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Low LDH Muscular Dystrophy?
I have had multiple health issues over the past 12 years with sporadic periods of "health" and about normal function. Most of my health issues started with a severe EBV infection with Hepatitis, Hashimotos and Papillary Thyroid Cancer, bouts of leg paralysis with no physiological explanation (nothing but peripheral neuropathy detected on nerve conduction testing and normal EMGs) these
episodes were followed by about a month of
leg weakness each time these episodes occurred. The latest strange episode is a single four-day long period of extreme hip joint pain that went away but left me unable to walk normally, or for any real distance other than shuffling around my house. I was just a week ago finally diagnosed with Celiac Disease, which very well be the cause of my troubles all this time... But I was tested for LDH and Aldolase and both of these are lower than normal. I wonder if my Celiac enzyme deficiencies could be causing this? I have my doctors stumped and they aren't sure who to send me to. I have seen on the Muscular Dystrophy website that low LDH can be a reason for exercise intolerance, which seems
to accurately sum up what I am currently experiencing. Can anyone tell me how low of an LDH can cause these types of issues? What further testing is needed? (My nerve conduction and EMGs are only showing peripheral neuropathy and Brain/Spine MRIs from last year are normal). Does anyone have any recommendation on what type of doctor to see and where to go? (I'm willing to travel!)
Sorry for the lengthy and thank you for any advice you can give!
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I also have a persistently LDH level at 50% of normal low range and this has not yet resulted in any kind of conversation with my neurology team, endocrinology, cardiology or nephrology teams about a follow up. Reduced LDH enzyme circulating in the blood is a very rare and significant issue if you are already diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as it may be a sign of rare genetic variant impacting carbohydrate metabolism in your muscles. There is a related inexpensive LDH isoenzymes test that can provide further details about the tissue specific isoenzyme of LDH that is missing or low. LDH is an important carbohydrate metabolism enzyme and there are two LDH proteins, LDH(h, heart) and LDH(m, muscle) that can be combined to form the five isoenzymes that are specific to various tissues and organs like brain, cardiac etc. LDH-5 is found primarily in skeletal muscle tissue so a low level of LDH-5 could be indicative of a genetic variant that contributes to muscular dystrophy. The blood test code for LDH isoenzymes is Labcorp Test Number 001842. You can order it yourself using various third party lab testing consolidator services like Walk-In labs etc, Find the lowest cost test provider or ask your M.D. about the utility of this bloodwork and allow them to order and interpret the results for you. I hope some of this response is of utility for you.
LDH-1: Concentrated in the heart and red blood cells.LDH-2: Concentrated in white blood cells, heart, and red blood cells.LDH-3: Concentrated in the lungs.LDH-4: Concentrated in the kidneys, pancreas, and placenta.LDH-5: Concentrated in the liver and skeletal muscles