Profound Yet Overlooked #2

Predictive Autoantibodies

"Molecules called predictive autoantibodies appear in blood years before people show symptoms of various disorders."

Predictive autoantibodies are just that.  They are antibodies (tags or labels) identifying self tissue (auto) as a foreign invader to be attacked.  These oftentimes show up years, if not decades, prior to the development of end stage autoimmune disease.  Measuring these predictive autoantibodies is very helpful in a clinical setting in determining if a patient's symptoms are in fact due to autoimmune processes.  Very often individuals have significant symptoms many years prior to end stage autoimmune disease that can usually be identified by autoantibody testing.  

For instance, adrenal cortex antibodies can show up 10 years prior to the development of Addison's Disease (overt adrenal cortex failure).  An individual with adrenal cortex antibodies may manifest low cortisol symptoms (most commonly:  general fatigue, difficulty waking, accentuated afternoon fatigue, waking in the night, and secondary sex hormone imbalance) ten years before overt Addison's Disease.  Or you might have an individual with pancreatic islet cell antibodies which can show up 14 years prior to the development of Type I Diabetes (overt pancreatic islet cell failure).  This individual might have symptoms of hypoglycemia (shakiness, lightheaded, irritability, waking in night, anxiety, etc.) while starting to show elevations in blood sugar.  Or you might have an individual with thyroid perioxidase antibodies which can show up 7-10 years prior to the development of Hashimoto's hypothyroidism (overt thyroid failure).  During this time an individual might manifest low thyroid symptoms (intolerance to cold, hair loss, thinning of eyebrows, constipation, depression, fatigue, etc.) before becoming overtly hypothyroid. 

Yours in health, Dr. Chris Caffery

www.functionalneuro.com

Disclaimer:  The contents of this site are for educational purposes only.  Nothing here should be construed as medical advice.  Nothing here is a substitute for actual medical care.  Consult a qualified healthcare professional.