> My classmate and now infectious disease
> specialist tells me there is an element of immune hyperactivity with the
> deposition of "extra" immune complexes around the spine in TM. However,
> it's a hyperactivity to a certain virus that presumably has long gone --
so
> why destroy immune function now? The way he explained it to me was that
the
> body has an "idiopathic" response -- ie the hyper immune response -- that
> means one million people could get the virus and only one get TM --which
is
> just about what probably happens (and certainly fits with the incidence).
> The actual demyelinization and destruction of nerve cells is another
matter
> I think -- is it the virus that attacks the cord directly -- I think not.
Bill mentioned a number of people in his area coming down with TM around the
same time. I know of one other person in the hospital with TM the same time I
was. Could this indicate some environmental factor, or rather that a number
of people had the same response to the virus? If the latter, I wonder why
certain people are more likely to react that way.
Barbara