How likely is it that I have an autoimmune disease? by Connie b. Dellobuono
Answer by Connie b. Dellobuono:
See another doctor. While waiting for more tests, I would research about autoimmune disease and ways to combat them. Exercise, garlic, acidophilus, pickled veggies, sleep, Vitamin B complex, fiber-rich foods,happy foods (colorful whole foods),and more. Here are more info about neuropeptides, autoimmune disease,immune system,metabolic syndrome and immune system modulating herbs.
Seemingly all at once, evidence began piling up around the world implicating the neuropeptides in a constantly increasing range of activities. From aging to analgesia, tranquility to transformation, it seemed the endogenous opioids had a biochemical hand in all the events that shape our lives — or at least that shape our feelings about our lives. And it was this sheer accumulation of evidence, and the tantalizing potential benefits described in early media reports about the chemicals, that fueled our imagination — and sparked increasing scientific curiosity about the substances themselves.
The theory, first proposed by British researchers James and R.F. McCloy, suggests that the presence of food in the intestines causes local enkephalin release which, for reasons yet unknown, could have such a strongly reinforcing effect in some individuals that they become addicted to their own body chemicals.
Whether or not the McCloys' "auto-addiction" obesity theory holds, it is widely conceded that endogenous opioid systems are involved in appetite regulation, and various compounds are currently being tested for their effectiveness in blocking and controlling appetite. Potential treatments include:
•Naltrexone, an opiate antagonist which blocks opiate receptor sites and presumably, the sensation of hunger. The drug, which is currently being tested at six medical centers across the country, is a long- lasting (6-8 hour) oral derivative of the opioid-blocker naloxone.
•CCK, a newly-discovered neuropeptide called cholecystokinin, which researchers at Cornell University believe may be the brain's own satiation signal. In tests, animal subjects given CCK cut their food consumption by three-fourths, and simply seemed to be not hungry when presented with food. Researchers plan to test the substance on human volunteers in the near future.
•Butorphanol, a pain-killing drug, which has been shown to stimulate appetite in animals. University of Minnesota researchers who have studied the drug's effects on appetite hope the compound will be effective in treating anorexia nervosa.
Recent advances in memory and learning have also been spurred by neuropeptide research, and at least six major pharmaceutical firms are betting there's money to be made by the first producer of a reliable memory-boosting, intelligence-raising drug.
One current entry with links to the neuropeptides is the anti-diuretic hormone vasopressin. Secreted by the pituitary gland, vasopressin tripled the memory length of mice in one study and has been shown to improve recall in humans, particularly the recall of longs lists of items.
In addition, other neuropeptides have tentatively been shown to up learning performance. Subjects in tests involving one, DDAVP, showed increases of up to 20 percent in learning and memory tests, while another neurohormone, MSH, has also been shown to increase recall. Scientists believe the substances work by increasing alertness and attention.
Possible connections between emotional illness and endogenous substances has been one of the hottest research topics in the behavioral health field since neuropeptide pioneer Roger Guillemin first theorized that the beta-endorphin system could be a "key mechanism" in sorting out normal and abnormal behavior. If so, Guillemin wondered, shouldn't a drug like naloxone, which blocks endorphin's effects, have some value in reducing symptoms of a major psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia?
Tests run to date have yielded puzzling results, according to the Salk Institute's Steven Henricksen, with both beta-endorphin and its antagonist naloxone proving effective in reducing psychotic symptoms. According to Henricksen, this factor alone — that both agonists (beta-endorphin-like compounds) and antagonists (which displace beta molecules at binding sites) have been shown to alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia — points out the difficulty in fully understanding the neuropeptide system, and the nature of the disease. "That should tell us something about the complexity of the problem," Henricksen told Newservice in a recent interview, "when both the agonist and the antagonist both seem to be involved in the disease state." In addition, Henricksen adds, it also tells researchers that "we've got more work to do," in clarifying the relationship between neuropeptides and emotional illness.
One research area that has tended to support the notion of a direct connection between the endogenous opiate system and emotional illness has been the study of addictions. In one study involving methadone- stabilized ex-heroin users, it was shown that, when daily dosage of methadone fell below critical levels (20 mg/day),that psychotic symptoms consistently developed in 10-15 percent of the subjects. Symptoms disappeared when daily dosage was increased to 30 mg. As a result of such studies, researchers believe that, for a large percentage of users, drug use and addiction represents an attempt to manage, and self-medicate, symptoms of major emotional illness that can otherwise be disabling.
Investigators hope that current research in the area of addictions will more precisely establish the hows and whys of addiction and lead to the development of non-addictive substitutes for narcotics and other drugs. But other investigators aren't so sure.
Dr. David Pickar, chief of the Clinical Studies Section of the National Institute of Mental Health, believes that addiction is an unavoidable byproduct of any substance that affects the endogenous opiate system. "The issue around addiction and withdrawal is, I think, central to the whole pharmacology of opioids and opiates," Pickar says, "I think what you see in heroin, morphine, and codeine (in terms of dependence and addiction) is going to be duplicated in endogenous opiates at some level."
Research into addictions has also fueled the single biggest area of neuropeptide research currently under way: the relationship between the chemicals and the control of pain.
Source: http://www.doitnow.org/pages/brain.html
Most useful autoimmune biomarkers will be those measurable in serum or plasma. See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16298911
For immunomodulating herbs (garlic,ginger,ginseng,etc) ,see http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=pjbs.2012.754.774
Opioid receptors and their ligands produce powerful analgesia that is effective in perioperative period and chronic pain managements accompanied with various side effects including respiratory depression, constipation and addiction etc. Opioids can also interfere with the immune system, not only participating in the function of the immune cells, but also modulating innate and acquired immune responses.
The traditional notion of opioids is immunosuppressive. Recent studies indicate that the role of opioid receptors on immune function is complicated, working through various different mechanisms. Different opioids or opioids administrations show various effects on the immune system: immunosuppressive, immunostimulatory, or dual effect. It is important to elucidate the relationship between opioids and immune function, since immune system plays critical role in various physiological and pathophysiological processes, including the inflammation, tumor growth and metastasis, drug abuse, and so on. This review article tends to have an overview of the recent work and perspectives on opioids and the immune function. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4790459/