Dumb question

[teesher]

If PMR is the result of our immune system going into overdrive, should it not follow that PMR sufferers are naturally immune to the C-virus? Told you it was dumb question...

[Constance13]

You wish!!

[GOOD_GRIEF]

PART of our immune system is in overdrive, which means our systems won't respond "normally" to foreign invaders.

If it was true that were were immune to viruses, then no one on this forum would ever get a cold, or the flu, or an infection, or a lot of other things.

Obviously, that's not happened. Those of us who maybe get fewer colds or viruses that before can most likely chalk that up to being more careful to avoid such situations where we can catch whatever is going around.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I don't see autoimmune disease as an immune system in overdrive which suggests working extra well but as deranged, working wrong! It is unable to recognise the body tissues as self and so attacks them in error, thinking it is a foreign invader like a virus.

However - if you had read my post earlier today

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

you would have seen this:

"Seasonal flu is an “all human virus”. The DNA/RNA chains that make up the virus are recognized by the human immune system. This means that your body has some immunity to it before it comes around each year... you get immunity two ways...through exposure to a virus, or by getting a flu shot.

Novel viruses, come from animals.... the WHO tracks novel viruses in animals, (sometimes for years watching for mutations). Usually these viruses only transfer from animal to animal (pigs in the case of H1N1) (birds in the case of the Spanish flu). But once, one of these animal viruses mutates, and starts to transfer from animals to humans... then it’s a problem, Why? Because we have no natural or acquired immunity.. the RNA sequencing of the genes inside the virus isn’t human, and the human immune system doesn’t recognize it so, we can’t fight it off."

It is new, totally new, and until you have actually HAD it there is no way of developing any immunity to it, we have no weapons in our armoury to attack it. Not even a few antibodies that can recognise the general shape of the invader and work extra hard. And so it can do what it likes. Most people WILL only have a relatively mild infection, in that way it is like a common cold, but in about 1 in 5 it will be much more serious and of those 20% about a quarter will become desperately ill because they already have lung or renal problems and those are the parts of the body that are most susceptible - it seems to be able to chew up the tissue and leave holes in it. They will need ventilators or even dialysis to recover,

The problem is that it is also a very very infectious agent - it spreads like wildfire because no-one can fight it off until about 70-80% of the population have had it and become immune. Then it can't find a host that it can take over so easily and it starts to fade away - that is what they call herd immunity. But the situation at present is that there may be massive numbers of people becoming sick enough to need care but our health services only have a finite number of beds and even fewer ICU beds and staff which is nowhere near enough for all the people who need it. Which means not everyone can have a bed - and more will die.

[teesher in reply to PMRpro]

Yikes, thanks so much PMR Pro. It is very scary stuff. As the lungs are so vulnerable, one upside may be it will encourage many more people to give up smoking.

[Hidden in reply to teesher]

I waffled on about cytokine storms etc trying to answer and deleted as pp was much clearer!! This is a link pro did earlier today by Miriam Stoppard...it's interesting stuff.

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk....

[SnazzyD]

Nice thought, but with us the General has gone a bit mad and is shooting his own troops. Well, that’s the scientific way of putting it 😉

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SnazzyD]

Now THAT is an analogy!!!!

[tangocharlie in reply to SnazzyD]

I read a similar analogy in 'The Autoimmune solution' by Dr Amy Myers. She likened our system to battle weary troups who get so fatigued as soon as they hear a noise they start shooting without asking questions - it's called Friendly fire in military terminology I think - when you accidentally shoot your own side mistaking them as incoming enemy.

[anutycrixp]

no one at all in the world has any immunity to this particular virus because it is a new one ; unless you have had the virus and your body has responded with antibodies then it is assumed that there may be some immunity, but there is not enough knowledge available as yet on that score.Please do not assume that you have any immunity to corvid19..follow all precautions...good luck!

[Whitner]

I was having a similar thought treesher that the prednisone we are taking calms our immune systems down and makes them “normal” but that doesn’t seem to be accurate since our immune systems are misfiring. I worry about the inflammation component since that’s what our problem is ... inflammation caused by our overactive immune systems which I would not like to experience in my lungs as a result of covid -19! Let’s agree not to do that 😁