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