KC and pollen allergy

[Prue B]

Just after Christmas I went to the doctors. It was early January I think because I had recieved notification I had passed my HSC and gotten into nuring, so probably late Jan. While waiting for the dr I read the bottom line on the eye chart, covered each eye and read the bottom line again. I had pretty good eyesight. I always had had, so was not suprised just glad to confirm it again.
End of March the same year after my friends at uni giving me heaps about squinting and making eye appointments for me, and also having to move from the rear row to the front row to see the class notes I went to an optometrist and was diagnosed with KC. I could only get the 3rd line on the chart. I have no idea why it was so fast, but the next year I had heaps of glass prescriptions and could not get rpgs I could tolerate. My sister also had a rapid change from good to poor vision at 18, same age as me.
All my allergies have been since. Plums got added to the list this week. I really suffer when the canola flowers.
My sister also had haematuria while pregnant and she is to be tested for Alports because of her KC. So there seems to be a kidney/KC link.
I believe their is a genetic predisposition but maybe it is a sympotom of a mild autoimmune reaction like has been previously mentioned here.
My husband did his thesis on autoimmune haemolitic anaemia in dogs, and some breeds are more prone than others, so maybe there is a genetic link there also. He was studying the effectivness of treatment protocols, so not really genetic.

[Andrew MacLean]

Prue

It is really interesting to learn that your sister and you have had such similar histories with KC. Stories like yours certainly suggest that there may be something in your shared inheritance that is at work.

The problem is that there are others who are alone in large families with KC. My parents both came from large families, I have a brother and two sisters, countless cousins, children of my own (now 23 and 25) and nobody else in my entire family has KC. I did have an aunt (father's sister) who had glaucoma, but no KC.

In any random system there will be clusters. Indeed the absence of clusters from data always suggests that the numbers have been the artifice of man rather than the result of careful examination of the real world. (by the way this is one way in which the tax authorities are able to spot fraudulent claims, but that's another story).

The epidemiology has always noticed family clusters with KC, but there has never been a definitive identification of a genetic cause for KC. It may be that for some, genetics is a co-factor, for others it may be diet, for others it may be allergies. It may indeed be that KC is, as I suggested before, a common feature of unrelated conditions.

Now that would make research into its cause an absolute nightmare!

Andrew

[jayuk]

Andrew

Whats more wierd is that in my family, NOONE had KC....I mean we went back 2 generations on both my parents side; and as far as we could see......there was no sign of KC

However, it is also quite possible that KC jumped a generation or two? Ken Pullum has a very good explanation on KC and Genes; and the risks on a KC affected individual passing the condition to his/her child....but in summary its a very low %........

J

[GarethB]

Genetics can be problematic.

The gene will be a recessive one and could well be a case that a certain combination of recessive genes need to come together to make you genetically prone to KC.

Who saw the program called the twin inside me on moday.

It was about mothers who gave birth to children that genetically bore no resemblance at all to them, but only genetically resembled the father.

The children were normal in that they all had 50% of their fathers DNA but none of their mothers. After taking DNA samples from all over the body internal and external, they did find in some that some organs were genetically different to the other organs in the body.

[jayuk]

Gareth

Thats it..you provided a very good summary....I remeber Ken telling me the full story on the potential Gene element end of last year.......and it basically boiled down to the mother and father and what parts of the potential genes they were carrying......

I would be very susprised if KC was not Gene linked in all honesty.....this opinion of mine only changed recently; but I am hoping the MEH study will shed some light on this very issue!

J

[Andrew MacLean]

Gareth

five eyes!

Andrew

[Prue B]

My belief has always been you need the gene or genes to get it, but something else has to happen also, and that something else is why it is not a simple genetic exercise.
My daughters optometrist told me astigmatisms are passed on by the mother so it is likely my children will have astigmatisms, 2 out of 3 at the moment, but KC is a rare astigmatism.
My mother is myopic but out of 4 kids 2 have great eyes and 2 have KC. My sister with KC and I look more alike too. The son who does not have an astigmatism is the spitting image of his father, the other 2 actually favour my side of the family and look more like each other.
I have seen theories for infection, hereditry, mutation etc, none seem to be the complete answer but hereditry seems more likely than many. My husband is studying epidemiology at the moment, and the idea of cause there is so limited that nothing actually can be proven to be THE cause for anything, but you can prove it may be a contributing factor.

[FIsmail]

jumping back to the allergy/eye rubbing KC relationship - my surgeon has always stated that my KC was solely due to eye rubbing - i had my 1st graft at 17 and second at 18 yrs of age. this was very premature in relation to the "normal" development and progression of KC. I found out a month ago that I am HIGHLY allergic to grass pollen, all seafood (bar salmon ?!?!?!) nuts and chocolate. this was a total relief to finally confirm. since there is no history of KC in many generations of my family which can be traced accurately through four generations via existing elders, and since im the only one in my entire family with KC, my surgeon is certain that it was due to eye rubbing from a very young age - something i apparently did since the day i took control of my own body!

just thought id let u all know.

tis a relief to know there r more than just me in this situation.

F

[Andrew MacLean]

FIsmail

Welcome to the forum!

Your surgeon may very well live with the prejudice that KC is due to eye rubbing, but as you can see from the posts here the common association can not be seen as a universal cause.

It is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for the development of KC. It is entirely possible that ye rubbing was a response to allergies, and that an association between KC and allergies is at work.

How have you been since discovering that you have many allergies? At least they will still let you eat salmon! (Why salmon, in particular? Did they say?)

All the best

Andrew

[FIsmail]

hi andrew

thanks for the welcome!

umm its only been a month and i also react to dustmite droppings which i am definitely stil in contact with. ive read somewhere its a specific protein in them that causes the allergic reaction to dustmite droppings. i also noticed most of the protein rich foods on the list have been deemed unsafe for me lol! bit of a bummer but i havent really felt any change since. except for an episode which started off as an allergic reaction which needed contact lens bandage treatment - they expected me to keep them in for 2 weeks!!!! but they lasted 3 days and i ended up with bilateral scratched painful corneas courtesy of an SHO.ive been told many times to get a second opinion as its been a while since my first op and my surgeon wont clear me to drive despite having legal vision!! im hoping this will be the right place to get advice on that front. thats a new thread though!

F