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XMRV and cancer

ladybugmandy

Senior Member
Messages
25
does treating XMRV with effective antivirals prevent or greatly reduce the likelihood of cancer (leukemia, lymphoma) developing?

i was reading about the feline leukemia virus and apparently, antiviral therapy does not prevent the cat from developing cancer.

any ideas?

thanks
sue
 

usedtobeperkytina

Senior Member
Messages
1,479
Location
Clay, Alabama
Mikovitz said antivirals do not affect XMRV, because it is a retrovirus, not a plain ole virus.

I would think, though, anything that supports NK Cell function and helps take away affects of oxidative stress might prevent cancer.

And of course, limiting anything that makes it replicate, thus infecting more NK cells, such as cortisol, inflammation, progesterone and testerone, other viruses, etc.

Well, come to mention it, now maybe the antivirals will help. If they can get the herpes viruses and all the rest under control, then the immune system may settle down, thus reducing XMRV replication, and less XMRV replication means fewer NK Cells infected. Fewer NK Cells infected means more healthy ones that can kill cancer cells.

Tina
 

usedtobeperkytina

Senior Member
Messages
1,479
Location
Clay, Alabama
I wonder.... now, maybe the reason some people get better is because they reduce activity (cutting down on cortisol), and stay away from stuff that activates immune system. The thing I am thinking is that our bodies continue to make NK Cells. Aren't they produced in bone marrow. So if you stop the replication, then new healthy NK cells will not become infected.

All of this is making so much sense. And when a person is disabled by force because they are so sick or because they know they must reduce activity as part of treatment, then they see improvement.

And some may go years without relapse. This may be because they have so many healthy NK Cells that the co-infections are in check, inflammatory response is down, etc.

But they can do something or get something that causes the NK cells to turn on, replicating XMRV, and therefore infecting more, then co-infections thrive, inflammation results, which turns on NK Cells again and it is a loop. And person is sick again.

By George, call the papers. I think I may have figured it out. Well, Judy and I. ;-)

I just love how XMRV fits everything we know about CFS.

Tina
 

ukxmrv

Senior Member
Messages
4,413
Location
London
Does it really fit in with what we know about CFS though?

You're ignoring the bit about low cortisol in CFS again. If I lower my cortisol even further (if that's possible) what would happen? I'd faint more in the mornings, have worse nausea and all the other things that go with it for me.

The tests I've had with the lowest cortisol have been when I am sickest. That doesn't mean of course, that the virus isn't using my cortisol and so therefore it just looks like it's low in blood/saliva.

That would ignore though the blunted cortisol response to challange. Something is happening upstream from the adrenals in cortisol.

So many theories.

I'm XMRV+ and I've never had a remission or a large improvement. I've tried the low stress, hermit lifestyle and I didn't get any better.
 
T

thefreeprisoner

Guest
And some may go years without relapse. This may be because they have so many healthy NK Cells that the co-infections are in check, inflammatory response is down, etc.

But they can do something or get something that causes the NK cells to turn on, replicating XMRV, and therefore infecting more, then co-infections thrive, inflammation results, which turns on NK Cells again and it is a loop. And person is sick again.

By George, call the papers. I think I may have figured it out. Well, Judy and I. ;-)

I'm dialling the Independent right now!!
This so fits exactly with my experience of ME that I'm a little bit in shellshock. It just explains everything that I had been pondering about since the XMRV blinder in October.
Tina... you've cracked it. I am in awe of your brainyness. Whatever you're taking for brain fog, can I have some please?

Rachel xx
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
re Cortisol

Does it really fit in with what we know about CFS though?

You're ignoring the bit about low cortisol in CFS again. If I lower my cortisol even further (if that's possible) what would happen? I'd faint more in the mornings, have worse nausea and all the other things that go with it for me.

The tests I've had with the lowest cortisol have been when I am sickest. That doesn't mean of course, that the virus isn't using my cortisol and so therefore it just looks like it's low in blood/saliva.

That would ignore though the blunted cortisol response to challange. Something is happening upstream from the adrenals in cortisol.

So many theories.

I'm XMRV+ and I've never had a remission or a large improvement. I've tried the low stress, hermit lifestyle and I didn't get any better.



I also wanted to mention that I have sent off over 15 tests for cortisol levels to Genova from sufferers of CFS and fibro and every one was low in cortisol, some cases extremely low. Only one person had above range at one time of the day, but at other times her level was very low therefore this thing about cortisol doesn't make sense to me cos the majority who have been sick for some time are too low in it.

I have treated my low cortisol for over 7 years with low dose Prednisolone and a bit of h/c and my quality of life has improved tremendously. However when I get a throat infection which I still tend to get from time to time my symptoms of ME/CFS all come back quite badly till the antibiotic kicks in so if this theory about the cortisol was correct I should be worse but this just isn't the case.

In my case I also have autoimmune thyroid disease and its very important to how I feel that I get my levels right and I can only do this with a touch of dessicated thyroid plus mainly T3. T4 makes me very toxic and yet this is the standard treatment for thyroid disease so I guess many patients with CFS who have tried thyroxine would have been made worse due to the enzyme deficiencies we tend to have and the resulting toxicity. I can get my sense of wellbeing back just by getting my hormones balanced but I am in no way "normal" at least not in my ability to do phyiscal stuff but at least I can feel well.

Pam
 

HopingSince88

Senior Member
Messages
335
Location
Maine
Not sure this belongs in this thread, but the subject line fits.

I noted that the type of prostate cancer that is associated with XMRV is adenocarcinoma. Adenocarcinomas affect glands and glandular tissue. This is of interest to me (self-diagnosed CFS since 88, and with a daughter with CFS since 89), because my husband died of adenocarcinoma of the stomach in 2001. I am curious to see what comes out of the research in terms of XMRV's impact on cancer.
 

usedtobeperkytina

Senior Member
Messages
1,479
Location
Clay, Alabama
Well, someone mentioned XMRV can infect CNS cells.

Many people have high cortisol in the early stages of illness. In fact, many describe high activity levels, two jobs, difficult emotional time, stressful job, type A go getters, before they crash.

So, this cortisol / adrenaline saturated life, along with progesterone spikes, or another virus or vaccine, suddenly pushes virus load high enough that person does not have enough NK Cells to hold back co-infections, and then the inflammation starts, and the cycle begins. But the cortisol is spent, so we are low. Or the CNS is now infected causing hormone block so that message is not getting to adrenals to release cortisol.

Of course, some of us have good days and bad days. So on bad days, our body is storing up, healing. So on our good day, we required cortisol, and it puts out. But that causes another increase in virus replication, causing co-infections to flourish, causing inflammation, causing a bad day within 24 hours.

Isn't Klimas doing a good day / bad day study.

Tina
 

Sing

Senior Member
Messages
1,782
Location
New England
On cancer: Dr. Byron Hyde has found a very disproportionately high number of cases of thyroid cancer in his ME patients. The usual blood tests for thyroid functioning won't pick up the problem until late. He recommends having the thyroid gland checked for size via ultrasound. It shrinks down, in these cases. You can find this on his website www.nightingale.ca

On cortisol: I don't know about having been high cortisol or over active/overly stressed beforehand, but anyway, once I got sick, I have had low cortisol. I so lack the fight or flight response, this includes adrenaline too. An interesting symptom is that I lost most of my ability to cry and to laugh as well. I feel those emotions but my body can't raise the umph! to express them physically. Same umph deficiency in other depts too, I won't go into all.

So, I think the XMRV or illness is interfering with hormone regulation and production. Didn't JM say that XMRV is making use of hormones--maybe siphoning them off for their own use?

Sing
 

aquariusgirl

Senior Member
Messages
1,732
I was wondering whether XMRV can cause damage to the heart valves? Three of my mother's siblings have had their heart valves replaced. One aunt at the age of 50. There are also cases of prostate, breast and cervical cancer in her family too.