The following article is by Jerry Lampson 11-Jun-2001, updated 29-Jan-01

Peggy's dog Biscuit is killing a rattlesnake. His ears are up away from the snake. His fur is fluffed up. Biscuit killed rattlesnakes to display for Peggy. Rattlesnake venom is rich in PLA2. PLA2 over activity is thought to cause HD progression. Biscuit could tell the difference between HD, AD and PD patients. I like to think that Biscuit reacted to PLA2 as a threat to his HD patient. After Peggy ended her stay with HD, Biscuit died from a broken heart.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a killer and a fascinating puzzle. The best and brightest researchers are attracted to HD. The puzzle is one of genetics, the brain and the immune system. The discovery of the mutant huntingtin gene in 1993 has not lived up to the promise of a cure for HD.

The therapies that extend life or reverse the symptoms of HD do not relate to the discovery of the gene. Creatine, a sports supplement, extends the life of HD mice. EPA, a major component of fish oil, appears to reverse the symptoms of HD in humans. It is not known how these therapies relate to the CAG count of the mutant gene.

HD research is frustrating

Here is what makes HD so hard to understand. Genetics has given HD an ever-increasing driving force. The CAG tract of mutant huntingtin in the affected tissue increases with age. Biologists know very little about trinucleotide repeat expansions that are not replication-based. Until recently the brain was considered 'immune privileged'. Brain specialists were privileged to not study the immune system. Important questions seem to be neglected by researchers.

Why do HD patients:

• Have reduced basal ganglia blood flow?
• Have an elevated immune system?
• Have an immunity from most types of cancer?
• Have a tendency to develop diabetes?

A theory (believed only by me) is that the ever-growing CAG expansion is like a rattlesnake. Here is what happens with no treatment. The mutant huntingtin protein is given ever-increasing degrees of freedom. Snake like it twists and folds to mimic other protein shapes. It dances ever changing until evil partners are found. Then in a cascade the evil partners trick the immune system. HD slowly takes what is self cell by cell until nothing is left.

Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is a group of immune related small enzymes that are found in small amounts in brain tissue and in large amounts in rattlesnake venom. Snake injected PLA2 will cause a severe immune reaction that can double the diameter of a leg or arm. A dog's nose can swell to block his vision. PLA2 is a clever toxin. It triggers the immune system to do the dirty work. A rattlesnake can inject a mouse and then swallow it while the mouse's own immune system helps digestion.

PLA2 is a germ fighting partner of the immune system. PLA2 may become an evil partner of the mutant huntingtin gene. The symptoms of HD are thought to be caused by the over activity of PLA2. EPA (a major component of fish oil) compensates for the effects of PLA2. This brings us to pregnancy and a call for related information.

Request for information

Pregnancy can have a beneficial effect on inflammatory conditions. PLA2 is decreased during pregnancy. It would be relevant to HD treatment to learn the effects PLA2 related incidents on HD symptoms.

1. Does pregnancy affect HD symptoms?
2. Do bee stings or snakebite affect HD symptoms?

The good news in all this is that HD can be treated without solving the HD puzzle. EPA appears to work. The immune related cytokine CNTF appears to work. Other immune based therapies may be even more effective. The cure will come. We are waiting for a researcher with the speed and precision of Biscuit to kill and display the HD snake.

In response to this article:

• I am an HD pre-symptomatic gene carrier. I am very allergic to bee stings. My entire body begins to swell unless given medication. Anonymous 11/06/00
• Interesting about pregnancies, what Jerry said on the update, I always felt great when I was pregnant, 6 times, after my last pregnancy at 37 within that year I started feeling things in myself that were to me HD symptoms. Driving was the first thing I noticed I felt strange an uncomfortable driving down the freeway. I take Ibuprofen probably daily for quite a few years, it makes me feel better. Also I think women further complicate HD by having a monthly cycle to content with (I feel at my worst during that time).My head feels like prior to and during that it wants to explode. I feel more cloudy and harder to think or concentrate. Perhaps all these things are anti-inflammatory related. I think there may be something to Jerry's way of thinking. From: AnonymousP -- Subject: Anti-Inflammatory -- Nov 8 09:25:0
• I have always been allergic to bee stings and have other allergy problems. I also have hypoglycemia, and was once diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which is immune related. I was diagnosed with HD in early 1997. From: Marsha -- Subject: bee stings -- Sun Jan 28 20:40:52 2001