MS and toxins
Is there any connection (direct or not) between Multiple Sclerosis (MS), other autoimmune disorders and environmental pollution with nasty toxicants?
More about systemic enzymes that are keeping me MS attacks-free - here
Even official (synthetic pharmaceuticals based) medicine started admitting reluctantly, that environmental pollution could be a possible cause of MS:
"Association with occupational exposures and toxins - mainly solvents - has been evaluated..."
"Vaccinations were also considered as causal factors for the disease..."
information from Wikipedia.
Nonetheless, there is a different - far more better approach. It's used by doctors who have no financial ties with powerful pharmaceutical industry. Good examples:
Information has been presented in these most informative books:
What Your Doctor May Not Tell About Autoimmune Disorders
But how toxins can impair health so significantly?
One affected could think, that he or she is just unlucky, or sensitive, or even his/her her genes aren't good...
andIt's uneasy even to frame a proper question. It might be something of this sort: Why toxicants are poisonous?.
Luckily, searching for information on pesticides, I came across a piece of information of this kind - in a book on pesticides (pesticides after all are toxicants):
Useful information is placed in chapter 2 of this book "Why is a toxicant poisonous?", part 2.1 "Seven routes to death". Here is presented a shortened version:
- Enzyme inhibitors - The toxicant may react with an enzyme or a transport protein and inhibit its normal function... Typical toxicants... are carbamates and organophosphorus insecticides that inhibit the enzyme acetyl cholinesterase... Enzyme inhibitors may or may not be very selective...
- Disturbance of the chemical signal systems - Organisms use chemicals to transmit messages at all levels of organization, and there are a variety of substances that interfere with the normal functioning of these systems. Toxicants, which disturb signal systems, are very often extremely potent, and often more selective than the other categories of poisons... toxicants may act by imitating the true signal substances, and thus transmit a signal too strongly, too long lasting, or at a wrong time... typical agonist is nicotine, which gives signals similar to acetylcholine in the nervous system, but is not eliminated by acetylcholinesterase after having given the signal. One of the strongest man-made toxicants... dioxin, is a good example...
- Toxicants that generate very reactive molecules that destroy cellular components - Most redox reactions involve exchange of two electrons. However, quite a few substances can be oxidized or reduced by one-electron transfer, and reactive intermediates can be formed. Oxygen is very often involved in such reactions. The classical example of a free radical-producing poison is the herbicide paraquat... producing hydroxyl radicals. This radical is extremely aggressive, attacking the first molecule it meets, no matter what it is... Free radical producers are seldom selective poisons. They work as an avalanche that destroys membranes, nucleic acids, and other cell structures. Fortunately, the organisms have a strong defense system developed during some billion years of aerobic life.
- Weak organic bases or acids that degrade the pH gradients across membranes - Substances may be toxic because they dissolve in the mitochondrial membrane of the cell... The pH difference is very important for the energy production in mitochondria and chloroplasts, and this can be seriously disturbed. Substances like ammonia, phenols, and acetic acid owe their toxicity to this mechanism...
- Toxicants that dissolve in lipophilic membranes and disturb their physical structure - Lipophilic substances with low reactivity may dissolve in the cell membranes and change their physical characteristics. Alcohols, petrol, aromatics, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and many other substances show this kind of toxicity. Other, quite unrelated organic solvents like toluene give very similar toxic effects. Lipophilic substances may have additional mechanisms for their toxicity. Examples are hexane... a nerve poison, and methanol, which is very toxic to primates.
- Toxicants that disturb the electrolytic or osmotic balance or the pH - Sodium chloride (table salt) and other salts are essential but may upset the ionic balance and osmotic pressure if consumed in too high doses. Babies, small birds, and small mammals are very sensitive. Too much or too little in the water will kill aquatic organisms.
- Strong electrophiles, alkalis, acids, oxidants, or reductants that destroy tissue, DNA, or proteins - Caustic substances like strong acids, strong alkalis, bromine, chlorine gas, etc., are toxic because they dissolve and destroy tissue. Many accidents happen because of carelessness with such substances... More interest is focused on electrophilic substances that may react with DNA and induce cancer. Such substances are very often formed by transformation of harmless substances within the body...
* * *
Presented information is of rather technical nature, so not so easy for a lay person to understand. Nevertheless, it's a warning sign to avoid all man-made chemicals as much as possible.
Although above information has been extracted from a chapter, named "Seven routes to death", it's not necessarily a road to death.
Most importantly - nobody knows, what malady is awaiting a person, traveling that way - it's personal!
Comments
It might be good if you speak with a licensed naturopath and genetic counselor. Conventional physicians lack qualifications to render an opinion about this. Adaptogens stimulate or suppress the thymus, spleen, liver, bone marrow, lymph system, or intestines. These are the organs of the immune system and they respond very slowly to medication over a span of months. One of these organs is overactive or under-active with autoimmune disease and cancer. Conventional medical tests are notoriously unreliable to evaluate these organs and diseases. The thymus begins to shrink when we are about 25 to 30 year old, and stress accelerates thymus shrinkage. The thymus becomes non-functional sometime between 50 and 100 years of age. We develop cancer and autoimmune diseases when the thymus becomes under-active or stops working. People survive a maximum of about 5 years after the thymus becomes diseased and has to be removed. You can use natural thymus supplements for a month or so to see if this helps (ask your local health food store). These provide two thymus hormones. If thymus supplements help, then the thymus is probably involved. Autoimmune disease may be associated with overactive or under-active thymus. Long-term ginseng use, alcohol, caffeine, and sleep deprivation may shrink the thymus. The thymus can be stimulated by an odd assortment of things like ginger ale, yeast and ginkgo biloba. The next most important organ is bone marrow. Stem cells become less active as we age, and this can cause the immune system to make mistakes. Reduced bone marrow activity can also contribute to dementia. Ginkgo biloba and alfalfa sprouts are bone marrow stimulants. Gingo and alfalfa can do bad things to people with autoimmune disease like lupus, but may be beneficial for autoimmune disease like Celiac. Bone marrow can be suppressed by things like daily consumption of tonic water (quinine) and absinthe. Intestines are affected by food and beverage. The only way to isolate food and beverage issues is with a food diary. I'm sure your physician thinks they have your best interests in mind, but autoimmune flare is almost always mistaken for an infection because the first symptom of an autoimmune disease is a fever and upset stomach. The antibiotics that are almost always prescribed for a fever will cause autoimmune flare. A bad reaction to any antibiotic probably indicates autoimmune disease. Physicians call this an allergy so they can avoid malpractice. Allergies are a reaction to protein and antibiotics have no protein. There is no such thing as an antibiotic allergy. Several autoimmune diseases have been proven to be caused by a combination of genetics and environmental stresses. Autoimmune diseases go through periods of flare and remission. Flare is caused by environmental stress, and this is the active disease phase. Remission can be induced temporarily by a combination of steroids, stress avoidance, and some adaptogens. Celiac Disease was the first autoimmune disease linked to genes, and the stress for Celiac Disease is grains like wheat, barley, rye, and oats. Environmental stresses include infections, excessive exercise (like Iron Man), injury, sleep deprivation, alcohol, certain kinds of foods, stimulants, and chemicals like antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, and vehicle fuel. Genetic testing is becoming more common.