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I know he was ill a lot in the Spring, just wondering if he is better?

whyRwehere wrote:I know he was ill a lot in the Spring, just wondering if he is better?

Here's one of his most recent posts which was in July. I haven't heard much about him since then.

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-62848.html#62848

NHE

Yes, I was reading an old post and saw that...then nothing. Hope he is well.

Me too. Hope you're doing okay, Dom. Best wishes.

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okay, thanks, that's good to know.

Hello everyone,
I'm deeply touched that you're concerned about my well being but honestly I'm really, really fine. The last 12 months have been particularly difficult for me healthwise, with a seemingly endless round of infections, and the result has been to leave me permanently exhausted so that I don't feel able to contribute much to TIMS any more. I miss you all so much and yes, I did try Facebook as a kind of "TIMS – lite" but I really don't like it much and I'm thinking of deleting my profile as I never go on there. The only good thing about it is that I was able to throw a sheep at Bob.

Because it's so painful to be out of touch, I rarely even check in here, so I have been devastated to read about Holly. There is something so unique about this wonderful community that we are able, through the harsh technology of ones and zeroes, to transmit something of our spirit to each other around the world, and to lose such a beautiful soul is to lose a dear friend. The sun dimmed a little that day.


I have managed to read some of the articles about CCSVI, and I find it very, very compelling: the figures are impressive so far, the theory fits beautifully, and some of the most puzzling questions are answered. Bob is right to be a little cautious, (Oh how I HATE saying that!), because there is a chance that this phenomenon is a result rather than the cause of MS, but professor Zamboni addresses this when he says that rates of CCSVI are the same in patients on immunomodulating and anti inflammatory treatments, as those who are not. If CCSVI was caused by inflammation or immune activity, this would not be the case.
It seems entirely plausible to me that a congenital weakness would be variable between individuals. In those with PPMS, perhaps the defect is severe from birth so that the brain is permanently hypoxic and experiencing reflux, causing a sustained and continuing effort to repair. When the brain has finally used up its plasticity, symptoms begin to show and are unrelenting.
In other forms, the stenoses may be less obstructive or even intermittent and weaknesses may only show when they are exaggerated by an external factor. Perhaps some of the " triggers" which have often been suspected in MS, (infection, physical trauma, loss of parasites, vitamin deficiency etc. etc.), in fact weaken the vein walls in individuals born with this condition, (which of course is under genetic control).

Well, those are a few of my musings, and it feels so good to share them with you once again.
You are always in my thoughts, (except Bob, who has been successfully removed by months of therapy),
Take care all,
Dom.

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my evil plan is working...Dom is back and keeping Bob busy...

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Seriously though, Dom, good to hear you are well and that you have kept up with the AMAZING research going on here. Keep on commenting!

Lyon wrote:

whyRwehere wrote:my evil plan is working...Dom is back and keeping Bob busy...

I can't believe I fell for that!

Joan and Marie would be willing to pay Dom to hang around!

Damn straight, Bob! If only to see Dom's handsome mug show up now and then. (Beats a guy on a toilet!) I don't want to get all mushy, but Dom's dedication to this site and the people here, his brilliant mind and inquisitive nature-kept me coming back online...especially those first 6 months after Jeff's diagnosis, when I was just a scared lurker. (and I actually kinda feel the same way about Bob, but this is Dom's thread.)

don't be a stranger, Dom.
xox,
cheer

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Good to hear from you Dom. I definitely miss your insight. I hope to see you around.

Ooh, it's so good to hear your voices again! Just to give you some insight: it took me about 5 hours to write that previous post, so " lurking" isn't a good idea because I'd be so tempted to join in, there wouldn't be time to do the things which normally take up my day, such as yawning, blinking, and the occasional scratch.

To my mind everyone here deserves a medal, but Cheer, your work on CCSVI has been inspirational. I know it has its own thread, but if I can just make a couple of points before I sink back into hibernation:

Many moons ago, I'm sure I posted something about metals and MS. It was about extremely high levels in the urine of patients – I think it was iron in people with PPMS and aluminium in RRMS, but it could be the other way round – I know hypoxia causes a marked increase in the uptake of iron but it's a very complicated process, made more difficult by the fact that not only do different species react very differently, but different cell lines within the same species respond in totally unique ways. This abstract intrigued me because it mentions amantadine as a way to block this, a drug long used as a therapy but I've never heard this method of action before:

Titre du document / Document title
Hypoxia alters iron homeostasis and induces ferritin synthesis in oligodendrocytes
Auteur(s) / Author(s)
YAN QI (1) ; JAMINDAR T. M. ; DAWSON G. (1) ;
Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
(1) Univ. Chicago, dep. pediatrics, Chicago IL 60637, ETATS-UNIS
Résumé / Abstract
Both iron and the major iron-binding protein ferritin are enriched in oligodendrocytes compared with astrocytes and neurons, but functional role remains to be determined. Progressive hypoxia dramatically induces the synthesis of ferritin in both neonatal rat oligodendrocytes and a human oligodendroglioma cell line. We now report that the release of iron from either transferrin or ferritin-bound iron, after a decrease in intracellular pH, also leads to the induction of ferritin synthesis. The hypoxic induction of ferritin synthesis can be blocked either with iron chelators (deferoxamine or phenanthroline) or by preventing intracellular acidification (which is required for the release of transferrin-bound iron) with weak base treatment (ammonium chloride and amantadine). Two sources of exogenous iron (hemin and ferric ammonium citrate) were able to stimulate ferritin synthesis in both oligodendrocytes and HOG in the absence of hypoxia. This was not additive to the hypoxic stimulation, suggesting a common mechanism. We also show that ferritin induction may require intracellular free radical formation because hypoxia-mediated ferritin synthesis can be further enhanced by cotreatment with hydrogen peroxide. This in turn was blocked by the addition of exogenous catalase to the culture medium. Our data suggest that disruption of intracellular free iron homeostasis is an early event in hypoxic oligodendrocytes and that ferritin may sene as an iron sequestrator and antioxidant to protect cells from subsequent iron-catalyzed lipid peroxidation injury
Revue / Journal Title
Journal of neurochemistry ISSN 0022-3042 CODEN JONRA9
Source / Source
1995, vol. 64, no6, pp. 2458-2464 (1 p.)
Langue / Language
Anglais
Editeur / Publisher
Blackwell, Oxford, ROYAUME-UNI (1956) (Revue)

Iron chelators exert a neuroprotective effect and the method of action is interesting, because they do so by triggering a protective response which is normally a reaction to hypoxia. Doubly strange, then, that releasing ferretin-bound iron increases ferretin synthesis… Everything seems to contradict…

Iron chelators are pluripotent neuronal antiapoptotic agents that have been shown to enhance metabolic recovery in cerebral ischemia models. The precise mechanism(s) by which these agents exert their effects remains unclear. Recent studies have demonstrated that iron chelators activate a hypoxia signal transduction pathway in non-neuronal cells that culminates in the stabilization of the transcriptional activator hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) and increased expression of gene products that mediate hypoxic adaptation. We examined the hypothesis that iron chelators prevent oxidative stress-induced death in cortical neuronal cultures by inducing expression of HIF-1 and its target genes. We report that the structurally distinct iron chelators deferoxamine mesylate and mimosine prevent apoptosis induced by glutathione depletion and oxidative stress in embryonic cortical neuronal cultures. The protective effects of iron chelators are correlated with their ability to enhance DNA binding of HIF-1 and activating transcription factor 1(ATF-1)/cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) to the hypoxia response element in cortical cultures and the H19-7 hippocampal neuronal cell line. We show that mRNA, protein, and/or activity levels for genes whose expression is known to be regulated by HIF-1, including glycolytic enzymes, p21(waf1/cip1), and erythropoietin, are increased in cortical neuronal cultures in response to iron chelator treatment. Finally, we demonstrate that cobalt chloride, which also activates HIF-1 and ATF-1/CREB in cortical cultures, also prevents oxidative stress-induced death in these cells. Altogether, these results suggest that iron chelators exert their neuroprotective effects, in part, by activating a signal transduction pathway leading to increased expression of genes known to compensate for hypoxic or oxidative stress

Okay, I've REALLY got to go back to sleep now. Take good care,
Dom.