Interferon and Chai Hu

[Guest guest]

In truth I'm not sure anyone knows. Perhaps digging deeper into Japanese studies

will

give you an idea. Perhaps Misha Cohen has an idea. Perhaps someone on the lists

who reads Chinese or Japanese can be helpful? Let us know what you find.

 

I have no idea actually and I've never read any studies about it, including ones

about

the time before taking interferon. One can only assume that the ill feeling

people get

is a direct result of the interferon. Some people seem to get better the day

after they

stop interferon. Others apparently stay " sick " with the treatment for months.

Off the

top of my head I would say you are probaly OK these months later. The person is

not

taking interferon now and it seems to have a rather short effect. Most people

take one

shot a week that is " pegalated " , that is, chemically time released over a period

of a

week. It would seem the danger of an after effect with Chai Hu is minimal so

many

month later. Again, this is just my thinking and not backed by studies.

 

I think chai hu's strength is in raising natural interferon levels. Is this what

you want

to accomplish? If not you might think about using other liver regulating herbs.

That's

one good thing about Mei Gui Hua. Did your patient go negative with viral load?

Or

did they stay positive and now want to try herbs? I'll be around Friday (today)

in the

morning at the clinic.

doug

 

 

>

> I have a potential patient who is interested in herbal therapy for his

> Hep C. I want to give him a formula that includes Chai Hu. He was on

> interferon therapy through this past April but hasn't taken it since.

>

> I'm wondering if anybody knows of how long one should wait after taking

> the interferon therapy before it is safe to use the Chai Hu in his

> formula?

>

> Thanks!

>

> --

>

> Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

> -Adlai Stevenson

[Guest guest]

Al, this would seem to answer your question and it is that so many months later

you

are OK.

 

Don't you just love Google?

http://www.healthtalk.com/hepc/perspective/mchutchison/toc/treating/10.html

 

Standard interferon has a half-life of only six hours, and that's the way we

measure

the rate at which drugs are broken down - by half-life. A half-life is simply

what it

sounds like. The time it takes for half the drug to be broken down by the body.

And

for standard interferon that's six hours. So six hours after the injection of

the

standard interferon, half of it's gone; six hours after that, half of what's

left was gone,

and it decays exponentially. So with a six-hour half-life, there's not a lot of

drug left

a day after it's been administered. So when you administer a drug like that

three

times a week, there's not a lot of interferon around.

 

Pegylated interferon - or Pegasys - on the other hand, has a half-life

of about

96 hours. And as a result, one injection provides a very long, sustained amount

of

interferon in the bloodstream that can exert its antiviral effect over this

prolonged

period of time.

> > I have a potential patient who is interested in herbal therapy for his

> > Hep C. I want to give him a formula that includes Chai Hu. He was on

> > interferon therapy through this past April but hasn't taken it since.

> >

> > I'm wondering if anybody knows of how long one should wait after taking

> > the interferon therapy before it is safe to use the Chai Hu in his

> > formula?

> >

> > Thanks!

> >

> > --

> >

> > Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

> > -Adlai Stevenson

[Guest guest]

Maybe some of Subhuti Dharmanada’s work on this subject is relevant here.

For example he describes a complex autoimmune process in patients with HCV

taking various chinese herbs - not just chai hu.

 

“… various autoimmune processes may be stimulated, and the use of

interferon or the immunologically-active SST in such circumstances may

lead to a further immunological development that causes a severe reaction

even after a few days.”

 

Huang qin, ban xia, Xiao Chai Hu Tang (SST or " sho saiko to " in Japanese)

and Huang Liane Jie Du Tang seemed to create sensitivities in certain

patients, and according to Dharmananda, " pneumonitis may not be the result

of reaction to any individual herb, but to the immunological effects of

the entire formula. "

 

No note here about when it is safe to give a patient herbs after a course

of interferon. But old age, advanced stage of liver cancer or chirrosis,

and a low platelet count seem to contraindicate use of herbs or

interferon. Please check my reading of this if you note any discrepancies.

 

 

Thanks,

Mike

 

................

 

from " UPDATE ON HEPATITIS C TREATMENTS "

http://www.itmonline.org/arts/hepcup.htm

by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional

Medicine, Portland, Oregon

 

……. A possible explanation for the problem with the herb formula and

interferon was proposed by members of the Kumamoto University Medical

School (16). They stated that it is well known that activated neutrophils

are important mediators of pulmonary fibrosis, and that these neutrophils

damage lung tissue when activated by cytokines such as tumor necrosis

factor (TNF) or interleukin-1 (IL-1). The mechanism by which a synergistic

action could be produced by SST and interferon was revealed by their

laboratory test results: interferon causes neutrophils to accumulate in

the lungs and SST increases the production of TNF. In general practice SST

may not cause any lung damage, but it increases the effect of either

interferon treatment or the immunological consequences of a predisposing

disease condition in relation to neutrophilic damage of the lungs. The

cascade of events may be triggered if some antigen is present. A possible

explanation for the problem with the herb formula and interferon was

proposed by members of the Kumamoto University Medical School (16). They

stated that it is well known that activated neutrophils are important

mediators of pulmonary fibrosis, and that these neutrophils damage lung

tissue when activated by cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or

interleukin-1 (IL-1). The mechanism by which a synergistic action could be

produced by SST and interferon was revealed by their laboratory test

results: interferon causes neutrophils to accumulate in the lungs and SST

increases the production of TNF. In general practice SST may not cause any

lung damage, but it increases the effect of either interferon treatment or

the immunological consequences of a predisposing disease condition in

relation to neutrophilic damage of the lungs. The cascade of events may be

triggered if some antigen is present…………

 

Based on the accumulating evidence, a formal warning about the association

between use of SST and pneumonitis in patients with chronic hepatitis was

issued in Japan by the Ministry of Health in March 1996. A death

associated with interstitial pneumonia attributed to SST was first

described in 1996 (18). The patient had taken the herb formula for about

50 days and then reported symptoms of fever, diarrhea, progressive

dyspnea. After six weeks of follow-up treatments, he died from a

combination of respiratory distress and gastro-intestinal bleeding (the

latter probably due to high-dose steroids aimed at alleviating the

pneumonia). The government warning about use of SST in patients with liver

cirrhosis was issued again, in revised form in December of 1997.

 

An evaluation of reported cases of SST reactions was undertaken at the

Hamamatsu University School of Medicine (19). They concluded that of 94

cases of pneumonitis reported to the manufacturer of the herb formula, 72

appeared to be actually related to the herb use (average age of patient:

64 years). Most of the cases were patients having chronic hepatitis C. The

mean duration of taking the herbs before the pneumonitis symptoms arose

was 50 days. Typical symptoms were coughing, dyspnea, and fever with acute

onset. X-rays showed diffuse " ground-glass " shadows and infiltration.

Abnormally high levels of C-reactive protein and lactate dehydrogenase

were common. The bronchoalveolar fluid revealed abnormally high

percentages of lymphocytes and neutrophils and a low CD4/CD8 ratio. Of the

72 cases, 64 survived after discontinuing SST, with some patients

receiving high-dose steroid therapy; 8 patients, including the one

described above, died. The patients that died were said to have had an

underlying lung disorder, had taken the herbs for a longer time, and had

more severe hypoxemia.

 

In a case of pneumonitis attributed to sho-saiko-to that occurred recently

(20), it was reported that the patient, a 71-year-old women, had been

treated with SST for 14 days until the symptoms arose. Her bronchial fluid

was tested for sensitivity to both the entire formula and to two of its

ingredients, scute and pinellia, and was found to be sensitive to all of

them. The authors also suggested that her liver had developed autoimmune

hepatitis in reaction to the herbs. In another report (21), a 62-year-old

man with pneumonitis attributed to herbs was taking both SST and Coptis

and Scute Combination (Huanglian Jiedu Tang; Japanese: oren-gedoku-to) for

two months. Challenge tests with both formulas applied separately were

positive. The authors suggested that scute, the ingredient common to both

formulas, might be of concern; this ingredient was also reactive in the

previously described case.

 

Nearly all the cases of the pneomonitis induced by interferon alpha or SST

were in patients with advanced liver disease associated with hepatitis C.

It is possible that the virus might yield immunological stimulation and

dysfunction that makes these treatments more likely to cause a reaction.

Hepatitis C has numerous secondary effects including (22):

glomerulonephritis, thyroiditis, and possibly Sjogren's syndrome, IgA

deficiency, Mooren's corneal ulcers, Behcet's syndrome, polyarthritis,

Guillain-Barre syndrome, and ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura).

Hepatitis C, without treatment by interferon or SST, may cause idiopathic

pulmonary fibrosis.

 

In the Japanese government warnings (24), the main concern expressed is

for patients with advanced liver cirrhosis or advanced liver cancer and

especially those who have low platelet counts (ITP). In these patients,

various autoimmune processes may be stimulated, and the use of interferon

or the immunologically-active SST in such circumstances may lead to a

further immunological development that causes a severe reaction even after

a few days. In response to interferon therapy, one patient was reported

(24) to develop not only interstitial pneumonia, but also hemolytic

anemia, implying an immunological sensitization. Hemolytic anemia is

similar to ITP in nature and mechanism; a different blood cell line, red

blood cells rather than platelets, is the target of the autoimmune

response.

 

Despite several investigations of sensitivity to ingredients within SST as

relayed above, it is not known which herbal components might be yielding

an adverse effect. The pneumonitis may not be the result of reaction to

any individual herb, but to the immunological effects of the entire

formula. The two main therapeutic compounds in Minor Bupleurum Combination

are triterpene saponins, referred to as " saiko-saponin chemical " in the

newsletter warning about the formula (see: Platycodon and other herbs with

triterpene glycosides), and flavonoids. Generally, these compounds appear

harmless in the dosage used and may require some rare combination of

predisposing factors to produce the adverse effects.

 

One of the primary product manufacturers (Tsumura Juntendo) recently

investigated the mechanism by which SST might be causing pneumonitis; it

was shown that the formula stimulates interleukin-6 (IL-6, a

pro-inflammatory cytokine) in laboratory mouse models of lung injury (25).

When active fractions of SST were analyzed, it was found that multiple

ingredients had the IL-6 stimulating capability, and the authors cited

liquiritin, a component of licorice, as an example. Liquiritin is a

flavonoid; the active constituents of scute, suggested to be implicated in

a prior evaluation, are flavonoids. However, both bupleurum and pinellia

have been potentially implicated as well, and these have triterpene

saponins and alkaloids, respectively, for their main active ingredients.

 

SST is used for treatment of many inflammatory disorders, lung diseases,

and viral infections. One would expect from such uses that it has the

capability to promote antiinflammatory cytokines and reduce

pro-inflammatory cytokines (such as IL-1 and IL-6). However, the hepatitis

C virus, interferon, and/or other things influencing the patients who

develop pneumonitis, may alter the immune system in such a way that it

responds adversely to the otherwise beneficial action of the herb formula.

SST is extensively used in the treatment of hepatitis and, as a result,

there have been opportunities for rare adverse reactions. It is possible

that other herb formulas would also produce this result, but their less

frequent use has either led to no cases or to not enough reproducible

results to raise a concern about the specific formulation.

 

Particular caution should be used in patients who are taking multiple drug

therapies.

 

 

.................

> In truth I'm not sure anyone knows. Perhaps digging deeper into Japanese

> studies will

> give you an idea. Perhaps Misha Cohen has an idea. Perhaps someone on the

> lists

> who reads Chinese or Japanese can be helpful? Let us know what you find.

>

> I have no idea actually and I've never read any studies about it,

> including ones about

> the time before taking interferon. One can only assume that the ill

> feeling people get

> is a direct result of the interferon. Some people seem to get better the

> day after they

> stop interferon. Others apparently stay " sick " with the treatment for

> months. Off the

> top of my head I would say you are probaly OK these months later. The

> person is not

> taking interferon now and it seems to have a rather short effect. Most

> people take one

> shot a week that is " pegalated " , that is, chemically time released over a

> period of a

> week. It would seem the danger of an after effect with Chai Hu is minimal

> so many

> month later. Again, this is just my thinking and not backed by studies.

>

> I think chai hu's strength is in raising natural interferon levels. Is

> this what you want

> to accomplish? If not you might think about using other liver regulating

> herbs. That's

> one good thing about Mei Gui Hua. Did your patient go negative with viral

> load? Or

> did they stay positive and now want to try herbs? I'll be around Friday

> (today) in the

> morning at the clinic.

> doug

>

>

>>

>> I have a potential patient who is interested in herbal therapy for his

>> Hep C. I want to give him a formula that includes Chai Hu. He was on

>> interferon therapy through this past April but hasn't taken it since.

>>

>> I'm wondering if anybody knows of how long one should wait after taking

>> the interferon therapy before it is safe to use the Chai Hu in his

>> formula?

>>

>> Thanks!

>>

>> --

>>

>> Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

>> -Adlai Stevenson

>

>

 

Michael Short, Lic. Ac.

Chinese Herbology (NCCAOM)

__________________________

 

72 Langley Road

Newton Center, MA

ph: 617/817-6640

map: www.zero-meridian.com/location.htm

[Guest guest]

Dear Mike,

Thank you for forwarding this report. It was quite interesting.

 

I do wish to point out that while circumstantial evidence may point to

involvement of xiao chai hu tang with the pneumonitis in late-stage

hepatitis C patients, that the word " may " came up over and over again

when trying to figure out how this happens. In other words, the

researchers are guessing at the mechanisms, and whether it is one

specific herb or the combination that may be having the effect.

 

I don't think this means we shouldn't use herbal medicine for Hep C

patients, although, of course, caution would be advised when interferon

therapy is used, especially with xiao chai hu tang.

 

I think this means that we don't give large doses of herbal

prescriptions (one individual in this study took the prescription for

50 days!), and that we base the treatment regimen on pattern

differentiation, not disease differentiation alone. Since only Western

physicians have the right to use Chinese medicinals in Japan, it would

seem possible that a trend towards a more allopathic prescribing style

of prescriptions (and xiao chai hu tang is by far the most widely used

prescription in Japan for 'immune system' disorders) is responsible for

some of the iatrogenesis noted here.

 

We shouldn't automatically give xiao chai hu tang for hepatitis C,

that's all. There is a lot of this knee-jerk prescribing going on. If

practitioners are poorly trained in the use of Chinese herbal medicine,

they should know that it can be quite powerful, and should stop using

these prescriptions until they are better trained.

 

 

On Friday, October 24, 2003, at 08:46 AM, mshort

wrote:

 

> Maybe some of Subhuti Dharmanada’s work on this subject is relevant

> here.

> For example he describes a complex autoimmune process in patients with

> HCV

> taking various chinese herbs - not just chai hu.

>

> “… various autoimmune processes may be stimulated, and the use of

> interferon or the immunologically-active SST in such circumstances may

> lead to a further immunological development that causes a severe

> reaction

> even after a few days.”

 

 

[Guest guest]

Z'ev, I know Subhuti wrote on this several years ago, I don't know if your =

quote is

more recent. From everything I've seen recently, the culprit in deaths has =

been proven

to be indeed simply Chai Hu. I've never heard of the Huang Lian Jie Du issu=

e and if it

is related to interferon. However I am not giving Wu Wei Zi for people on =

interferon

due to a note (Bensky? Yeung?) about it also raising interferon levels. Wit=

h this caveat

herbs should be encouraged at all stages of chronic hepatitis with the prop=

er

diagnosis and plan.

doug

 

, mshort@z... wrote:

> Maybe some of Subhuti Dharmanada's work on this subject is relevant here.=

 

> For example he describes a complex autoimmune process in patients with HC=

V

> taking various chinese herbs - not just chai hu.

>

> " … various autoimmune processes may be stimulated, and the use of

> interferon or the immunologically-active SST in such circumstances may

> lead to a further immunological development that causes a severe reaction=

 

> even after a few days. "

>

[Guest guest]

Doug,

That wasn't my quote, but this is an interesting issue to discuss.

Thanks for bringing it up.

 

 

On Friday, October 24, 2003, at 03:26 PM, wrote:

 

> Z'ev, I know Subhuti wrote on this several years ago, I don't know if

> your =

> quote is

> more recent. From everything I've seen recently, the culprit in deaths

> has =

> been proven

> to be indeed simply Chai Hu. I've never heard of the Huang Lian Jie Du

> issu=

> e and if it

> is related to interferon. However I am not giving Wu Wei Zi for

> people on =

> interferon

> due to a note (Bensky? Yeung?) about it also raising interferon

> levels. Wit=

> h this caveat

> herbs should be encouraged at all stages of chronic hepatitis with the

> prop=

> er

> diagnosis and plan.

> doug

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

since we are on hep for a second... this came up on another web site. Can a=

nyone

with more western knowledge correlate these recent findings with our

diagnosis and herbs? Liver yin xu and Blood builders and Qi Xu and Huang Qi=

?

 

doug

 

Root of hep C persistence

 

 

 

Inadequate CD4+ T-lymphocyte responses may be responsible for HCV immune

evasion | By =

Tudor Toma

 

 

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is transmitted by percutaneous or permucosal ex=

posure to

infectious blood or blood-derived body fluids and causes a liver infection =

that is self-

limiting in about 30% of humans. The majority of patients become chronic ca=

rriers

and are at risk for developing progressive liver disease, but the mechanism=

s

responsible for the failure of infection to resolve have been unclear. In t=

he October 24

Science, Arash Grakoui and colleagues at Rockefeller University show that a=

n

inadequate CD4+ T-lymphocyte response may be responsible for HCV persistenc=

e

and immune evasion (Science, 302:659-662, October 24, 2003).

 

 

 

Grakoui et al. used a primate model of hepatitis C and observed that antibo=

dy-

mediated depletion of CD4+ T cells before reinfection in two immune animals=

 

resulted in persistent, low-level viremia despite functional intrahepatic m=

emory CD8+

T-cell responses. In addition, the authors showed that incomplete control o=

f HCV

replication by memory CD8+ T cells in the absence of adequate CD4+ T-cell h=

elp was

associated with emergence of viral escape mutations in class I major

histocompatibility complex–restricted epitopes and failure to resolve HCV i=

nfection.

 

 

 

" These observations may have implications for priming durable vaccine-medi=

ated

protection against HCV. Despite recent studies in mice showing good recall =

responses

of memory CD8+ T cells without any requirement for help, our studies sugges=

t that

these cells alone will not afford protection for highly mutable viruses lik=

e HCV, "

conclude the authors.

[Guest guest]

, " " wrote:

> since we are on hep for a second... this came up on another web

site. Can anyone with more western knowledge correlate these recent

findings with our diagnosis and herbs? Liver yin xu and Blood

builders and Qi Xu and Huang Qi? >>>

 

 

 

 

doug:

 

I found a quote that is consistant with the pulse picture of someone

with Hep C:

 

Introduction • Viral hepatitis and TCM In classical TCM terminology

there is not such an entity as infective hepatitis Hepatitis if

icteric is catalogued under jaundice If it is anicteric under rib

pain. • Viruses and TCM In TCM there are no viruses. The pathogenic

factor xie is seen as Heat more or less intense entering the bod. In

TCM it is not necessary to differentiate which virus is in action.

It is mandatory to analyse which scenario the virus is generating in

a certain unique individual. • Hepatitis in TCM Acute icteric

hepatitis viruses apart, Heat and Damp give rise to jaundice ,

fever, nausea, vomit. Acute anicteric hepatitis: Damp prevail over

Heat, or heat is hidden inside. Heat Dries and steams body fluids.

In the Liver it dries the parenchyma damaging it. Hidden heat dries

blood Heat in the blood can easily give rise to bleeding

 

http://216.239.37.104/search?

q=cache:ce1zzV9kIHYJ:www.mtc.es/congresos/viicongres_us/picozzius.pdf

+hepatitis+%22heat+in+the+blood%22 & hl=en & ie=UTF-8

 

 

Jim Ramholz

[Guest guest]

Z'ev, Doug, Al and All,

 

It's my job to teach about the function of interferon, so your posts induced me

to look up the latest stuff on interferon, Hep C and autoimmune disorders.

Yikes! Is all I can say. Since 1998 there has been a lot of drug induced

systemic lupus erythamatosus (and other autoimmune disorders) with anti-bodies

to DNA as a result of the use of various interferons. Interferon is a normal

secretion from cells infected by viruses. The secreted interferon induces

surrounding cells to produce enzymes (endonucleases) to digest naked DNA or RNA

in the cell's cytoplasm. This protects the surrounding cells from viral

infection. It's a very cool system. I'm not seeing a mechanism in these papers

for how the autoimmune disorders come about and only a small percentage are

actually SLE-like disorders. However, it seems you can count on somewhere

around 10% of all patients taking interferon to wind up with some kind of

autoimmune disorder.

 

Emmanuel Segmen

Anatomy-Physiology, Merritt College

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

How do you think this plays in with the patients who have burnt out thyroids

(hypo) at

the end of interferon treatments?

 

, " Emmanuel Segmen "

<susegmen@i...> wrote:

> Z'ev, Doug, Al and All,

>

> It's my job to teach about the function of interferon, so your posts induced

me to

look up the latest stuff on interferon, Hep C and autoimmune disorders. Yikes!

Is all

I can say. Since 1998 there has been a lot of drug induced systemic lupus

erythamatosus (and other autoimmune disorders) with anti-bodies to DNA as a

result

of the use of various interferons. Interferon is a normal secretion from cells

infected

by viruses. The secreted interferon induces surrounding cells to produce

enzymes

(endonucleases) to digest naked DNA or RNA in the cell's cytoplasm. This

protects

the surrounding cells from viral infection. It's a very cool system. I'm not

seeing a

mechanism in these papers for how the autoimmune disorders come about and only a

small percentage are actually SLE-like disorders. However, it seems you can

count on

somewhere around 10% of all patients taking interferon to wind up with some kind

of

autoimmune disorder.

>

> Emmanuel Segmen

> Anatomy-Physiology, Merritt College

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dave wrote: How do you think this plays in with the patients who have burnt out

thyroids (hypo) at

the end of interferon treatments?

 

Dave,

 

Read the first sentence of the following paper. Auto-antibodies frequently

develop during interferon treatment. This was already postulated by 1993. I

just did a Medline search for " interferon therapy and hypothyroidism " as a

response to your query. I had to stop reading the 30th paper on this topic in

order to respond finally to you. I guess you can expect to see a lot of people

coming to you with autoimmune disorders of all kinds including MS following

interferon therapy.

 

Emmanuel Segmen

 

Hypothyroidism and arthritis during interferon therapy.

Clin Rheumatol 1993 Sep;12(3):415-7 (ISSN: 0770-3198)

D'Hondt L; Delannoy A; Docquier C

Service de Medecine Interne, Hopital de Jolimont, Saint-Paul, Belgium.

The development of autoantibodies during interferon therapy is frequent,

but clinical symptoms of autoimmune disease are uncommon. We report on a female

patient who developed arthritis with strongly positive antinuclear factor (ANA)

and autoimmune thyroiditis while being treated with alpha 2b interferon (IFN)

for chronic myelocytic leukaemia (CML). The arthritis subsided promptly after

discontinuation of IFN and initiation of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

>

> Dave,

>

> Read the first sentence of the following paper. Auto-antibodies

frequently develop during interferon treatment. This was already postulated

by 1993. I just did a Medline search for " interferon therapy and

hypothyroidism " as a response to your query. I had to stop reading the 30th

paper on this topic in order to respond finally to you. I guess you can

expect to see a lot of people coming to you with autoimmune disorders of all

kinds including MS following interferon therapy.

>

> Emmanuel Segmen

>

 

 

Hi Emmanual et al

 

 

I am curious... you said to expect that patients may come in with MS

following interferon therapy, however I thought interferon is the drug of

choice for MS?

 

 

Teresa

[Guest guest]

Hi Theresa,

 

You can read the Medline papers as well as I. You can expect to see around 10%

of all interferon therapies producing autoimmune disorders including but not

limited to MS, hypothyroidism and lupus.

 

I feel like Ken now. I'm going to whomp everyone again with my thesis of

February this year. Pharmacological dosaging and physiological dosaging are

extraordinarily different things. Are people getting the picture?

 

Emmanuel Segmen

Merritt College

-

Teresa Hall

Saturday, October 25, 2003 7:36 AM

Re: Interferon and Chai Hu

 

 

 

>

> Dave,

>

> Read the first sentence of the following paper. Auto-antibodies

frequently develop during interferon treatment. This was already postulated

by 1993. I just did a Medline search for " interferon therapy and

hypothyroidism " as a response to your query. I had to stop reading the 30th

paper on this topic in order to respond finally to you. I guess you can

expect to see a lot of people coming to you with autoimmune disorders of all

kinds including MS following interferon therapy.

>

> Emmanuel Segmen

>

 

 

Hi Emmanual et al

 

 

I am curious... you said to expect that patients may come in with MS

following interferon therapy, however I thought interferon is the drug of

choice for MS?

 

 

Teresa

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I don't think there is a 'drug of choice' for MS. Steroids used to be,

but biomedicine has not really come up with anything more than

palliative treatment for MS. And these treatments often weaken the

immune system of MS patients even further.

 

 

On Saturday, October 25, 2003, at 07:36 AM, Teresa Hall wrote:

 

>

>

> I am curious... you said to expect that patients may come in with MS

> following interferon therapy, however I thought interferon is the drug

> of

> choice for MS?

>

>

> Teresa