October 13, 2012 – Primary Immunodeficiency and Common Variable Immune Deficiency are illnesses that
are little known and little understood in the medical community. Your local family physician may not have even heard of them. Over
the years a common complaint is constant bouts with sinus or ear infections. Doctors can sometimes act unconcerned and say things
like "you should exercise more - that’s good for the immune system" or "well, some people are more prone to infections than others."
But for the person having the symptoms, that is no relief from the worry of “what’s wrong with me?”
PI or Primary Immunodeficiency
is a genetic disorder that is inherited by the person with the illness. There are several types of PI, one common type is Common Variable
Immunodeficiency (CVID).
The person with Primary Immunodeficiency – PI or Common Variable Immunodeficiency – CVID cannot fight
off illness well. When a normal person has a cold, the immune system catalogs the virus or bacteria so that the next time they are
encountered, it remembers exactly how to fight it off. However with Primary Immunodeficiency or Common Variable Immunodeficiency the
immune system does not remember. Also the immune system is sluggish in reacting in the first place which allows infection to take
hold and really cause problems.
Symptoms, while this is not a detailed list, include constant bouts of ear infections, chronic
sinus infections, several bouts of bronchitis or pneumonia and more. One person’s story follows:
“After two rounds of antibiotics
for ear and sinus infection I was still running fever and thinking I might have to go back to the doctor. I sat up one night with
my ear aching and began researching online about chronic ear infections. That’s when I began finding answers.”
The contributor
found the website of the Jeffery Modell Foundation, www.info4pi.org which detailed warning symptoms of Primary Immunodeficiency. Also
on the site is the ability to search for specialists in the field in most states.
Many local doctors have not heard of the illness
and may not understand how to treat it. It takes a specialist who understands immunology to work with the patient so that a good standard
of living is attainable.
Visit the link below to begin finding answers for Primary Immunodeficiency and Common Variable Immune
Deficiency.