The Association of Epstein Barr Virus to Autoimmune Thyroid Disease

Autoimmunity: When the Body Attacks Itself

Autoimmunity of any kind is a strange thing. With autoimmune diseases, the body begins to attack itself for reasons that we simply have no understanding of at this stage; this despite there being significant numbers of medical research studies on the subject that have been published by medical groups for decades. For some reason, the immune system will begin to attack natural, normal tissues in the body, as if they are something that presents a danger to the rest of the body. These specially-created antibodies are usually sent-out to destroy viruses and bacteria or to control allergens that might enter the body via airborne particles that are breathed-in or that are consumed in food or water. When a part of the body that does not present a threat to us is attacked by this autoimmune response, apart from these obvious reasons, it is a mystery to medical doctors and researchers who diagnose and study diseases of autoimmunity. I do have a theory however and part of it is based on my personal experience and from hearing the personal experiences of 1,000s of other autoimmune thyroid disease patients, since the year 2003.

Fellow-Patients Attest to Post-Viral Thyroid Autoimmunity

My reason for hearing similar stories to mine, in such large numbers, is due to my having been a moderator previously, at three thyroid disease forums, where I responded to 1,000s of posts from fellow-patients and from many posted or sent comments, offered in response to articles I have written online regarding this subject. A common theme I have seen in these comments, are people, both male and female, attesting to having immunity problems that usually began in their childhood. By "immunity problems", I am referring to things such as frequent infections with colds and viruses, including influenza and the early development of childhood viruses and allergen-related illnesses, such as asthma, chicken pox and mononucleosis.

The parallel of these reported immunity responses in patient-testimonials regarding EBV, has been markedly obvious in association to the later-life development of their autoimmune diseases, namely, that of thyroid disease. This would include Hashimoto's thyroiditis (autoimmune hypothyroidism -- the type I have) and Graves' disease (autoimmune hyperthyroidism) that also affects millions of people worldwide.

Aftereffects of the Contagious "Kissing Disease"

The viral illness I mentioned previously, called "mononucleosis" (in the herpes family of viruses), is caused by the Epstein - Barr virus (EBV) and it is possibly the most commonly-carried lifelong virus within the general population. Many people have the virus in their systems that they contract most commonly, during childhood, with estimates stating that from 80 to 90 percent of us are infected by the time we reach adulthood. EBV may cause the initial symptoms of the virus (i.e. swollen lymph glands in the neck, fatigue and fever) or it may simply enter a person's body, not causing any viral manifestations at all or very mild ones but that still leaves the person capable of infecting others they come into contact with (hence - the kissing disease).

When I was approximately age-10, I became very ill with EBV/mononucleosis and I was out of school with the virus for over 6 weeks. My two brothers and my sister never manifested any symptoms of mono, in spite of being in close contact with me during my bout with the illness. Once the viral illnesses had run its course, the glands in my neck returned to normal size, my fever resolved and my fatigue improved. I returned to school and normal activities but my body continued to manifest problems that I now know were related to dysfunction of my immune system. I developed childhood asthma and I experienced colds and viruses, more frequently than did my siblings. I remember on one occasion, my family contracted a respiratory virus and upon all of us our seeing a doctor on the same day, he informed my parents that my case was the most severe.

My Thyroid Disease was not Inherited

My case of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, diagnosed in year-2003 has not been passed down to me from previous generations. Neither my parents, grandparents nor even my great grandparents were known to have autoimmune thyroid disease of any kind. Some medical research, as stated by the AACE (American Association of Endocrinologist), states that thyroid autoimmunity is inherited in approximately 50% of cases that are diagnosed. In my case it is not inherited and my belief is that the EBV is very possibly a direct cause of my autoimmune hypothyroidism. The correlations to contracting the virus and to my ongoing immune system problems, from that point forward, are simply too striking to be coincidental.

The Notorious Epstein - Barr Virus

I recently wrote an article online, in regard to the connection of EBV to thyroid disease and among my 117 articles at this particular site, that one has received the most comments among all of them. Most of the people posting comments are stating that their problems began post-viral, meaning after their bouts with EBV. Is it just a coincidence that all of these fellow-patients and me are reporting the same experience and the same suspicion of a connection to EBV? I honestly do not think so and medical research articles have shown an association of EBV to causing many different autoimmune diseases, including the recent discovery that people with Multiple Sclerosis are often found to have high titers of dormant EBV virus in their systems (inactive but far above the normal values range).

My belief is that autoimmune thyroid diseases are among the common post-viral effects of EBV. I noticed sometime ago, that an Oklahoma-based medical research group, was attempting to patent a vaccination for EBV and in their statements included on their patent application, they cite the fact that the virus has been implemented as a cause of many different autoimmune diseases. My feeling is that the immune system is adamant about eradicating the body of this virus. When it cannot do-so completely, it may begin to attack major organs or hormone glands that contain the virus, including a person's thyroid gland. This is a theory at this point but one I feel has real merit in light of medical research studies.

I sincerely hope that definitive medical conclusions are made regarding this notorious Epstein '" Barr virus, so that future generations can possibly be protected from the potentially serious immune-related effects of it.

Sources:

U.S. National Institutes of Health: Epstein-Barr virus serology in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis.
Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8750577