Learning More...

In late 1990, early 1991:  My mother was 42 when she was diagnosed with MM(stage 3).   We only learned she had it because she fractured her leg and it wasn’t healing.  We were prepared to deal with death within 3 months.   Chemotherapy and radiation showed significant.   She later got a bone marrow transplant.  She went into remission for a couple years.  She lived the longest out of her ward from the bone marrow transplant.   In February 1999 she was rushed to the hospital to have an epidural put in her back to aid in pain relief due to that fact that her spine had collapsed 4 inches since her diagnosis in 1990.  While in the hospital she contracted bacterial pneumonia.  After slipping into a comma she eventually died February 28, 1999 at sunset, at least that is when the instruments showed no pulse. 

For me, this wound comes up again because of a scare with my wife, but fortunate it was not.  However, a neighbor of mine, we learned he has had MM for about a year. 

From what I have learned of this disease is my mother, obviously a women but having been suspected of getting the disease in her mid 30s is extremely rare.  This makes me wonder that there was something circumstantial about her disease.   I would like to pinpoint things or combinations with other people.   If there are women in the mid 30s to mid 40s when diagnosed, I would like to learn more from you.

From what I can remember:

-         she had allergies and was constantly taking Sudafed before and during MM. 

From what I have learned , “…chronic antigenic stimulation leads to a transformation of the progenitor B-cell, a fact that may explain the higher incidence of Multiple Myeloma in farmers, woodmakers and oilworkers” (http://www.medstudents.com.br/hemat/hemat6.htm )

I wonder if it is related more towards what is ingested to deal with allergies than the actual allergen.

-         she was doing one of those weight watcher programs, where they supply the food, before and during his MM.

-         She was on Prozac before and during MM.

-         There was also great stress from spouse. 

Stress has been suspected to aid in developing cancers, but again I wonder if it is more related to what people may ingest to deal with that stress.  Or perhaps both.

Thank you.

My wife was 52 when she was diagnosed with MM, so doesn't fall into your age category. However, she did have her own painting business for a few years when she was younger and it involved working with both wood and lots of toxic materials (e.g. solvents). This has been implicated, as you say, in the development of MM with some people. She also has a very sensitive nervous system which is easily stressed which could also be important when combined with other factors. As for allergies, it appears she might also have gluten intolerance which is a subject that has been covered in some depth in other posts in this forum. There are many, many people with MM who have also discovered they have gluten intolerance or celiac disease a severe allergy condition that causes the immune system to over react and attack the body.

Regards,

Craig Persel 

Good Evening;

From what I have learned , “…chronic antigenic stimulation leads to a transformation of the progenitor B-cell, a fact that may explain the higher incidence of Multiple Myeloma in farmers, woodmakers and oilworkers”  (http://www.medstudents.com.br/hemat/hemat6.htm )

Just to add to the above professions you can include people in and around paper mills. Apparently the exposure  to Benzene which is used in the papermaking process may contibute to MM.

To add my personal background, I have worked around cabinetmaking and home repair all my adult life and five years as a teenager. Have been moderately exposed to almost all chemicals, but never knowingly to Benzene. I've always enjoyed a summertime garden but never used pesticides in it. And the closest I've come to the petroleum industry is pumping my own gas.

My younger brother, who happens to be a perfect HLA match, shares the same vocational experiences I have, short of the garden, and shows no signs of MM.

I hope this helps in your data search, which I personally feel the Drs. should be researching. How care they find a cure if they don't know the cause?

Good luck and take care;

Kevin

Stress is known to aid in any ailment- any stressed person will feel worse, unfortunately.  

I believe modern medication can sometimes do the opposite of what it intends- there has been various researches about it.  I see it as simple: you are introducing chemicals that are not a part of your natural physiology. Who knows how they interact with your body and what they produce.  It's a mess.