Multiple Sclerosis and HPV

[grrl13]

I caught HPV when I was 19 and was Dx with MS 4 years later but as most MSer's I remember having MS symptoms earlier than when I was Dx, as a matter of fact around the time I had caught HPV. I know nothing's been proven but what are the possible connections between the two?

[HVAC]

Could have or triggered the MS, it is hard to say.

Alex

[grrl13]

I'm guessing a possibility is that HPV brought out a symptom of MS (that went away, I have Relapsing-Remitting MS) and that I had MS for even longer than I thought but HPV didn't cause MS itself, it just helped it present itself. I know that today, 20 years later, when I'm sick (cough, sore throat, etc) my MS gets worse for the duration of the cold.

[HVAC]

Interesting comment.

The way they think MS works is you have a genetic predisposition and then something triggers it. It is probably different for each of us. In my case I was exposed to some toxin at Key West may be DDT for mosqitoes and then the Camp Lejeune Water. Plus my mother did not take care of herself when she was pregnant. She smoked, drank, and took black beauties to keep my birth weight down. I weighted 4 lbs full term. I also have Caner and Asthma. I have the BRCA 1 mutation for cancer. No one in my family had MS but everyone had cancer.

The cool thing about mutations is they usually have a hidden positive. The sickle cell gene fight Malaria. BRCA 1 Mutation means you respond better to chemo then the general population. So when they figure out what MS is there may be an upside to having the gene. Not that having any disease is good but there may be good in it.



The way I look at it is it is like the cucumber and the pickle. It does not matter how you become a pickle there is no going back to a cucumber.

Alex

[Poppy7402]

I hadn't heard of a connection between HPV and MS but nobody seems to really know what causes it yet.

The only virus I'd heard they were thinking was a possible cause was the Epstein-Barr virus, the one that causes glandular fever.  

There seem to be so many 'theories' about what causes MS.  I've been reading Professor Jellinek's book and his theory is that it's our high saturated fat diets play a part, but if that's the case, then why do some get MS and some don't?  My husband's diet is much higher in saturated fat than mine, yet it's me who's sick.  

Seems like there's a lot of grasping at straws when it comes to finding a case for MS.

Poppy