left or right An plus immune system?

[Windsong]

Hi,

I found myself wondering about left or right Ans. (staying up late must have caused that thought  as i wasn't even thinking about my An during the day hahaha).

I read this report about how this research discovered that surgery on the left brain lowered the immune system and how right brain surgery actually boosted the immune system. The report states that though they discovered this they don't know the cause of this. The study had something to do with the cerebellar stuff as I recall.

So that all made me wonder if there is any connection with things like more incidents of infections generally after we get an An, like the sinus things some of us have mentioned and oh i guess any colds, anything, even encaphilitis after an an op?

Since my An i certainly have more sinus infections and didn't really note having them before An. My An is on the left  .....

W.

[amymeri]

Interesting, I would love to see more information.

I very rarely get sick but chalked that up to my job which requires a vigilent immune system. I DO have some sort of autoimmune disorder which can indicate an overactive immune system.  I also have hypothyroidism...

I have a right sided AN

[Windsong]

Hi Amy,

I went back and searched my bookmarks to get the site where i read about this left or right brain tidbit. It is:

www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com/issue/2004_06_15/cilinical05_12.html

In between reading gory murder mysteries and escaping into my hobbies and creative interests, I read a lot of medical things which now and then leads me to interesting things about the brain. I suppose behind my question in my orginal post in this thread is curiosity about differences between Ans and location, so it was an easy leap to wonder about how left or right Ans might differ....especially after Phyl's survey about left or right Ans....

I'd say that my more frequent need for an antibiotic for one reason or another coincided with the growth of my An which does impinge somewhat on my brainstem. Bloodwork shows some things as low but others normal as an overall pattern, but perhaps immune system deficiencies would require more detailed tests generally.

Interesting to see what others have noticed.

W.

[Joef]

I've only sick day (of course it was on the weekend  ) in the last year and half since my surgery ... on the right side ... hmmm......

[cookiesecond]

I am a right sider too and I seem to stay sick. I am just getting over a bout of sinus stuff and I had an awful earache. I have one more dose of my z pack.
I am 18 months postop. My surgery went well but I ended up with meningitis and had to be readmitted. The menigitis took longer to get over than the surgery.
Lynn

[Boppie]

I've had little going on with my health in general since my right sided AN was removed.  My whole family has had the flu and colds in the last year and a half and I've have none of this.  I am a little more careful about exposure since my surgery though.  I stay away from crowded places and stressful situations much like a cancer patient would do.  No, I cannot say I've had health problems since my AN.  Pre op I had one or two URI's each year, and lots of ear aches. 

Grumpy intestines... well that's a life long story for me, so I can't blame that on my tumor.

[jerseygirl]

Windsong,

This is trully a fascinating article, thanks for finding it. However, I doubt it applies to us, ANers, because they talk about cerebrum, that is hemispheres. ANs ,and certainly surgeries to remove them, can impact cerebellum on the affected side but not cerebrum (thank God for that).

This article makes a lot of sense though when I think about my mother. Last year she suffered a small stroke on the left side which is supposed to decrease one's immunity, according to the article. Well, she picked up every infection possible in the hospital and rehab and almost died three times. Right after that her leukemia got totally out of control while previously it has been extremely stable for 10 years. Before the stroke she never had any infections even with her leukemia which is supposed to predispose patients to them!

                                          Eve