Interpretation

[indywindy]

Just found this remark from a Dr in my jounal, after gastro, and diagnosis of PA. Can anyone help with elaboration for my understanding, please?🙏

:

Autoanti-bodies

Intrinsic faktor-Ab;P

Resultat

1 ⬆️

Normal range

0 - 0

Parietalcelle-IgG [PCA];P

Strong POS.

[jade_s]

Hi indywindy, you might want to ask your doctor because this is difficult to understand.

However it looks like possibly you are positive for intrinsic factor antibodies, which is diagnostic of PA.

And for GPC antibodies, I do not know what "Strong POS." means, but perhaps it means "strongly positive" ??

In which case they should also send you for an endoscopy. PA and GPC antibodies can cause atrophic gastritis, which comes with a low risk for stomach cancer, and you should be screened periodically. I am not medically trained.

[indywindy in reply to jade_s]

Hi Jade s,Thanks for your reply. Yes, I was told that I was positive for IF and therefore had PA, but the range is 0, and I had the measurement "1". So I was wondering if that is just a "yes, positive" indication for IF, or if there is a possibility that is "just a slight" IF, since it is so close to 0, which is negative.

And..., if I was showing "strongly positive" for GPC antibodies, are there symptoms I should look out for? (I did have an endoscopy back then).

I don't have pain, but I do have to take HCL and Pancreatic enzymes in order to break down my food properly - could that have anything to do with this? (Also dx with Irritable bowel syndrome, though) 🙏

[jade_s in reply to indywindy]

Yes IFAB will have a range , so 0 is a bit strange. Different labs have different ranges. Some have an 'indeterminate' range, others have a cutoff e.g 0.6, 1.1, or 6, etc, depending on their setup. You might check with the lab directly - you need that particular lab's ranges.

For GPCAB, I'd make sure you periodically get an endoscopy. Some may need to supplement with lime juice / apple cider vinegar / betaine hcl if stomach acid is low, sounds like yours is. Yes it's linked, as GPC cells are the ones that secrete stomach acid & IF, so an attack on those cells will cause low stomach acid & low b12, and possibly low folate, iron/ferritin, vit D, and possibly other nutrients/vitamins. So blood tests are useful.

I will try to send more info in the coming days , hope this helps for now

[indywindy in reply to jade_s]

Thanks so much for this - just didn't know that those two were linked. Anything that you can find which gives me more insight would be most appreciated 🙏

[jade_s in reply to indywindy]

Below are a few articles on AMAG - Autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis , which is caused by the GPC antibody attack. AMAG can be seen on endoscopy and requires regular monitoring. For example, I get an endoscopy every 2 to 3 years (I don't have a diagnosis of AMAG but other findings that point in that direction, and family history, so I do keep getting them).

The scientific references say that B12 is the only treatment; anecdotally many of us have found that supplements increasing the aciditiy of our stomach help - however I cannot say how that affects the risk of stomach cancer.

msdmanuals.com/professional...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrop...

(Other) Autoimmune diseases in autoimmune atrophic gastritis ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Autoimmune atrophic gastritis: current perspectives (2016) dovepress.com/autoimmune-at...

I do not know who this doctor is but this gives a layman's overview of atrophic and autoimmune gastritis, and it seems accurate at first glance .. but do take some of it with a grain of salt because it looks like they're trying to sell supplements drruscio.com/autoimmune-gas...

There are many other papers but perhaps this is sufficient as a starting point And if you have further questions about some specific aspect, please do ask again. I may not have completely answered all your questions.

[indywindy in reply to jade_s]

Hi Jade, thank you s much!

Those links scare me quite a bit though. I realize that knowing about the risks is better in order to be able to recognize potential symptoms. I am usually like that, but pheww this seems like having PA and GPC-antibodies feed into a huge risk of secondary diseases. Thanks, I will look more into the papers.

[jade_s in reply to indywindy]

Yes I am sorry for the scare But better forewarned, is my philosophy. And I have a suspicion that correcting low stomach acid can reduce the risk of stomach cancer, but have not found anything yet to back this up. Keep in mind that the overall risk is still quite low, and frequent monitoring can detect issues before they become untreatable. There have been quite a lot of developments in treating precancerous conditions. *AND* remember you need to have documented AMAG (through endoscopy) before any of these risks become a factor - having GPC antibodies is not "sufficient" in that respect.

So don't worry too much, but keep tracking it and don't let doctors dismiss it either. My father passed away from esophageal cancer that my GI doc now thinks may have been stomach cancer - and he never got an endoscopy once in the 30 years they had him on PPIs. So it's important that we inform ourselves.

As for the risk of other autoimmune diseases, unfortunatley that's not one that anybody has an answer for yet 🙃

[indywindy in reply to jade_s]

Hi Jade,Yes, so true, so true.

I am just super scared of the almost violent endoscopy!

I just found another lab result

Diagnosis:

[1]: Cytology cervix - normal cells- cytologisk screening, automatiseret- cytolog. screening, guided punct-screening

Can you maybe see, what they have been looking for? I believe it has to do with the esophageal or closure of the top of the stomach, and it revealed normal cells.

[FlipperTD]

Scientist, not medic.

Hi, IndyWindy. I like your lab results; they're clear to me. At last I've seen a result from a lab that works in the way I would, and did. You have Intrinsic Factor Antibodies, [IFAb] and that really means you have PA, although that's a clinical diagnosis, not one based purely on lab results. Anyone who is 'normal' would not have IFAb. Lab systems for reporting are largely number-driven so would have numeric ranges for 'Normal' and using a range of zero to zero gets round this. Someone responsible clearly understands this. It's binary. 'There/Not there', so there shouldn't be a range for 'normal'. Using a numeric result for a test that really ought to be an interpretive result is clearly confusing, but that's nothing new.

It's like pregnancy; you can't be mildly pregnant, can you?!

The Parietal Cell Antibody test has come back with a strong positive. Although it's not a diagnostic test for PA, it's comforting to know that there's another positive result that fits in with PA. In normal circumstances should be negative. This test isn't specific for PA, unlike IFAb.

My guess [and that's all it can be] is that the Parietal Cell Antibody Test was performed in an Immunology laboratory and they use a different reporting system to the one doing the IFAb.

[indywindy in reply to FlipperTD]

Thank you so much!I see the parrallel to the binary system, so very good of you to confirm this. I was just in the hope that the intrinsic factor in the lining would be something possible to turn around somehow. I know, miracously...., but the symptoms of the PA came suddenly back in 2012-13, after me having a lot of vaccines in 2011-12 (later realizing that it also came with risk of huge side effects, like autoimmune diseases etc).

Anyway, so good of you - with your knowledge - to elaborate.

[FlipperTD in reply to indywindy]

Hi IndyWindy [love the name!]

I've never heard of 'remission' from IFAb and recovery from PA, but that's not to say it can't ever happen.

It's fascinating to note that the symptoms came on after vaccines the year before, and they may well be completely independent phenomena, but then again, they might not.

I had adjuvant chemo following Malignant Melanoma, and tolerated it quite well. This was the same time as we were all having fun with Covid. I had a broken ankle when the first Covid jab came out so that was delayed a while, but I caught up eventually. Then I had the second jab, and all was well.

Then the first booster came along, and I had that, to wake up the next day with a swollen ankle and calf! [no, it was the other ankle.]

I spoke to the Oncologist who was looking after me and I was straight into the hospital for investigation of a possible DVT [it wasn't!] I had blood tests and ultrasound on the leg; nothing other than reactive changes. The swelling came and went. Early morning, nothing, by evening, swollen. This went on for a few months, but I recovered and it's history now. I'm convinced it was secondary to the 'booster' jab, but no-one knows, or if they do, they're not telling.

Good luck, and keep on with the tablets or injections; whatever works for you.

[indywindy in reply to FlipperTD]

I know, and lucky you for renovering after both the cancer (I was there in 2015!) and "incidents" after the C-vid jab. There is quite some case studies and plenty of studies on the serious side effects.I had a cocktail of vaccines, here among the Gardasil, which is linked to the risk of autoimmune diseases

google.com/url?sa=t&source=...

Good of you to reply🙏

[FlipperTD in reply to indywindy]

I suspect that in the fullness of time, we will be relying more in immune therapies for lots of things, although the more sophisticated they get, then the more elegant the side effects can be!

The HPV vaccines will in due course save very many folks, but inevitably once we start tinkering with our immune systems, then all bets are off.

Stay healthy, stay lucky.

[Cherylclaire Forum Support in reply to FlipperTD]

Very well explained, Flipper. Thanks.