Does contact lens use accelrate KC?

[Carole Rutherford]

Thanks Hari

I do not know if there is a link between autism and KC. There is however a link between autism and allergies. There is a strong belief in allergy induced autism. I am one of those people who do think it is possible. I have multiple allergies and David and my youngest son who is also autistic, has multiple allergies. KC and allergies do go hand in hand, or so I am told. There is also a link between auto immune disorder and autism. I have thyroid problems as does my Mum and as did my Grandmother. There is a growing belief that autism and thyroid disorders are linked. There are far too many of us Mum's who have thyroid problems and autistic children for there not to be a link.

If this sounds complicated then it is. I personally feel that all the bits of the jig saw are already on the table but no one has, as of yet, been able to complete the puzzle.

I am off to read your links now.

Many thanks

Carole

[GarethB]

From a survey a couple of years ago by the KC Support Group, I think only a third of those who had CK also had allergies or multiple allergies.

The link between KC and allergies as with KC and eye rubbing is far from clear and more likely to be coincidental.

I can proove using recognised scientific techneques that sneezing wil cause KC, Cancer and sunburn!

The fact is we will all sneeze at some point in our life, like we will all rub our eyes at some point in our life and an extremely high percentage of us will suffer an alergic reaction at some point in our life.

This is why we need to approach scientific papers etc that are posted on the web with cauteon. I know of many sites that look very proffesional and repuatable, but at the end of the day the research and conetnt is poor at best. However to the lay person, regardless of intelligence would be none the wiser or be given missleading or just plane wrong information.

[Carole Rutherford]

The fact is we will all sneeze at some point in our life, like we will all rub our eyes at some point in our life and an extremely high percentage of us will suffer an alergic reaction at some point in our life.

Totally agree with you however 'some' people, and it is those who I speak of, will have a genetic predisposition to these things and certain things will act as a trigger.

I have a great friend in the autism world who has taught me a great deal. While he does not believe that MMR causes autism in 'some' children it may well trigger it. While the first set of vaccinations that children receive will not cause autism in 'some' children it may well trigger it. While allergies affect many people in 'some' children a build up of allergies may trigger KC and or autism. There is so much to be proven or disproved but that does not mean that these things are not creating a cocktail effect that is affecting 'some' people.

So because it is just 'some' children and people are we going to dismiss this and decided that 'some' children or people are not enough to worry about and make an effort to find out?

When you live with 'some' children or adults who have these conditions then you really have to look deeply into these things because what affects them also affects you.

Hope this post does not come across as being hostile - it's my way of trying to explain myself.

Carole

[GarethB]

Carole,

You've hit the nail on the head;

1) Identify those who have a predisposition to a condition (be it Autism, KC etc).

2) Identify what the trigger(s) is/are.

The problem I have is that I feel too few people recognise that it is possible to have a 'predisposition' to suffering a condition.

[Hari Navarro]

Just out of coincidence my sister and grandmother also suffer from thyroid problems.
But I dont know if there is any definitive connection... In my case I had a rigorous eye rubbing habit as a teenager (New Zealand is the land of pollen and hobbits)...
But what qualifies a predisposition? This is a extremly complex puzzle... subject A may show KC and not display any of the signs of accepted KC. There is a reason here but we just dont know what it is... what I'm saying is that you can't accidently have KC it has to evolve for a reason. The equation needs an answer... but as you said Carole the answer does not lie within one specific group.
Some people do indeed exibit exactly the same conditions that in a lab should produce KC, but dont... there must be a variable that 'switches' certain people toward this disorder.
Would that 'variable' please step forward

Hari

[Andrew MacLean]

There is another imponderable; maybe the whole "genetic predisposition" hypothesis is just a red herring and we need to look for exclusively environmental factors.

I suspect that, in the end, the proximate causes of the group of conditions we call "Keratoconus" will be discovered by accident while some researcher is busy trying to find out something entirely unrelated!

In the meantime we have to struggle on with the range of treatments that are designed to help manage the conditions and mitigate their effect. In this regard there is a great deal of accumulated wisdom and I shall always be grateful both for the years that I was able to see wearing contact lenses and more recently for the genorosity of a family (now two families) who have agreed to allow the corneas of their recently deceased relatives to be used to give sight to someone whom they will never meet.

Andrew

[Anne B]

Out of coincidence My mum also suffers with a thyroid condition [graves disease] and also my uncle.

Anne

[Carole Rutherford]

'The Truth is Out There!' We just need to find the key to un-lock it. Whatever 'it' turn out to be.

Carole

[Hari Navarro]

X-actly,
I strongly feel we are hot on its heels,

Hari

[Matthew_]

I'm not so sure, its incredibly complex! Are we really that knowledgeable.