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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Between the 14th and 19th centuries, there was a period of climate instability known as the Little Ice Age that mainly affected the northern hemisphere. This period saw an increase in storm activity and a fall in temperature of between 1º and 2º C, which, despite not being particularly severe, had devastating consequences. The mild climate throughout the previous centuries, which had brought about considerable population growth, turned into a harsher one that led to harvest failures and the death of animals; in short, hunger. And with the famines, the health of the populations became weaker and diseases spread. It is sufficient to recall the black death pandemic that ravaged Europe in the 14th century, resulting in the death of about one-third of the population.
[...] In today's European population, the mitochondrial DNA lineage that is transmitted matrilinearly is more frequently of the H haplogroup. Why is that?
The Human Evolutionary Biology Group of the UPV/EHU's Faculty of Science and Technology has found items at the medieval site of San Miguel de Ereñozar that could explain this. 163 individuals were laid to rest in this burial ground in the Busturialdea-Urdaibai district of the province of Bizkaia dating between the 13th and 16th centuries, and 73% of them belong to the H haplogroup, a frequency that exceeds what is currently found in Europe.
[...] the UPV/EHU researchers looked for traces of rheumatism in the skeletons of the 163 individuals buried at Ereñozar, and found them in 47 of them. And given that time has to elapse before rheumatic diseases leave traces in the bone, they selected the remains of another 43 adults in the burial ground over the age of 45 as a control group and analyzed the mitochondrial lineages. "Haplogroup H was more frequent among the individuals with rheumatic manifestations than in the control group, and likewise, this mitochondrial haplogroup was the most frequent among the individuals affected by spondyloarthritis (group of inflammatory rheumatic diseases of the joints)," added Martín.
[...] "In that period of food shortages, the haplogroup H individuals had a selective advantage over those with other haplogroups, because H is more efficient when obtaining energy from the diet." However, that highly efficient metabolism also generates so-called reactive oxygen species (free radicals, oxygen ions, etc.) unleashing cell dysfunction and apoptosis, which, in the long term, leads to the degradation of cartilage and the development of diseases of a rheumatic type.
Journal Reference: I. M. Laza et al. Environmental factors modulated ancient mitochondrial DNA variability and the prevalence of rheumatic diseases in the Basque Country, Scientific Reports (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-56921-x
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday March 31 2020, @03:29PM (6 children)
I also was diagnosed with Lyme last summer, but I barely had symptoms. And I likely had it for years. Long story.
How do you know your case was caught early? Were you getting regular tests?
Is RA an autoimmune disease? If so, almost anything could trigger it, depending on the individual. But it follows that certain substances could be more likely triggers (than other substances).
(Score: 4, Interesting) by dltaylor on Tuesday March 31 2020, @07:41PM (5 children)
I went to Yosemite National Park just after Glacier Point opened a few years back (huge snow year). I was symptom-free at that time. We hiked around many of the trails, and I had no discomfort.
Within a couple of weeks, I had some pain in all peripheral joints (shoulders to fingers, hips to toes). My best friend is an RN and she called the CDC. The doctor she spoke with had two things to be done: get tested and start a course of the antibiotic doxycycline. The tests didn't have enough markers for a definitive diagnosis, but enough that the local doctor prescribed a second course of meds, and another set of tests. At the end of the second course of meds, I took another set of tests. Each of the second and third tests showed a decrease in antibody markers (third test, down to just one).
Despite the reduction/eventual elimination of antibody markers, the RA became worse (I literally could not touch forefinger to thumb). Short-term use of Prednisone (a steroid) reduced the pain and swelling, but that is not a medication to take long-term. I am now on cocktail of immunosuppressants (a bit "interesting" with SARS-CoV-2 running loose). My rheumatologist is still tinkering to see which combination will reduce my inflammatory markers to her satisfaction. Overall, my pain and swelling is mostly the knuckles and finger joints, but that is livable, although indicative of progressive permanent damage.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday March 31 2020, @08:20PM (2 children)
Great answer. I so wish I had gone to med school. Anyway, I'm in a high Lyme area- NE USA, and I've been bitten many times, that I know of, over many years. I really don't know how long I had Lyme, and I didn't have any significant symptoms. Due to another issue (skin infection) I went to a doctor last summer (12 years since I've been to a Dr.), mentioned tick bites while I was there, ... and 3 weeks (IIR) of doxy cleared up both. Doctor said the Lyme test results were "the highest" she'd ever seen. Because my dad was sick in hospitals, I showed my lab result to 2 top infectious disease doctors and the one explained that the high number basically says I'd had it for a long time. Primary Dr. calls Lyme "the great imitator" meaning the symptoms very wildly from person to person.
Anyway, I was worried about recurring symptoms so I got retested in Jan. and there were 2 low antibody numbers but the rest were zero. I've been pretty healthy all my life, and have no allergies or other immune issues.
Sorry you're going through all of this. Again, AFAIK RA is autoimmune, and it's insane how things can cause our immune systems to attack us internally. One I learned about fairly recently is: paraneoplastic syndrome, usually caused by tumor/cancer, where the immune system attacks the nerves and brain. Ugh.
The Prednisone will somewhat suppress your immune system, but maybe not in a helpful way. There are some other anti-inflammatories that might help. I've heard of Meloxicam but have never taken it, nor do I know much about it. Do you know much about it, and would it be helpful and less immune suppressing?
IVIG?
(Score: 2) by dltaylor on Wednesday April 01 2020, @09:18AM (1 child)
Prednisone is not an immunosuppressant. It acts to reduce inflammation, but has nasty side effects, like brittle bones (had bones scans while on it); neither is Meloxicam (it is a Non-Steroidal AntiInflammatory Drug NSAID). I have Naproxen for the pain, but try not to rely on it.
Immunosuppressants actually reduce the function of your immune system. You have to take TB tests and others before starting, because it reduces your body's ability to fight pretty much any bacterial or viral infection, like SARS-CoV-2, Influenza, etc. You see ads on TV for things like Humira, which is used to treat many immune disorders. My current mix is methotrexate and etanercept (Enbrel), both of which come with long lists of side effects and warnings. The side effects require monitoring, including frequent blood tests and periodic chest xrays. For now, though, the ability to (slightly painfully) make a fist, so I can handle tableware and tools, is worth the risks, I can even type with little pain.
After hearing some of the Lyme horror stories, it's nice to hear that someone who had it has recovered his health.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday April 01 2020, @02:18PM
Thanks for your reply. I don't mean to argue, but Prednisone surely is an immunosuppressant (and also some kind of chemical fluid reduction, but Lasix is much stronger for that.) It's how corticosteroids work. Most inflammation is immune system response.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/drugs/4812-corticosteroids [clevelandclinic.org]
https://www.chp.edu/our-services/transplant/liver/education/medications/prednisone-deltasone [chp.edu]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14766378 [nih.gov]
https://www.kidney.org/content/what-you-need-know-about-prednisone [kidney.org]
Yeah, I never had strong symptoms with Lyme. Frankly the occasional and usually vague symptoms had me more worried about other possible diseases / conditions. But I could also correlate the symptoms to getting run down, not enough sleep, etc. The doctor said I should donate blood.
All that said, I think the Lyme symptoms were slowly creeping up on me, but I was in a go-go-go mode, not getting enough sleep, etc., so I expected to feel a bit run down. And the skin infection was a first. No idea why it happened, but maybe my immune system was so busy fighting Lyme that it couldn't keep up? I still have a spot that very occasionally itches. The doctor said I'd feel better within a couple of hours of taking the first doxy and she was right, but it wasn't radical.
Methotrexate is a very interesting drug. It can do amazing things in some people and conditions.
Make sure you get enough sleep! Take vitamin D! Get some sun! Not too much of course.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 01 2020, @05:38AM (1 child)
Maybe you need more salt in your diet?
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=20/03/30/0214258 [soylentnews.org]
Take this suggestion with a pinch of salt of course ;).
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday April 01 2020, @02:24PM
I think you meant this for dltaylor? He needs some immunesuppression. However, salt causes fluid retention and inflammation, so salt is bad for him and others.
But yes, salt is so core to the body's chemistry. There is far far too much in prepared / processed foods. For some people it's early death.