Blog article

I attended a seminar recently on this subject of autoimmunity. It is a very complex subject, so I am just going to cover the salient points with emphasis on Rheumatoid arthritis which is a very common AiD.

1.  Autoimmunity is when the immune system goes awry and attacks itself. e.g rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes
2.  Autoimmune diseases are on the rise. In a trial in the UK, of 22 M million people from 2000 to 2019, nearly 1 million had a new diagnosis of at least one autoimmune dosease and 64% were female!
3. The mosaic of autoimmunity suggests that a range of factors such as genetics, hormonal,environmental, and immune system defects are involved in the induction of these diseases. And they need a trigger which could be a drug, various environmental exposures both physical and chemical with the major trigger being certain infections. 
4. It is suggested that diet, smoking,psychological and mental stress, physical activity, diet, alcohol use, outdoor and indoor pollutants, pollen,mould, fungi, pesticides,food additives,occupational exposure, sleep behaviour all affect autoimmunity.
5. Critical factors for autoimmunity seem to involve 2 key signal types with multiple hits such as:a)Ongoing tissue damage; b) Immune reaction to poor gut flora which may be viruses, bacteria or fungi that should not be in the gut,c) toxins or leaky gut d) Viruses in the system that carry antigens that mimic self antigen.
6. Epstein Barr virus and SARS-Cov-2 have unique abilities to trigger autoimmuniuty and various autoimmune diseases. These are:Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Autoimmune thyroid disease, Glomerular kidney disease.
7. Leaky gut was a strong factor in Crohn's disease,chronic liver disease, non fatty alcoholic liver disease, Type 1 diabetes, irritable bowel disease,ulcerative colitis and autism.
8. Factors that can cause leaky gut include, diet, anti biotics and other drugs particularly NSAIDs, gluten, stress and inflammation.
9. Reduction in symptoms of AiDs after a gluten free diet was found to be 65% over a period of from 1 month to 9 months in several trials. 
10. The best low reactive diet to follow is: low sugar or fried food, no gluten or dairy, no yeast, plenty of fibre, use the micro circulation diet to improve circulation to the cells.
11. The main key areas in herbal medicine to address are: Persistant pathogens, detoxify the body, reduce poor gut microbe mix, balance the immune system and chronic inflammatiion.This is a run down of general concepts and strategies for autoimmunity. The next article will be on Rheumatoid arthritis and how herbs and lifestryle can help.

Join the discussion