Autoimmune Disease Basics Part 2
Dr. Susan Blum explains the way the immune system works,
summarized as follows: When you are exposed to infections and illness, molds,
parasites, or foreign food proteins, etc, Lymphocytes, a type of white blood
cells normally help protect you.
If they don’t work right, they can also cause autoimmune
diseases if they mistake some of your own cells as invader cells that will
cause an illness. They can then attack your own tissues.
There are
two lymphocyte types; killer T cells,
and another B cell that produces antibodies that attack anything seen as
foreign and dangerous. If this happens, your immune system responds with an
inflammation. An inflammation can spread throughout the body. These T and B
cells need to be in balance so the response is balanced as well.
If you get
the flu, you may have a high temperature while your lymphocytes fight off the
virus, but in a healthy system all returns to normal after a period of time. In
a healthy system, the chemical DNA in these cells should be fine tuned to be
able to distinguish between foreign cells and your own cells, and attack only invader cells.
When there
are more T cells than B cells, and the system is not balanced, the lynphocytes fail to turn off, so immune
cells attack your own bodily tissues when they should only be attacking outside
invaders.
Autoimmune
diseases or conditions number in the hundreds, often distinguished by the part
of the body that is affected. The numbers of people affected increase every
year. Some conditions are systemic (over the whole body) and others are organ
or area specific. Blum says the underlying problems in all these diseases are
similar. They all involve inflammation. An affected person may have several different autoimmune conditions.
Common
causes or triggers of autoimmune diseases are dietary: gluten, food allergies
due to overuse, wheat flour, grains, soy, dairy products, meats, poultry and
fish, eggs, and corn. Fiber, vegetables and fruits are critical elements to
balance the digestive system where the greatest part of the immune system acts
and flourishes in the body. A good balance of healthy organisms in the gut is
essential.
Stress and
hormone imbalance are the second group of triggers for autoimmune disease.
Chronic stress means your levels of cortisol are constantly elevated,
which damages the immune system, and can
lead to adrenal fatigue. Inadequate rest and sleep is a major factor, as well.
Toxins in
the food and in the environment are another trigger. Mercury is perhaps the
highest damaging of 212 toxins, an is in the top six most damaging to the
immune system. The liver must clear the body of toxins, but if too overloaded,
cannot function.
Infections
are another trigger. Viruses and bacteria often reside in the body, waiting to
rise when the body is weakened by another trigger.
A trigger is
the cause. A trigger is anything that begins an unhealthy immune response. Blum
says in her book, “Fixing the foundational systems, which are your diet, stress
hormones, gut health and the body’s toxic load– will heal the immune system and
help them all.”
Functional
Medicine focuses on the primary cause of the immune dysfunction, rather than treating only the symptoms of the problem.
The next blog post will finish this discussion of Auto Immune Diseases, in Part 3.
Reviewed by Ruth Zachary©
No comments:
Post a Comment