Today I got caught up with my Science Daily articles, one of which triggered my curiosity: http://goo.gl/Ogr7B Now this is really really REALLY interesting: if you TREAT cytomegalovirus, a really crappydappydangerous type of virus that 70-75% of us adults have inside of us (luckily, it remains dormant in most cases), you can REDUCE the growth of brain tumours. Note: 92% of brain tumours are infected with cytomegalovirus, or CMV. Wow…as soon as I read that, I rushed to consult PubMed, the main source I use in my research. Not surprisingly, when I did a search for CMV and myeloma, I found some interesting abstracts…
It turns out that myeloma patients who have received chemotherapy treatments and stem cell transplants are at risk of awakening this terrible virus. The consequences can be scary, even devastating…
Here follows a selection of some of these studies…
This one concerns patients who have received chemo treatments but not stem cell transplants: http://goo.gl/WXOO7
Infections in myeloma patients undergoing stem cell transplants are discussed here: http://goo.gl/IWfc9
This full study shows how different treatments put patients at risk for different infections: http://goo.gl/VTqWg
A fatal case of myeloma and CMV (full study): http://goo.gl/z2Npw Scary…
I’ll stop here, but you can find other studies on PubMed if you’re interested in the topic…
The viral connection pops up again…and again…When I get back to Florence, I have some work to do…
UPDATE: as I was fishing around on PubMed for natural ways to combat CMV, I found an abstract on the wonders of caprylic acid, which I’d never heard of before but apparently can be found in the milk of some mammals and in coconut oil…Here is the link: http://goo.gl/UNZsn Note: this stuff is used to treat candida (Paul, what do you think?)…Hmmm…
CREEPY!
this is ne of the things that is tested for before allo and auto SCT. I was negative the first time round and if we go for an allo the donor would need to be negative also. 😀
i meant one – its hard typing with one hand but i’m not risking dislodging the cannula in the other. 😀
If you haven’t seen the serial drama “House” about this nut-case doctor who is all about mystery diagnoses, you should watch it, for the entertainment factor mostly… but… and here’s my point… you could write scripts for his shows with all your research information and leading the viewers down dark alleys of misdiagnosis… I keep thinking we should collectively write a script about MM for the show.
Hi Margaret,
Great stuff – well done. Yet another link between MM & fungal infections. You are right, caprylic acid is a common treatment for candidiasis – a problem suffered by many people with depleted immune systems. And if you look at almost all the natural compounds that are supposed to be good for myeloma (including Curcumin), they are all potent antifungals.
I would like to understand the process by which a paraprotein can delete good immunoglubulins – especially IgA, most of which is made in the gut. I think we are on to something here.
And remember: most often it is not MM that kills you but something else your immune system cant handle.
Paul
To Sandy:
They don’t call it MGUS for nothing. The “unknown” means that the medical profession don’t know what causes it and they don’t know how it will turn out. Some of us are not very comfortable with that and, if we can find out what causes gammopathy, maybe we can reverse it – rather than being sent down a one-way street. Yes we might go down “dark alleys” sometimes but it is still worth the journey in my opinion.
Paul
What is noteworthy at this time of year is the discussion of the flu vaccine in the full report. Also, some of the references sited.
We had our shot yesterday and I sort of brushed off the possibility of getting flu this season. I guess I am mistaken and its protection for my wife is suboptimal.
Mike