New information on bacteria

[Chris55]

Hello to all. I am relatively new to "posting" and don't know if this is the correct subject area, but here goes...briefly, I have a daughter with MS and I spend hours reading/researching. I am a strong supporter of traditional medication but also feel there are natural choices that will help us also. I have a medical condition with no known cause and no effective treatment (interstitial cystitis). Some in the medical community feel it is an autoimmune disease. I have had two chronic episodes---one 30 years ago and one recently, both following a severe change in my diet. I have treated both episodes totally successfully with supplements and diet changes.

Concerning MS, I came across this article in the New England Journal:

One Commensal Bacterial Molecule — All We Need for Health?
Claudio Fiocchi, M.D.
Humans are not inherently endowed with a healthy immune system. The fate of the immune system depends on its interaction with a large variety of commensal microorganisms, most of which live in the lower gastrointestinal tract.1 How the body maintains homeostasis with an incredibly complex enteric microflora is beginning to be discerned. For example, it was recently shown that the recognition of commensal bacteria by epithelial cells protects against intestinal injury.2 Appropriate immune recognition of enteric bacteria is also essential to host–bacteria symbiosis, and a recent report by Mazmanian and colleagues implicates a single bacterial molecule as critical . . . [Full Text of this Article]

I do not subscribe ($29.95) and could not read the rest of the article. So--I found an article by searching Mazmanian above. The website is: http://focus.hms.harvard.edu/2005/Jul15 ... logy.shtml

Of special interest were the following quotes:

Kasper said that his team’s results fit with what has become known as the “hygiene hypothesis”—the idea that decreased exposure to bacteria may be spurring the rise of modern-day maladies like asthma, allergies, and autoimmune diseases. It may be that without the guidance of bacteria, our immune systems develop the wrong responses. Not just killers, bacteria serve as coaches.
“If you look at my career and most of my colleagues’ in the Microbiology Department,” Kasper said, “we’ve all spent our years studying pathogens. And here’s an amazingly important biologic function—the development of the immune system—and it has nothing to do with a pathogen, but it does have to do with bacteria.” There is a growing recognition that medicine must expand its limited view of bacteria as the enemy. Even the notion that the tiny organisms are just sitting passively inside us may miss the mark. By cell count, we are 99 percent bacteria. Having evolved alongside vast numbers of bacteria for millennia, we may in fact, as this study suggests, rely on them for our health.

Were I to have MS, diet changes would be first on my "to do" list. I know it is not a cure, but it does seem to help many with MS. Since the start of my daughter's MS symptoms, she has had severe stomach problems (not related to MS). She has had every test there is and no one can find anything.

In closing, my thoughts and prayers are with ALL of you during these challenging times!

[beatms]

I removed my post.

[lyndacarol]

Chris55--If I recall correctly, interstitial cystitis is listed as one of the more than 80 autoimmune diseases by the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (www.aarda.org). Since it is generally accepted that autoimmunity (not necessarily the very same disease) runs in families, your situation is not surprising. (Though I doubt the categorization of MS as "autoimmune")

I think diet can help a great deal--even "cure," after reading The Gold Coast Cure by Andrew Larson, M.D. and wife Ivy Larson.

I, myself, am attempting diet changes--basically, greatly reducing glucose-producing foods. I am doing this in an effort to get my insulin production down since I believe excess insulin production starts the MS cascade. I realize that I alone hold that belief, but that's the beauty of this website--we can feel free to air differing opinions. I see no changes yet, but it doesn't hurt me--it's a very healthy diet! Lots of fruits and vegetables, just no white sugar, no white flour, no white potatoes, etc.

You mention that your daughter "has had every test there is." Has she had a fasting serum insulin (not glucose) test? You see, I find it hard to give up the notion that insulin is involved!

[Brownsfan]

lyndacarol wrote, "I think diet can help a great deal--even "cure," after reading The Gold Coast Cure by Andrew Larson, M.D. and wife Ivy Larson"

FYI - this is a great book for those who have not read. Very complementary to Swank / Jelinek schools of thought.