak of the two, so I instinctively started using the left.

the only neuro impairment I can definitely saw was on the left was foot drop, which I had for one week.

When I was in a clinical trial for xanax, they found I was nearly ambidextrous, and therefore tested me extensively, because they thought depression came from ambidextrousness. One of those tests showed a complete blank in an ability to put blocks together--just in one area--but they did not tell me what that showed.
I was groggy from xanax, so I didn't ask what it was about. The xanax afflected my porphyria, my other disease, which also has neurological impairments possible if left untreated, as mine was.

I believe that if I lost my right hand I could pick up doing everything with the left.

My eyes got well after the ON, and they are equal now--just a slight farsightedness in both, due to age, but otherwise equally good. The ON went away completely and did not return. It is interesting that the impairment I had in the right eye all my life went away when I got over ON--I no longer had astigmatism.

Mariel

left side
 

Pretty much all of my ms related problems are on the left side. I have numb fingers and an occasionally draggy foot. I'd consider a diet, but have always been on the thin side. Anytime I even think about restrictions I drop another pound, or two, or three until I start to look like a prisoner of war. I have, however, noticed a distinct link between pork consumption and flare ups. I also notice a problem with flare-ups and green tea. How's that for odd?
:rolleyes:
Katty

8 corneal abrasions to the left eye, enlarged blind spot left eye, nyastmais (SP) left eye.
weak left leg, most symptoms in the left leg.
left breast cysts.
left foot drop.
Pain in my left hip.
hydnratis supurvia (SP) lymph node infection basically, left arm pit.
Ran over by a car at 4yr old, left leg, not that that has anything to do with anything though.
When they did my hysterectomy they left the right ovary, it didn't have cysts, (at that time)
I'm right handed, and have bigger lesions on the right side of my brain.
Pat