New MC research - bacterial aetiology??

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Zizzle
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Post by Zizzle »

Incidentally, I wonder if my unusually low cholesterol level means my resident microbes are feasting on it for energy? Perhaps they feed on gluten peptides and other proteins too? Could food avoidance actually help by starving the critters and decreasing their activity and reproduction, much like a grain and sugar-free diet starves candida ablicans (yeast)? :headscratch:
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sarkin
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Post by sarkin »

Tex,

Not to mention "not otherwise specified."

Thanks, Z, for that decode - I read that 'but' like but/instead, instead of "but also," you're making sense.
Zizzle wrote: Drug-induced self-limiting LC does not seem to fit this theory, but perhaps the drug irritants create the opportunity for dormant microbes to take over temporarily, until the drug irritatant is discontinued? :headscratch:
Or - certain drugs either behave like (or are interpreted as) pathogens (in the way that gluten unlocks the zonula occludens 'key' as cholera does), or they otherwise persuade the body it is under attack? As Tex explained about molecular mimicry - if peptides in gluten can mimic those in human adenovirus, maybe you're really onto something about how the drugs are produced introducing potentially 'rogue' peptides - and if those pepties mimic *something else* - not adenovirus or anything that has a fellow mimic in gluten/casein/any regularly consumed food, then discontinuing the drug would work - because no agent is being ingested or produced that triggers the reaction that particular drug brought along???

The other possibility is that a microorganism triggers the whole thing, but then is eliminated - yet the body proceeds *as if* it is still there. I know I'm talking as if AI is real - I honestly don't know what I think about that. *If* it exists, I don't believe it is a single entity. And speaking of no single entity, that could be why there's variety among us in regard to our ability to tolerate proteins other than the big-biggies?

I'm truly glad your MC is not as debilitating as RA.

I hear you about sorting out the food intolerances. Perhaps we'll meet on the MRT shores.

And if you don't mind my asking - how low is your v. low cholesterol? A friend with Crohn's had a level of about 90, years back... just to give you another reason to ponder whether LC/Crohn's are more closely related than CC/'other/not specified' and Crohn's...

--Sara
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tex
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Post by tex »

Zizzle,

That's an interesting question. There's no doubt that changing the diet will change the demographics of the gut biota, but those are pretty much uncharted waters. Not eating at all, though, (if that's what you're considering), is kind of like burning down the barn to get rid of the rats. And if you're referring to selective food avoidance, there are no specifications available to predict which foods promote the prosperity of various types of bacteria, except for broad guidelines. This falls under the issue of "prebiotics", I suppose.

Tex
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Zizzle
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Post by Zizzle »

Sara,
My total cholesterol was in the mid-150s last year, just above the normal cutoff. It's unusually low for me because i've never had a level below 180, even as a teen, and high cholesterol runs in my family. I also freely indulge on animal protein. I figured my body was using extra cholesterol to battle the MC, but I didn't know for what.
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sarkin
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Post by sarkin »

That is interesting (I say that a lot, and it's not terribly helpful, is it?).

My Crohn's friend had cholesterol in the 90s, as I recall. I hope you are relieved to be far from there.

I think the animal protein ===> cholesterol arrow is not so clearly a link... I am due to have mine tested. If it's down, I honestly am not sure whether that's a good thing (last time it was 238ish - had been in the 160s in my 30s).

I wonder whether your body is using more or producing less? My husband says we need to create our own lab and draw our own bloods - not sure whether he means all us PP folks, or just you, me, & Tex. Considering I almost started using a glucometer a couple of months back, when I had weird symptoms I thought might be blood-sugar related... I guess I can see why he thinks so. (Unfortunately, I have many Type 1 friends and neighbors who would be glad to lend.)

-_Sara
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