BLOG DISCLAIMER

**DISCLAIMER** Please note: I am not a veterinarian, and the purpose of this blog is solely to educate, provide resources, and share Reo's story. In this blog, I will present research and information on the theories of SARDS to which I subscribe, along with my own narrative. If you think your dog may have SARDS, or adrenal exhaustion/Plechner Syndrome, please seek veterinary care right away!

If you are just beginning your SARDS education, I suggest you start with the blog post from August 22, 2011 entitled "SARDS Resources". If you'd like to know our trials, tribulations, and joys from the beginning, start with "But first...Reo!" and click chronologically on from there.

If you would like to read my suggestions as to how I would approach treatment for a newly-diagnosed dog, check the November 16, 2011 post "If I had another SARDS dog" (and then read my blog more fully for appropriate context).

Though we have decided to suspend Reo's retinal protection supplements in September 2012 (see September 16, 2012 post "Decision for Reo") due to the fact that she had very little remaining vision, I am still strongly supportive of our treatment approach, and know that it changed Reo's health and longevity in a positive way. Feel free to comment and ask me any questions - I am happy to help if I can!

Update: Reo became an angel on October 21, 2014. She had a profound kidney infection, causing acute kidney failure, and she was unable to recover. The contributing factors to her decline are covered in my February 16, 2015 blog post "Farewell to Reo".

Though I do not regularly update this blog any longer, much of the information is still relevant (though some of the links may be out of date). Feel free to join the conversation at "SARDS Dogs United" on Facebook.




Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Blog share: SARDS and Pet Health, part 1

01/31/12 - Below is a blog post I'm sharing from The Healthy Pet Network.  Original post appears here:  http://healthypetnetwork.net/?p=1857#more-1857, which is worth visiting to watch the embedded video of the black lab, Gator, who was diagnosed with SARDS.



SARDS – Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome, appears to be an auto-immune disease that leads to blindness. It stems from a hormonal antibody imbalance that allows a deregulated immune system to lose its protective functions, thus allowing the system to also lose recognition of its own tissue and turn against the body which causes tissue destruction.


This occurs, due to either a deficiency in cortisol, or the production of a defective cortisol. When this happens, excess sex hormones are produced by the inner layer of the adrenal cortex. I personally believe that the offending hormone is total estrogen. The other sex hormone called androgen, can be transformed into more estrogen, due to an enzyme in the fatty tissue called Aromatase. This has been documented in humans but not with animals. More studies are currently being done.


The excess in total estrogen not only binds the thyroid hormone but deregulates the immune system and compromises antibody production. This is how SARDS seems to occur. Anti-antibodies are thought to be produced against the retinal tissue causing blindness.


The shame of this is, by the time the loss of sight in the pet is noticed by the owner, subsequent identification and treatment, generally cannot correct the permanent retinal damage, but there is certainly hope in stopping further auto-immune diseases from occurring, including cancer.


Michigan State and Cornell Schools of Veterinary Medicine are looking into this disease. It is also an important subject if interest for the Healthy Pet Network.


Finally, they are exploring its connection to the syndrome that I discovered 35 years ago. I call it Atypical Cortisol Imbalance Syndrome ( ACIS ), but people still refer to it, as Plechner’s syndrome.


I have been in practice for almost 50 years, trying to find a better way to help my patients. My hope is that academia with all the knowledge and tools and grants available to them, will consider my syndrome and really define it in a much more scientific manner.


After 35 years, it just might be happening. Please tell me why it has taken so long to help a patient?


Yours in Health,


Dr. AL Plechner




**My note - my personal feeling (based only on my research and opinion, as I mentioned here http://sardsdog.blogspot.com/2011/08/sards-resources.html) is that SARDS is not an auto-immune disease as stated in the top paragraph of the blog post above.  There have been two studies published in 2006 that showed that anti-retinal autoantibodies were not present in SARDS canines (one referenced here:) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16634935

Clearly further research must be done to definitively prove this, but I believe IMR is an autoimmune disease, while SARDS is not.  The line of thought to which I subscribe is Caroline Levin's stance that low cortisol and increased total estrogen leads cells (including retinal cells) to uptake too much calcium and cause cytotoxicity by destroying the mitochondria within cells.  This leads to a sort of  retinal "seizure", which prevents the retina from getting signals through to the brain.  Caroline explains this much more eloquently than I do here:  http://www.petcarebooks.com/SARDS/FAQs.htm#15

This excess retinal calcium is addressed by Levin's SARDS protocol by supplementing magnesium and adenosine (magnesium is an antagonist of calcium...which means magnesium helps to block the action of calcium in cells).

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Milestone

01/29/11 - Last week, I was on a work trip and gone the entire week.  Previously, when I traveled, Reo always seemed to have some sort of setback.  Despite Sean's best efforts, there was always something that developed - maybe a little melancholy, maybe a little weight gain, maybe she got into the cat food, maybe she drank a little too much.  It was always something that I attributed to the "stress" of me being gone, because Sean follows her meal and dosing instructions to the letter (literally - because I write it all down!).  We even tried pulsing her Medrol dosage to see if it would mitigate this stress.  Because of this, I always had a lot of guilt about leaving her and stressing her out.

This past week was the first time since Reo's SARDS diagnosis that she didn't have any noticeable stress or increase in symptoms when I was gone!  Sean reported that Reo was in a great mood all week - playing and killing her toys.  Indeed, when I got home late Friday night, she looked great!  And yesterday, we went for a walk and she was displaying her show dog hackney action and feeling fine!

This is definitely a milestone for us, and I hope it is yet another indication that Reo is healthier than ever!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Fifth EI-1 panel

01/17/12 - Today I got Reo's latest blood results back from NVDS.  Results are in the last column on the right.



Reference Range
16-Mar-11
30-Apr-11
15-Jun-11
4-Aug-11
4-Jan-12
Total Estrogen
30 - 35
35.19
35.15
35.11
35.06
35.04
Cortisol
1.0 - 2.5
8.43
7.03
0.97
0.82
0.68
T3
100 - 200
62.7
72.12
87.92
156.94
135.29
T4
2.0 - 4.5
0.87
1.15
1.6
3.99
3.21
IgA
70 - 170
50
53
57
65
67
IgG
1,000 - 2,000
722
754
883
946
973
IgM
100 - 200
74
76
87
97
97


- Her total estrogen is still slightly high, though it is lower than it has been, which is in the right direction.
- Cortisol continues to decrease, which shows that her high levels in previous tests have been an isomer of cortisol (deoxycortisol).  As previously stated, Reo's cortisol-producing capacity is extremely low, which means she is more of an atypical Addison's dog as it relates to her adrenal glands.
- T3 and T4 thyroid continue to be normal, which is great!
- Immunoglobulins are slightly low, but just barely so, and they continue to rise.

Overall, I was a bit surprised that Reo wasn't "normal", because she is doing so well these days!  However, these are steps in the right direction, and so we will continue to maintain our regimen of hormone supplementation and Levin's SARDS supplements for the foreseeable future.

Thinking about how Reo was acting just a year ago versus how she acts today is like night and day.  There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Caroline Levin and Dr. Plechner saved Reo's life.  Every time I look at Reo, I'm so happy we initiated their suggested protocols without delay.  Reo got her sight back, to be sure, but more importantly, she got her life back!  Gooooo Reo!  :)






Monday, January 16, 2012

Weekend in Chicago

01/16/12 - We had a great family weekend in Chicago this weekend!  We drove up on Friday and back on Sunday.  Though it was really cold, we enjoyed the time away.

Here's a picture of Leigh and Reo in their harnesses and car seat on the drive:


As you can see, Reo really makes herself comfy on long drives.  :)

Instead of a hotel, we found a doggie-friendly condo in the Wicker Park neighborhood (which was just two blocks from our friend's place!), so it was perfect.  Reo did so well - she navigated the brand new surroundings like a champ (further solidifying in my mind that her vision is quite good, as there was no way she could have gone around furniture, table legs, kitchen island, etc. if she was blind!).

Reo refused her breakfast Sunday morning, which was quite a surprise.  I ended up forcing down her Medrol and L-thyroxine, which she didn't mind too terribly much.  Typically she refuses to eat when she has stomach aliens (as I like to call them), but she had no strange belly sounds yesterday.  This made me realize that she hasn't had any stomach aliens in quite a long time (a least a couple of months?), which was a revelation.  I wonder if stomach aliens are somehow related to low IgA number - poorer digestion and water absorption?  Interesting.

All of the dogs were happy to be home last night to familiar sounds and smells and their beds.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I get Reo's EI-1 panel results back tomorrow!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Waiting for results...

01/11/12 - I thought I'd get the results of Reo's latest panel back yesterday, but I didn't.  After checking with NVDS, who said they didn't receive the sample (!), I called Dr. O.  He forgot to send it last week, so it's been sitting in the fridge since it was drawn on the 4th.  Boo.

I hope this does not negatively affect the integrity of the sample and therefore results.  Since I got Leigh's blood tested too, we're about $300 in on this one.  ugh.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy Birthday, Reo!

01/03/12 

Happy 11th Birthday, Reo!  :)

Today is Reo's birthday, and I'm so so happy that she is with us to see her 11th.  So many times over the past year, I thought that there was no way she'd make it to her next birthday, but here she is, thriving and happy, and on her way to lifelong health!  There is no better birthday present!


The above picture was taken in 2009 in Summit County, CO.  We hiked up to Lower Crystal Lake on a beautiful day.  It was a very long hike at relatively high altitude, and all along the way, we were complimented by hikers and other (big) dog owners, who couldn't believe Leigh and Reo hiked the whole way without being carried.  I think it's pretty obvious from the picture above that she was having a great time!

Tomorrow, we see Dr. O and get blood taken for another EI-1 panel from NVDS.  Can't wait to see her progress, as it has been about 5 months since her last blood panel.  Because she is doing so well lately, I truly hope this means she is "normal" for all analytes.  Stay tuned...