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An important role of your immune system is to produce antibodies to protect against foreign invaders, like bacteria, parasites and viruses. There are many complex mechanisms to regulate this process, ensuring that your immune cells are active enough to protect, but not too active to cause issues. It’s all about balance. An autoimmune disease (AID) occurs when these mechanisms fail, leaving the immune cells unregulated. Think of it as a communication breakdown where immune cells don’t receive important messages and all they learned throughout their rigorous boot camp training goes out the window. This often results in the production of auto-antibodies. Auto-antibodies are produced when your immune cells target your own tissues (instead of foreign invaders). You can think of it like an army of soldiers without commanders. Although there is currently no cure for autoimmunity, there are many ways that you can manage symptoms and support your body’s healing through diet and lifestyle. And, there are strategies you can use that have nothing to do with pharmaceuticals if you don’t want to use them. |
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Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is one of example of more than 100 currently identified autoimmune diseases (and the number continues to increase with advancements in research and science). Other examples include Type I diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, ulcerative colitis and multiple sclerosis, just to name a few. Autoimmune disease has reached epidemic levels and we are at a point now where you have a one in five chance of developing an autoimmune disease over your lifetime. If you are a woman, or have a genetic predisposition, those odds increase. People with AID tend to experience chronic fatigue, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and many times, social isolation. There’s a whole lot more to this list by the way. One of the most frustrating aspects of AID is that from the initial onset of symptoms to the time of diagnosis can take years. Current statistics show that it takes 4.5 years and 4 doctors to obtain a diagnosis. Reducing the time that it takes to recognize the signs and symptoms of autoimmunity in its early phases means the difference between minimal tissue damage versus significant tissue damage that can cause life long issues. Knowing what labs to run and how to view those results through the lens of autoimmunity is incredibly important. One of my objectives with every single client is to look for these early signs and symptoms of autoimmunity in hopes of helping to prevent tissue destruction by the immune system. If you think you might be dealing with an autoimmune disease but can’t get anyone to listen, reach out and let us know. |