Phil,
You don't need to be caustic or talk to people like they are idiots. Maybe you
didn't mean to sound that way, but that's the way it "felt." Forgive me if I
took your comments the wrong way.
I just looked up the TMA web site. It has been greatly expanded since the last
time I looked at it. Even still, there are quotes like:
"The general history and physical examination are first performed, but often
do not give clues about the cause of spinal cord injury"
"Transverse myelitis may occur in isolation or in the setting of another
illness. When it occurs without apparent underlying cause, it is referred to
as idiopathic. Idiopathic transverse myelitis is assumed to be a result of
abnormal activation of the immune system against the spinal cord"
"The cause of idiopathic transverse myelitis is unknown, but most evidence
supports an autoimmune process."
"no clues"
"assumed to be"
"cause unknown"
Of course your survey is not a waste of time, but neither is it the ultimate
conclusive last word on the subject. We're still putting the pieces together.
What I was wondering about in my earlier post was what is the common thread in
all of the different situations that lead up toTM. You listed the cause in
your survey findings as an auto-immune disorder, but that is not proven. The
TMA page quote listed above says the cause is idiopathic ... unknown...but
assumed to be auto-immune. Probably so, but not beyond-a-doubt-proven to be so
yet. So we're still comparing notes. Even if it is auto-immune, we don't know
what causes the immune system act that way. Sure, illness, stress, etc. are
factors, and maybe a combination of these factors set off an auto-immune
reaction. But many said they had no flu, stress, shots or anything pre-TM --
it just came out of the blue. And many people get the flu or deal with great
amounts of stress, etc., without having an auto-immune reaction. There are
still mysteries to be solved, and this list and your survey are helping find
the pieces of the puzzle and putting some of them together. I hope the day
will be soon that we will have the whole picture.
Barbara