DNA and Sjogren's

Very interesting. It would be good to know whether the people that are Rh-positive and born to a Rh-negative mother are prone to SS, and vice versa I.e. where they have been subject to attack by their mothets antibodies.

Yes, that is interesting. That is a very good point. SS appears to be in our paternal line. My father is O pos, but what if his father or mother was O neg and passed something on.

I never knew my mother's blood type because she passed from an unrelated illness when my brother and I were young. I was a small baby too, five pounds, but a five foot seven/one hundred and thirty pound adult.

Why would someone's body attack itself? What is foreign in the tissue? What is in the lacrimal glands that a body does not want there? Is it too acid? Could it be bateria or a virus too microscopic to detect. I suppose the only thing to do is keep flushing with water and good food, and exercising until we can figure this out once and for all. 

As we all know, there is not enough research into Sjogren's. Most doctors just look blank about it. I hope this thread will grow with lots of knew knowledge about SS. 

Thanks!

I'd go much further than you Jordan. There hasn't been enough research into the workings of the immune system as a whole, though I have the impression that this is slowly changing.

I'm not sure what it is about the lacrimal glands that upsets the immune system. Or the salivary glands, or all the other connective tissues in the body. Many of us have worse problems with joints, tendons, salivary glands and peripheral nerves than we do with our eyes. I think a more pertinent question is what sets the immune system on a general rampage in the first place.

My new GP, who appears at first sight to be very conventional, is in fact quite anarchic in his approach. A few months back he took me by surprise by suggesting that all auto-immune conditions are caused by "leaky gut". I'd heard of this before but had always tended to dismiss it. However, after a lot of research and a 45-minute conversation with him on the subject during a subsequent consultation, I'm really coming round to this one. (Once he gets on to a topic that interests him, he doesn't care how long he keeps his other patients waiting!)

As I'm sure you know, the theory (in highly simplified form) is that in some individuals the cells lining the walls of the small intestine are slightly distorted and don't fit together as well as they should. This allows the passage of more bacteria, microscopic food particles etc. into the blood than should be the case, which in turn means the immune system is always on red alert dealing with all these interlopers, so therefore inclined to over-react and start attacking the body's own tissues.

The next step upstream from here - also endorsed by my GP - is that the malformation of gut lining cells is caused by incorrect gut flora. He put his money where his mouth was by pressing me to try a powerful new pre- and probiotic formula that had recently arrived on the market, and I was a willing guinea-pig. Unfortunately the first attempt ended in disaster as I developed worrying side-effects, but I'm now about six weeks into a return match with the stuff, having phased it in slowly this time, and can already report that I'm getting the first relief I've had for five years from the painful tendinitis in my upper arms. (Which might, of course, be placebo effect or just part of the normal process of flare-ups and remissions.)

The next step upstream from there is more contentious. What is it that disrupts the gut flora? Broad-spectrum antibiotics, obviously, but our gut bacteria would normally recolonise our intestines a few weeks after a course of antibiotics. Too much modern refined food? Seems unlikely to be the full explanation, as many of us are meticulous about our diet, with only minimal returns. Not to mention all the folks who exist entirely on the worst junk food but don't get auto-immune diseases. Granted, they're more likely to die of type 2 diabetes, heart attacks etc. but that's another story.

It's at this point that my GP and I part company. I'm in favour of the candidiasis theory - that it's overgrowth of candida that competes with the normal gut bacteria, crowding them out. He thinks this is a bridge too far. Over the past 20 years candida overgrowth has been mooted as being at the root of all kinds of conditions (including autism - see my earlier post). No one has ever been able to prove this conclusively, so most scientists have consigned the candida theories to the dustbin. However, I have a hunch that it might get reinstated before too long...

What immediately came to mind when I read your post well, immediately after my first reaction, was the mmemory of the infection I got after a surgery to remove a section of my colon (due to return of endometriosis when I was 54). the infection was not caused by any external mechanism but by bad bacteria that was already present in my abdomen.

So maybe I too will have to quit rolling my eyes at the concept of leaky gut, Lily!

Before my mother knew that she was pregnant with me, she had another smallpox vaccination. She always wondered whether there is a connection between that in utero vaccination and the fact that I caught very few childhood diseases, even when all my other siblings had them, or when neighbors with 9 kids had mumps and I deliberately tried to catch them. as an adult I have wondered whether there's not a connection between that in utero vaccinations and perhaps autoimmune disorders.I definitely believe that there's a connection between that and you do a vaccination and the fact that no small pox vaccination would take on me until I was 8 or 9 years old, and I would have a smallpox vaccination at least twice a year upon return from hunting trips to Mexico. The agents would let me go as long as they could still see evidence of the last attempt. Some years we went often enough that I got 3 attempts. (Scar proof of vaccination was required for everyone returning to US after traveling past the 22 kilometer checkpoint in Mexico. Some weekends I begged my folks to stay along the river & avoid the interior so that I could avoid another vaccination. A cheer was heard all along the border when I finally showed a scar.)

I also had antibiotics frequently as a kid for tonsillitis, until tonsils were removed when I was 5 or 6. The other big possible factor in my history is that from conception on, I drank well water which we now know had to have been contaminated by a nearby refinery. Only the 2 youngest drank it from conception into our 20s, and we were the kids with the most health problems lifelong. I don't know that there's a direct link between that well water and autoimmune disorders, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Good luck sorting this stuff out! But I agree, it's very interesting that there's so much B+ blood showing up.

You might find it interesting to research Blastocystis Hominis. A micro organism (aka parasite) that can live in one's gut. Search for 'Blastocystis research foundation'. Once on the site, search for 'diagnosis'. People who have this in their gut have lots of food allergies/intolerances.

I just read the link. Interesting. My cat is on that med for irritable bowel syndrome and it works. If she misses the pill she has very sticky you know what. 

Oops. I meant stinky. 

I mentioned it because people mentioned IBS and allergies/intolerances.

So here we have B+, again. I only know a bit about CMV as a friend of mine who has MS tested positive for Epsteing Barr, which is a CMV virus, which she was specifically tested for when diagnosed with MS. So you and I share "tons of English, Scottish and of course Dutch (my grandmother told me we are Dutch) blood on both sides (mine also confirmed by hundreds of years of genealogy (1600s England, William Penn, Quakers, etc.). Do you know why your mother passed? I see she 42 years old when she gave birth to you. Do you have older siblings? Yes, the thirst might have been related to SS. I think female issues can be related, like endometriosis. Members could also bring female issues into the discussion if they wish. Menopause and SS have similar symptoms. Sorry about the endometriosis. I hope you are doing well.  

Thanks!

My mother died from malpractice by a neurosurgeon during and after back surgery. Yes I have older siblings, 3 from my mom, but she didn't have her 1st until she was 34.

Am sorry to hear that you also had endo. Since you used past tense I take it that you don't have the form that keeps coming back?

I had a hysterectomy over 20 yrs ago. I'm sorry you have

it, it is such a painful condition.