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almost all autoimmune diseases are more common in women


EAMom

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I'm having a eureka moment.

 

Okay...remember when Swedo (in the Batavian article) was talking about how OCD is more common in boys, but after puberty "it" switches and is more common in girls? (And first we thought "it" meant PANDAS, but then decided she meant "it" meant OCD. And she also stated that PANDAS is more common in boys?

 

What if that is because PANDAS (not just OCD overall) truly becomes more common in females (vs. males) post-puberty ? This is a group that would have been previously ignored, PANDAS would have been prematurely dismissed (or not even considered) in this group, b/c they are "too old".

What if all these post-puberty PANDAS girls are being missed...diagnosed with OCD, anorexia, anxiety, conversion disorder (you get my drift)...

 

Or maybe PANDAS isn't really at all more common in boys (pre-puberty) in the first place. Maybe the girls are just getting missed b/c they don't have the tics or the titers?

 

I mean, SC is more common in girls, what is so different about PANDAS that it affects mostly boys? For the most part, the auto-immune diseases we see in adults are more common in women. Type 1 diabetes is more common in men, but doesn't type 1 diabetes start in childhood? So, maybe if the disease is going to start in childhood, it may be more common in males. If it's going to start after puberty, it's going to be more common in females?

 

 

http://autoimmune.pathology.jhmi.edu/faqs.cfm

Q: Why are autoimmune diseases more common in women than men?

A: The answer to this question is not yet fully available. It is likely that hormones play an important role, but a number of other factors have been implicated. It should be noted that while most autoimmune diseases are more prevalent in women, a few such as Type 1 diabetes, ankylosing spondylitis and autoimmune myocarditis are actually more common in men. It seems likely, therefore, that there will be multiple reasons for the sex related bias in autoimmune disease.

 

http://www.aarda.org/women_and_autoimmunity.php

In all of these diseases, the underlying problem is similar - the body's immune system becomes misdirected and attacks the very organs it was designed to protect. The fact that women have enhanced immune systems compared to men increases women's resistance to many types of infection, but also makes them more susceptible to autoimmune diseases.

 

Taken together, autoimmune diseases strike women three times more than men. Some diseases have an even higher incidence in women.

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I think you may be on to something there. I kinda think if autoimmune disease were more prevalent in men, research into it would have started earlier in history. They seem to know way more about diabetes (both types) than they do other autoimmune disorders.

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What if the boys fell out early - because boys are more immature and impulsive - they were already diagnosed as ADD, ADHD, Tourettes+OCD+ADHD, BP, seizures, etc so any new symptoms would be ignored. What if the boys and girls whose immune systems only needed 2 hits of strep already fell out and these girls needed 2 hits of strep plus mono or myco. What are the percentages of girls and boys labeled sp.ed. at this school? Just a thought...

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I wonder if the sxs are more problematic and disruptive in boys and more easily recognized or not easily ignored. I think some OCD mannerisms in girls could easily be overlooked or dismissed. Just more subtle. Certainly not in all the cases in girls. ADHD in girls is often overlooked because it usually isn't the "cant sit still and concentrate", rather a stare out the window or space out type stuff. My one 17 yo dd wasn't hit with PANDAS until 15. Very anxiety driven, stomach, headache, fear of throwing up in public, sleep disturbances, separation anxiety, moody, etc. Pretty much looked like Dr. K's website describes in an adolescent. In her case there were no tics. Just some thoughts.

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What if the boys fell out early - because boys are more immature and impulsive - they were already diagnosed as ADD, ADHD, Tourettes+OCD+ADHD, BP, seizures, etc so any new symptoms would be ignored. What if the boys and girls whose immune systems only needed 2 hits of strep already fell out and these girls needed 2 hits of strep plus mono or myco. What are the percentages of girls and boys labeled sp.ed. at this school? Just a thought...

I work in Sp Ed (RSP) my ratio is 3:1. 24 boys to 8 girls.

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