Thursday, November 27, 2008

Interesting...

I read somewhere that thyroid dysfunction is common in people with MS, Ed has even been on thyroid meds before, but his blood test results showed some pretty big problems. While this is not a huge surprise because a lot of autoimmune diseases (lupus, Grave's) can be linked back to the thyroid, I am curious as to why this has not become an issue until 4 years after his initial attack. Regardless, Ed does not have CPN, and his blood tests showed low levels of allergy to pretty much every food category, but ultimately his thyroid functioning is off the charts (in lack of production of the thyroid hormone, otherwise known as hypothyroidism). LDN can apparently ease side-effects of hypothyroidism (though not proven so far), and the doctor prescribed a high dosage of thyroid medication (synthroid).
I guess the ultimate questions are whether or not the thyroid is the main source of Ed's MS attacks, and why he would suffer from a thyroid dysfuction. I have gotten the impression in some past research that this is a 'chicken or egg' matter in regards to whether or not thyroid problems are a cause, or rather a result of MS's effect on the body. Who knows, maybe the body just reacts that way after MS attacks for a purpose, or maybe it is an undefined side-effect of drug treatments so far. I would be interested in hearing whether or not anyone has an opinion about those thoughts.

1 comment:

awb said...

That's a good question about the thyroid, and one I plan on asking on my visit to the PCP on Tuesday. I don't know anymore, is it good news when a test shows nothing, or is it a lost opportunity at a possible cause? Anyway, congrats that nothing jumped out at ya as a problem?