pancreatic output

[dut]

Hi - Just a quick question.. I was wondering how many had had digestive enzymes checked and if they came back low? Just 'cos of gut/brain thing.. our ped supposedly sees a lot of this in her PANDAS kids...

[britmom]

Hi dut

How do you get digestive enzymes checked? Is there a specific test? We've been giving our son digestive enzymes off and on for a couple of years now, just to give his gut as much of a helping hand as possible. Would be interesting to see some sort of count though..

[kim]

dut,

 

I have been meaning to spend some time on this subject too.

 

What seems really interesting is the relationship btwn enzymes and immune complex degradation.

 

Some older reasearch (read abstracts off to the right too)

 

Enzyme breakdown of immune complexes

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6606278

 

The Houston enzymes that we were using a few years back contain papain (peptizyde..can be ordered with or without papain). The involvement of cleavage of the immune complex by papain /trypsin seems well worth looking at.

 

BTW, I really appreciated the article that you posted on the bbb on another thread. I got a few interesting things out of that. Didn't have the time to comment after I got done with it but for those of you that are posting those types of articles don't be discouraged if the isn't a big response. It doesn't mean others aren't finding useful info in them. Keep posting!

[dut]

Hi - we did a poo test with diagnos-techs thru dr keller our ped. Amongst others it tested for chymotripsin which I believe is a protein digester but is indicative of all enzymes. If you want a more precise test of all enzymes I assume you can do a poo test that will look at all of them and there additional tests you can do to look at pancreatic sufficiency.

 

Our ped has just given us an enzyme that my kids can open (in capsules, they won't swallow) and they take just 1 a day and she rates it.. it's called megapolyzyme by interplexus inc.

 

The MD at the lab doing the testing said the lack of enzymes could be throwing their whole guts off.. allowing for bacterial and yeast infestation...

 

The test was $235 paid up-front but may be claimable against our ins...

[dut]

kim - sorry but my brain ain't that hot.. is this article saying that immune compelxes that form (when antibodies bind to antigens) and whose deposition can be linked to autoimmune are degraded by enzymes. Consequently, if you don't have enough enzymes, you're at increased rsik of autoimmune?

 

thanks :-)

[kim]

basically dut, yes. That's the way I'm reading it

 

 

I wanted to point these out too, since I know we have families that have dealt with glomerulonephritis

 

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3310414

In vivo degradation of immune complexes in the kidney by orally administered enzymes

 

This observation pointed to in vivo disintegration of immune complexes by orally-administered enzymes as providing the basis for the treatment of immune complex diseases.

 

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17846774

Infection and glomerulonephritis

[familyof4]

Wow - So much to research. I haven't read all of the links yet but did want to share that my PANDAS son has Pancreatic Insufficiency and has taken prescription digestive enzymes since he was finally diagnosed as a toddler. He produces little to no enzymes on his own.

[kim]

familyof4,

 

Thanks for sharing that.

 

Do you remember what prompted the Dr. to order the test? Do you remember what test showed the insufficiency? Was it a reg Ped or a DAN/alternative Dr.?

[familyof4]

familyof4,

 

Thanks for sharing that.

 

Do you remember what prompted the Dr. to order the test? Do you remember what test showed the insufficiency? Was it a reg Ped or a DAN/alternative Dr.?

 

 

My son was very colicy as an infant - we knew something was wrong but couldn't get anywhere with the doctors. My daughter had severe food allergies and celiacs so we started down that route with an allergist. He had allergies but they were pretty mild and avoiding those foods never helped. I finally took pictures of his diapers to show the allergist - what I thought was mucous in his stools was actually malabsorbed fat. We were sent to a pediatric gi. It took several tests - endoscopies, etc. But it was finally a stool test that resulted in the pancreatic insufficiency diagnosis. Then we had another slew of tests to rule out Cystic Fibrosis and Schwachman Diamond Syndrome. Starting on pancreatic enzymes made a night and day difference in him. To this day the doctors can't say why he has this problem - my pediatrician was told she will never see another case of this in her lifetime and that he is the 1% they just can't find the cause of. We were also told he would out grow this by kindergarten. The GI has finally admitted he thinks my son will be on enzymes for life.