More Than 20 Million Americans Are Fighting Themselves

In an autoimmune disease, the body attacks its own tissue, such as in multiple sclerosis, celiac disease, type 1 diabetes, and asthma. This can lead to the deterioration of that tissue. Symptoms of autoimmune diseases include fatigue, fever, muscles and join aches, and general malaise. The National Institute of Health estimates that about 5% of or 23.5 million Americans have some kind of autoimmune disease. A number of factors contribute to the inflammation that can lead to allergies and autoimmune diseases, such as increased permeability in the gut and blood vessels and environmental and hormonal factors.

Gut permeability can be increased by poor dietary choices, stress, infection, disease, hypochloridia, and environmental toxins. Due to the elevated passage through the intestinal wall, the body can react aggressively toward the intruder, causing an allergic reaction or food sensitivity. The escaping nutrients through the gut can also contribute to malnutrition and dysbiosis. Toxic over load can increase the antigenic burden, leading to system disease. Often increased intestinal permeability is confused with a food allergy, although the allergy be the effect, not the cause. This can be determined though IgG testing; if there is a reaction to many foods, gut permeability may be the culprit.

Environmental can also trigger autoimmune responses due to increased inflammation. Infections and exposure to environmental pollutants are two environmental responses that can cause the body to react. Infections may cause an autoimmune response due to molecular mimicry, which means the infections looks (to the body) very similar to substances that are supposed to be naturally occurring. Environmental pollutants, such as silica dust commonly inhaled by those who work in construction, have led to autoimmune diseases such as systemic sclerosis.

Gender differences in autoimmune diseases have led us to the effects of hormones. Female see a greater immune response than men, which gives them a higher prevalence of autoimmune diseases. For example, females are more prone to developing Systemic Lupus Erythematosus than men. We’ll see increases in autoimmune problems during hormone fluctuations such as in pregnancy and menstruation. Presumably, estrogen enhance immune response while testosterone and progesterone suppress it. Although it was previously thought that these hormones effected the immune system through the thymus gland, they appear to act directly on immunity, the central nervous system, macrophage-macrocyte system and skeletal system.

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