Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 are not correlated with the characteristics of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type 1 in 66 patients.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum

It will be interesting to see how this plays out....

I have been keeping up with the auto-immune theory, as I have other auto-immune disease. Do you subscribe to the "what's new" of CRPS? I do and it has helped me keep up to date. They will send the abstract lists right to your e-mail.

TNF-alpha and and IL-6 are just two parts of the immune cascade that always takes place during the immune response to trauma; which always follows every injury, no matter how minor.

This, and everything else in the immune response, are greatly increased in ischemua-reperfusion injury (IRI), which I have been saying for six years is what RSD really is. This is because IRI involves an immune response that doesn't end as is's supposed to: It continues and expands into an ever-widening area which sometimes doesn't end until an entire limb or organ are affected.

This abnormally widening immune response involves red, warm, swollen skin (inflammation) that often feels much like a sunburn. Inflammation is caused by oxygen free radicals (OFRs), which are the chemicals our white blood cells use to destroy invading pathogens. They also damage and destroy healthy cells.

IRI doesn't end with inflammation, however; it ends when white blood cells plug capillaries, permanently blocking them. Blood will never flow through these capillaries again. The cyanotic skin color we see in RSD is oxygen-depleted blood in blocked capillaries.

Our findings confirm the presence of local inflammation in a population of 66 patients in the first 2 years of CRPS1. Proinflammatory cytokines seem to be only partly involved in the pathophysiology of CRPS1, as indicated by the lack of coherence between TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels and the signs and symptoms of inflammation and disease duration.

The reason these signs of inflammation subside is that the immune response ends at some point, and is followed by the 2nd stage: Blocked capillaries, colder skin temperatures, and cyanosis. RSD and IRI only begin with inflammation; it doesn't last throughout the disease.

You can, if you wish, dismiss what I just wrote because I'm not a professional scientist, but you don't need to be a scientist to read science. All you need to do read about the IRI process for yourself. You will find it is exactly as I just described it.

The reason RSD and IRI haven't been linked is that that both are rare disorders, and specialists who are familiar with one of them never hear of the other.

Today, IRI is only believed to occur following trauma from surgery, and only thoracic surgeons deal with it: They never see RSD patients, and if they hear of the disease and look into it, they never read the word cynaosis in RSD literature. If they knew of a disorder that began with trauma and inflammation that turned into cyanosis, I think they would be interested.

I learned about IRI after I couldn't find any explanation for -- or even the word -- cyanosis in the RSD literature, so I began researching diseases in which cyanosis is evident: I found IRI, researched it, and learned that it explains every sign and symptom of RSD. You can do the same thing. If you do, you have taken the first step toward finding remission from this disease and return to a more normal, and pain-free life,

It really is your choice: You can spend some time studying for yourself, or you can wait, and suffer, and hope the experts will finally stop blaming nerve damage and begin looking for the real cause. They won't have to look far...Vic

Thanks for this, Sandel. You are great, I don't know what I would do without you ((Hugs))
I really hope that you are having a pain free day.
This is a good article: http://www.wigantoday.net/wigan-news...ony.3629630.jp
it's about a girl suffering from RSD in the UK. I hope you don't mind me posting it here. I have e-mailed our local news station and they are interested in interviewing me and my mom about RSD.
Happy new year
LOVE
Alison

This is a really interesting article. It makes a person think that they might be one step closer to figuring out what causes the RSD and be able to find a med to stop it in it's tracks. I'm wondering too, if later on they might be able to tell if a person is a canidate to get RSD by some kind of bloodwork being done such as they are doing now for cancers and heart disease.

The inflamation sounds right. When I was first diagnosed I felt like my whole body was inflamed. It took forever to get it to calm down. That's how I described my body at the time.

Vicc, it sounds like your theory is coming closer to being correct.

I wish I understood more of it then I do. My mind doesn't let me grasp the meaning of all of things so it takes me forever to understand even part of these articles.

Ada

Hi Jen, my name is loretta jewell. I'm very interested in receiving the "what's new" of CRPS. I have full body RSD type 2 11-12 years following surgery. Had a wonderful spell of 2 year remission. I also have trigeminal nerve disorder in my left temple, affecting left side of face. It's so painful, sometime outdose the rsd. I'm 59, married, with one married daughter. They just moved to Chicago in SEPT> that was a sad day. Please let me know how I can go about subscribing. Thank you and please tell me about yourself and family and your history of your RSD. I've been reading and researching a lot the lost couple years. I see a teaching Dr. and has got me on the right meds that removed my tremors, jerks, electrical jolts, and uns.table blood pressure. I'm sleeping better now, a lot better, but still fell depressed and withdrawn from people. My motivation for just about anything is lacking bigtime. I'm going to really try to loose weight this year. Iv'e always been thin and very active but
just cant get the energy going. Any ideas?

Thank you so much and hoping you are having a good day.

Loretta Jewell

Lorreta Jewel,
This is the link to the "What's new" of CRPS http://www.rsdcanada.org/parc/english/parc/news.htm
I hope it helps you.
Thanks
Alison
P.S. I am so sorry about your daughter moving to Chicago. I live in the UK and my grandad lives in Spain so I know what you are going through.