Epstein Barr Virus

I remember that many years ago I was told that I was positive for the Epstein Barr virus, I never had any symptoms then or in the ensuing years. I have read that Jackie says she was being treated for Epstein Barr, I am wondering what would have led to her being treated. This following article leads to more confusion:

"Most people become infected with EBV and gain adaptive immunity. In the United States, about half of all five-year-old children and 90 to 95 percent of adults have evidence of previous infection.[8] Infants become susceptible to EBV as soon as maternal antibody protection disappears. Many children become infected with EBV, and these infections usually cause no symptoms or are indistinguishable from the other mild, brief illnesses of childhood. In the United States and other developed countries, many people are not infected with EBV in their childhood years. When infection with EBV occurs during adolescence, it causes infectious mononucleosis 35 to 50 percent of the time.[9]"

The article states that most infected with EBV gain adaptive immunity.

Liz

Liz - I've been reading lots of info on 'stealth infections' and I had previously quoted in another post about how the EBV virus manifests into autoimmune disorders... including Graves disease... for which you have mentioned you were treated....so you really did have symptoms, it just wasn't recognized as caused by EBV at the time.

The majority of people are exposed to EBV by the time they are 2-3 years old but typically, a healthy immune system does not allow for it to cause a problem unless or until, the immune system is compromised. As mentioned, in teens... it manifests as mono.

Likewise, in the elderly, a less than optimally functional immune system allows for the EBV to flourish in numbers and autoimmune disorders begin to present and are diagnosed... but frequently the treatment is just for the symptom and not the actual virus itself. I.e., autoimmune rheumatoid arthritis, and the two thyroid problems...both Graves and Hashimotos, ALS, MS, Lupus are all manifestations of "reactivation" of the dormant EBV.

I have rough notes on several webinar presentations on stealth infections that I'll be posting eventually because they are epidemic and yet often go unresolved because people are not treated for the virus but rather just manage the symptoms which results eventually in neurological disorders and damage.

Jackie

Jackie:

First of all I am very glad that you are on the mend.

As to my Graves, from what I have read, it is said that a trigger could cause Graves, I developed Graves about a year after my son died, also my father and aunt had Graves. I have doubts that my Graves disease was caused by perhaps having the virus for EB, in fact, only one doctor had noted this, I still have doubts. I am going to see Dr. Brownstein next week so I will pose the question to him.

Liz

Liz - It is logical and science-based that one's immune system function becomes drastically reduced during periods of extreme stress...such as yours... I can't imagine anything more extreme than losing a child. Again, so very sorry for your loss.

The literature I've been studying is relatively new (from the last decade to current practice) by many practitioners who are treating these stealth infections and they indicate their findings that EBV and other stealth infections are the cause of many ailments that were previously unknown as being connected. Or, as we find so often, it's easier just to prescribe a drug to mask the symptoms rather than determine the core cause and manage that. The problem comes when masking the symptoms allows severe neurological symptoms to manifest and by then, it's typically too late to reverse the damage.

It will be a while before I summarize the findings in a report, but most interesting is the notation that with many of the stealth infections, a common symptom is heart arrhythmia (which would be logical because of the inflammation and how that affects nerve conduction and damage).

Jackie

Jackie, should I be checked again for EBV? I had it in my 40's but it was not active then.

Dee

Dee - I'd think not if you are fully functional. Healthy immune systems function well to keep the EBV titres low enough so they don't cause problems. There are changes in the testing and reporting that seem to be ongoing so I'd definitely wait until there is a firm consensus about which test and which lab. That's what I'm going to do because the EBV may not be a concern for me afterall, but in treating what we thought was needed, I surely poked the hornet's nest!

Jackie