Understanding Autoimmune Diseases

What are autoimmune diseases?

Although there are many different types of autoimmune diseases and they can affect many different organs (such as your thyroid if you have Hashimoto’s, or your joints if you have Rheumatoid Arthritis), at their core they are all similar in that they are an immune response that leads your body to attack itself. No matter what type of autoimmune disease you have, the true problem (and solution) lies with your immune system. Understanding autoimmune diseases is not difficult once a few key concepts are reviewed.

Your immune system has a very sophisticated system for keeping you safe that leads it to identify all of the foreign substances that enter your body or that you come into contact with. If your immune system deems anything dangerous, it will produce antibodies to ward off the harmful intruders. Antibodies are our bodies tagging system that identifies foreign invaders an signal the rest of the immune system to come and remove them. Our body is fairly adept at fighting off things like bacteria and viruses, but is less adept at destroying things like allergens or toxins.

Autoimmune diseases are born when your body is working hard to defend itself against something potentially dangerous, such as an allergen, a toxin, an infection, or even a food, and it fails to differentiate between the intruder and parts of your own body. This can happen because your body is not great at fighting those things or because the foreign invader looks similar enough to some part of the body that misidentification occurs. Your stressed immune system then turns antibodies against you, mistakenly attacking your own tissues instead of invaders, causing a potentially wide range of symptoms.

10 Signs You May Have an Autoimmune Disease

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, especially a combination of several of them, you may have an autoimmune disease.

1. Joint pain, muscle pain or weakness, or a tremor
2. Weight loss, insomnia, heat intolerance, or rapid heartbeat
3. Recurrent rashes or hives, sun sensitivity, a butterfly-shaped rash across your nose and cheeks.
4. Difficulty concentrating or focusing
5. Feeling tired or fatigued, weight gain, or cold intolerance
6. Hair loss or white patches on your skin or inside your mouth
7. Abdominal pain, blood or mucus in your stool, diarrhea, or mouth ulcers
8. Dry eyes, mouth, or skin
9. Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
10. Multiple miscarriages or blood clots

How do you Diagnose Autoimmune Diseases?

The standard way to diagnose autoimmune diseases is through blood work. This includes tests like ASA, Sed Rate, Rheumatoid Factor, Thyroid Antibodies, etc. Tests like these help to identify which autoimmune disease is present and how flared-up it is. These tests do not necessarily help discover why an autoimmune disease started in the first place. Additional tests may be necessary to get to the root cause of autoimmunity. These could include heavy metal testing, food sensitivity testing, environmental pollutants testing, and/or mycotoxin testing. If we can find the root cause then we can remove the triggers to lessen the immune system aggravation.

What causes autoimmunity and how can you reverse it?

Conventional medicine will tell you that autoimmune diseases are caused by genetics. And there certainly is a genetic component to them. However, twin studies have shown that genetics only accounts for about 25% of the chance that you will develop an autoimmune disorder. That means the remaining 75% of the picture is environmental — and therefore up to you! I find that an incredibly empowering statistic. And, what I find the most incredible as a physician is that by addressing these environmental factors you can not only prevent an autoimmune condition, but also REVERSE it after it develops.

Remember, that all autoimmune diseases are a problem of the immune system. It is by addressing the root causes above that you ease the burden on your immune system that caused it to go rogue and attack your own tissues in the first place. Then, once your optimal immune function has been restored and your body is no longer attacking itself, your symptoms disappear. So, if you have Hashimoto’s, your thyroid is typically able to begin producing its hormones again, if you have Rheumatoid arthritis your joint pain subsides, and so on. The important thing to keep in mind is that YOU have the ability to take your health back into your own hands. Your genes do not control your destiny, and if you’re willing to commit to understanding autoimmune diseases and addressing the true underlying causes of your condition, you can eliminate your symptoms and reclaim your vitality!