An Overview of Autoimmune Disease
Autoimmune disorders were once thought to be uncommon, but they currently impact 3%–5% of the world's population, with autoimmune thyroid disease and type 1 diabetes mellitus being the most common. Some are organ-specific, such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and others that involve multiple organs, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). It currently affects over 80 million people (1 in 5 people), which makes it more impactful than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. This is the biggest threat to western culture.
The immune system's ability to recognize “foreign” antigens was first proposed in the early 20th century. However, until the early 1950s, it was not widely accepted that an immune response could be developed against “self” antigens. Paul Ehrlich identified nearly a century ago the immune reactivity against one's own body, which he named “horror autotoxicus” and is today recognized as autoimmunity. Therefore, autoimmunity is characterized by abnormal lymph responses to pathogens.
So what is it exactly? The definition is when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body. The tissue attacked and the symptoms that develop determine the name of the disease. There are 80 types of autoimmune disease that we know of, and there is speculation that there may be 100’s of types. Any body part can be affected.
Autoimmune disease is characterized by four components:
An imbalance between effector T cells (turns on defense, and regulator T cells (turns off defense).
Defective elimination of self-reactive immune cells
Chronically alert immune system
Widespread inflammation
There are 3 stages:
Antibodies, no symptoms or tissue damage
Antibodies, symptoms, no tissue damage
Antibodies, symptoms, tissue damage
What are the causes? We commonly ask, is it nature or nurture? The answer is, yes. It’s both; it’s an interplay between genetics and environmental exposures, otherwise known as epigenetics. This is a good time to introduce the idea of the exposome. The exposome refers to the totality of exposures from a variety of external and internal sources including chemical agents, biological agents, or radiation, from conception onward, over a complete lifetime.
A good acronym for this is TIGER, which is from a book by Akil Palanismy
T: toxins
I: infections
G: gut health
E: eat, what to eat or not eat
R: rest and rebalance
TOXINS:
Toxins can include heavy metals which could be from seafood or dental amalgams. It can come in the form of plastics (which interfere with cytochrome P450, an important part of detoxification). When you start to pay attention to how much plastic we touch and put in our mouth, it’s frightening. From the water bottles, to take out food (including plasticware), our toothbrush bristles, the lining on paper plates and cash register receipts, etc. It’s even worse when you heat up plastic in ready to go foods. It’s not just the BPAs, but also a ‘forever’ chemical called phthalates. Chemicals such as nail polish remover, detergents, cleaning products, and fragrances can all initiate an inflammatory reaction. Last, but not least, pesticides such as glyphosate can be highly inflammatory.
INFECTIONS:
Certain infections can trigger autoimmune responses. For example, some viral infections may initiate autoimmune reactions in genetically predisposed individuals. Tick borne illness and viruses such as Epstein-Barr are highly associated with autoimmunity.
GUT HEALTH:
Our bodies contain more bacterial cells than human cells, so it would maintain that the health of our gut microbiome would greatly dictate the health of the entire organism. The gut is a semi-permeable membrane, similar to our skin. There is a protein called zonulin that holds the barrier together. There are many things that can affect this protein and allow the gut to be more permeable, allowing larger molecules to pass through such as food particles. The immune system recognizes this as a threat and starts to attack. Toxins, oxidative stress, psychological stress, antibiotics, NSAIDs, and additives from processed foods can all negatively affect the membrane.
EAT:
This is a big one. Many people develop food sensitivities, intolerances, and allergies from specific foods. This can be due to the pesticides, weakened immune system, molecular mimicry, or gut dysbiosis. Unfortunately, our food supply is not what it was even a few decades ago and it’s damaging our health.
REST AND REBALANCE:
This is the lowest hanging fruit, and somehow the one that gets missed the most. It’s somewhat cultural; we are grossly sleep deprived. Our go-getter culture and stress is partly to blame. But it also has to do with disrupted circadian rhythms, too much blue light exposure, and not enough sunlight. It’s also a mindset shift. So many of our athletes and clientele try to solve a stress issue by adding more stress, when what they really need is recovery. If this is you, we have a free ebook on sleep optimization here.
To hear what you can do about autoimmune disease, listen to our podcast: