Did you know? Amazing tidbit
-
-
August 14, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Once a B-cell is activated it turns into a plasma cell. It spits out 2000 to 10,000 antibodies per [U]second[/U]. Quite amazing. After 4 to 5 days the plasma cell dies. By that time, it will have created up to 72 million antibodies. As long as there is still antigen in the body, new plasma cells are being created.
Unfortunately for some of us with antiMAG neuropathy (PDN), some of the plasma cells don’t die but keep on living and continue to produce antibodies damaging the myelin.
-
August 14, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Norb
That is interesting. Now…how do we stop it from continually producing the
antibodies that kill the good cells?Miami Girl
-
August 14, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Norb
That is interesting. Now…how do we stop it from continually producing the
antigens that kill the good cells?Miami Girl
-
August 14, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Norb, Thanks for posting that info. Can one assume that is why a good many people get cancer? and other autoimmune diseases as well? would it be an assumption that stem cells could quite possibly alter those bad cells that won’t die in pdn people?
-
August 15, 2007 at 4:59 am
[QUOTE=norb]Once a B-cell is activated it turns into a plasma cell. It spits out 2000 to 10,000 antibodies per [U]second[/U]. QUOTE]
I keep thinking there must be some way to harness the energy of those antibodies spitting out and redirect it to our muscles. 😉
-
August 15, 2007 at 8:17 am
Guys – isn’t this the very reason we take Imuran and CellCept and have Rituxan treatments? Aren’t these immunosuppressives, and others we all are taking, actually trying to keep this action at a minimum?
-
August 15, 2007 at 11:05 am
[QUOTE=Bonney Daubenspeck]Guys – isn’t this the very reason we take Imuran and CellCept and have Rituxan treatments? Aren’t these immunosuppressives, and others we all are taking, actually trying to keep this action at a minimum?[/QUOTE]
True, only problem these drugs are not selective and suppress the [U]entire[/U] immune system which lowers our defenses to other diseases. Rituxan at least targets just B-cells including the “bad” ones and leaves T-cells and everything else alone. What we need is something that singles out the cells that produce the damaging antibodies. Scientists are searching for ways to do that but havn’t come up with anything that is practical. One approach is to create decoys pretending to be myelin to detract antibodies from the real myelin.
Stem cells might be another answer and they are being researched.[QUOTE=Julie] I keep thinking there must be some way to harness the energy of those antibodies spitting out and redirect it to our muscles. [/QUOTE]
Very funny, Julie. -
August 15, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Hey Norb,
I wish one of my 3 children would go into research.
Lori
-
August 15, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Another interesting fact that I know of is with Rituxan treatments. My fil was given Rit and another chemo drug to treat his Cancer. It not only took out the cancer(non hodgkins lymphoma with 5 tumors) but also took out his RA. He isn’t only in remission, which is what the drs were aiming for, but he has absolutely no evidence of the tumors or the cancer anywhere in his body! and he was stage 4 just last Oct. He was on metheltrexate for his ra prior to his treatments, He no longer has any evidence of RA either.
If Rit can take out that much why can’t they use the same concoction on PDN, CIDP people and get the same outcome? I know Rit is used with varying results, just as cancer patients get, why can’t drs add more meds to the mix and wipe out the pdn? Is Rituxan just a part of the mix, not the whole recipe? -
August 15, 2007 at 4:34 pm
[QUOTE=angel2ndclass22699].
If Rit can take out that much why can’t they use the same concoction on PDN, CIDP people and get the same outcome? I know Rit is used with varying results, just as cancer patients get, why can’t drs add more meds to the mix and wipe out the pdn? Is Rituxan just a part of the mix, not the whole recipe?[/QUOTE]
Cheryl, Rituxan is in fact being administered to some of us. Allaug in Norway received it with excellent results. DocDavid in England received it and was able to walk his daughter who was getting married down the aisle using just a cane (last year I translated an English article about it into German which was published along with a photo in the German GBS/CIDP magazine). The Neuromuscular Department at Washington U. in St. Louis is giving it to their PDN patients. Mayo clinic is running a clinical trial with Rituxan for PDN patients. In Denver there are trials going on with MS patients. I personally talked with some of them while getting IVIG. I felt like walking over to them and switch their IV bags with mine.There are plenty of publications listing it as the most effective treatment for antiMAG PDN. I’ve been trying to get it for over a year without success. Problem: it is only approved by the FDA and consequently the insurance companies for non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. It takes a doc who is willing to put in the extra effort, certify medical necessity to get it approved. The oncologist I saw last year was very evasive and instead told me about a patient of his who was my age and who decided not to pursue any treatments period. 😮
Rituxan usually is used alone and not as part of a mix. It is more expensive than IVIG.
[QUOTE=Dells mom]Hey Norb, I wish one of my 3 children would go into research. [/QUOTE]
Lori, We sure could use some more dedicated scientists. Maybe one of them will some day. Having the disease in your own family could be a good motivator. -
August 15, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Norb,
Thanks for shedding light on some things that I didn’t understand. 😀
I must say I am rather shocked at your previous physician made such a suggestion. I don’t feel age should matter.:mad:
Blu
-
August 16, 2007 at 6:52 pm
[QUOTE=bluangel]I must say I am rather shocked at your previous physician made such a suggestion. I don’t feel age should matter.:mad:
Blu[/QUOTE]
I was put off by that, too.
-
