Immunity and pregnancy

I've already written a million times about my late-great immunologist, Dr. Alan Beer, who put together many of my underlying health mysteries; Chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme, secondary infertility. The infertility community, like many medical communities, can be very closed and resistant to change--and why? Just like with cancer, their success rates are lousy. I always felt bac about how Dr. Beer was so hounded at the end of his life when all he wanted to do was help (and many of my allergy symptoms and CFS improved quite dramatically on his fertility regimen).

But I even remember my local OB saying "He's a charlatan!" And of course not even know what he was talking about. Interestingly, much of the science in a lot of illness and dysfunction is coming back to the immune system. This is from Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (May 29, 2010) — Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and their colleagues at the Society for the Investigation of Early Pregnancy have helped clarify the function of a unique protein called Preimplantation Factor, which is produced by healthy embryos to direct embryo attachment and help the mother adapt to pregnancy.

These findings are published fast track for the benefit of the scientific community in the current issue of American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. They were first presented orally in February at the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine Scientific Meetings in Chicago by lead author Michael J. Paidas, M.D., associate professor and co-director of the Yale Women and Children's Center for Blood Disorders.

The research showed that Preimplantation Factor modulates maternal immunity, promotes attachment of the early embryo, and influences remodeling of uterine cells.

read more here.