Tuesday, August 28, 2007

When cells die, the autoimmune disease dies

Apoptosis--a weird looking and sounding word but a word that could mean a cure for you, me and my son. It means planned programmed cell death. Apoptosis can lead to an autoimmune cure? Yes,indeed! In fact it could also lead to a cancer cure.

It seems both autoimmune disease and cancer have something in common. A major cause of both diseases is misbehaving "deaf" cells that were told to die for their misdeeds, but did not get the message.

Below is a link to an article describing a revolutionary new medication that provides the message to the "deaf" misbehaving cells. Once they hear it, they die. No more misbehavior. No more autoimmune disease. The disease process stops. In the case of cancer, the cancerous cells die leaving only healthy cells (tissue) behind.
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/cmlrx.htm

This treatment is in clinical trials for MS (Multiple Sclerosis). In a year or two our lucky MS friends may have this new type of medication to turn off their disease. For all the other autoimmune disease sufferers who have a "less popular" form of autoimmune disease, there will be a long wait. In perhaps an additional five or ten years, we may also get access.First there will have to be years more of clinical testing for each individually named autoimmune disease. Then and only then can the autoimmune sufferers with less popular diseases get treatment. It is a shame that the FDA rules and protocols for clinical testing are so cumbersome.

My poor son has four autoimmune disorders, psoriasis, PsA, AS and a mast cell problem. Sadly none of them are as "popular" with researchers as the big four--MS, RA, Type I diabetes and SLE. I guess he will have to wait ten more years, if he survives. The poor FDA just cannot figure out how to change its snail like bureaucracy and unnecessarily cumbersome and complex regulations in time to alleviate his suffering and save his life.