I just read this very interesting little snippet of research in the latest TNA newsletter. It's from Dr. Lucia Notterpek of the McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida. They study myelin biology and its relationship to nerve damage. We've just been discussing this here: http://www.livingwithtn.org/forum/topics/return-of-pain?xg_source=activity and I thought it was a weird coincidence that it came up.
It makes a possible connection between cholesterol problems and TN, something that is very interesting to me personally because I had gallstones immediately before I came down with TN, and I always insisted to my doctors that I felt the two things were connected, a type of degeneration, if you will, and I still believe that, very strongly, so this research makes me feel kind of vindicated!
Here's what it has to say: "Why myelin in certain individuals is prone to degeneration is unclear, but genetic and metabolic factors may play a role. Myelin is enriched in specific lipids, including cholesterol. The Notterpek lab uses mice whose nerves are genetically deficient in myelin lipids, which affords them the opportunity to study why cholesterol is critical for healthy myelin. Current experiments may allow for the design of novel and effective therapies for disorders such as TN that involve myelin damage."
So they obviously feel that myelin sheath damage and cholesterol problems are connected, and that they are, in turn, connected or causative of TN and other neuropathies.
How about you? Do you have, or have you had, an issue of some sort with cholesterol?