This one is for you Pip :) | Arthritis Information
Early infections may increase arthritis risk
LONDON (Reuters) - Babies with serious infections during their first year of life appear more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis at an early age, Swedish researchers said on Tuesday.
Previous studies have suggested infections somehow trigger the autoimmune condition later in life but the Swedish findings raise the possibility infections may somehow change the way an immature immune system develops, the researchers said.
"Nobody had thought of this relationship with early-in-life infections and how they can affect the immune system," said Cecilia Carlens of the Karolinska University Hospital and Institute in Stockholm, who led the study, published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease and often strikes young people, resulting in pain, stiffness and swelling. It affects about 20 million people worldwide and is the most common chronic rheumatic disorder in children. Using data from national registers, the Swedish team tracked the health of more than 3,500 men and women born between 1973 and 2002.
The researchers looked at information on maternal health, pregnancy and birth details and whether the children had any infections during the first 12 months of life.
Compared to people without the conditions, children who had serious infections early on were more than twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis as a young adult, the study found.
Babies born premature, small or with a low birth weight had a reduced risk for rheumatoid arthritis, but the researchers do not know why, Carlens added.
Thanks, Nikkilynn, I'd see this when it came out about 9 months ago. It's from the Karolina Institute. At that time I couldn't find any info on the type of infection but this time the search lead to more info.
It looks like it was too late for them to find out which infections.
Dr. Brown said mostly strep and pneumonia which lead to the cell wall deficient kinds.
Pip
Well my early-life serious infection was epiglottitis (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/epiglottitis/DS00529) at the age of 6. I was hospitalized and had a tracheotomy. My RA started shortly after another major infection hospitalization when I was 35 and my appendix burst.I didn't have any serious early-life infections...In fact other than having RA, I've always been healthy...Go figure
Suzanne - what causes that?
Nikkilynn -
Yes, it's possible, but we've had somebody on AI who never had strep but tested positive for it. If I remember correctly, they never got the red throat.
PANDA'S? I need to look that up again.
Pip
According to the Mayo entry, "The most common cause of epiglottitis is infection with Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), the same bacterium that causes pneumonia and meningitis." But I've seen other sites that also mention strep. My mother said I was on tons of antibiotics in the hospital. I wondered whether the infection might be the AI trigger, or maybe the antibiotics themselves.
And speaking of strep, 5 bouts of strep in 6 months seemed to trigger my Fibromyalgia onset when I was 30.
I came home from the hsopital with a staph infection...mom said it took forever to clear up. Does that count?Techincally, if it's bacterial (not sure) it sure does.
I think it's a two pronged attack. All of these infections are in our body's 'library' so to speak. Using the antibiotics necessary to kill them causes them to morph into a CWD (cell wall deficient) variety. Like strep has 3 life cycles - which they never knew about prior to the invention of the Darkfield microscope. So, the abx takes out the one form, and leaves behind 2 or 3 different CWD versions of the same thing. I think of CWD's as a sort of cross between a bacteria and a virus (not really true at all - just how I envision them). So, then years later some sort of trigger happens (increased stress on the HPA axis, poor diet, lack of sleep etc.) and the buggers become MUCH more active.
Interestingly, I was on 3 Z packs for pneumonia they couldn't seem to kill off prior to my onset. Think what 3 Z packs would do to your good gut flora WITHOUT pribiotics.
So, yes, in my case, I think ABX helped this boogie into PRA/RA. That and my poisoning myself with Aleve. I was on WAY too much and my liver couldn't process the toxins out. Damn lucky I didn't lose my liver with that one.
Pip
And I had scarlet fever (bad streph) at age 3. Part of the danger of scarlet fever is developing a rheumatic heart. Why only the heart?
[QUOTE=justsaynoemore]And I had scarlet fever (bad streph) at age 3. Part of the danger of scarlet fever is developing a rheumatic heart. Why only the heart? [/QUOTE]
"Rheumatic fever" (also known as "scarlet fever") can cause arthritis (typically the big joints), carditis, chorea ("St. Vitus Dance"), rash, and even subcutaneous nodules.
JR - I wasn't aware that "rheumatic fever" was "scarlet fever". I need to do some more studying, as I thought RF was something else. Thanks.
JR - I did some research, and rheumatic fever is separate from scarlet fever, as you might or might not contract it after having scarlet fever. Are you sure about what you posted? I trust your information, so I am puzzled as I was of the understanding that scarlet fever and rheumatic fever were two different maladies. Thanks - CathyI thought both scarlet fever and rheumatic fever were the result of unchecked strep throat.
[QUOTE=justsaynoemore]JR - I did some research, and rheumatic fever is separate from scarlet fever, as you might or might not contract it after having scarlet fever. Are you sure about what you posted? I trust your information, so I am puzzled as I was of the understanding that scarlet fever and rheumatic fever were two different maladies. Thanks - Cathy[/QUOTE]
I believe we're both right - they're not exactly two separate illnesses; both are from untreated/mistreated strep infections. Scarlet fever (mainly just rash, high sed rate, etc) can progress into rheumatic fever (all of the above plus heart and arthritis problems) if it's not addressed swiftly and severely.
PANDA'S!!!Okay, I give, what is PANDA, once again - I will write it down then lose that piece of paper and ask again It's a strep infection in kids that goes unchecked -
Strep is linked to the onset of Autism in a lot of studies. One woman who works with Autism kids told me strep is one of the culprits because of how the vaccine is administered (into the gut) but Jas said that wasn't right. I went back to the woman and she didn't have any research, just said 'all the autism people know that'. I'm like ???
Pip
Wow
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