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Bolynn t1_iu6btmt wrote

So before anyone thinks that Rheumatoid Arthritis will be cured by antibiotics: they only found out that these bacteria may cause the formation of autoantibodies. Once you have those the removal of the bacteria won’t help with the disease.

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[deleted] t1_iu6lwdb wrote

[deleted]

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Bolynn t1_iu6xbhm wrote

Unfortunately that’s very unlikely, as from the moment on there are auto-antibodies there is self-reinforcing mechanism that keeps on producing them (as you still have that auto-antigen in your joints there will be continuous inflammation).

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Teaandcookies2 t1_iu7yntr wrote

Hence why Type 1 diabetes persists after the initial cause- often severe infection- is dealt with, in addition to the profound damage to the pancreas.

However, colonization or infection with such bacteria would likely exacerbate symptoms, since the autoantibodies were originally produced in response to the bacteria and expression would increase on any reinfection or colonial growth.

Autoimmune conditions are immensely tricky at baseline and our understanding of human microbiomes is still so limited that it's hard to say what might happen in either scenario.

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zyl0x t1_iu8q7vn wrote

Do you know this for certain with the RA and PsA antibodies, or are you saying in general that we never lose antibodies? Because the latter is not true.

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Bolynn t1_iu8ubp4 wrote

That’s in autoimmune diseases in general. So in RA you’ve got auto-antibodies against antigens that can be found in your joints. So basically there is an inflammatory trigger in your own body that keeps on reinforcing the production of these antibodies. In PsA autoantibodies don’t play a a big role in the formation of arthritis.

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Tecumsehs_Revenge t1_iu6xooi wrote

Fecal transplants?

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Bolynn t1_iu87h01 wrote

Maybe if you know you have the genetics that would predispose you for RA that would be helpful to prevent it from manifesting? I don’t know. Haven’t heard about that yet.

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Impressive_Ad9339 t1_iu6z0ln wrote

Pretty sure Hitler did this to some degree can't remember what for though..

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Environmental_Cake97 t1_iu8g034 wrote

I’ve had autoimmune conditions all my life and they do just go away sometimes, then you get a different one. I even had some kind of arthritis for 15 years in my toes, ankles, knees and wrists from around age 10, but I don’t think that was autoimmune in my case. I took glucosamine and chondroitin 1500mg and 500mg for 3 weeks around age 25 and the arthritis just went away. It used to come back, but a couple of days of the supplements and it would go away again. It’s been almost 30 years now since it’s been back. This is also around the time I turned vegetarian. Pretty sure the supplements fixed the arthritis, but it is possible that meat eating exacerbated it.

It was arthritis so bad the doctor was talking about joint replacement and I sounded like someone playing the castanets when I walked.

I’ve never heard of anyone else having such a great response, and I was never tested for what kind of arthritis it was, but I presume osteoarthritis.

I also have a high genetic risk for osteoarthritis according to Impute Me.

Just throwing that out there in case it helps anyone.

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Bolynn t1_iu8hm0a wrote

I would doubt it being osteoarthritis as that presents in older age only and is not really reversible.

Yeah there are some autoimmune conditions that remit completely (especially in youth) or come in attacks in random intervals. There is some evidence that meat can exacerbate inflammation, so maybe that helped in your case. I’m glad yours went away!

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