7 replies to this topic

[everonward]

Hi CallMeLucky

I'm replying to your post on the Benzene doccs thread but started a new one to prevent a hi-jack.

Interesting about the virus - I too read about this somewhere. When I ws dx my doctor thought it had probably triggered about 10 - 14 months earlier. This would coincide with a period of a particulally nasty virus I had, completely wiped me out. It also  a very stressful time of my life. Which looking back was a bunch of stuff that having CML has taught me not to stress about.

As for radiation - I told my kids not to bring that stuff home from scvhool. Seriously other than the usual dental x-rays and a few x-rays as a child I have had no known exposure to readiation. Possible exposure to benzene but only in the same way as most of the population i.e. fueling the car, possible cleaning products in the past. 

Who knows - it appears there are several possible ways for this malfunction to occur.

Marian

[GerryL]

Hi Marian,

I wonder if we were going to get CML at a later age, but high level (and long term for me) stress switched it on in our bodies a bit earlier than when we would have expected to get it. I am the same as you in regard to exposure of any sort.

Gerry

[Marnie]

That's my theory.  I think stress can be a trigger.  At least it surely fits in with the timing of my diagnosis.

Marnie

[lala]

me, too---my mom and 2 brothers were sick and died ---all in 15 months---i was the only family member left......sad time......brothers were only 46 and 38...OMG!  still can't believe i lived through it....docs said i would have gotten cml later in life but the stress brought it on earlier than planned!

~lala

[Tedsey]

I can't say I remember a virus that just preceded my dx.  I rarely, if ever got sick prior to CML.  But I have had a life filled with extreme stress, (more than the average individual, so says my shrink).  I am trying real hard to live with less anxiety, but I am afraid I am now hard-wired.  I cannot seem to make peace with it.  I remember in a different conversation, Cheryl-Anne, who I believe is very knowledgeable about our condition (probably more so than most oncs, like Trey) felt that extreme stress may be a factor in developing CML for some people.  I whole-heartedly agree.  With the only exception being children who develop CML.

Teds

[Happycat]

Okay, here's the answer I can give based on my limited knowledge of viruses.  Remember, I'm a chemist, and much of this is biology.  Any biologists out there, please feel free to correct me!

Viruses basically are parasites that try to insert their DNA into the host cell's DNA.  The virus does not have the cellular machinery to replicate itself, so it sneaks its DNA into the host DNA and relies on the host cell's machinery to replicate its DNA for it.  But host cells also have machinery that can detect a foreign strand of DNA intermixed with its own DNA.  The DNA is considered damaged and then gets marked for repair.  If the DNA cannot be repaired, then there are other defense mechanisms that mark the cell for apoptosis (or cellular death).  Some viruses, like HIV, are very good at evading these defense mechanisms.  I haven't got a clue if Epstein-Barr is also good at evading defense mechanisms of the host cell.

Going back to the effect of highy reactive species and DNA damage, there's an article on the effects of chronic inflammation which can lead to cancer.  If I could figure out how to post a PDF, I would do it.  Anyway, the article cites specifically the reactive species neutrophils use to kill off foreign invaders.  These can react with the DNA to cause damage.

Traci

[Trey]

Not quite.  The virus does not combine thier DNA with ours -- that would result in some mutant life-form of some sort.  Come to think of it, PhilB might be.......naaaaahhh.  Anyway, the viruses need our DNA polymerases (enzymes) to replicate themselves.  So they use our enzymes to replicate their own DNA.

[Happycat]

Hi, Trey,

I understand your comment, seems like a contradiction for the virus to insert DNA into the host, because obviously that would create a new entity, and not allow the original virus to replicate itself.

Here's the paper I was reading on viral damage to DNA.  I'm not a biologist, so I might have misunderstood some of what the paper was saying.  (I'll admit my eyes probably glazed over at a few points.)  The paper discusses insertion of retroviral DNA into the chromatin of the host cell.  The authors state that only some viruses do this, adeno- and retroviruses.  Anyway, see if it makes better sense to you.  Because, to be honest with you, I don't understand how exactly this would help the virus to survive, unless it would also encode a "cut here, and then cut over there" instruction to generate an intact replicate.  

http://www.nature.co...l/4401573a.html

Traci