Hiya Smarties!
Check out this fabulous guest article by Mark Hyman, MD, to provide clarity on inflammation and autoimmune diseases from my blog archives.
This information is always timely. Hope it helps! Take it away, Mark…
Inflammation is a “hot” topic in medicine.
It appears connected to almost every known chronic disease: from heart disease to cancer, diabetes to obesity, autism to dementia and even depression. Other inflammatory diseases, such as allergies, asthma, arthritis and autoimmune disease, are increasing at dramatic rates. As physicians, we are trained to shut off inflammation with aspirin, anti-inflammatory medication, such as Advil or Motrin, steroids and increasingly more powerful immune-suppressing medication with serious side effects. But we are not trained to find and treat the underlying causes of inflammation in chronic disease. Hidden allergens, infections, environmental toxins, an inflammatory diet and stress are the real causes of these inflammatory conditions.
Autoimmune diseases now affect 24 million people and include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel disease and more. These are often addressed by powerful immune suppressing medication and not by addressing the cause. That’s like taking a lot of aspirin while you are standing on a tack. The treatment is not more aspirin or a strong immune suppressant but removing the tack.
If you want to cool off inflammation in the body, you must find the source. Treat the fire, not the smoke. In medicine, we are mostly taught to diagnose disease by symptoms, not by their underlying cause. Functional medicine is the emerging 21st century paradigm of systems medicine that teaches us to treat the cause, not only the symptoms, and to ask why you are sick, not only what disease you have.
Functional medicine is a different way of thinking about disease that helps us understand and treat the real causes of inflammation instead of finding clever ways to shut it down. Medicine as it is practiced today is like taking the battery out of a smoke detector while a fire burns down your house!
Autoimmune conditions are connected by one central biochemical process: a runaway immune response also known as systemic inflammation that results in your body attacking its own tissues.
Autoimmunity: What is an Autoimmune Disease and How It Occurs
We are facing an epidemic of allergies (60 million people), asthma (30 million people) and autoimmune disorders (24 million people). Autoimmune diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, celiac disease, thyroid disease and the many other hard-to-classify syndromes in the 21st century. These are all autoimmune conditions, and at their root, they are connected by one central biochemical process: a runaway immune response also known as systemic inflammation that results in your body attacking its own tissues.
Your immune system is your defense against invaders. It is your internal army and has to clearly distinguish friend from foe — to know you from other. Autoimmunity occurs when your immune system gets confused and your own tissues get caught in friendly cross-fire. Your body is fighting something — an infection, a toxin, an allergen, a food or the stress response — and somehow it redirects its hostile attack on your joints, your brain, your thyroid, your gut, your skin or sometimes your whole body.
This immune confusion results from what is referred to as molecular mimicry. Conventional approaches don’t have a method for finding the insult causing the problem. Functional medicine provides a map to find out which molecule the cells are mimicking.
Interestingly, autoimmune disorders occur almost exclusively in developed countries. People in poor nations without modern amenities like running water, flushing toilets, washing machines and sterile backyards don’t get these diseases. If you grew up on a farm with lots of animals, you are also less likely to have any of these inflammatory disorders. Playing in the dirt, being dirty and being exposed to bugs and infections trains your immune system to recognize what is foreign and what is “you”.
In this country, autoimmune diseases are a huge health burden. They are the eighth leading cause of death among women, shortening the average patient’s lifespan by eight years. The annual health care cost for autoimmune diseases is $120 billion, representing nearly twice the economic health care burden of cancer (about $70 billion a year).1
Unfortunately, many of the conventional treatments available can make you feel worse. Anti-inflammatory drugs like Advil, steroids, immune suppressants like methotrexate, and the new TNF-alpha blockers like Enbrel or Remicade can lead to intestinal bleeding, kidney failure, depression, psychosis, osteoporosis, muscle loss, diabetes, infection and cancer.2
When used selectively, these drugs can help people get their lives back, but they are not a long-term solution. They shouldn’t be the end of treatment but a bridge to cool off inflammation while we treat the root cause of the disease.
If you have an autoimmune disease, here is what you need to think about and do.
Nine Steps for Treatment of Autoimmune Disease
1. Check for hidden infections — yeast, viruses, bacteria, Lyme, etc. — with the help of a doctor and treat them.
2. Check for hidden food allergens with IgG food testing or just try The UltraSimple Diet, which is designed to eliminate most food allergens.
3. Get tested for celiac disease with a blood test that any doctor can do.
4. Get checked for heavy metal toxicity. Mercury and other metals can cause autoimmunity.
5. Fix your gut.
6. Use nutrients, such as fish oil, vitamin C, vitamin D and probiotics, to help calm your immune response naturally.
7. Exercise regularly. It’s a natural anti-inflammatory.
8. Practice deep relaxation, like yoga, deep breathing, biofeedback or massage, because stress worsens the immune response.
9. Tell your doctor about Functional medicine and encourage him or her to get trained. Go to http://www.functionalmedicine.org/ for more information and to get a copy of the “Textbook for Functional Medicine”.
Give these steps a try and see if you don’t start feeling less inflamed. The answers are right in front of you. Treat the underlying causes of your illness and you will begin to experience vibrant health once more.
For more information on how to optimize your health, see Dr. Hyman’s website.
Now I’d like to hear from you. Have you been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease? How is your doctor treating you? Have you been frustrated by the medical advice that you’ve been given? What steps have you taken to get to the root of the problem, and what have your results been? Please leave your thoughts by adding a comment below.
Love and health,
References
1. Nakazawa, D. (2008). The Autoimmune Epidemic. Simon & Schuster. New York.
2. Siegel, C.A., Marden, S.M., Persing, S.M., et al. (2009). Risk of lymphoma associated with combination anti-tumor necrosis factor and immunomodulator therapy for the treatment of Crohn’s disease: a meta-analysis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 7(8): 874-81.
I have protein in my urine! Have not solved issue with steroids (almost a year). Just started prograf (this evening) as kidney doctor says this is second step to resolving issue! Kidney function is fine at this point but dr. Says protein will eventually hurt kidneys. What more can I do!? Side effects really are scary but kidney failure is scary too! I’m very overweight and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about the time protein became issue, also not far from menopause (277 days since last period). What more can I do? Will I be on this prograf forever?
My mother rheumatoid arthritis (RA) started two years ago at the age of 49; and her life was not the same. it started with traveling joint pain. she went to many doctors, it took a year to diagnose, and the only reason my motehr was diagnosed was because she have nodules and they removed one and it came back as RA. she have been in pain every day.(RA)is a horrible disease,she have been on one pill a day of diclofenac. If she don’t take it, by the third day she can hardly move and she feel like she have the flu.
thank you
I was diagnosed in november 2016 having PMR. Sadly I get it that doctors follow protocol as per on line. Even though my doctor stated he has 50 patients and done alot of reading it wasn’t something be had the ability to discuss on another level. No brochures no helpful printouts no consolation.
It is as though despite papers written and lab documentation describing biochemical processes GPs may not be interested. The pain is awful now tapering. Not sleeping. My day begins when i wake at 2am. Asked if could trial modified release prednisone to address hours most affected by pain between 2:30 am and 12 pm. Might this also address brain fog and low mood during morning hours at present as per prednisone taken at breakfast.
Being treated for antisynthetase syndrome with Lower lung fibrosis. I am on cellcept 1500..I am at Mayo and not happy with my treatment at all. Lung doctor is great but rheumatologist I get no help no information just keeps putting me on this drug. I’m getting no answers of any kind. I am not a pill taker by Nature. I would just as soon be on all natural stuff. I was told not to exercise. I just started doing physical therapy however and feel a lot better. I’ve lost a lot of muscle mass. Lost about 20 pounds so far. I am an older lady. But I’m an extremely active person. I’ve tried to keep a real positive attitude. But it has not been easy. I have absolutely no support anywhere. My husband supports me but no one with this kind of a disease. I have thought many times I wished I could almost get a second opinion on all of this. And then I read your article.
I was diagnosed of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells, I was given medications to slow down the progress of the disease, after some months my conditioned worsened and i lost ability to go about my daily activities and i had to quit my job, my legs and arms were terribly weakened, i resorted to a wheelchair (Perbombil C300). This was till my husband’s friend introduced my husband to a herbal clinic in South Africa who sell herbal medicines to cure all kind of diseases including ALS, we contacted the herbal clinic via their email and purchased the ALS herbal remedy, we received the herbal medicine via courier within 7 days and commenced usage as prescribed, its totally unexplainable how all the symptoms gradually dissapeared, my speech has greatly improved and am able to walk a distance now with no help, contact this herbal clinic via their email healthherbalclinic@gmailCOM
Have been diagnosed with autoimmune disease of the liver. I am on steriods, and nothing else. Have not been told anything about the disease other than it affects more women than men. They tried to do a liver function test but deemed it to dangerous to do. Had too much fluid around my liver. Oh by the way I was diagnosed when I was 62 am now 67 and wanting to get better and get on with my life.
I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 50. I am now 54 and have been on just about every medication there is for UC latest one being Remicade. I have never gone into remission and still have inflammation in my colon. My doctor told me to consider having my colon removed. Not being very excited about this option I decided to take a break from all of these heavy drugs and start eating a plant based diet keeping it as clean as possible. I’m on my second week. I would like to have more information on your Anti-inflammatory diet.
still don’t know the right words to express my Gratitude to the Great Health Herbal Clinic After been diagnosed of hepatitis B in 2014, i was given so many health prescription and advice with no improvement, I totally lost hope, until i found testimonies of Health Herbal Clinic in an online research and on Facebook, Like anybody would be, I was very skeptical about contacting them, but i later did email them and they started the remedies for my health. Thank God, i was cured from hepatitis by the herbal medication I received from Health Clinic. I never thought that hepatitis can be cured, from the bottom of my heart I’m truly grateful
I have sjogren. I tried salagen, didn’help. Now i am on evoxac same result. What should i do?
I have Sjogrens, also, as well as other autoimmune diseases, too. Sa login doesn’t do ANYTHING but help with dry mouth. That is it. The underlying autoimune disease is not being treated. Here are some of the drugs that will suppress your immunity and help you a lot:
Plaquenil
Prednisone
Remicade
The main worry with Sjogrens is developing vasculitis. I developed cerebral vasculitis and it can lead to stroke. You really need a very good Rheumatologist. You might go to healthgrades.com to find the best one near your home.
i was diagnosed with an auto ammune disease about two in ahalf weeks ago. i have a rash between the eyes on my forhead about my nose it wouldnt go away after two years of putting it off i finally broke down and went to the docs.Doc took one look and told me i prob have autoammune disease or rosacea. did blood work and postive for an autoammune disease) my back constantly hurts i took the pain as a car accident the constant lifting of my residents while working and a degenerative disease that i have already been diagnosed with. So but the last five to seven years ive had knee pains tht come and go really painful sometimes simutainisly. also bad night sweats not everynight.doc checked for lupus seeing my mom has it and i have all the signs looked like tht was it.but got a negative for lupus. got a first time visit scheduled for rhumotologist in another month. might as well be a trillion years away when ur backs constantly aching and hurting and sometimes i cant walk because my buttocks gets swollen up on one side and its trully a painful experience. got a anti inflammatory pill i take twice a day. she gave me a steriod for my face rash its a week long oral pill tht hurts my stomach really bad. day two today, looks like its helping maybe… i have been trying to do stretches everyday and practice yoga. anyways all of this is new to me I fnt know if im flustered yet w my care or not. shes sending me in to get a back x ray. curious to c what tht shows. only a back x ray shes nor worried about my painful knees! which has been alot worse here lately. my shirt was still wet two hours after i changed it thus morning. called the rhumotologist a few days ago to be put on the call list to get in there sooner and they said the doc was going on vacation a two weeks and wouldnt be there a few more other days and rhry donr have much of a call list cuz noone ever really cancels. yay for me. thanks for listening to me:) God bless.
You can still have Lupus without a positive ANA test. It does happen. People with lupus who have a negative ANA test may have anti-Ro/SSA or antiphospholipid antibodies. All your symptoms sound very Lupus-like, like you said.
Once you get in to see that Rheumatologist, he will put you on medications that will drastically help your joint and muscle pain ( and your back). Just happy you are getting in to see the correct type of doctor. Things are about to turn around for you!!!
My wife LaWanda who is 72 yrs old, & only weigh’s 77 lbs. She had a Dermatologist diagnosis her with Lupus when she was very young. It was attacking her immune system primarily in facial area to the point that, people though she was burn victim. She has outgrown it the most part. However it still plagues her to this day.
In addition to the Lupus she has now developed Psoriasis, that covers 60 – 70 % of her body, with a constant itching problem. She would like to scratch her skin right off her body areas at times. The present Dermatologist had placed her on a medication called Otezla. When she first received a limited supply, sample package – ( that had a beginning dosage of 10% for the first day or two. Progressing to 20% finishing off the short supply at 30-% ) from the Dr. office till the medication could be obtained from the Drug company. It helped her tremendously, a lot of the inflammation covering her hands, face, back, and other parts of her had gone into remission, it began to make a large improvement with the itching as well. So we though we had finally found something that would work for her. When the Drug company finally sent her the next supply, to continue using the product, all hell broke out. The replacement Medication starting at 30% caused all kinds of side effects. She become sick to her stomach, to the point of Dry Heaves, became suicidal at one point wanting to just end all this misery.
She has since taken herself off the Otezla because of the side effects, but the Psoriasis has once again, taken over her body once more. On top of all this, the same Dermatologist had taken a Biopsy for a very small spot on her face, that was plaguing her as well. Their results have been diagnosed as Sweet Syndrome. It started out as a very small spot in the area, & since the Biopsy has grown to a circular area of approximately 1 & 1/4″ with a purplish color.
She has since seen an Oncologist, who has taken a bone marrow Biopsy, & has all but ruled out cancer, but no one has any answers to solve the issues that plague her constantly.
If anyone has any advice as to how she can deal with these symptoms or experienced any of these afflictions. Or knowledge for advice PLEASE LAT US KNOW.
Thank You in advance George
Hello, my husband has a rare autoimmine disease fsgs and (long story) basically had a year of steroids high dose etc nothing worked. He was about to start a very aggressive drug but I asked for a few months to try diet changes
I have a science background and spent hours researching journals on the subject and came up with a similar approach and he is going into remission! His Dr wanted to him to take part in research but we declined. Just wanted to say it does indeed work
Victoria Williams
I have Primary Biliary Cirrhosis an autoimmune disease which attacks the bile ducts and causes poisonous Bile to come out of ducts. It also goes into bones, nerves etc . It causes immense fatigue that I get Nuvigil for which is for Narcolepsy but not approved as PBC presents itself in roughly .1% of 1 million people. I’m sure there are more. It is treated by Actigall to extend lifespan. It may and does cause Fibromyalgia, neuropathy, Sjogrens, and Hypothyroidism to name most but there are more. My diet is excellent being raw and high in Vit D3, C, Bs, , lean protein, avocado, coconut oil, and nuts etc. Do you know anything on this subject. A Psychic once said it’s all caused by Epstein-Barr Virus. And I did have Mono. Many had Lyme. My main problem is the autoimmune arthritis which is different than RA which happens in the disease too. I take Prednisone. My Rheumy doesn’t understand this disease I am a guinea pig because it’s so rare. Also the neuropathy and Fibromyalgia are intense and even with Lyrica I have to sit on ice and sleep on it. Help!
I am from united state of america, I want to testify of how i got cured of Hepatitis B, I got infected with Hepatitis B disease in 2015, i have visited several hospitals, spiritualists and pastors for cure but all to no avail, my world was gradually coming to an end until,i searched google and read about possible cures to get cured of HBsag. i saw a post in a health forum about (MED LAB), that cures all kinds of deadly diseases including HIV AIDS, ALS, Herpes, Diabetes MND, Epilepsy, Leukemia, Asthma, Cancer, Ghonorhea etc, at first i got shocked, because many Doctors said that there is no parment cured for HBsag, but when i go further i saw various testimony, about many people who got cured, that is how i give a try because this is my life, i so much believe in achieving what you desire. when i contacted this MED LAB via email: medlab36@gmailcom he sent me HBsag Vaccine via courier service, when i received this Vaccine, he gave me step by step instructions on how to apply them, when i applied it as instructed, i was cured of this deadly disease within 8days, I am now Hepatitis b Negative (-) all thanks to MED LAB. Contact this great MED LAB CENTRE, Email: medlab36@gmailcom
I was 13 when I was first told I had low thyroid. A year later they said it was corrected and took me off the synthroid. I suffered for years with pain, fatigue, weight gain, etc. By 2013 I had gained 70 lbs in 3 years and I was a mess from head to toe. An ENT discovered a lump in my throat when checking an area in my nose. Ended up having a total thyroidectomy for pa pillar cancer. Was told that pathology showed I had Hashimotos for a long time. Also ended up with permanent hypocalcemia from surgery. The next 7 months were the worst in my life. I could hardly function to get through work and would go straight home and sleep. I was a total opposite person than before when I was always working, cleaning, cooking, always busy. Started the paleo diet and had decent results but the brain fog and anxiety was unchanged. I am now 40, most days I feel like I’m 70 but I force myself to get by each day. I eat mostly paleo and certain gluten free products that my body does not seem to react to. I go to my doctors appointments but they always feel like a waste of time. They have no answers and the symptoms I have got any relief with was done with my own research. My symptoms remain from head to toe and there are alays new ones or changes. There’s no way to say which are worse or more annoying because there are so many. Most days i think i would rather be dead then feel this way and deal with it on my own. This is no way to live. I just want one doctor who actually understands what I am going through. I would travel anywhere if someone could tell me there is a doctor who could definitely help me.
Have them check for Antimitichondrial Antibodies. AMA. No one checks. I feel your pain.
I am very, very discouraged. Went to pain docs for treatment of chostocondritis that became very painful over several years. Supposedly connected to Crohn’s Disease which I also have. Very depressed and in pain. Trying to go off narcotics. Really struggling. Any help welcome.
I have been diagnoised with rheumatoid arthritis for seven years now. I just got insurance last year the Dr did give extensive blood work, but would hardly ever explain anything to me just put me on orencia. my proteins were so bad that the blood work suggested I have the myloma cancer test which came back negative my ra factor is 413; However, I was bit on my back by a tick as a matter of fact the tick had been there a while a friend noticed it when I took off my shirt several weeks later I got sicker than I can ever recall being for 2 weeks straight with flu symptoms. two months later with no warning I woke up for work in the worst pain I could barely walk, and it has been that way ever since. my right leg has been injured in the past but now it is bone on bone I am only 47 and I feel 80. I have put a lot of weight on, which is very hard for me I suffered from a eating disorder bulimia as a teenager. I have just recently lost around 35 pounds but was in a horrible car wreck and my knees and legs got the worst I had to be air lifted to another hospital, and because of that wreck I am back on predisone which I hate. I stopped orencia aftr 6 months and I stopped going to that Dr. he simply would not hear me. I tried to tell him since I had been on orencia I gained thirty pounds even when I was withdrawing from suboxene and opiate, and I ate nothing I still gained 5 pounds. I got dizzy all the time, I coughed all the time, and my breasts wee engorged, and so painful I could not touch them. a lot of people think that I have lymes disease and it makes so much more sense, but I have been tested 3 times for lymes and they were all negative. the orencia did help my inflammation and pain, I went and got more blood work my inflammation had gone down, but was still in the high range. methotrexate gave me sores all over my body, in my mouth I lost hair, always felt like I had the flu just did nothing for me. I am ata loss I do not want to take the biologics cancer is in my family on both sides bad it has killed my fathr and grandfather. I have had cat scans and they say that the do see many lymph nodes which scares me, but of course nobody will explain anything to me. please help me give me some advice I would appreciate it I am trying to find another rheumatologist now.
I am not sure what I have. I am in between doctors trying to figure out why I have they symptoms I do. Next they are testing for Hashimoto’s. I have a nodule on my thyroid and see a ENT next week.
I was diagnosed with lichen planopilaris and have been on Plaquenil for about a year but the doctor said if it is not helping to stop it, and he also said there is nothing really that will help me? I have been anxious about plaquenil because of the side effect of eye problems–how my eye doctor said that was ok so far. I understand you can also lose hearing. But I feel I need to do something! I have lost hair on top but I wanted to stop future hairloss, itching of scalp and bumps in the future? He mentioned Actos but decided against that because it now causes cancer of the bladder. There there anything else I can do, even natural. I also have some osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia. Thank you