We’ve been contacted by a newly formed research team who are investigating whether changes to diet can be used to alleviate the symptoms of auto-immune diseases. The research team want to know if patients diagnosed with Pernicious Anaemia have any anecdotal evidence of how changes to their diet has affected their symptoms.
The team are not simply interested in Pernicious Anaemia but in all other autoimmune conditions such as Type 1 Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis, Vitiligo and more than 70 other diseases.
Here’s what the research team have to say:
Hello from Eatrics!
We are a team of scientists and engineers at Deep Science Ventures who are trying to develop new, complementary ways to treat pernicious anaemia and other autoimmune diseases. We believe that diet can be customised to improve the management of autoimmune conditions and the general state of health and wellness. This is because there is lots of research which links the microbiome (ie the bacteria that live in your gut) to autoimmunity (for a recent scientific article you can see Richards et al 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4910123/).It would be of great help to us to get as much input from individuals with pernicious anaemia as possible. Would you be willing to provide answers to the next 3 questions?
1. Have you had any experiences that made you think that controlling your diet helped you improve the management of pernicious anaemia?
2. Are you interested in diet and nutrition as a way to improve your health?
3. Had you heard about the microbiome before?It would mean a lot to us if you could give us some input on these 3 points! To contact us, please email to mi*******************@ds*.io Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you!
Shakur, Miguel, Ben and Andreas
The Eatrics Team
Any investigations into auto-immune conditions in general and Pernicious Anaemia in particular are to be welcomed which is why we are telling you about this project. If microbes are able to stop patients producing the antibody to Intrinsic Factor then that would effectively be a cure for Pernicious Anaemia.
Please note that the PA Society is not a partner in this research project and we advise that you do not stop your injections. The research team are at the development stage and you should ensure that the project has valid medical ethics approval before you take part in it.
I have Crohns and Hashimotos – the former for over 40 years – so two auto-immune conditions. So I have been on a journey of learning and discovery for many years. It is often said that many health conditions including depression can start with the health of the gut. To me learning more and more about the micro biome and the fact that we have more bacteria than cells is intriguing.
I do post on the PAS Forum on HU – also Thyroid UK. We talk about gut healing and Hashimotos on Thyroid UK – but have for some reason held back on the PAS Forum. Maybe now the topic can be discussed openly and we can all learn more ….
Marlene you bring up an interesting point, about how the intestinal permeability/diet/autoimmunity connection isn’t really discussed with regard to PA.
I think that is probably because PA is in the same sort of position as Type I diabetes- the autoimmunity happened, the damage is done, and the condition is permanent and requires medical supplementation. In contrast, with other autoimmune diseases like celiac disease (and perhaps to some extent thyroid disease), diet is a foundational treatment for lowering the autoimmunity and healing damage.
I will be very interested to hear if anyone with PA has found that diet changes help with PA symptoms. I would also be interested to know more about whether PA patients are at higher risk for other autoimmune diseases, and whether diet can mitigate that risk.
That’s exactly what was discussed at last Saturday’s south Wales Support Group coffee morning. Keep an eye out for the slides from the presentation that will be made available this week on the website. It certainly provided food for thought (sorry).
I am going to adjust my diet and get back to you. I have pa
Hi
I have PA , Vitiligo & an under active thyroid and would be willing to try anything to help ??
Hiya have just joined as a member
I have PA diagnosed that I couldn’t absorb through food in summer 2015, from end of Jan beginning of Feb this year, I can’t work, dance or run, sometime difficult to walk. My son who is nearly 18 has had uveitis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and vitiligo, which has affected him lots over his young years. My daughter now seven on Tuesday is complaining of knees and seeing physio and has had a heart murmur checked for floppy valves which was ok luckily. I had ordered blood tests for them to check them for PA, my mum is auto immune too, I’m thinking possibly my nan too, she suffered mentally for years and ended up with dementure and passed away years ago.
I’m only 37 but have suffered with issues related to PA fir years but didn’t know about it.
I have emailed and would be happy to help with any research anyone would like to do
I have followed Isabella Wentz Auto immune protocol and believe she has a large amount of research into auto immunity through her work with Hashimotos sufferers.
There so much info out there that is already working for so many people.
Wentz suggests looking fir triggers and root causes which may vary however gut permeability is one of the main factors.
I would like to know if keeping to a strict anti-inflammatory diet, like AIP, would slow the immune response on my stomach, (reduced absorption of iron, calcium, Vit D, Vit C). Due to lack of absorption of B12, other malabsorptions develop with the progression of the disease.