Causes of Auto-Immune Disease

Most people talk about Fibromyalgia, which is characterized by chronic muscle pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, brain fog or cognitive impairment, mood imbalance, especially depression and painful tender trigger points. It is just one of many auto-immune diseases. Conventional medicine has been unable to uncover the cause of fibromyalgia and only offers management of symptoms through pain medications and antidepressants. Unless their perspective changes, they will never be able to find a cure, because the problems arise at the cellular level the focus of prevention, not at the organ level the focus of treatment. Functional medicine focuses on the root cause of chronic diseases, treating the cause at the cellular level to restore normal function. Once normal function is restored, the bodys self-correcting homeostatic tendencies bring it to pain-free healthy balance.

Here are the top ten root causes of auto-immune disease:

1. Gluten intolerance

When we eliminate gluten from the diet, over 50 incurable diseases are resolved. The reason people are having such a difficult time believing that the cause of their pain is their food is that most gluten intolerance symptoms are not digestive, they are neurological: pain, brain fog, memory lapses, sleep disturbances, tiredness, mood disorders, and behavioral issues.

2. Fungal overgrowth

The most famous fungus, or yeast, is Candida albicans. Candida lives in your gut, and when overproduced, it breaks through the intestinal wall, penetrates into the bloodstream, releases toxic metabolites into your body and causes unpleasant symptoms that include brain fog, fatigue, digestive disturbances and pain. Candida overgrowth goes hand-in-hand with nutritional imbalance that needs to be resolved before health can be restored.

3. Thyroid malfunction

Most people with auto-immune disorders have either low thyroid function (hypo-thyroid) or Hashimotos (both over and under performing thyroid). Unless your doctor checked all required blood markers (not just TSH) and used the optimal levels rather than the standard reference range when checking your thyroid function, you may have thyroid issues that need to be resplved. If you are experiencing fatigue, brain fog, sleep disturbances and mood disorders, also check you thyroid performance take your oral morning temperature for a month and see is it at 98.6 F?

4. Nutrient deficiencies

Magnesium, iodine, selenium, vitamin D and B12 deficiency are the most common nutrient deficiencies of people diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Some people can completely reverse their fibromyalgia symptoms with magnesium supplementation. To fully understand which nutrients you should increase or not get your Metabolic Typing profile.

5. Micro-Biome imbalance (SIBO, Leaky gut)

Effective microbial terrain is required to extract nutrients from food, and to prevent under-digested protein fragments from entering the blood stream, where the immune system must attack it and create auto-immune problems. Intestinal terrain balance can be upset through the use of antibiotics, prescription drugs, chlorinated and fluoridated water, or a high glycemic index diet that is too rich sugars and starches. Bacteria are involved with nutrient extraction, including iron, vitamin B12 and others.

6. Toxic Mold exposure

Mycotoxins are toxic substances produced by molds that grow in wet and poorly ventilated spaces. Conventional environmental mold testing only tests for levels of mold spores and does not test for mycotoxins. Getting a urine mycotoxin test will show clearly if you have been exposed to toxic molds. Herbal tinctures can be used to resplve the problem.

7. Heavy Metal toxicity

Especially mercury toxicity contributes greatly to auto-immune disorders. Mercury is most commonly acquired from dental fillings, but also from breathing the exhallations of coal burning power plants. Heavy metals can be effectively removed with either zeolite, or with EDTA, and supported with chlorella and cilantro. Metal toxicity can be checked with hair analysis, or with DMPS challenge urine test.

8. Adrenal fatigue

Adrenal fatigue is a general term used for the results of chronic stress exposure. Chronic pain and other issues of industrialized lifestyle stress the adrenal glands, causing them to mallfunction. Adrenals can be effectively supported with adaptogenic herbs, but it is important to resolve the primary cause of the stress and eliminate it.

9. Genetic mutations (MTHFR)

Some of us have inherited from either one or both of our parents a mutation of the MTHFR gene that impairs the methylation and detoxification ability. You may have to get specialized methylated supplements (methyl-B6, methyl-B12, folinic acid) and avoid their unmethylated versions (cyanocobalamin, folic acid). You will have a challenge with detoxing metals and other industrial toxins, and you will have low stamina. You can greatly improve your function with MSM (methyl-sulfonyl-methane) supplementation.

10. Glutathione deficiency

Glutathione is the central part of our anti-oxidant recycling system. Glutathione recycles vitamins and allows them to be used again to protect from oxidative stres (aging), and it itself needs to be recycled in your liver with the help of GSTM1 and GSTP1, the enzymes needed to recycle and produce glutathione. Supplementing with glutathione precursors (NAC, alpha lipoic acid, milk thistle) can help resolve fatigue, brain fog, and slow down aging. It should be clear that these causes are interrelated and they all contribute to the rise in auto-immune diseases, including fibromyalgia. The symptom oriented approach of the mainstream medicine cannot produce lasting results. You should not have to suffer needlessly or mask your symptoms with pain medications and antidepressants. The method employed by the functional medicine approach will help you understand your specific causes, and the steps required to bring you back to health.

Risk factors for developing fibromyalgia symptoms include:

Genes. Recent research has confirmed a genetic risk the methylation pathways and the ability to get rid of industrial toxins is indeed inherited.

Gender. Women are 10 times more likely than men to develop fibromyalgia we speculate that it has to do with the hormonal issues. Men are more likely to develop a problem on the autistic spectrum.

Age. With increasing age we become more toxic and experience break downs of the defenses. Reports suggest that 3 to 6 percent of the general population worldwide are affected by auto-immune disease. http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/a/ai/prevalence.htm

Trauma. Intense emotional or physical trauma is one of the triggers that adds to the risk of developing fibromyalgia, especially if you already have other predisposing factors.

Sleep. We are not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg, the sleep problems or the inflammation. They are self-reinforcing, each making the other worse.

Physical stress. Repetitive motion stress will aggravate certain areas. Carpal tunnel syndrome, plantar fasciitis, back pain, neck pain are all listed as job-related, but they in fact are the effects of auto-immune disease.

Emotional stress. Yet another self-amplifying feedback loop of pain-mood-attitude that makes the auto-immune disease worse. Meditation, yoga, EFT, and other methods of clearing emotional stress will help you resolve your situation sooner.