This may come as a bit of a surprise but you only need to have 2 common symptoms to make it very likely that you have an autoimmune disease or may get one. The two symptoms present in virtually all autoimmune diseases are chronic fatigue and unrefreshing sleep.
What was once a unheard of serious health problem know as autoimmune disease is now more common that ever with over 80 known disorders and at least another 100 diseases that are suspected of being listed as autoimmune diseases. One of the biggest problems with autoimmune disease is that you can experience symptoms of autoimmune disorder years before it can actually be correctly diagnosed. Therefore the best way to find out if you are likely to get an autoimmune disease in the future is by checking the list of pre-autoimmune symptoms which can give you a heads up on a possible disease and the ability to defend yourself against the attack.
There are many different types of auto immune diseases that can be treated and even reversed using nutritional medicine. Auto immune diseases are complicated problems involving poor health which can effect one or more systems of the body and there can be are many different symptoms as a result.
The key to treating an auto immune disease is removing the underlying cause/s that tell the immune system to start an attack on the body itself. Once this is done the auto immune disease can then be reversed and from that point the body can begin to heal the damage caused by the disease.
Often with auto immune diseases there are multiple antagonists responsible for firing up the immune system, this coupled with a loss of communication between the body and the immune system causes the negative reaction. With treating an auto immune disease its important to not only remove the antagonists but also to re-establish proper communication allowing the immune system to realize the difference between the antagonist and the body part that is being attacked.
Symptoms of pre-autoimmune disease
- Fatigue
- Unrefreshing sleep
- Cognitive impairment and or memory loss
- Disturbed poor quality sleep
- Allergies
- Swollen glands in the neck, armpits and or groin
- Recurrent minor infections or infection that persist
- Skin rashes
- Neurological manifestations such as numbness or tingling in the limbs
- Headaches
- Food intolerance & sensitivity
- Dry mouth
- Mild fever or feeling uncomfortably hot, particularly at night
- Muscle and or joint aches and pains
- Muscle weakness
What is autoimmune disease?
Before we go on let’s briefly explain autoimmune disease. Autoimmune disease is a disease of the immune system that attacks the body causing damage to varied organs which leads to disease. Put simply, its your immune system attacking you.
Causes of autoimmune disease
The first thing you need to know about autoimmune disease is that you cannot have an autoimmune disease unless you have specific genes or a genetic disposition, that means autoimmune disease runs in families, this however does not mean that you will get the same autoimmune disease as other members of your family.
What’s also clear about autoimmune disease is that just having a genetic inheritance is not enough to ensure that you will get the disease, other factors such as one or more environmental factors act as a trigger to kick start the disease. Anything such as an infection, foods, emotional stress, exposure to chemicals, toxic metals, nutritional imbalance, pregnancy and having a leaky gut sets the stage for the development of an autoimmune disease.
You may be wondering what causes autoimmune disease and there is no short answer, however you should know that in order to develop an autoimmune disease you must have the genes for it. Most autoimmune disorders are the result of faulty genes that also need an external trigger to activate the disorder along with having a leaky gut.
Autoimmune Disease Triggers
Faulty genes combined with environmental chemicals and leaky gut set the stage for autoimmune disease. Other factors that also contribute include infections, food intolerance’s & sensitivities, emotional stress, exposure to chemicals, heavy metals, pregnancy and nutritional deficiencies.
Many specific genes have been found to be associated with common autoimmune disease. These genes are referred to as gene mutations or gene alterations or gene disorders or faulty genes, there are many different names but they all essentially mean the same thing, that the gene does work the way it should.
A common misconception is that if you have a genetic problem that means that you can’t do anything about it, nothing could be more untrue. Just because you have a gene disorder for example does mean that you can’t change your circumstances, get relief from autoimmune disease and even resolve an autoimmune disease.
When it comes to faulty genes there is some good news, gene mutations that cause autoimmune disease respond really well to targeted nutrition. Once you know which genes are behind your specific autoimmune disorder, this gives you an advantage in knowing exactly how to treat your condition.
The best way to develop an understanding of where your autoimmune disease is coming from is through DNA testing and analysis. Testing your genes for defects based on your already diagnosed auto immune disease or even just your symptoms can be a major advantage in knowing what to do to limit or even resolve an autoimmune disease. The biggest problem with an auto immune diseases is the damage that is done by the immune system to various organs of the body.
So the bottom line is you need the genes for autoimmune to occur, you need to have leaky gut and you need an environmental trigger to start of the disease process.
Finding & preventing autoimmune disease
Fortunately there is a number of ways that autoimmune disease can be either prevented or at the very least slowed right down when you know exactly what factors are playing out inside your body, often people with autoimmune disease just accept their fate and rely on medications to cover up the underlying condition, mean while there are several factors that can be investigated and solutions applied to resolving or slowing the progress of the disease. Here are some of the top things you can do now to prevent autoimmune disorders and or find and turn off the triggers that started the problems.
Genetics – We know that we need to have faulty genetics to begin with in order to get an autoimmune disease, testing your immune system genes is a great way to find out how your immune system is faulty, the big advantage is in discovering the faulty immune genes which helps to prevent the disease through early detection. Further the immune gene test helps identify the faulty genes allowing intervention to help slow or reverse an autoimmune disorder.
Leaky gut – We know that having a leaky gut is involved in the progress of autoimmune disease so why test for it? Testing for leaky gut can tell us a lot about just how leaky the intestinal wall is, this in turn can help to discover how much the leaky gut is involved in the autoimmune disorder and enables proper interventions to heal the leaky gut to help reverse the autoimmune disease.
Environmental chemicals – Since the introduction of the industrial age we have invented literally thousands of chemicals many of which are major triggers for autoimmune disease, testing for the major chemical triggers can go along way toward identifying culprit chemicals that your immune system is reacting to, once discovered the body can be nutritionally supported to help remove the chemicals. Organic acids testing is also a combined way to test for environmental chemicals and discover metabolic nutritional disorders that often happen in autoimmune disease.
Nutritional imbalances – Certain nutrients that become deficient can actually trigger an autoimmune disorder, testing for mineral imbalances and toxic metals should be a priority as these fundamentals can be the sole cause of an autoimmune disorder, this is because nutritional deficiencies can contribute to leaky gut and immune system regulation problems.
Food intolerance’s & sensitivities – Hidden food intolerance’s & sensitivities raise your risk of developing autoimmune disease because they inflame your intestines which leads to leaky gut syndrome and an overstimulated immune system. Once the lining of the gut is inflamed your ability to absorb nutrients goes down which further deepens autoimmune disease. Taking a food intolerance’s & sensitivities test can help you discover the those foods that cause inflammation of the gut and by ruling out these foods your gut can heal, significantly reducing autoimmune disease symptoms.
Vitamin D – This well-known vitamin is incredibly important when it comes to autoimmune disease, this is because it can reduce or even halt the production of auto-immune antibodies. It’s important to understand that simply going out and taking vitamin D supplements is not going to help without knowing exactly how deficient you are when it comes to vitamin D. Supplementing vitamin D can be toxic. It’s important to have your vitamin D levels tested first so a professional can prescribe the correct amount for you personally.
Selenium – This valuable mineral plays a major role when it comes to autoimmune disease, this is because of its role in assisting the immune system and the relationship between selenium and its use by the thyroid. Testing your selenium levels can significantly assist in the prevention of autoimmune disease or reduce an existing problem. It’s important to know your current levels in order to not overdose on selenium supplements which can be toxic.
Heavy metals – Heavy metals are very toxic to the body and heavy metal toxicity has become a very common problem in modern society. People with auto immune disease often have heavy metal toxicity. By testing for heavy metal toxicity you can find out which toxic metals may be behind your auto immune disease and a nutritional process can be undertaken to help remove the heavy metals form the body.
Infections – These can be major triggers in autoimmune disease, often there is underlying metabolic disorders and nutritional imbalances behind a lowered immune system. By repairing the underlying problems the immune system can deal with infections properly bringing the cycle to and end.
Long term unresolved infections come from certain bacteria, viruses, fungi, mold and parasites who are taking advantage of a weaker immune system. Metabolic nutritional testing can help discover chemical imbalances that destroy your immunity.
Silicone – This common substance may trigger auto immune response, many people with an auto immune disease especially women can have high levels of silicone because of its use in cosmetics. High levels of silicone can trigger a powerful immune response leading to auto immune disease. A simple nutritional hair test can help you find out if you have toxic levels of silicone.
Drugs, medications & vaccinations – Most drugs, antibiotics, medications and vaccines may cause several of the above problems including irritation of the digestive system, leaky gut, damage to organs, disrupt the immune system, allergies, intolerance’s and nutritional imbalances.
Where to start to heal your auto immune disease
Autoimmune diseases are complicated, there are literally hundreds of suspected autoimmune diseases. Click here to learn more about the condition, the symptoms, causes and treatment options.
With so many causes of autoimmune disease it can be hard to know where to start first, the best way to know what to do first is to ask one of our professional natural health practitioners, by asking about your symptoms practitioners can get a better idea of what’s going on in your personal case and be able to advise the best course of action.