Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
INFLAMED BRAINS!
The connection between Lyme disease, an Inflamed Brain , and Fibromyalgia Syndrome
In past issues of Townsend Letter (October 2006; November 2006), I introduced a condition I've named Sickness Syndrome (I also refer to it as "Inflamed Brain"), which causes depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders. Sickness Syndrome is the result of an increase in inflammatory cytokine levels in the periphery, (1) sometimes caused by infection (the type of cytokines depend upon the type of infection), which then leads to local production of inflammatory cytokines in the brain.
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Research has shown that cortisol is the main brake in the production of inflammatory cytokines, both at the periphery and in the brain. However, while its production is enhanced by cytokines, its negative feedback on production and action is operational only if there is no cortisol resistance (2,3) occurring when chronic stress inhibits cortisol's effectiveness in regulating levels of inflammatory cytokines in the body. (4)
Infection, Fibromyalgia Syndrome, and Sickness Syndrome
Cortisol resistance has also been documented in Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) patients who are also more likely to suffer from a compromised stress response system. (5,6) Interestingly enough, research shows that in approximately 50% of patients who have FMS (a condition that affects approximately two percent of the US population and is seven times more likely to affect women than men), their FMS symptoms began after a specific event, most often some form of physical or emotional trauma. This greatly increased their chance of experiencing a defect in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, while reducing their ability to tolerate stress in a healthy way, ultimately leading to the expression of Sickness Syndrome or an Inflamed Brain. (7)
(It continues... The end is posted above.--Ed.)© 2007 FindArticles™, Gina L. Nick
Saturday, September 1, 2007
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