Human Diseases Caused by Viruses

When a cell is infected with a virus several effects may be seen. Many viruses cause no harm or disease whatsoever. However, some viruses may attack certain cells and multiply within them.

Once mature the daughter viruses break the cell and spread elsewhere. This is called a lytic infection. Eventually, if host immunity operates effectively, the virus-infected cell may be killed by the host, leading to interruption of the virus cycle and cure of the infection. However, this is not true for all viral infections.

The viruses may persist in the cell without damaging it and make the cell a carrier. The patient may appear to be cured but the infection persists and can spread to others. In addition, the infection may reappear later after this period of lull or latency.

Spread of viruses
Viruses cannot exist on their own and for survival they need to spread to another host. This is because the original host may either die or eliminate the infection. Some important routes of viral transfer include:
Route                                                                     Examples
Skin contact                                                         HPV (warts)
Respiratory                              Cold virusues, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella
Faecal-oral                                 Polio, echo, Coxsackie, Hepatitis A, Rotavirus
Milk                                                                 HIV, HTLV-1, CMV
Transplacental                                                Rubella, CMV, HIV
Sexually                                           Herpes 1 and 2, HIV, HPV, Hepatitis B
Insect vector                                            Yellow fever, Dengue fever
Animal bite                                                              Rabies

In addition, in order to spread the viruses also need to withstand the immune system. A special category of viruses is those that cause disease only when the immune system is deficient in some way; these are called opportunists, and  opportunistic infection is one of the main problems in patients with, for example, AIDS.

Where do viruses reside?

There are several viruses that have an animal or plant reservoir from where they affect humans. Some of the common reservoirs of viruses include;
Virus                                                            Animal reservoir
Influenza                                                     Birds, pigs, horses
Rabies                                                          Bats, dogs, foxes
Lassa and Hanta viruses                                    Rodents
Ebola and marburg viruses                               Monkeys
HIV-1 and -2                                            Chimpanzees, monkeys
Newcastle disease                                              Poultry
West Nile virus                                                     Birds


Host defence to viral infections
The body's first line of defence against viruses is the innate immune system. This is made up of cells and other mechanisms that defend the host from infection. This provides a temporary protection against the viral onslaught.

Once within the adaptive immunity faces the virus and remembers it. This is a more permanent form of immunity that may last a life time against the particular strain of virus. Specific antibodies are produced against the virus.
 This is called humoral immunity.

Two types of antibodies are important. The first called IgM is highly effective at neutralizing viruses but is only produced by the cells of the immune system for a few weeks. The one that lasts a life time is the IgG antibodies.

The second line of defence is called cell-mediated immunity and involves immune cells known as T cells. T cell recognises a suspicious viral fragment there and the killer T cells destroy the virus.

Virus spread control
Viral diseases can be prevented from spreading by vaccinations and the most successful of these is the small pox vaccine that has completely eradicated the disease in 1980. It is hoped that several other viruses, such as polio and measles, will follow.

Epidemics and pandemics of viral infections
Spread or outbreak of a viral infection in a community is termed an epidemic. A pandemic occurs when there is a worldwide epidemic.

The 1918 flu pandemic, commonly referred to as the Spanish flu was such a pandemic. It was caused by an unusually severe and deadly influenza A virus. The victims were often healthy young adults in contrast from weakened and elderly who are usual victims. It killed around 100 million people or at least 5% of the world's population in 1918.

HIV is now considered a pandemic with an estimated 38.6 million people now living with the disease worldwide.

Viruses and cancer
Some viruses may incorporate their DNA (or DNA copied from viral RNA) into host DNA, with effects on the control of cell growth. This may sometimes lead to transformation, in other words a tumour.

However, integration does not always lead to transformation and is not mandatory for transformation. The association of viruses with tumours in animals was first suspected 90 years ago but only in the 1960s was a virus (EBV) shown convincingly to be associated with a human tumour (Burkitt’s lymphoma).

Now the role of oncogenes that are activated for causing cancer is being better understood to know why all viruses and all infections do not cause cancer in all individuals.

Treatment of viral infections
Several antiviral drugs that are used to treat viral infections have been developed over the past two decades. Many of these are focussed against HIV. These do not cure HIV infection but stop the virus from multiplying and prevent the progress of the disease. Another notable antiviral drug is Ribavarin against hepatitis C.

Viruses in general are notoriously difficult drug targets as they modify and adapt themselves rapidly to build up a resistance against the drug. Case in point is Oseltamivir (trade name - Tamiflu) used in influenza.

Viral Meningitis Basics

Less serious than bacterial meningitis, viral meningitis is associated with a number of infections, including chickenpox, Lyme disease, and even rabies.

 Meningitis occurs when the lining protecting the brain and spinal cord — called the meninges — becomes inflamed. There are two main kinds of meningitis, bacterial meningitis and viral meningitis. Bacterial meningitis is a potentially fatal condition that can have severe after-effects, including brain damage, deafness, limb amputation, and stroke. Viral meningitis, also called aseptic meningitis, is milder and more common than bacterial meningitis, rarely has any long-term after-effects, and is seldom fatal. Statistics vary, but it is thought that viral meningitis causes between 25,000 and 50,000 hospital visits each year in the United States.

Children are more likely than adults to get viral meningitis. Children under the age of 5 are most vulnerable.

Causes of Viral Meningitis

Nearly 90 percent of viral meningitis cases are caused by viruses in the enterovirus family, which is a group of common viruses. The viruses usually enter the body through the mouth and then travel to the brain and tissues around it. Coxsackie viruses and echoviruses are among the primary offenders.

Other viruses that can cause viral meningitis are:

    Chickenpox virus (varicella virus)
    Mumps virus
    West Nile virus
    Viruses transmitted by bites from infected mosquitoes
    Rabies virus
    Type 1 and type 2 herpes viruses
    HIV

Meningitis can also be caused by a direct infection of the meninges.

Symptoms of Viral Meningitis

Viral meningitis has symptoms that are similar to the flu:

    Severe headache
    Stiff neck
    Eyes sensitive to light
    Chills
    Fever
    Muscle pain
    Sore throat
    Drowsiness
    Confusion
    Rash
    Abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting

Symptoms may last anywhere from a week to 10 days.

Treating Viral Meningitis

As with other viruses such as the common cold, the symptoms of viral meningitis can be managed by resting, drinking plenty of fluids, and taking medication to relieve symptoms. These measures will help you feel more comfortable, but they don’t actually cure the infection.

If the meningitis is caused by a very contagious virus such as chickenpox, your doctor will prescribe antiviral medication.

Most patients recover completely from viral meningitis although, in some cases, the patient may experience continuing headaches, fatigue, and depression.

Is Viral Meningitis Contagious?

Yes. The most common causes of viral meningitis, enteroviruses, are spread when there is direct contact with an infected patient’s saliva, mucus, or sputum. This can happen when you touch a person or object that is infected and then touch your own nose or mouth. Viral meningitis is also spread by coughing and sneezing.

The stool of someone who is infected can also carry the virus. In this case, the virus is spread primarily among young children who haven’t been toilet trained. Adults who change diapers of an infected baby may also catch the virus.

Remember that catching an enterovirus doesn’t mean it will develop into viral meningitis. In fact, fewer than 1 in 1,000 people who get sick from one of the viruses associated with viral meningitis go on to develop it.

How to Prevent Viral Meningitis

There are several ways to reduce your chances of getting a virus that can turn into meningitis:

    Get vaccinated. Be sure that you and your children have been vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella (the MMR vaccine), and chickenpox — all viruses that can cause meningitis.
    Avoid mosquitoes. Because mosquito-borne viruses can cause meningitis, using insect repellant and avoiding the outdoors during periods when mosquitoes are most active (dusk to dawn) is important.
    Wash your hands. Another crucial way to avoid being infected is to be mindful of personal hygiene. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water after you sneeze, cough, shake hands, use the toilet, and change diapers. Also be sure to wash your hands before you cook or eat.
    Disinfect. If you are around someone who has viral meningitis, clean and disinfect surfaces and objects, first with soap and water, and then with bleach that contains chlorine. (Mix about a quarter of a cup of bleach to a gallon of water.)

Remember, your best chance of avoiding viral meningitis is to be vaccinated against diseases known to cause viral meningitis and to wash your hands regularly. Thorough hand-washing can protect you from not only viral meningitis, but lots of other diseases. 

Anabolic steroid effects on immune function

In order to understand how anabolic steroids effect the immune system, you must first understand how the immune system works.
The organs of the immune system are stationed throughout the body. They are generally referred to as lymphoid organs because that are concerned with the growth, development, and deployment or lymphocytes, the white cells that are the base of the immune system. These organs include bone marrow, thymus, lymph nodes, and spleen.

Immune cells, like all other cells, are produced in the bone marrow. There are two main classes of immune cells or lymphocytes as they are called. These are known as T cells and B cells. T cells mature in an organ know as the thymus. Most T and B cells congregate in the various immune organs, while other travel around in the blood stream.

The lymph nodes house both T and B cells. These cells work together though different mechanisms. They are very dependent on each other. By effecting one group of cells, you throw off the entire function of the immune responce. Now a little bit about B cells and T cells.

B cells work chiefly by secreting soluble substances called antibodies into the bodies fluids or humors. This is known as humoral immunity. Antibodies typically interact with circulating antigens such as bacteria and toxic molecules, but are unable to penetrate living cells. T cells interact directly with their targets, attacking body cells that have been commandeered by viruses.
There are different subsets of T cells which carry out various functions.

Each B cell is programmed to make one specific antibody. When a B cell manufactures millions of identical antibody molecules and pures them into the bloodstream. A given antibody matches a given antigen much as a key matches a lock. These antibodies indentify the antigen and mark it for destruction. Antibodies can work in several ways, depending on the nature of the antigen.

T cells contribute to the immune defenses in two major ways. Regulatory T cells do one thing and Cytotoxic T cells do another. Regulatory T cells are vital to orchestrating the elaborate system.
Cytotoxic T cells on the other hand directly attack body cells that are infected. T cells work directly by secreting substances known as lymphokines. Lymphokines call into play many other cells and substances, including the elements of the inflammmatory responce.

Once you under stand why T cells and B cells are dependent on each other, it is easier to understand how AAS effects this partnership. I will discuss this in the next thread. I do suggest that everyone do some research and understand this more specifically. I basiclly just summerized how the immune system functions.


Although I could not find any specific studies regarding how AAS effects immune function, I was able to piece together several articles and come up with a general idea of how this works.
The immune system has two basic types of defense cells. The B cells which make up the Humoral immunity, and T cells that make up the cell immunity.

First the T cells are formed in the thymus. These T cells work directly by attacking the invading virus. Explaining all the actions of T cells would take forever to do. If you want to do more, there are loads of info on this available at other sites. Most AAS are known to suppress Cellular immunity, although they stimulate humoral immunity.

What first brought this to my attention were the vast number of articles relating to using AAS to treat autoimmune diseases. Most autoimmune diseases are caused by various T cells attacking your own body.

Small doses of winstrol, and deca, have been shown to have no effect on the cellular immunity, but still improves humoral immunity. It is also know that many AAS including deca have been shown to be antiinflammatory. Although I believe that deca accomplishes this through a different function as compared to the rest. This is greatly because cellular immunity is what causes inflammation.

Viral Infection

A viral infection is any type of infection that is caused by a virus.

A virus is a germ that is smaller than a bacteria. Viruses are encapsulated by a protective coating so they are more difficult to kill than bacteria. They are harder to treat because they are not susceptible to antibiotics like bacteria are because of their protective coating. However, viruses cannot grow or exist without host cells - they must be in a living organism (such as the human body) to survive.

Common Viral Infections

Viral infections can cause illnesses as minor as the common cold and as severe as AIDS. Many times people will be diagnosed with a viral infection but not get any more specific information about the virus that is causing the symptoms. Usually when this happens, the symptoms are relatively minor and you will recover without any treatment. Health care providers don't always know the exact virus that is causing the illness. This is when you will get the diagnosis of a "viral infection" with no specific name.

Other common viral infections include:

    The Flu
    Viral Pneumonia
    RSV
    Croup
    Stomach Flu (Gastroenteritis)
    Chickenpox

Treating Viral Infections

Antibiotics do not kill viruses and the use of them for viral infections just leads to antibiotic resistance. There are only a few antiviral medications available to treat very specific viruses, and they are not always effective. In some cases steroids are effective.

However, there are vaccines available to help prevent many infections. If you have a minor illness and your health care provider tells you that it is a viral infection, the best thing to do is to treat the symptoms if you are able to and just let it run its course.

Anti-Inflammatory Medications in Cystic Fibrosis Treatment

Eventually, most people with any type of chronic lung disease will find themselves taking an anti-inflammatory medication at some point in their treatment. Anti-inflammatory medications improve breathing by reducing swelling of the air passages. Some anti-inflammatory medications are taken for short periods to help speed recovery when a patient has a respiratory infection or other problem causing a flare-up of breathing difficulty. Some anti-inflammatory medications are taken long-term to help prevent swollen air passages and improve lung function.

Corticosteroids vs. Anabolic Steroids

Corticosteroids: Medications that imitate the effects of a hormone produced in the adrenal gland called "cortisol," which has many functions in the body including fighting stress and reducing inflammation.

Anabolic steroids: Synthetic versions of male sex hormones that increase male characteristics. Athletes sometimes use them illegally to increase muscle mass and strength. There are legitimate medical conditions for which anabolic steroids may be prescribed, but lung disease is not one of them.

Oral steroids, such as prednisone, prednisolone or methylprednisone, are sometimes prescribed to people with cystic fibrosis (CF) for short-term treatment. They are not recommended for long-term therapy because of the potential for serious side effects including:

    Growth retardation in children
    Diabetes
    Cataracts
    Osteoporosis
    Decreased ability to fight lung infections, such as the potentially deadly Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Inhaled Steroids

Inhaled steroids, such as Qvar (beclomethasone), Pulmicort (budesonide) and Flovent (flucticasone), are delivered directly to the lungs and have less side effects than oral steroids. Studies have not shown any particular benefit of long-term inhaled steroids for people with cystic fibrosis, though, so the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation advises against the routine use of inhaled steroids in people with CF unless they also have asthma.

Steroids and HIV Infection

The connection between injection drug use and HIV infection is well known. Sharing injection equipment such as needles and syringes presents a real risk of transmitting HIV as well as Hepatitis C. However, the injection of steroids is often overlooked as a risk behaviour.

Unlike mood-altering drugs, steroids are not perceived as having any health risks and, therefore, the user does not think he/she is in any danger.
Who Uses Steroids?

The majority of users are high school students. Other users may include strip dancers, wrestlers, weight lifters, military personnel and prisoners. The use of anabolic steroids for cosmetic purposes far exceeds their use by athletes for competition. The preferred method of use is by injection rather than by mouth.

Steroid use is a short cut to self-esteem. It needs little investment in energy and its reinforcing results are almost immediate. In a society that places so much value on body image, steroids are seen as a quick and easy response to that pressure.
What Are The Risks?

Most of the negative effects of steroids are due to overuse or misuse. The side effects may include: liver damage, sexual difficulties, aggressive behaviour, depression, acne, muscle spasms and interference with normal growth. Some of the effects are reversible after discontinuing the steroid use. However, the very real health risks are from:

    sharing needles, syringes and vials
    improper injection site
    failure to clean injection site
    failure to ensure the needle is not in a vein or artery

Steroid users must be given the opportunity to decide for themselves the negative aspects of steroid use. Until they are ready to quit, it is essential to help our young people stay alive. Any discussion of HIV/AIDS should ensure that use of steroids is included as a risk behaviour. In addition, information on the proper use of injection equipment must be readily available.

When Are Steroids Indicated In Epstein-Barr Virus Infections?

Infectious mononucleosis, caused by Epstein-Barr virus, is generally characterized by a triad of pharyngitis, fatigue, and cervical lymphadenopathy. Fever and splenomegaly are also common in presentation. These are symptoms primarily manifested by the host response rather than direct viral infection. The severity and duration of symptoms are variable and most commonly resolve by 2 to 3 months postinfection. However, some such as lymphadenopathy and fatigue may persist. Treatment is generally supportive and con- sists of rest (although strict bed rest is not necessary), over-the-counter symptomatic relief for fever and throat pain, and avoidance of contact sports until the patient is asymptomatic and, if splenomegaly is present, you are no longer able to palpate the spleen.

The use of steroids for treatment of infectious mononucleosis has long been controversial.  The lack of clear evidence of benefit has led to universal recommendations indicating that steroids have no role in the routine use of treatment of infectious mononucleosis. However, despite this, steroids continue to be used somewhat liberally in uncomplicated cases, perhaps to hasten return to school and normal activities because of persistent symptoms, patient demand, or the physician’s personal experience, clinical judgment, or training. Steroids are not without adverse effects. Rare case reports have linked the use of steroids for routine mononucleosis with myocarditis, mostly mild and asymptomatic, but causing supraventricular tachycardia in one case,  and neurologic complications including meningoencephalitis, seizures, and brachial plexus palsy.

Most patients with an acute EBV infection have a self-limited course and recover without sequelae. Rarely, however, severe complications can occur in both healthy and immonocompromised patients. It is during these times that the use of steroids may, indeed, be warranted. Airway obstruction or impending airway obstruction is due to tonsillar hypertrophy and occurs in approximately 3.5% of patients but has been reported to occur in as many as 25% of cases.9 Massive splenomegaly and splenic rupture are the other most commonly feared complications. Although mild splenomegaly is quite a common finding in acute mononucleosis, found in approximately 50% of patients, serious splenic complications are very rare, occurring in less than 1%. Splenic rupture usually is found to occur during the second and third weeks of illness, at the peak of splenomegaly. Neurologic complications occur in less than 1% of patients. Two of the most common neurologic complications are encephalitis and cranial nerve palsies. Other neurologic complications that have been reported are aseptic meningitis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, optic neuritis, and Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome (a perceived distortion of object size).10  Other life-threatening complications reported include myocarditis, fulminant hepatitis, and liver failure, and hematologic manifestations such as hemolytic anemia, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. These, and other life-threatening complications, are all indications for use of steroid therapy. Steroids have been used anecdotally and in small case series for these indications, but no rigorous studies have been performed to confirm the benefit of steroid use in these situations. Nevertheless, it is expert opinion that steroids may be useful for these potentially life-threatening complications of EBV infection.