KimberlyHi Harpy – This is an interesting study, and one I will share with my own doctor when the time comes to talk about discontinuing ATD therapy.
However, it will be interesting to see if these results can be replicated.
There was a study out of Japan about 20 years ago that utilized full Block & Replace therapy to achieve remission in 98% of the patient sample! This created a lot of excitement, but the results were not able to be replicated in other studies. This approach is very rarely used in the U.S., due to the poor track record and the concern that higher levels of meds could increase the risk of side effects.
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http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199104043241403
I remember hearing in one of our conferences that patients of Asian descent tend to have improved chances of remission vs. the rest of the population. However, I don’t know if the presenter was referring to people from a specific geographic location…or *anyone* of Asian descent, regardless of where they are living. It would be interesting to see some further study on this to see if researchers can determine if genetics, diet, etc. have a role to play.