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Surgical mesh implants, often used for hernia or gynecological repair, may be the reason so many patients report symptoms of an autoimmune disorder, according to a University of Alberta rheumatologist.

‘In my practice, I studied 40 patients who had mesh implants and found that almost all of them had symptoms such as chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment known as ‘brain fog,’ muscle and joint pain ‘fibromyalgia,’ feverish temperature, and dry eyes and dry mouth,’ said Jan Willem Cohen Tervaert, director of the Division of Rheumatology at the U of A.

‘Of those patients, 45 per cent developed an autoimmune disorder such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. And in the patients who had allergies before the implant, they were significantly worse after.’

Cohen Tervaert presented his study results at the 11th International Conference on Autoimmunity in Lisbon in May 2018, and will soon publish them in a leading journal.

‘My study is small; however, it is beyond coincidence that these symptoms, which often go untreated or even unacknowledged by some doctors, exist among so many mesh implant patients. A larger study is needed to confirm whether in fact the implanted mesh is to blame,’ he added.

Cohen Tervaert theorized that the causal link could be the same one found to be true in silicone breast implant disease.

‘When a foreign body is put into the body, there is an instant activation of the immune system. It continues to fight the foreign body and eventually, over time, fatigues and becomes dysfunctional,’ he said.

‘Large-scale studies have shown that patients with breast implants have more symptoms of ASIA (autoimmune/autoinflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants) and an increased risk to develop an autoimmune disorder. And in animal models, it has been demonstrated that these silicones can induce autoimmune diseases if the animals have the right genetics.’

Read More at the Source: University of Alberta (via Public) / Surgical mesh implants may cause autoimmune disorders

News Release by University of Alberta, Written by Lesley Young

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