Autoimmune News / Summer 2004 / Autoimmune Disease News -- Graves', Hashimoto's, Thyroid, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Scleroderma, Psoriasis, Sarcoidosis, Adrenal Problems, Raynaud's Phenomenon, Hair Loss, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Other Conditions
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THE AUTOIMMUNE REPORT -- Summer 2004
from Patient Advocate Mary J. Shomon, Author of "Living Well With Hypothyroidism," "Living Well With Autoimmune Disease," the "Thyroid Guide to Fertility, Pregnancy & Breastfeeding Success," "Living Well with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia," "The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss," and the forthcoming "Living Well With Graves' Disease & Hyperthyroidism"

This newsletter is located online at: http://www.thyroid-info.com/autoimmune/summer2004.htm

Read back issues of this newsletter online now.


HIVES LINKED TO AUTOIMMUNE THYROID DISEASE

Research reported on in the journal Dermatology found that the frequency of thyroid autoantibodies is significantly higher in patients with chronic urticaria (hives) than in healthy controls. In the study, all the patients with thyroid autoantibodies had so-called "normal" test results. Find out what researchers concluded now.
http://thyroid.about.com/b/a/099941.htm


THE THYROID DIET: EARLY PUBLICATION SET FOR AUGUST 18TH!

Is an undiagnosed or improperly treated thyroid condition causing you to pack on the pounds, or dooming you to diet failure?

On August 18, 2004, you'll have the answer.

That's the publication date for my new book, THE THYROID DIET: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss. The Thyroid Diet is the first book to tackle the critical connection between weight gain and thyroid disease, offering a conventional and alternative plan for lasting weight loss.

More than 25 million Americans have diagnosed - and undiagnosed - thyroid conditions, which almost always result in a metabolic slowdown. The Thyroid Diet will help many previously unsuccessful dieters get diagnosed and treated - and proper thyroid treatment may be all that's needed to successfully lose weight.

Even after optimal treatment, however, weight problems plague many thyroid patients. For those patients, The Thyroid Diet identifies the many frustrating impediments to weight loss, and offers solutions--both conventional and alternative--to help.

The Thyroid Diet features 400 pages of help, including the best dietary changes you can make, including how a thyroid sufferer should focus on a low-glycemic, high-fiber, lower-calorie diet, optimal timing of meals for maximum hormonal impact, thyroid-damaging foods to avoid, helpful herbs and supplements, and more.

The book contains several different eating plans, food lists, and a set of delicious and healthy gourmet recipes. With handy worksheets to use in weight loss tracking, and a special resource section featuring websites, books, and support groups, you'll find vital help for the millions of thyroid patients dealing with weight problems.

The Thyroid Diet features...
  • Diet Planning Worksheets
  • Eating Plans
  • Food Lists
  • Gourmet Recipes
  • Information on Safe & Helpful Supplements and Herbs
The Thyroid Diet is on sale at your favorite bookstores on August 18th, 2004!

ADVANCE ORDER!! Be sure you get a copy the minute it's published by putting in an advance order at Amazon.com. That way, the minute they get books from the publisher, they'll ship a copy to you. But your credit card will not be charged until your book ships. Pre-order your copy from Amazon.com now for only $10.47, a 30% saving of $4.48 over the $14.95 list price.

Read the book's introductory chapter online now

THE THYROID DIET: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss
By Mary J. Shomon
Published by HarperCollins, 400 pages, ISBN: 0-06-052444-8, List Price: $14.95
Pre-order your copy from Amazon.com now


SCIENTISTS DISCOVER GENETIC MARKER RESPONSIBLE FOR TWO-FOLD INCREASE IN RISK OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

A team of researchers has discovered a genetic variation that doubles the risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Find out more about this important development regarding one of the more studied autoimmune diseases.
http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/ragene.htm


SUPPLEMENTS THAT MAY HELP WITH WEIGHT LOSS

For a review of some of the supplements that I find helpful in my own weight loss program, read this article online now.
http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/diethelp.htm


NEW SURVEY DOCUMENTS CONCERNS OF PEOPLE WITH PSORIASIS

Relationship issues, society pressures and social embarrassment profoundly affect the millions of adults who suffer from psoriasis, a chronic, debilitating autoimmune skin disease that often leads to a reclusive lifestyle. Psoriasis is more common in people with autoimmune conditions, including Hashimoto's and Graves' disease. Findings from a new survey conducted among people with moderate to severe psoriasis confirm that having this autoimmune condition creates significant problems.
http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/psoriasis.htm


WHY ARE YOU SO HARD ON YOURSELF?

What if there was one choice you could make that would change everything in your life for the better? Actually, there is. It's the choice to move out of judgment and into compassion for yourself and others. Margaret Paul, Ph.D. shares some thoughts on why compassion -- not only for others, but for ourselves as well -- in this essay " Compassion ? A Powerful Doorway to Personal Growth."
http://thyroid.about.com/b/a/100065.htm


Search My Thyroid, Autoimmune & Diet Sites


www.thyroid-info.comthyroid.about.com

POSSIBLE LINK REPORTED BETWEEN VITAMIN D INTAKE AND REDUCED RISK OF MS

A large scale study conducted among 187,563 nurses (Nurses Health Study) suggests that those who took higher amounts of vitamin D may have a reduced risk of developing multiple sclerosis. Women whose intake of vitamin D was greater than or equal to about 400 IU/day from all sources including supplements and/or food had a 40% lower risk of developing MS than women who did not take vitamin D supplements. While this study provides new information about the role of vitamin D in the prevention of MS it does not provide any information regarding whether vitamin D affects the course of MS once it has begun. The U.S. government stipulated adequate intake level of daily vitamin D intake is 5-15 micrograms or 200-600 International Units. It should be noted that excessive intake of vitamin D can have serious, toxic effects on the body including excessive calcium levels in the blood, high blood pressure, nausea, anorexia, impaired kidney function and kidney damage.

Source: National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Research/Clinical Update, January 14, 2004. Web site link: http://www.nmss.org


CAUSE OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS CHALLENGED BY NEW RESEARCH

Australian researchers have challenged the theory of multiple sclerosis being an autoimmune disease based on autopsy studies they have conducted and recently published. It is currently held by many that multiple sclerosis results from an autoimmune attack on myelin as the inciting event for this disease. The observations of this study instead suggest that the myelin-producing cells die first and then immune cells show up to clear out the dead cells and their myelin. The investigators suggest that their finding could have a profound impact on MS research which, of course, is currently focused on determining why the immune system attacks myelin. As they point out, there is currently no laboratory model for the sort of pathology they observed in the 12 patients examined at autopsy in this study.

Source: Ann. Neurol. 2004;55, Dr. John W. Prineas as reviewed on the Medscape Web site. Web site link: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/470036. February, 2004.


INSIDE MARY SHOMON'S MEDICINE CABINET

People are always writing to me to ask "what drugs and supplements do YOU take?" First off, let's be clear...the optimal combination of supplements for you is the one that will work best for YOU. And what works best for me may not work best for you. I've come up with my own regimen with my physicians and health practitioners, after years of trial and error. Here are the things I regularly take most days or times of the year. Find out what Mary takes now.
http://thyroid.about.com/b/a/059642.htm


DIAGNOSIS OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS CAN BE CONFIRMED WITH A NEW TEST

Doctors can now confirm the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis with new never seen before lab tests. These tests were developed by Dr. Aristo Vojdani, Ph.D., M.T., of Immunosciences Laboratories, Inc. Up until now, the unconfirmed diagnosis was always based on clinical grounds, varying with different clinicians. The usual procedure used for a clinical diagnosis until now has been a costly MRI. Even this procedure was not specific for MS since several diseases of the white matter of the brain present similar MRI pictures. This breakthrough in the diagnosis of MS depends on the detection of antibodies in the blood to the neural antigens that are produced in patients with MS. The tests are done on lymphocytes obtained from the patient's blood. These new tests will not only confirm the diagnosis of MS but will help physicians follow the course of therapy of this disease with interferon and other available treatments.

Sources: Journal of Internal Medicine, October, 2003, Dr. Aristo Vojdani, as reviewed on the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association Web site, Research Report section. Web site link: http://www.aarda.org/research/research_display.php?ID=30


YOUR GUIDES TO LIVING WELL

If you don't already have copies of my "Living Well..." books, Iherb.com has an excellent $8 per copy price if you buy online. SPECIAL DISCOUNT!!! The folks over at Iherb.com -- the website where I order almost all of my own supplements and vitamins – also have offered my readers a special 20% discount on anything you buy! Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity to stock up on all my books, your favorite vitamins, herbs, supplements, protein shakes, and more!! Just use the coupon code thyroidbonus during checkout to get your 20% discount.


You can order them at a good discount from Amazon.com as well:

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NOTES FROM MARY:

If you are interested in autoimmune conditions, including thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, or any of autoimmune condition, you'll want to read my book Living Well With Autoimmune Disease. A bestseller in its fourth printing, it talks is a complete guide to understanding the more than 80 mysterious and often difficult-to-pinpoint autoimmune disorders -- and finding the conventional and alternative keys to diagnosis, treatment, recovery...and even prevention or cure. Now in a 4th printing, the book has been featured in Woman's Day, Publisher's Weekly, the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association's newsletter, numerous radio programs, and many other media outlets.

Living Well With Autoimmune Disease is the first book that to recognize that these conditions are closely related, not standalone, and frequently stem from toxic exposures and underlying dysfunctions that may be treatable using nutritional and alternative approaches to complement traditional treatments.

The book features: "Publisher's Weekly" wrote about the book: "...those with autoimmune illnesses are being shortchanged by the medical establishment...this informative self-help manual is badly needed...Shomon's guide is designed to empower patients to participate in their own care..."

This is the second book in my "Living Well..." series published by Harper Collins. My first book in the series, "Living Well With Hypothyroidism," is a bestseller now in a 20th printing.

You can get "Living Well With Autoimmune Disease" for $8.00 at Iherb.com. And don’t forget to use your 20% discount at Iherb, by using the coupon code thyroidbonus

If you're an Amazon.com user, you can get "Living Well With Autoimmune Disease" for $10.47 plus shipping from Amazon.

Live well,

-- Mary

P.S. I have one additional off-topic item to add. Some of you know that I am literally drowning in spam, 24-7. Because my address is out there everywhere, it has managed to get on every single spammer's distribution list. Add to that the fact that it seems that anew virus comes out every day, and infects a percentage of my readers (who then send viruses to me, because I'm in their address book.) And then, there's the virus spoofing, which picks up addresses in people's address books, then sends out a virus that looks as if it comes from me. Then I get the bouncebacks. All this adds up to more than a 2,000 emails EVERY DAY...yes, every day...and the majority of them are spam and viruses. I was about to give up and start a new domain, get a new address and start afresh when I found out about Postini4less. It's a company that lets an individual or small business that has its domain name set up a "Postini" account. Postini is this amazing online filtering system that gets rid of about 99% of viruses and spam, but still lets you make sure you get legitimate mail, just as quickly as before. I signed up, and my life is changed!! Seriously... I was spending at least an hour a day sorting out the legitimate mail in the junk -- and that was WITH 2 anti-virus programs running. After what was an easy and fast sign-up with Postini4less, I was up and running within 24 hours. And after some excellent advice from their experts -- they have a very personal approach to service -- they helped tweak my settings even more. Now, about 98% of my junk mail and viruses is being filtered out without my spending even a minute thinking about it. That's an HOUR of my life every day that I've gotten back, thanks to Postini4less. If you have your own domain and are drowning in email, you can't survive without this. Visit http://www.postini4less.com for more information. And if you sign up, tell them I sent you. I want them to know how thankful I am that they're out there, because they are just amazing!!!

The Autoimmune Report is published regularly by Mary Shomon. Please invite your friends to subscribe! Send them a copy with your recommendation. The Autoimmune Report is copyright 1997-2006 by Mary Shomon.

Web: http://www.autoimmunebook.com
Email: autoimmune@thyroid-info.com
Regular mail: Mary Shomon, P.O. Box 565, Kensington, MD 20895-0565
Fax: 425-977-1175


The Autoimmune Report, "Living Well With Autoimmune Disease" and this website are © Copyright Mary Shomon, 1997-2004. All rights reserved. Mary Shomon, Editor/Webmaster
All information is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues and consult your physician or health practitioner before starting a new fitness regimen. Please see our full disclaimer.