Autoimmune Disorders Articles

Standard Medical Treatment

Standard medical treatment for Crohn’s disease includes drug therapy such as anti-inflammation drugs. Most patients are given drugs that contain mesalamine, to control inflammation. The possible side effects can be nausea, vomiting, heart burn, diarrhea, and headache.

Then there are Cortisone drugs and steroids know as corticosteiods. Prednisone is the common name of one of these drugs. When the disease is at its worst, Prednisone is often prescribed in a large dose. This is a drug with very serious side effects.

Next we move on to immune system suppressors. Wow, just what a person with a debilitating condition needs. The side effects are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, while it lowers immunity.

Also, antibiotics are used to treat bacterial over in the small intestines. One or more of these can be prescribed: ampicillin, sulfonamide, cephalosporin, and tetracycline.

Medication for diarrhea and abdominal pain may be necessary.

After all the medication two-thirds to three-quarters of patients with Crohn’s disease will require surgery at some point. Surgery removes part of the intestine to help people with the symptoms. It is not a cure. Many times people have more than one operation, as inflammation tends to return to another area.

Some people need to have their entire colon removed. The operation is called a colostomy. This means that all wastes that exits the body will be collected in a pouch worn over the opening, near the beltline. The majority (not all) of patients can live a normal life.

Another Story

Study

A new study found that Vitamin D, which is found in supplements such as cod liver oil, counters the effect of Crohn’s disease. John White, an endocrinologist at the Research Institute of the McGill University and the Universite de Montreal who presented their findings about the inflammatory bowel disease in the latest Journal of Biological Chemistry.

“Our data suggests, for the first time, that D deficiency can contribute of Crohn’s disease,” states Dr. White a professor in McGill’s Department of Physiology, noting that people who live in northern countries, and receive less sunlight then is necessary for the formation of Vitamin D in the body, are more vulnerable to Crohn’s disease.

What is important to note is that Dr. White’s interest in vitamin D is that it mitigates cancer. All of his results point to vitamin D’s effect on the immune system. The body’s innate immune system is the body’s first line of defense against microbial invaders. In Crohn’s disease Dr. White stated “It’s a defect in innate immune handling of intestinal bacteria that leads to an inflammatory response that may lead to an autoimmune condition.”

Connecting the dots will tell you that if one natural nutrient helps it means that there are multiple benefits from a healthy diet. Most of these nutrients will exceed your expectations, offering you a compete array of what you need for sustainable good health.

Find out more about the other story, and the people who healed themselves, by using natural methods. We will continue this article with the websites and information that you need in our newsletter “The Healing zone.”

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The third largest category of illness in the industrialized world behind heart disease and cancer is autoimmune disorders. The tremendous rise in autoimmune diseases of all types has been alarming.

RESEARCH

The focus of increased research funding, will bring more pharmaceuticals to market.  As of now there are no therapies that are anything more than band-aids. Yet, there are studies that have shown the connection of these conditions to diet, and environmental factors. Studies have shown that Greenland Eskimos were free of autoimmune disorders. When they changed their diet to the standard American way of eating they have the same high incidence of these disorders.

ENVIORNMENT

The connection to environmental factors, seem to be of little interest to the pharmaceutical mentality of modern medicine. The truth, there is a connection between all chronic conditions and diet. Autoimmune disorders are no exception. However, some of the autoimmune disorders have a correlation to the environmental toxins that’s not so straightforward.

DIET

The connection between Omega-3 fatty acid consumption is known. When there is diet modifications there are improvements, and a regression of both symptoms, and disease markers. When people switch to a diet low in omega-6 fats and more omega-3 oils, and add powerful antioxidants from the cruciferous vegetable family, there are improvements in the condition. The American diet is high in Omega-6 fatty acids.

It is known that cruciferous vegetables help with estrogen levels. The vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, and cabbage are part of the supper food group. Our diet of processed food does not meet our nutritional needs. This is one of the reasons you can look to nutrition when trying to heal. Help for autoimmune disorders are not going to be found at the pharmacy.

CAUSES

The secret causes of autoimmune disorder development is known, it is not the mystery that western medicine claims. These are environmental triggers, which will bring about the symptoms in some people exposed to them. The culprits are viruses, pesticides, mercury, and chemicals. There are at least 24 million people affected. It is about 3 times more prevalent in women. That is the precise reason that cruciferous vegetables help. The role of estrogen can’t be emphasized enough.

ESTROGEN CONNECTION

Women of childbearing age and those that take estrogen replacement therapy are where you see the development of some of the conditions that are called autoimmune disease. Estrogen plays a role in the development of lupus. Estrogen is known to activate the immune system, and this system plays the main role in autoimmune disorders. There may be a genetic predisposition; however diet changes such as cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, and cauliflower affect estrogen metabolism. It is possible for women with rheumatoid autoimmune disorders such as arthritis, hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, and rosacea to find relief by balancing their hormones with progesterone.

It seems that excessive estrogen is a precursor to autoimmune disorders in those prone to the condition. Progesterone functions as a precursor of corticosteroids. Doctors prescribe cortisone type drugs to alleviate symptoms. Prednisone is known for some horrendous side effects.  Women with lupus have shown reduced levels of progesterone. Women who use hormone replacement therapy containing estrogen may have a higher risk of developing lupus.

INFLAMMATION

Estrogen increases the inflammation response. It does not take rocket science to see if 75 percent of women develop autoimmune conditions, there is a hormone connection. Taking prednisone, which is an immune suppressor, is not the answer in the long run. Infections are implicated as an autoimmune trigger. Autoimmune diseases are the fourth largest cause of disability for American women.

MEDICAL COSTS

It is estimated that autoimmune diseases cost close to $90 billion per year. One of the reasons is autoimmune conditions are handled by different medical specialties. A patient may see a rheumatologist, endocrinologist, hematologist, neurologist, cardiologist, gastroenterologist, and dermatologist. They can cross refer till the cows come home, and not have an answer to the underlining causes, and most effective non toxic treatment. 

INCIDENCE

The incidence of autoimmune disease has tripled in the last few decades. Hint some thing is causing it, there are not triple the number of people with a genetic predisposition. The list of autoimmune disorders keeps growing. There are ones that are common like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, type-1 diabetes, and psoriasis.  The autoimmune diseases can affect the nervous system, joint and muscles, skin, endocrine, and heart. Not much is left out. It appears that the exposure to environmental toxins contribute to ill health. It is not an enormous stretch to see that these conditions will have the same connection.

The amounts of chemicals that are circulating, both in our environment and our bodies, are astronomical. From flame-retardants, dioxins, toxic metals, and yes even Teflon. We are exposed to estrogen and estrogen-like substances from many sources. Our foods contain pesticides; some have an estrogen like structure. Estrogen impostors also come from the petrochemical end, in the form of plastics.

CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE

Conventional medicine does not take into account environmental activators; instead they look to pharmaceutical solutions. What they do is try to block the inflammatory response, by deregulating the immune response. Now they increased the risk of cancer and infections. The medications not only have severe side effects, but do not address the cause.

CONCLUSSION

Mercury overload, environment toxins, allergens, poor diet, stress, and a leaky gut can all contribute to autoimmune conditions. Celiac disease is an autoimmune reaction to wheat and gluten containing grains. The shortage of essential fats in our diet contributes to a host of conditions. Detoxification through natural means is known to help many of the conditions listed under the umbrella heading of autoimmune disease. In the past decade some of the top medical journals have reported rising rates of lupus, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma, inflammatory conditions of the intestines, and type 1 diabetes. “Exposures from our environment are a significant contributor to today’s rising rates” says Douglas Kerr, director of the John Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Center and a top clinician at the John Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis center.  The researches at the University Of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, have reported that celiac disease is four times as common as it was 50 years ago.

It is time to start looking in the right directions for answers, the storm is brewing and our standard medical system is giving it wind power. When the nation turns its attention to natural solutions, we will find real world solutions for our personal health and our planet.