GH

Your Replies

  • GH
    April 7, 2012 at 5:13 pm

    From Journal of the American Medical Association:

    “Intravenous Immunoglobulin in Autoimmune Neuromuscular Diseases”

    http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/291/19/2367.full

    This is a survey of the clinical use of IvIg. Risks are covered at the end.

    GH
    April 7, 2012 at 5:05 pm

    Here’a a link to an abstract of a study which evaluated safety of long-term use of IvIg for MS:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17060031

    GH
    April 7, 2012 at 1:38 am

    Haynes, it may be that you developed GBS from the flu vaccine, but anyone who could get GBS from a flu vaccine would likely get it from influenza itself. That is why the incidence of GBS is the same between those who have been vaccinated and those who have not.

    GH
    April 7, 2012 at 1:23 am

    Emilys_mom, I don’t believe the government requires a signed waiver, although I would have to see the form. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists a prior history of GBS as a contraindication for the live influenza vaccine, meaning that it should be administered in that case. For the inactivated influenza vaccine, a history of GBS is only a precaution, meaning that it as a matter of judgement. The footnote explains the reason for the precaution (which see), so persons who might receive it may give informed consent (or not). The CDC advises that it be administeted for persons who are at high risk.

    http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/vac-admin/downloads/contraindications-guide-508.pdf

    It may be that some third parties who admininister vaccinations refuse to give it to someone who has a prior history of GBS. If so, that is not a government requirement, merely an excess of caution. That would make good sense if the vaccine were administered by a pharmacy, for example. When there are precautions listed for a vaccine, patients should discuss the matter with their personal physician.

    GH
    April 6, 2012 at 8:37 pm

    “… how many hours a week would you say you spend researching vaccine reactions?”

    I don’t know. Not that much, considering that I am retired. The first few documents I posted recently were replacements of posts I made some time ago, as they seem to have been lost when I revised my registration recently. The more recent posts were added in the past few days because someone accused me of not doing my homework. I am not sure how many he will think sufficient. It is convenient for me to have these related studies referenced in one place, rather than to look for them every time the subject comes up.

    GH
    April 6, 2012 at 7:38 pm

    There seems to be an error in the link in the preceding post.

    http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.630/healthissue_detail.asp

    This one seems to work.

    GH
    April 6, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    ’60 Minutes’ loves a controversy — they get in and stir the pot.  Sometimes they get it right, sometimes not.  Here is an assessment of the performance of ’60 Minutes’ on medical subjects from the American Council on Science and Health: 

    ’60 Minutes’ on Health: Picks and Pans’ By William M. London    
    Publication Date: January 1, 2000

    http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.630/healthissue_detail.asp  

    GH
    April 6, 2012 at 12:36 am

    Jethro:

    You think I haven’t done my homework? I have posted links to abstracts or reports of four studies from Europe and North America on the subject of possible links between GBS and influenza vaccines, in addition to a link to the CDC statement on the matter, and I have read them all. These can be found in the most recent threads in the Vaccine forum. By comparison, you are merely pulling things out of thin air. Making statements such as “it is a known fact …” without linking to documentation to back it up is no evidence of having done any homework.

    Do all the studies you like, but it is not all surprising that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which must have hundreds of medical researchers on its staff, would not be interested. If you want to get their attention, I suggest you submit your work to a medical journal for publication. That is the normal way to go about publishing medical research. Or just be satisfied that you have a web forum where you can publish without having to bother with such things as credentials and referees.

    GH
    April 5, 2012 at 6:18 pm

    “All evidence is subjective …” (from Drew, above)

    This is not true. The muscle strength tests used by neurologists and therapists are based on an objective scale. While instruments could be used to measure strength more precisely (and sometimes are), administering the test manually, without instruments, is sufficiently accurate for its purpose, particularly when administered repeatedly by the same person. Its purposes are to identify which nerves are affected, whether loss of strength is bilaterally symmetric or not, and whether muscles are progressively getting weaker or stronger. The last is the main characteristic which is monitored by neurologists after GBS or CIDP has been diagnosed, and simple, uninstrumented tests are sufficient. The lack of instrumentation does not make the test subjective, when conducted by a trained professional.

    http://www.neuroexam.com/neuroexam/content.php?p=29

    GH
    April 4, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    Jethro, you haven’t provided any facts on what survey you did five years ago, how it was conducted, which organizations you tried to interest in it, or what their exact responses were, so you seem to be inviting readers here to draw a conclusion based on essentially no information at all.

    My conclusion is this: no valid conclusions of a general nature can be drawn from a study which has not been designed and conducted according to sound scientific method, so organizations which declined interest in it did so because they thought an amateur study to be a distraction of little or no value to their purpose. I don’t fault any organization for upholding standards of research.

    And by the way, speaking of scientific research, it is well established that the incidence of GBS is the same as between those who have been vaccinated for influenza and those who have not.

    GH
    April 3, 2012 at 2:29 am

    By the way, Dr. Collins is on The Best Doctors in America list, along with another neurologist in his group:

    http://www.eastbaymedicalguide.com/East-Bay-Medical-Guide/Annual-2010/The-East-Bay-rsquos-Best-Doctors/

    GH
    April 3, 2012 at 12:28 am

    Is the doctor a neurologist?

    GH
    April 1, 2012 at 6:54 pm

    That’s an interesting article. If the theory is correct, it suggests to me that there may be an association with GBS, but that is not the same thing as a causal relationship.

    GH
    April 1, 2012 at 1:38 am

    Kitze, do you have a neurologist? One neurologist should be overseeing your treatment, whether you are in a hospital or not.

    GH
    March 31, 2012 at 7:11 pm

    These days, hospitals have their own doctors, and general practitioners do not go to the hospitals, so you will not see the same doctor inside the hospital as out, except for specialists. A neurologist should have hospital privileges, so if he or she puts you in the hospital for a neurologic condition, you should continue to see the same doctor for that condition, and hospital doctors for everything else. The key is to get a neurologist who understands the condition and how best to treat it.