4 ms·
This is great if your particular immune disorder doesn't kill your ability to walk or eat or type, but the increased cancer risk definitely seems worth not havi
by parrellel 3y ago
This is great if your particular immune disorder doesn't kill your ability to walk or eat or type, but the increased cancer risk definitely seems worth not having to comparison shop foot-pedal mice.
I've read that the increased cancer risk isn't so much an increase in cancer rate as a reduction in bodily policing of early cancers?
- spondylosaurus 3y agoUnchecked autoimmune diseases tend to raise cancer rates, too. In which case now you have cancer and an active autoimmune condition... so you should've just taken the meds in the first place :P Plus, as I've rationalized it for myself: you have decent odds of surviving cancer if it's caught early enough, but damage to your organs/skeleton is permanent and irreversible.
- hirvi74 3y ago> In which case now you have cancer and an active autoimmune condition Good, then the chemo can kill two birds with one stone. ;) I'm kidding, but it's not like people without AI diseases are immune to cancer. So, I'd imagine it'd be kind of hard to definitively link causality. Everyone is focused on the cancer side-effects, but that honestly seems like a lesser concern to me than some of the other potential side-effects of some of the biosimilars. > damage to your organs/skeleton is permanent and irreversible There are a lot of cancer survivors that would agree and are living examples of this statement too. Surviving != a full recovery.
- spondylosaurus 3y ago> a lesser concern to me than some of the other potential side-effects of some of the biosimilars Biosimilars as in, Infectra vs Remicade? I haven't heard of anything in that vein :O
- frankus 3y agoAlso if the chemo wipes out your immune system apparently you can start fresh (Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation).
- hirvi74 3y ago> This is great if your particular immune disorder doesn't kill your ability to walk or eat or type Mine can, and still might, it just *fingers crossed* has not happened yet and hopefully never will. However, I do have many of signs that have a high correlation with such outcomes. =( The cancer is not my concern. For my disease in particular, the research, from what I have read, seems to believe that biologics do not increase the rate of cancer more than what the AI disease already does. Some studies have shown that there might even be a decrease in cancer once inflammation is controlled. With that being said, it's the other potential side-effects like new incidents of Demyelinating diseases, Lupus-Like Reactions, seizures, liver damage, heart failure, etc.. The biologics seem to be getting safer with each iteration, and I would feel more comfortable on something like Skyrizi than Humira or Enbrel, but still not comfortable enough to pull the trigger. Back story: 8 years ago, I had a minor sore throat and flu-like symptoms for about three days, then I was back up an running. Less than two weeks later, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. Thus, I am quite hesitant to open the doors for more infections. As the saying goes, "You can't put shit back in the horse."
- Xiol32 3y agoYou also can't get functionality back that you lose to your autoimmune disease if you later decide you've had enough and start treatment. Preventing that damage in the first place is the key.