Butydoc
Senior Member
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- 790
Just spent some time this am with Dr Montoya. He now claims he can prove that inflammation is a major component of CFS. He hopes to have his results published before the Stanford symposium.
The most interesting piece of new information was about the super cytokine Leptin. One of the professors at Stanford measured the cytokine level, including Leptin, daily on a large number of patients. He had them fill in a questioner about how they felt each day and then matched their blood work to the answers. What he found was that the Leptin levels would rise or fall consistent with the patients level of fatigue. Apparently Leptin is a pro inflammatory cytokine.
Does this mean that Leptin can be used to monitor ones progress or aid in the diagnosis as a bio marker? Can manipulating Leptin be a potential treatment? Again, very interesting and exciting. This Leptin results may also suggest why diet may play a role in our disease.
Also something interesting about Valcyte. Montoya claims he has strong evidence that validates Valcyte as an anti-inflammatory drug. He still believes that an infectious agent or other triggers such as chemical toxins may start the disease but inflammation is the common mediator of CSF. He believes many of his results are from the anti-inflammatory effects rather than the antiviral effects from Valcyte.
Presently he is using colchicine as his first line anti-inflammatory drug with some very promising results. He still doesn't know if this is the best choice, but it is a good starting point.
This visit he increased my dose of colchicine to 1.2mg/day. I'm much better since I started the Valcyte/colchicine regimen but still not normal. He increased the dose to see if I can increase my wellness to the point where my immune system reboots.
Montoya also asked me to attend his symposium on March 19th. He felt my input as a patient and physician could help in the discussion section. He even offered to pay, which I declined. Very nice to know we have such a dedicated physician in our corner.
Regards,
Gary
The most interesting piece of new information was about the super cytokine Leptin. One of the professors at Stanford measured the cytokine level, including Leptin, daily on a large number of patients. He had them fill in a questioner about how they felt each day and then matched their blood work to the answers. What he found was that the Leptin levels would rise or fall consistent with the patients level of fatigue. Apparently Leptin is a pro inflammatory cytokine.
Does this mean that Leptin can be used to monitor ones progress or aid in the diagnosis as a bio marker? Can manipulating Leptin be a potential treatment? Again, very interesting and exciting. This Leptin results may also suggest why diet may play a role in our disease.
Also something interesting about Valcyte. Montoya claims he has strong evidence that validates Valcyte as an anti-inflammatory drug. He still believes that an infectious agent or other triggers such as chemical toxins may start the disease but inflammation is the common mediator of CSF. He believes many of his results are from the anti-inflammatory effects rather than the antiviral effects from Valcyte.
Presently he is using colchicine as his first line anti-inflammatory drug with some very promising results. He still doesn't know if this is the best choice, but it is a good starting point.
This visit he increased my dose of colchicine to 1.2mg/day. I'm much better since I started the Valcyte/colchicine regimen but still not normal. He increased the dose to see if I can increase my wellness to the point where my immune system reboots.
Montoya also asked me to attend his symposium on March 19th. He felt my input as a patient and physician could help in the discussion section. He even offered to pay, which I declined. Very nice to know we have such a dedicated physician in our corner.
Regards,
Gary