Autoimmune
What is an autoimmune disease?
Autoimmune disease is like punching yourself in the face and not being able to stop it. An autoimmune disease develops when your body’s immune system malfunctions, decides that the healthy cells of your body are foreign, and starts to attack itself. Different types of autoimmune disorders can occur based on which tissues of the body are being affected. Whether it’s the nerves of Multiple Sclerosis or the thyroid in Hashimotos Thyroiditis, the mechanism is similar.
There are over 100 different autoimmune diseases. Some of the most common are Rheumatoid arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Celiac Sprue, Pernicious Anemia, Vitiligo, Scleroderma, Psoriasis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Hashimotos Thyroiditis, Addisons Disease, Graves Disease, Sjogrens, Type 1 Diabetes, and the list goes on, and on, and on. Literally!
Autoimmune (AI) Diseases are on the rise
Autoimmune disorders (AI) are on the rise significantly! AARD estimates that the total cost of treating AI disorders to be in excess of 100 billion dollars per year. Between the years of 1970 and 2000, there was a 300% increase in the prevalence of AI diseases, and it continues to escalate. And that's a low estimate. It doesn’t include the millions of people that suffer from low grade AI disorders and just think it's “normal.”
The current prediction for the year 2020 is that 1 in 9 women will have an AI disease by the time they are 50 years old.
Autoimmune diseases occur more than breast cancer and heart disease combined, yet the latter receive far more attention. Currently there are 9.8 million people, mostly women, living with AI disease. In contrast, there are 7.2 million with heart disease and 2.2 million with breast cancer.
This is a HUGE problem that will only get worse with time. The estimated cost for all AI diseases is in the $100 billion range and escalating. A cohort study that looked at Rheumatoid patients found the average out of pocket cost per patient per year to be $20,000. The cost for a patient with moderate to severe Psoriasis to was up to $27,600 depending on the patient’s insurance coverage.
I guess if you’re not lucky enough to have good insurance, you’re out of luck.
Why are Autoimmune Diseases on the rise?
There is no question that all chronic diseases are on the rise. Some of them can be directly attributed to specific things. Autoimmune disease is not one of those things. But… we do know what contributes to it and what to do about it. Hint: not drugs.
A common phrase that many Functional Medicine Physicians use is “Genetics load the gun, and environment pulls the trigger.” What this essentially means is that we are all predisposed to certain disorders based on what genes we have. However, it doesn’t mean that you will necessarily get that disease.
Some of the most common triggers involved in the development of Autoimmune disease include viruses, bacteria, medications (which are toxins), pollutants, hormones, and stress. A lot of these triggers cause an inflammatory response that leads to an overactive immune response against the body. Other factors that should be considered when determining the cause of a developed AI disease include gluten sensitivity, immunizations (which contain thimerosal, a KNOWN immune toxin), mycotoxins from molds, infections from candida, Epstein-Barr, and herpes simplex. While this list is not all-inclusive, it does contain the majority of issues that contribute to the development of AI disease.
I would like to point out that the rate of AI disease in the U.S. is significantly higher than in Third World countries. While studies do not explain why this is the case, some very smart people have suggested that this is due to three possible reasons.
1) The populations of Third World countries are exposed to a much greater biodiversity of microbiome. What this means is that the good bacteria in their intestines are much greater in number and variety than that of the typical American. The good bacteria in the intestines often contributes up to 50% of immune system health.
2) Those living in the U.S. are obsessed with cleanliness. This can be a good thing; however this can be a bad thing too. (This reason is kind of a combination of reason 1 and 3.) In trying to be super clean, we are exposed to all kinds of antibacterial products (toxins) and in the process limit ourselves to what microbiome we are exposed to. In short, BAD!
3) TOXINS! In my opinion this IS THE most common reason for the development of AI disease.
Wrap your head around this real quick.
According to the EPA website, as of the year 2008, there were over 84,000 chemicals in commercial use. Many of them were found in products we use every day. Every year, there are 1,000 new chemical products in use. Of those 90K chemicals in use by now, only 1% have had any type of studies done on them. This is simply because the chemical companies have decided they don’t want to, or that it’s privileged information. NO OVERSIGHT.
In Another study done in 2009, 232 chemicals were found in the cord blood of all the babies studied.
How can we think that all of these chemicals and toxins are not affecting our bodies and our babies?
For more information on toxins check out my other webpage here.
The problem with conventional/Western treatment of autoimmune diseases.
Conventional or Western treatment for autoimmune disease — and most other diseases for that matter — revolves around covering up or controlling symptoms. The root cause of these symptoms is never addressed. Functional Medicine anyone?
One of the most common treatments used are immunosuppressants. The problem with this route is fairly obvious. You are basically killing the immune system to eliminate symptoms. This leads to an increased risk of developing severe or life-threatening infections as well as an increased risk of developing cancer. The immune system is responsible for killing all those cancer cells before they multiply. Kill the immune system, and there is no one to kill the cancer cells. Simple.
Another treatment that is sometimes used for certain autoimmune diseases, particularly Graves Disease, is radiation therapy. Hmmmm. Radiation doesn’t sound too good. But put the word "therapy" behind it, and it suddenly becomes not only ok, but good. I don’t think so! This treatment is sometimes called an “Atomic Cocktail.” We all know what radiation does - Cancer.
Finally, corticosteroids are used for symptom abatement. When people initially take these they think “great, I'm cured.” Then, a month or two down the road, reality sets in. They are having to use higher and higher doses of stronger medications to get the same result. Before they know it, they have ballooned in weight, have moon face, are diabetic and depressed, and their sex drive is gone. Corticosteroids also increase the risk of adrenal insufficiency, osteoporosis, and cataracts. Furthermore, they inhibit the immune system by “inducing lymphocyte death.” Doesn’t sound too good to me.
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So what’s a Gal or guy to do?
Let me make this perfectly clear. The very first thing you should do is contact a Functional Medicine Physician. I highly recommend (me obviously ;)) finding a physician that has been trained through the Institute of Functional Medicine. Autoimmune diseases can be a difficult and finicky condition. I don’t recommend taking it on alone. Some things that are recommended for one patient can be very detrimental to another. Get some help.
PS. - I do offer phone consultations for those that are “distance challenge” to my office.