NIH reports: 80 to 90 % of people diagnosed with FMS are women.

[Merida]

Let's brainstorm. Why do women get FMS ( and I presume CFS/ME) so much more than men?

 

[weyland]

Because both are triggered by viral infection and female sex hormones have a differential effect on immunity, leaving women more vulnerable to serious infection.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21829352

Autoimmune disease is more common in women for similar reasons.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2527069/

 

[Merida]

Thanks, Weyland!

 

[Merida]

These are interesting articles - thanks again. A significant number of people report injury as the ( or a) precipitating event. So, perhaps our immune systems are also responding differently to a physical injury, as well as a viral injury. Can immune system anomalies explain all of our symptoms?

The sacro-occipital chiropractors and osteopaths with craniosacral training discuss the function of the pituitary gland, which sits in a little notch in the sphenoid bone, and is surrounded by the dura, which lines the entire central nervous system. They discuss the inter- bone movement between the sphenoid bone and the bottom part of the occiput (bone). They state that it is the movement of these cranial bones ( as well as stetch/contraction of the diaphragma sellae- ie a fold in the dura mater through which the stalk of the pituitary passes) that produces a stimulating effect on the production of anterior pituitary hormones - ie TSH( thyroid), ACTH (adrenal)LH ( estrogen /progesterone), and others. They also discuss the fact that the sacrum and the occiput have reciprocal motions.

Anyway, this becomes interesting since we can appreciate that structure can influence hormones, which can influence the immune system responses. Hmmm.

 

[Cort]

Because both are triggered by viral infection and female sex hormones have a differential effect on immunity, leaving women more vulnerable to serious infection.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21829352

Autoimmune disease is more common in women for similar reasons.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2527069/

I think weyland is probably right. Estrogen has a major effect on the immune system. The fact that people with ME/CFS/CFS are so prone to gynecological disorders suggests something has gone wrong with the sex hormones.

When you add the fact that women have much more complicated immune systems I think there's just more room for error.

Unfortunately apparently it's really hard to study sex hormones...

 

[Cort]

These are interesting articles - thanks again. A significant number of people report injury as the ( or a) precipitating event. So, perhaps our immune systems are also responding differently to a physical injury, as well as a viral injury. Can immune system anomalies explain all of our symptoms?

The sacro-occipital chiropractors and osteopaths with craniosacral training discuss the function of the pituitary gland, which sits in a little notch in the sphenoid bone, and is surrounded by the dura, which lines the entire central nervous system. They discuss the inter- bone movement between the sphenoid bone and the bottom part of the occiput (bone). They state that it is the movement of these cranial bones ( as well as stetch/contraction of the diaphragma sellae- ie a fold in the dura mater through which the stalk of the pituitary passes) that produces a stimulating effect on the production of anterior pituitary hormones - ie TSH( thyroid), ACTH (adrenal)LH ( estrogen /progesterone), and others. They also discuss the fact that the sacrum and the occiput have reciprocal motions.

Anyway, this becomes interesting since we can appreciate that structure can influence hormones, which can influence the immune system responses. Hmmm.

Yes, indeed. Let's not leave out anatomical abnormalities. While infections trigger FM in some people my guess is that most people who get FM didn't notice an infection occurring at the same time. In fact it may be that most people don't notice anything in particular (???)

 

[weyland]

Can immune system anomalies explain all of our symptoms?

I think it's possible. It's unhelpful to think about our immune system as a discrete component of our bodies. In reality it's very much hardwired into the whole of our overall homeostasis. It's easy to think about things like cytokines as being "bad" but many (or most?) of them have constitutive effects at certain concentrations, so a dysregulation of immune function can for sure cause a disturbance of homeostasis. And what is this disease other than one big chronic disturbance of metabolic/hormonal/autonomic/... homeostasis.

 

[Merida]

Weyland,
Yes. I feel totally unbalanced in every system. Yet, currently, all my lab studies are normal, except for one: LDH is only 60 to 70 percent of normal - has been abnormal since I was first tested years ago. But there are several forms of Lactate dehydrogenase. True lactate dehydrogenase deficiencies are considered a glycogen storage disorder. This enzyme converts lactate to pyuvate and vice versa. This is long topic. Plus, I can not find any studies that look at just deficiencies of LDH.

But I have thought this: Okay, my big symptoms started with an injury, but me and my family members ( and people in support group !) have lots of structural glitches - including scoliosis. What is going on genetically and/or with metabolic issues? I found quite a few similarities with chromosome 22q 11.2 deletion issues. We also had a strange virus in the 1980s. My son was severely impacted. ( age 5 / 1986 - definitely EBV ). Me - 1988!- severe asthma, weird symptoms, got better. Husband ( usually very healthy) had sudden onset severe sweating problems even when talking to a student about an exciting project, and low body temp. Took him 10 years to get over this.

Cort - Yes, seems like a good possibility that there is more than one factor.

Who has enough nerve to contact a medical intuitive/ psychic and ask questions???