Autoimmune Diseases
What is an autoimmune disease?
There are over 100 autoimmune diseases but here are the most common ones you might have heard of
Rheumatoid Arthritis- Inflammatory disorder that usually affects small joints in the hands and feet.
Lupus- An illness when the immune system attacks healthy tissue and organs
Celiac Disease- An immune system reaction to eating gluten
Sjogren’s Syndrome- An immune system illness system illness that causes dry eyes and dry mouth
Multiple Sclerosis- When the immune system eats away at protective covering of nerves
Polymyalgia Rheumatica- Inflammatory disorder causing muscle pain and stiffness around the shoulders and hips
Ankylosing Spondylitis- An inflammatory arthritis affecting the spine and large joints
Type 1 diabetes- A lifelong condition where the pancreas makes little or no insulin, which leads to high blood sugar levels
Alopecia Areata- Sudden hair loss that starts with one or more circular bald patches that may overlap.
Vasculitis- Swelling of blood vessels
Temporal Arteritis- Inflammation in the blood vessels.
Finding out what the root cause of an autoimmune disease can feel like a long and scary journey, I wanted to list some drivers that can cause an autoimmune disease to develop. Western medicine tells us that once you have an autoimmune disease that’s it! you’ll have it for the rest of your life. From my research I have found that it isn’t the case with every autoimmune disease. It wasn't until I learned about ( Function Of medicine ) which is an approach that talks about the “ root” cause of inflammation and chronic illness.
There are 6 causes that you can start to look at to start figuring out why your body is out of balance and why your having chronic inflammation
Toxins
Microbes
Allergens
Poor Diet
Stress
Genetic Predisposition
The three that I feel are most important to focus on are
Genetic Predisposition
Environmental Triggers
Toxin Exposure
Genetic Predisposition- Our genes can be the first step in potential for disease to develop. But how we activate those genes to turn on and off impacts actual disease development. Make sure you watch your environmental exposure, nutrient intake, and maintaining your gut health.
Gut health is very important. So many issues arise from poor gut health aka a ( leaky gut ). 70 % of your immune system is in your gut. A leaky gut involves controlling the passage of nutrients and unwanted invaders from the gut through the cells that line the gut. Leaky gut allows bacteria and toxins to enter the bloodstream leaving you feeling sick.
Environmental Triggers - Infections ( Usually viral ) inflammatory diet, chronic inflammation, lack of exercise.
Toxin Exposure- Chemical exposure through food, exposure to pollutants, stress and lack of sleep.
Getting to the root of this really help play a role in helping bettering your overall health.
