Autoimmune DiseasePosted 9 years ago under Health
The definition of an autoimmune disease is a disease wherein the immune system attacks healthy bodily tissues. Some autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis or arthritis target specific body parts, while others, such as lupus, are not very specific and target many different parts of the body. (1)
These diseases cause more than inflammation, pain or discomfort; many are crippling and are among the leading causes of death in America. The following is a short list of some of the more common autoimmune diseases.
Common autoimmune diseases
- Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis
- Addison’s disease
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Antiphospholid Syndrome
- Arthritis
- Autoimmune Hepatitis
- Celiac disease
- Crohn’s disease
- Diabetes (type 1)
- Goodpasture Syndrome
- Graves’ disease
- Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
- Lupus
- Microscopic Polyangitis
- Mixed Connective Tissue Disease
- Myasthenia gravis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Pernicious anemia
- Polyarteritis
- Polymyalgia Rheumatica
- Polymyositis
- Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, Sclerosing Cholangitis
- Psoriasis
- Raynaud’s Phenomenon
- Reiter Syndrome
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Sarcoidosis
- Scleroderma
- Sjögren’s Syndrome
- Temporal Arteritis/Giant Cell Arteritis
- Type 1 Diabetes Melitus
- Ulcerative colitis
- Wegener’s Granulomatosis
Conventional medicine offers no cures and has not reached a definitive answer as to the cause of autoimmune diseases. The primary treatment is medication. Steroids are commonly prescribed, because steroids lower immune response. This can make patients more susceptible to infections. But there are many risks of using steroids, including increased risk of cancers. Steroids, especially when used as long term treatment are known to be very damaging to the body. (2)
Conventional medicine recognizes a genetic component and questions whether a viral infection could potentially trigger some autoimmune diseases. Conventional medicine has also acknowledged the fact that many people suffering from autoimmune diseases have celiac disease as well as another autoimmune disease.
How to Cure Autoimmune Disease
A natural health care practitioner believes that health, or lack of health, usually begins in the gut. Not only is the gut responsible for 80% of our immune system, an unhealthy gut cannot absorb the nutrients the body needs for every function, including healing.
A sick gut is often a leaky gut, one that allows proteins and food particles to pass into the bloodstream, causing the immune system to attack these foreign particles as pathogens. (3)
An unhealthy gut is the result of an unhealthy diet, antibiotic use, and Candida overgrowth. If you want to rid yourself of any chronic condition, you have to heal the body, one cell at a time. If you are ready to do this, it all starts with diet.
To heal the immune system, one must heal the whole body. The good news is that every cell in the body requires the same thing: elimination of toxins and high-quality nutrients. (4)
Sources
(1) http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/autoimmune-disease-the-bodys-betrayal/
(2) http://www.naturalnews.com/044194_autoimmune_disorders_Denise_Otten_natural_cures.html
(3) http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/gut-health/
(4) http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/make-your-immune-system-bulletproof-with-these-natural-remedies/