Dramtic decrease in EDSS with Liver Transplant ? Why ?

CureOrBust · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:56 am Post subject:

I would guess that most people on interferons are monitored, and taken off it if their liver is at risk.

jimmylegs · Family Elder Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 1998

just had a scroll thru this since it's popular, and off the top without reading the referenced articles i would say that two things stand out - yes, ms medication is damaging to the liver, even if the various enzymes don't go high enough to cause the docs alarm and a med switch, maybe chronic slight elevation is harmful enough to increase edss.

also, the healthy functionality of the liver is important to many processes that may be impacted negatively in ms.

for example, i don't know if i'm repeating anything touched on earlier this thread, but if we want to go down the d3 road, your body gets d3 cholecalciferol from sunlight or diet or supplements. the first place it goes, in order to hydroxylate into that all-important supply of 25(OH)D3 that we've all been having tested, is the liver. there are a few other tissues that effect this transformation into the second metabolite of d3, but the liver is the main one in the research i've seen to date.

a new, healthier (for whatever reason), and possibly younger liver will be more efficient at this d3 hydroxylation process, making more 25(OH) available to the kidneys (and some other tissues) for the second hydroxylation to 1,25(OH)2, the steroid hormone which provides the immune system with brakes, and damps inflammation.

this is just one potential scenario, among who knows how many...
JL

Dahlia · Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:09 am Post subject:

While on the subject of the liver ......... I just thought I'd add that, last year I was having a great deal of pain around the lower abdomen, so they gave me an ultra sound after my MRI revealed no lesions on the spine (that could have possibly been attributed to causing the pain ???????) they never did figure it out. But, the ultra sound did show a small amount of sclerosis in the liver ?? No explanation was given by the doctor - apparently an anomaly ? I do not drink to excess, am not on interferon's etc. etc. and, no follow up.

lyndacarol · Family Elder Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 508

Dahlia--Snce you must know of my fixation on insulin and the pancreas, you will understand the reason I ask: Could your abdominal pain have been pancreatitis?

My suspicion is that doctors don't look for it and obviously won't find it if they are not looking for it. Of course, I think it was pancreatitis and eventually resolved itself. Just the musings of a nonscientist...

jimmylegs · Family Elder Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 1998

sclerosis in the liver? or cirrhosis? if it's from fatty liver that's reversible. don't know if the problem with the liver caused your pain, but you should be able to do something about liver issues. many use milk thistle for optimizing liver health. the wiki article on fatty liver looks pretty good; i haven't dug into the literature on this but the wiki might be a good starting point:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_liver

Dahlia · Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:56 pm Post subject:

it was/is a small area of calcification. I am not a drinker, and have been on the Swank diet for years - I am not over weight. The pain went on for months, I lost a lot of weight - because I was throwing up all the time ........ a very nasty experience. I also suffered from terrible nerve like pain in my back at the same time .................. since then, the neurologist has decided it was probably a very small leasion on the spine, one so very small that they couldn't see it - that was probably causing the pain ...but, no answers for the spot in the liver .......

lyndacarol · Family Elder Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 508

Dahlia--By the way, severe vomiting is another symptom of pancreatitis. My father-in-law (who does NOT have MS) has developed pancreatitis twice, once after surgery to remove his bladder, then again after surgery for a bowel blockage. Boy!Was he violently sick with throwing up!