Wednesday 7 July 2010

GENES IN LYME DISEASE, ME/CFS

I had read that there was a genetic link involved in cases where patients had difficulty fighting chronic Lyme Disease. In my earlier post Genes, Microbes, Environment -Illness Dr Bransfield says 'Often this person has the HLA DR4 genotype'

I have also read that many patients with ME/CFS have been found to have the same gene.

A genetic component to ME / ICD-CFS is strongly suggested by HLA phenotyping analysis in the laboratory of Paul Terasaki at UCLA School of Medicine. Terasaki is one of the world's leading experts in HLA typing and he found 46% of ME / ICD-CFS patients were HLA-DR4 positive.

link here

Other illnesses such as Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis according to Wikepedia also have this genetic link.

Some research hypothesises that it is the cause of an auto immune reaction but more research needs to be done.

Although I don't and can't contradict this hypothesis, in my own experience I have improved on antibiotics and deteriorated off them.

I find it strange why my symptoms of Arthritis and muscle weakness have moved from area to area, why would a wonky immune system flit from place to place?

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